April 2025 Regular Board of Education Meeting

No Discussion - Moved to Vote.

Treasurer Bazley reported as follows:

March’s Financials reflect an increase to our overall real estate tax receipts, they still show behind estimates, but that is also because we did not receive Morrow, Ashland, or Richland County settlements until April. After we receive those settlements our YTD Actual numbers will be much more in line with estimated amounts. Interest still is paying well, above what was originally forecasted in May last year. The Sale of Assets is well above estimates because of the sale of our tractor. The rest of our finances are tracking with what was estimated, nothing out of the ordinary. There’ll be some variance in YTD actual vs Prior YTD because of when we received settlements and with the added transfer to permanent improvement and the affect of the CCP correction our purchased services are higher this year compared to last. We transferred $800k to our permanent improvement fund this year in line with what we forecasted in November.

The only journal entries we have this month for approval is the transfer to the Permanent Improvement fund and some Adult Ed Salary charges to code to the Adult Ed Perkins grant.

You should notice a little difference in the investment financials next month. I have setup the account we discussed last month with Meeder to put more money into staggered investment portfolios to try and reduce our vulnerability to volatility in the marketplace.

STRS changed the years of service for an unreduced retirement benefit to 32 years for anyone retiring between 6/1/25 and 5/1/30. For members retiring between 6/1/30 and 5/1/32 the years of service go back up to 33 years. Effective 6/1/32 the eligibility for an unreduced benefit returns to 34 years of service going forward.

I attended the annual OASBO Conference earlier this month that is designed for Treasurers and Director’s of Business Affairs. It is always a good conference with quality learning sessions put on by professionals and experienced treasurers. They hammered home the need for advocacy at this conference in the wake of the House Budget and other proposals in the House chamber.

Speaking of State Budget. The house released their version of the budget which essentially put a pause on the FSFP for this budget and created a guarantee that no school would get less funding in either year of the biennium than they receive in FY25. It shows an increase in state funding for Pioneer, although is not as favorable as the Governor’s proposed budget. There are also several concerning “property tax relief” proposals in their version of the budget as well as pending in their chamber. Their budget includes a 30% cap on carryover balance of school districts, if a district has a balance over that threshold the Budget Commission (County Auditor, County Treasurer, and now Board of Commissioner President) will be instructed to roll back the collection rates on property tax for those districts until the cash balance falls below that threshold. They are now removing the local control of what voters already passed and making property tax collection political. Will those officials have the stomach to raise rates back to the level that was voted because a district’s cash balance fell below the threshold in the middle of an election cycle for themselves? Will also affect districts’ bond ratings and ability to get better rates for Bonds and Lease-Purchase agreements. The House Budget also called to reduce the Five Year Forecast from five years down to three years, with the deficit analysis limited to the first two years.

As state budget discussions are happening, the state ended March with a plus $929 million dollars in revenue over expenses three quarters of the way through this fiscal year, with a combination of $271 million in revenue received compared to estimates and $657 million in expenses under what was estimated.

No Public Input

No Correspondence

Director Frye reported as follows:

Prom was a great evening with over 240 students and no incidents. 

Pioneer participated in the statewide tornado drill and will continue safety/weather drills throughout the Spring

Community Service Day is scheduled for this Friday, April 25th with students and staff in all 14 partner school communities

Awards Night is this Wednesday

There were 12 Carmean Candidates and each kid was amazing, it made the selection of the winner very difficult.

Hiring Teams

Phenomenal staff participation

Outstanding hires

Placement Update

Initial placement of students completed

Student Services staff have worked through waitlists and have scheduled almost all current sophomores for next year

Began offering placement opportunities to out of district/open enrollment students today

New Student Orientation Wednesday, May 7th at 6:30pm

Mr. Slaughter introduced James Sandlin, Lillyanna Eickhoff, and Zane McMillan all from Shelby High School and students in the Engineering Design lab at Pioneer. The students presented and talked about the electric vehicle they were designing and making for a race next week at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course that is put on by NC State College. The teams each get thirty minutes to see how many laps they can make on the track which has curves, hills, and dips in it. The students discussed the experience they gained from last year's race and the improvements they made upon this year's vehicle to try and improve the performance at the race. 

Mr. Mike Grady reported as follows:

The house budget eliminates the law that requires licensed school counselors to complete a mandatory training program on building and construction trades career pathways. 

The house version of the budget also provides $10 million in FY26 from the Lottery Profits to support the School Bus Safety Program. 

The Senate now takes up the budget.

Superintendent Nickoli reported as follows:

The projected enrollment for next year is still coming in. We have currently placed 700 Sophomores for next year. This would bring our total enrollment to 1,331 total students. These continue to be exceptional numbers. We will be welcoming our new students and parents at the Pioneer New Student/Parent Orientation on May 8th. Students and parents will have the opportunity to visit the Career Technical Labs and learn more about Pioneer and their programs.

At the end of the month, I will be checking enrollment very closely to determine if I need to send out Reduction-In-Force (RIF) letters. Although things are looking very good, if needed, RIF letters will be delivered by me to the union and teachers by April 30th.

RIF’s are not acted on until a later board meeting, so I will keep you posted on any reductions that might be necessary. Until that time, Student Services and instructors will continue recruitment efforts.

I was notified just before Spring Break that the Richland Public Health Department will no longer be able to support our School Nurse. We have had a longstanding contract with them for that service. I have reached out to some of our Partner School Superintendents and they have recommended some other organizations that their Districts work with. I contacted one of them and received a very positive response. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

I am asking that you approve Policy 5780.01 and 7421 as new policies. They were a part of a recent update provided by NEOLA, our policy advisor. 5780.01 has been titled, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and recognizes that parents have a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing and care of their children and requires Pioneer to notify parents of in the event of any substantial changes related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health.

Policy 7421 requires the establishment of exclusive use male and female restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms. It also prohibits the establishment of multi-occupancy facilities that are open to all genders.

Upcoming Calendar events are as follows:

04/23/25 - Honors’ Night

04/25/25 - Community Service Day

05/06/25 - Project SEARCH Graduation 1:00 pm

05/07/25 - Sophomore Orientation

05/09/25 - Senior Celebration (Formerly Senior Moments)

05/16/25 - Student Appreciation Day

05/29/25 - Last Day for Students

05/29/25 - Adult Education Graduation

05/30/25 - Staff Recognition Breakfast/Teacher Work Day

05/28/25 - Strategic Plan Core Team

06/02-05/25 - Pioneer Summer Camp

In the wake of many retirements and changes to the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision, the end of March and early April have been a busy time of interviewing and hiring for our Administrators and many of our teachers who served on our hiring teams. I’m pleased inform you that we have secured several outstanding candidates to join Pioneer. Please join me in reviewing the Personnel recommendations provided to the Board.

All other Personnel items are common for the month of April.

No discussion - moved to vote. 

No discussion - moved to vote