I was attending a church program that my daughter was involved in so I was late for the meeting and missed the recognition of the cross country teams. They had a good year. The Veterans Day activities were also talked about. The board approved the Audit report from last month. This is when I made it to the meeting.
There was a report from the Strategic Planning Committee. They are working hard to come up with recommendations to present the board by the end of the year. They are working on four main goals. Finance being the main goal. We need to maintain sound fiscal practices. Our middle school bond expires next June. The annual bond has been about $250,000 each year. It is hoped that we can address the needs of the district by proposing a supplemental levy for the same amount. That way taxes wouldn't go up.
Some specific needs they have been discussing.
Curriculum. With the new Idaho Core Standards we will need to purchase new and updated curriculum. Curriculum is very expensive and without additional funds it will be hard to buy what's needed.
Technology. This also goes with the new core standards. The students will be required to do a lot more testing and school work on computers. To be able to adequately do the testing and work with the new curriculum we will need to have two computer labs in each building and have one to one devices for the high school. With our budget shortfalls it has been hard to maintain computer labs.
With all the new computers and other technology needs, it is anticipated we will need to hire a second IT staff member.
Facilities. They are looking at the needs for each school. There is a need for heating and cooling upgrades at the elementary. Windows need replaced at the middle school, and flooring at the high school. There are other needs that they are still discussing. I appreciate the work they are doing, and I think when they are done, we can make the case for why we really need to have a supplemental levy.
The Education Foundation reported on their activities. They have provided grants to teachers for $3325.00 so far this year. They have put out a breakdown of where these grants have gone, so I won't detail it here. They have also helped arrange and provide attendance rewards for the students, which has improved our overall attendance, which in turn brings more funds to the district. They have been a great asset to our district.
Mr. Tubbs then provided us with a budget update. This was to show how our funding is matching up with our expenses so far this year. Overall it looks like the administration is doing a good job balancing these accounts.
We then had a detailed report about the soccer program. After completing the two year trial period it is now time to decide if we want it to continue. One of my main concerns at the beginning was how soccer might effect the other sports participation. With the success of the volleyball and cross country teams, it appears soccer had minimal effect. They won two games this year and had good participation. They are working on player development in the off season by encouraging students to join winter clubs, camps and other ideas. They have had good fundraising activities and other outside and parental support. To continue the program the main expense will be for the coaches stipends. It was estimated for it to continue like any other sports program in the district it would cost around $3000 to $3500. I thought with the added benefit to these students, that soccer was well worth supporting. After some more discussion we decided to vote for the continuation of the soccer program.
We then went through several policy updates. Because of multiple conflicts with the date of next months meeting, we voted to move it up to Tuesday December 10th. As always if you have any questions or concerns let me know. Thanks, Brian
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