By GEORGE FJELD
BRANDON—At the OVUU board meeting on Tuesday May 16th, the administration informed the board of a projected $176,000 budget surplus for the fiscal year ending in June. After discussion, the directors voted to apply these funds equally between the Facility Fund and the After School Fund. The After School Fund supports both after school programs and summer programs. It can suffer from limited funds and be plagued by staffing issues. The flexibility to use this money in any year means the program can continue when there are bumps in the road.
The meeting began with a video presentation of Global Ends monitoring, featuring a large number of students and programs from throughout the district. This is a key way the board gets to see how the students are doing. Building leaders then presented a synopsis of their plans for the next year.
Board member Kevin Thornton presented a review of the Stafford Technical School. This is the primary place for Otter Valley students to obtain technical education in a wide variety of areas. They cover the construction trades, including carpentry, electrical and plumbing, welding and metal fabrication, and engineering. Auto body repair and automotive technology are included. Areas as diverse as video communications, public safety and criminal justice, and the culinary arts are also taught. Many of these vocations do not require a college education but rather some courses and lots of time apprenticing. Unfortunately, there are more students wanting to participate than spots in the various programs. These programs represent many of the good paying jobs available in our communities.
Derek Larsen reviewed the status of the Hawk Hill Conservation area. This is land behind Otter Valley and over the ridge to Old Brandon Road that is available for public use but is conserved. It contains the site of the original Brandon settlement and an old cemetery. There are developed hiking trails throughout the 231-acre property. The committee is exploring coordinating an archaeological program with the state archeologist and/or Castleton University. It is utilized by a variety of OV programs and is the classroom for the Moosalamoo program. Larson is looking for a board member replacement on this committee.
