The ISD 166 school board spent time in quiet deliberation before deciding where to set the levy at its last meeting of the year on December 20. Any tax increases would be hard for residents, Deb White said to her colleagues on the school board.
As enrollment continues to decline over the next couple of years, Superintendent Beth Schwarz said, the district will need to continue reducing expenditures.
One bright note, according to school board member Terry Collins, is that the construction of a new community center on the west wing of the complex will save the school the cost of dealing with issues related to the age of that end of the building, and the wood chip silo was taken down at no cost to the school as part of the project.
Collins, who did not run for re-election and will be off the school board in January, recommended that in reducing spending, they avoid “veering wildly” from new initiatives –such as early childhood programming— before they’ve had a chance to mature.
The board had the option of adding $91 per student to the levy to help continue Q-comp projects. This amount, about $42,000, was included in the preliminary budget. Q-comp is a state-initiated program that brings money into the district for quality improvement measures such as bringing math activities into all areas of the curriculum to improve standardized test scores, which is the district’s focus this year.
The board voted unanimously to set the 2013 levy at $1,335,286, which includes the Q-comp allowance. The 2012 levy was $1,247,469. The 2013 levy will be $87,817, or 7 percent, more than school taxes payable in 2012.
Mental health services
Mental health worker Jade Woltmann of the Human Development Center (HDC) described to the board the mental health services being offered through the schools.
Woltmann is providing socialskill building lessons in elementary classrooms and is working with individual students having behavioral issues at school. She said she has been helping kids follow directions, stay focused, make transitions, build organizational skills, recognize and identify emotions, deal with anger, and adjust to family changes.
HDC therapists are also available to provide therapy to individual students at the school.
Personnel
The board voted to hire Tom Nelson as the facilities/transportation specialist in charge of maintenance and bussing at a salary of $57,197. The superintendent will do more oversight of the facilities and transportation department than in the past when Mike Groth was the facilities/transportation director, so the new facilities/transportation specialist position will pay $789 less than the director position did.
The bus garage mechanic job Nelson vacated was changed to a maintenance/ mechanic position at a salary of $41,596 plus $1,000 overtime, $10,857 less than Nelson’s former position paid. The board approved hiring Dennis Burton for that job.
The changes in the two jobs will save the district $11,646 a year.
Superintendent Schwarz continues to wait to find out the term of her next contract. The board has voted to offer her a contract but has not determined whether it will be for one, two, or three years. The superintendent has expressed a desire for a three-year contract and stated that she feels she has earned it.
In light of a discussion in a previous meeting regarding possible restructuring of the district’s administrative positions to reflect current needs and responsibilities, Deb White suggested that they wait until the two new school board members take office in January (Sissy Lunde and Ed Bolstad replacing Leonard Sobanja and Terry Collins) to decide the length of the superintendent contract they would offer.
Collins suggested that if they offer a three-year contract, it should be because that’s what the school board wants, not because that’s what the superintendent is hoping for.
“I have learned to trust the board,” said Superintendent Schwarz. “I think I’ve been treated fairly.”
Industrial arts program
In his last meeting in office, Leonard Sobanja asked the superintendent her opinion on the industrial arts department. “My gut says we need to expand the industrial arts program,” Schwarz responded. She said she was trying not to micromanage the industrial arts, business, and visual arts programs and let Principal Gwen Carman and School Counselor Bryan Hackbarth work with the vocational staff on the direction of their programs.
Sobanja said the district has been putting increased focus on math and science. “To gear your program just for the academics is in my mind wrong,” he said, adding that some students will be left out. “To emphasize math all the time really goads me.”
Both agreed that the school should have a blend of vocational and traditional academic programs.
Leave a Reply