Superintendent James Miller told the Freedom Board of Education that the pay raises for teachers and support personnel will impact the general fund of the school district by about $105,000 next year.

He said the district carryover will be $830,000 so there will be no short-term problems meeting this. He did say that he met with the entire staff and explained the need to save on whatever possible.

Miller said the State Legislature is in full swing and praised both Rep. Newton and Sen. Murdock for their willingness to listen and take his calls.

Auditor Buddy Carroll attended the meeting and gave his annual report. He praised the Freedom district for having no material findings of errors. He also praised Superintendent Miller for his excellent response letter: “Best I've ever seen,” said Carroll.

There a couple of minor errors. For one month a year ago, the superintendent was shared between districts and was paid an “offset for retirement” that was also paid by the other school district. The Freedom district has contacted the former Freedom superintendent requesting a refund.

Another error had to do with awarding competitive bids on the roofing project. The bidding and selection were handled OK, but the public notice in the newspaper soliciting bids was supposed to be published two times, and it was published only once.

Also, last year, the district took title to a truck purchase before the loan from the bank was paid off. The title should have been left in the name of the bank until payment was complete.

Carroll said he was retiring at the end of this school year, although there is a possibility he may occasionally return to give audit reports to distant schools.

The basketball coach asked for permission to take Freedom basketball players to three camps. These will come up in May and June. Also, he said there is a really fine girls' camp in Branson, Missouri, he would like to attend that attracts teams from five states.

The boys' golf team is doing well, having participated in four meets so far. A track meet is coming up. The girls' golf team collapsed, as one player had to quit and they could not field a team of four.

Principal Shelite said the school is very involved in state testing this week and in the next week.

BancCentral was approved to provide IT services for the district.

Insurance on the building has increased a little to $23,965, a bit higher than last year's premium.

The board spent about 12 minutes in an executive session and returned to open session approving the list of faculty and support personnel for the next school year. The list was published last month.

A video of the meeting may be seen at http://www.alvareviewcourier.com.