Fund-raising nears $700K

By GREG SCELLIN
Signal Editor

The Fillmore Central School Board went over several agenda items at its May meeting.
Some of the topics covered included:

• With bids coming in lower than expected on the school-bond project (one bid came in about $2 million less), several alternate projects will be tackled including a new gym floor at the FC Elementary School, flooring at the FCE, FCE roof, and FC High School roof drains.
  “We have talked about trying to tackle these things in the past,” FC School Board President Chad Engle said.
• FC Superintendent Josh Cumpston reported that new SPED rules will be going into affect. He also noted, that luckily, staffing is complete in the school district.
  “Staffing is completed,” Cumpston said. “A lot of places are still looking for teachers and some places will not get their staffing filled.”
  A couple para-educators and some more kitchen staff are still being sought.
• The Orchestra Pit at the new school auditorium will be named “In memory of William W. Wilkins and Nancy S. Wilkins” for its first decade of use.
  It was noted that fund-raising committee co-chair Susan Biba recently commented that $692,100 has been pledged to make up the gap in the cost of the new auditorium.
  “They are off and rolling,” Engle said.
• The school board unanimously approved the purchase of Chromebooks and an Apple lease of ipads. The group purchase will cost $95,000 with $90,000 coming from REAP funds.
• FCHS Principal and Activities Director Ryun Theobald reported he is still filling coaching positions (six) for the upcoming school year.
  “It’s getting tougher and tougher to get people to coach,” he said.
• A 3.75 percent salary increase was approved for the school district’s classified staff. A seven percent increase in health insurance costs was also noted.
• The school district superintendent and principal salaries were approved at a 3.5 percent increase for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Chronic absenteeism was again discussed. A reward system was suggested to help curve this trend. An idea of lowering the number of days allowed to be missed from 10 to eight was discussed.
• A mobile storage container has been located at the FCE to allow for storage during the ongoing renovation project.
• Currently, 43 fourth grade students will be moving up to the FC Middle School in Fairmont this coming school year.