Board member: Stillwater school facility revenue not going where it needs to be

By Sarah Morris Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — Some school buildings should pay for their upkeep, Stillwater Board of Education Michael Dicks said Tuesday.

The board will seek ways to make that happen in a work session before its May meeting.

Dicks asked why facilities like the football stadium, the performing arts center and field house are not responsible for their own maintenance. He said a system needs to be created to ensure money generated by these facilities are used for repairs.

“We cannot be building a new building and maintaining it and paying for it out of the general fund while someone else is getting the money that is generated out of it,” Dicks said.

He said someone has to pay when something breaks at these facilities and some money generated by the facility should be used to make repairs.

Assistant Superintendent Jim Ryan said the child nutrition program has its own budget and uses the district’s kitchens and utilities. It pays the school system $40,000 a year and that money is used to offset those costs.

Board President Kevin Clark said the board will examine the issue more closely in May.

In other business, a district technology plan for 2010-2013 was approved 4-1 with Dicks dissenting because he thought the plan was incomplete.

Technology Director Kevin Calvert presented the plan, discussing SMART board use in the classroom.

The boards are used in the lower grades with two to be added at the junior high and one at the high school. SMART Boards are being used in the district from one to five hours each day, Calvert said.

Dicks asked how the board impact students. Calvert didn’t have an answer.

Ryan said SMART boards change teaching methods, and may have bigger initial impact on the teacher rather than on the student.

“There is one question I ask all potentially new teachers in Stillwater and that is how do children learn,” Ryan said. “If you are a potential teacher you are going to get the answer right now. Children learn through engagement and practice. I hear over and over again that SMART Boards engage kids.”

Dicks said an easy comparison would be between classes with SMART Boards and those without.

The board also:

• Heard public comments from 12 Stillwater and Oklahoma State University math teachers asking the district to continue to challenge them to learn their subject, to gather teacher thoughts, rethink the purchase of math textbooks and to retain a standards-based curriculum. The math book adoption was not on the agenda to be voted on though a committee of teachers, administrators and parents are reviewing books now.

• Received a facilities update from Architectural Design Group Inc. of Oklahoma City on their assessment of goals and needs for school facilities for the upcoming February 2011 bond issue.

• Approved 5-0 a resolution for schools and libraries universal services (E-Rate) for the 2010-2011 year.

• Heard a student drop out report from the principals of the junior high, high school and alternative education schools.

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