Although the meeting was brief, Hennessey Superintendent Jason Sternberger provided Hennessey school board members with some eye-raising numbers.

“The most alarming part of our 2025-26 estimate of needs is that for the past two years our assessed valuations have dropped,” Sternberger told school board members Monday night.

“Two years ago we were at $87 million and now we’re at $78 million. That’s around $300,000 of our local revenue that we’re not getting because we’re off the (state aid) formula on the top,” he said.

And that’s just in the general fund.

In the building fund, said Sternberger, that equates to about $45,000 in lost revenue.

Sternberger made the statements during the board’s September regular meeting.

He said that while he’s aware of a drop in some areas of his own district’s valuation, surrounding counties aren’t experiencing the same overall decrease.

“I know the wind farm is a portion of why we dropped,” the superintendent said. “But a lot of other counties around us are going up while our county continues to go down. I’ve talked with other schools in the county and we’ve tried to have a meeting with our assessor just trying to get a schedule — that they’re making right now — so we can kind of find out what’s going on.”

Sternberger then switched gears by saying, “Balances in the general fund, building fund, child nutrition, were all very good.”

Then he said, “We had started the previous year with $6.5 million and we finished this past year with $5.5 million. That’s just about right because our expenses were about the same from the previous year, but we were down about a million dollars in revenue.”

He said the main point of that is gross production.

“We started this year with our first gross production check, which was the highest that we’d had in probably 15 to 16 months. And so, I thought we were going to kind of start rebounding,” Sternberger said. “Then last month was the lowest we’ve had in 16 or 17 months. So I don’t know where to tell you where we will be next month.

“It’s just something that we’re definitely going to need to be very cautious about.”

Sternberger added that what makes it particularly tough for a district like Hennessey is that it’s not on the state aid formula and although the state reflects that the district is receiving bigger chunks of local revenue, that isn’t the case.

“So luckily, we started these years with high numbers to endure that instead of starting with a million, or two million (dollars),” he said.

“This conversation and my mood, my tone and my voice would be a lot different if we had a million in the account instead of $5.5 (million). The sinking fund millage, and what that does to your sinking fund millage when your valuation goes down, that’s going to cause your sinking fund millage to go up.

“So last year our sinking fund millage was right at 18.5 and this year it went to 21.45,” Sternberger said. “That’s just because of that loss of valuation, somebody has to pick up the difference because that same note has to be paid.”

On that note the board voted 4-0 to approve the school’s estimate of needs for the 2025-26 school year.

Personnel

• Resignation of Emillie Spurrier.

• Heidi Gonzalez was hired as a classroom aide.

• Extra-duty assignments: Andrea Jimenez (gifted and talented coordinator, $1,500) and Daniel Powers (senior sponsor, $100).

Also Approved by Board

• Addition to board policy on administering medication to students: “In the event epinephrine or other emergency medication is administered, 911 will be called immediately after administration and parent/ guardian will be called promptly.”

• Elementary handbook updates: Changing Saturday school to Thursday school from 3 to 4 p.m. and adding to tardy policy: “An excused tardy will only be permitted if a doctor’s note accompanies the student and the parent brings the student into school.

• Employment of Stephen L. Smith Corp. as the financial consultant to the school district for the fiscal year 2025-26 for bond purposes.

• FFA Trip to National Convention Oct. 27- Nov. 2.

At the Meeting

School board members present were President Dr. James M. Matousek, Vice President Dakota Semrad, Clerk Amy Charmasson and Lance Painter. Absent was Luke Lough.

Staff at the meeting were Sternberger, Office Manager and Minutes Clerk Timberly Jech, Elementary School Principal Barry Crosswhite and Early Childhood Principal Stacey Mack.