On Monday, Feb. 26, the Monroe School Board:
• Accepted retirements from Mary Lou Bruess, a long-time secretary at Monroe High School; and Mary Richardson, a long-time Specific Learning Disabled teacher at Northside Elementary School, both effective in June. It also accepted resignations from Heather Laundrie, a teacher at the Monroe Alternative Charter School, effective in June; and David Dison, a teacher at the Monroe Alternative Charter School, effective Feb. 22. Dison cited personal problems as his reason for leaving mid-year.
• Learned the district is considering a proposal from School World for Web site design and hosting. The setup cost would be $750 and $5,000 annually.
• Postponed a decision on the district's malfunctioning phone system until Business Manager Ron Olson can get a firm bid on the cost to replace software. Olson said calls and voice messages left on the district-wide system get lost. The problem occurs in different buildings. It's a "PR disaster - we don't know how many calls we're losing," he said. The phone software is old and needs to be upgraded, which may cost up to $75,000. Olson will continue to work with TDS to determine a more precise cost and bring the proposal back to the board.
• Heard the district is about 1.8 percent, or $548,000 under budget for the year. Olson said his year-end projection does not include the unexpected cost, up to $75,000, of replacing software for the district's phone system. The district always tries to be 1 to 3 percent under budget, he said, adding every year there's an unexpected expense, such as the phone system malfunctioning.
• Accepted retirements from Mary Lou Bruess, a long-time secretary at Monroe High School; and Mary Richardson, a long-time Specific Learning Disabled teacher at Northside Elementary School, both effective in June. It also accepted resignations from Heather Laundrie, a teacher at the Monroe Alternative Charter School, effective in June; and David Dison, a teacher at the Monroe Alternative Charter School, effective Feb. 22. Dison cited personal problems as his reason for leaving mid-year.
• Learned the district is considering a proposal from School World for Web site design and hosting. The setup cost would be $750 and $5,000 annually.
• Postponed a decision on the district's malfunctioning phone system until Business Manager Ron Olson can get a firm bid on the cost to replace software. Olson said calls and voice messages left on the district-wide system get lost. The problem occurs in different buildings. It's a "PR disaster - we don't know how many calls we're losing," he said. The phone software is old and needs to be upgraded, which may cost up to $75,000. Olson will continue to work with TDS to determine a more precise cost and bring the proposal back to the board.
• Heard the district is about 1.8 percent, or $548,000 under budget for the year. Olson said his year-end projection does not include the unexpected cost, up to $75,000, of replacing software for the district's phone system. The district always tries to be 1 to 3 percent under budget, he said, adding every year there's an unexpected expense, such as the phone system malfunctioning.