The Panorama School Board met in regular session Monday.

The meeting began with a public hearing for the 2019-2020 certified budget, in which no public comments were made. The Board then discussed changes to the 2019-2020 certified staff handbook, that will be presented at a later date for Board approval. During the regular meeting the Board approved the certified budget, which includes a property tax rate of about $13.41. Next, the Board approved the Area Education Agency food purchasing agreement for the next year, and overnight trip requests for the state technology student association conference and All-State speech.

The Board then approved an equipment purchase for the summer free meal program, though it is contingent on the program being finalized. Superintendent Shawn Holloway says the District is still determining eligibility for reimbursement through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service Program, “Based on the data that they have or the website that they use, we are not eligible. Now what we’re doing right now is we’re trying to take our free and reduced (lunch) data, break that down into each community and give that back to the state level to say, ‘Okay, well over fifty percent of our kids in X, Y, and Z communities are on free and reduced,’ and then hopefully that can help us gain eligibility into that program.”

The Board also approved a teacher librarian sharing agreement with the Earlham School District and the 2019-2020 budget guarantee. Finally, the Board held an exempt session for negotiations with the Panorama Education Association. The PEA proposed a 2.43% salary increase, and the Board tentatively agreed to a 2.25% increase.