The John Glenn School Board held a discussion Tuesday night concerning the second reading of an amendment to the purchasing policy.
Superintendent Christopher Winchell previously explained that the state has changed the threshold of what needs board approval before a purchase is made. The federal guideline is at $50,000. The board discussed in an earlier meeting that the amended policy could reflect a change that any purchase over $75,000 or more must have board approval before the purchase is made.
Winchell stressed that the board approves regular expenses through the claims process, but anything that meets the threshold must have board approval before the purchase is made.
Board member Todd McGaughey said the previous threshold was $25,000 and this amended policy triples the previous threshold. He asked for clarification on why the board would not have a $50,000 threshold. Business Manager Tom Bendy said it really is up to the board to decide what oversight they want, but setting the threshold at $75,000 would speed up the process in purchasing items especially with today’s general inflation, and purchases made in Food Services.
Bendy noted the board already sees the claims to approve and purchasing goes through administration as part of the process.
The board felt comfortable with setting the policy with a $75,000 threshold and unanimously approved the second reading and adoption of the amended policy.
