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Welcome to the start of the 2017-2018 school year! This year holds much promise and excitement for the future of North Royalton City Schools. Our first day of school is Thursday, August 24 (Grades 1-12).
While summer is a time for relaxation and rejuvenation, it is not a time of rest for a school district. I want to thank our maintenance and custodial staffs for all their hard work to get our buildings ready to welcome our students next week. In addition, I want to thank our transportation department for their hard work all summer getting our buses ready to roll and organizing all of the bus stops for our schools and the parochial schools. It is through the efforts of many dedicated people that our schools are ready to go!
We have many exciting things happening this year. Our sixth grade students will each receive a Chromebook as the next steps in our one-to-one technology initiative. In addition, we will be engaging the staff and community in our facilities project as we work together to set the vision for education for the next generation of our community.
Also, be sure to vote for our district's "Gears for Grins" $25,000 grant from State Farm Neighborhood Assist. We are in the running to win this grant to purchase adaptive bikes for the children of our community. More details are below. Please
click here to vote.
I hope that you find this
monthly newsletter informative and a good way to keep up to date on the happenings of our
schools and the Board of Education. I would welcome any thoughts and
comments that you have in regards to this or anything dealing with the North
Royalton
City
Schools
.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 440-582-9030 or at
[email protected]
.
Sincerely,
Greg Gurka,
Superintendent
North Royalton City Schools
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On July 11, North Royalton City Schools' administrators met with representatives from Moody's Investor Services to speak to them about our district, our plan, and our strong financial position. Based on this meeting, Moody's issued our district a credit rating of AA2, which is a strong rating for a school district.
Due to this strong rating, on July 25, Treasurer Biagio Sidoti and Assistant Superintendent Jim Presot, along with our underwriters from
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company
, sold our $88.9 million worth of bonds for a total interest cost rate of 3.69%. This was better than the anticipating interest rate of 3.75% which will allow us to keep our commitment to our homeowners ($109 per year tax increase per $100,000 home value). The reduced interest rate will also save our taxpayers in interest rate expense as we begin to pay back the bonds. We are expecting the deposit of the funds into our account on August 15.
While all of this was occurring, we solicited requests for qualifications from architectural firms and construction manager firms. On July 13 and 14, as well as August 1, we interviewed four architectural firms. At the Board of Education meeting on August 14, the board approved ThenDesign Architecture (TDA) as the architectural firm for our project. "Not only does TDA focus their business on designing educational facilities, they also have a strong reputation of engaging staff and community in the educational visioning process," said Superintendent Greg Gurka, North Royalton City Schools. "The process of listening to our stakeholders prior to designing is critical to me and to the overall success of the project."
On August 1, construction manager (CM) requests for qualifications (RFQs) were due. We received 10 firms or combination of firms that would like to be considered. After reviewing the RFQs with the board and administrators, selected firms will be brought in for an interview on August 28. As was the case with the architects, the committee will recommend a CM to the board for their final approval.
Once both the architect and CM are in place, we will begin to engage the staff and community in discussions about educational visions and the design of the learning spaces.
Questions?
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Graph 1 compares our monthly operating receipts to the prior year actual for the first month of our fiscal year (July 2017 through June 2018). It further estimates our collection through our fiscal year end. You will notice two large collection points in our fiscal year which are July and February. These two months are considerably higher than the others due to real estate collection which represents over 70% of our revenues.
Graph 2 compares our monthly operating expenditures to the prior year actual for the first month of our fiscal year (July 2017 through June 2018). It further estimates our expenditures through our fiscal year end. You will notice a consistent expenditure pattern throughout our fiscal year due to salaries and wages being evenly distributed throughout our fiscal year.
Graph 3 illustrates the current actual cumulative monthly operating revenues and expenditures for the first month of our fiscal year (July 2017 through June 2018). It further estimates our cumulative revenues and expenditures through our fiscal year end. You will notice a gradual increase in both revenues and expenditures as we approach our fiscal year end where revenues and expenditures eventually meet.
Graph 4 illustrates our fiscal year to date operating expenditures by category for the first month of our fiscal year (July 2017 through June 2018). Salaries & Wages represent approximately 58%, Fringe Benefits 27%, Purchased Services 11%, Materials Supplies & Textbook 3% and the combination of Capital Outlay and Operational Fees 1%.
LINKS to DISTRICT FINANCIALS:
Click here for the North Royalton City Schools' five-year forecast.
Interested in reading more? District financial information such as our annual financial reports, forecasts, tax rates, etc., can be found by
clicking here.
Biagio Sidoti, Treasurer
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North Royalton City Schools Selected as one of Top 200 Entries
In State Farm Neighborhood Assist Grant Program
Residents need to go online starting August 16 to vote for the project
North Royalton City Schools and the North Royalton Educational Foundation have been selected as a top 200 cause in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Grant Contest. From August 16-25, the community will vote on the top 200 causes from this philanthropic program. The 40 causes with the most votes will be announced on September 28 and each will win a $25,000 grant from State Farm.
If North Royalton City Schools is granted the $25,000, the district will use it for a program they call "Gears for Grins." The mission is to purchase adaptive bicycles for children with special needs for use in our city and neighboring cities. "Currently there is a great need within our school community for adaptive bicycles," said Board Member Dr. John Kelly, North Royalton City Schools. "Our district has none available now and the only families that have access, own them personally. The bicycles address a range of needs from balance to coordination to support for students with special needs. A number of styles would be used to give youngsters a chance to enjoy the cycling experience."
Voting begins on August 16 at
https://www.neighborhoodassist.com/entry/1996045
. People can vote up to 10 times per day. The voting lasts 10 days so the district is encouraging everyone to vote 10 times every day possible through August 25. "Since the 40 winning causes will be selected by popular vote, we need our community to come together and vote as much as possible, as well as spread the word on their social media accounts," said Superintendent Greg Gurka, North Royalton City Schools. "Out of the thousands of entries, to be selected as one of the top 200 entries is impressive! State Farm feels our grant is worthy and we hope our community does as well."
"The impact of this program extends far beyond our city's kids and far beyond this year," said Kelly. "These cycles will be kept and maintained so that they are available for use for children for many years to come. The joys of family time riding together in the Cleveland Metroparks could create lasting family memories. Many times it seems like there is little for our families to smile about. This would provide ear-to-ear grins for many, many, years."
Other Useful Links for you . . .
to read the district's Quality Profile.
to view the 2017-18 School Calendar.
Click here
for the NR Board of Education meeting minutes and agendas.
Click here for meeting dates for 2017.
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