School board schedules two meetings for Monday night

The Ponca City Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 13, to hold a public hearing on the school district’s budget for the 2016-17 school year.

The meeting will be held in the Administration Building at 613 East Grand Avenue.

At 6 p.m., the board will convene its regular June meeting. One of the agenda items is formal approval of the school district’s budget.

The board also will consider and vote on a motion to approve or not approve the Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Washington Elementary School classroom and rest room project. Rick Scott Construction Co. has submitted a GMP of $270,702 to complete the project.

The school building will become a preschool center for most Ponca City School District preschoolers. Union School will have a program for certain special needs students.

Board members also will consider and vote on a motion to authorize a change in the school district’s representation in the litigation against the Oklahoma Tax Commission to correct distribution of motor vehicle license revenues.

Gary Watts has been the General Counsel for the Sand Springs Public Schools. He is retiring at the end of June. The motion would transfer the case to Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orison and Lewis Law Firm.

A companion motion would increase the amount paid to Watts for his work on the lawsuit. Previously he was "General Counsel;” he will become the “Coordinating Liaison” to communicate directly with the participating districts in order to control the costs. The school board previously committed $9,000 for this lawsuit. However, the cost in Watts’ new agreement will be $10,177, an additional $1,177.