December 11th, 2014 School Board Meeting

Missing last months board meeting makes it seem like a long time since I wrote a blog. Before I get into this months meeting I have one matter of old business to mention. When we extended the spud harvest break the question came up about how much it would cost the district to potentially have twenty kids miss two days of school during our counting weeks. It took a while to find out the answer, but worse case scenario the answer given to me is $12,000. This amount is a lot more than I thought it would be. This number is variable depending on a lot of things, but it will be good to know this for future considerations when it looks like a lot of kids might be absent from school. This is why we don't hold school on fair day. Too many kids would be out and it would cost us a lot.

The meeting started out with the recognition of the fall sports. The volleyball team won district and was second at state. They also won the sportsmanship award. The girls cross country team finished fifth at state and the boys  ninth. The football team had a 5-4 record and made it to state, and the soccer team qualified for districts for the first time. Overall they all did very well. 

Carla Reeves resigned from coaching volleyball. She did very well, and will be missed. Two of the senior volleyball players did so well they received scholarships to play volleyball in college. Thanks for all your efforts Mrs. Reeves. 

Sherlyn Petersen resigned from teaching. Two half time teachers are teaching her classes until a new teacher can be hired, which should be pretty soon. 

Reports were then given about the state convention by Paul and Casey. They learned a lot and enjoyed the meeting. 

We then had a long discussion about potentially starting a boys soccer team. Since I missed last months meeting it took me awhile to get up to speed on what was discussed last month. Roger Harrison the AD, presented some information. He said there were twelve unpaid coaching positions. He went through the list. The middle school coaches and several assistant high school coaches are unpaid. The C team high school coaches aren't paid. Several of these positions used to be paid positions, but when we were forced to make big funding cuts this changed. Mr. Harrison also mentioned that ten of the girls soccer team are seniors. Because of this, there is a concern if there will be enough girls to field a team for next year. So far they only have about eleven girls interested in soccer for next year. This isn't enough and jeopardizes the continuation of girls soccer. If the girls program can't continue, it makes it harder to justify boys soccer. With both teams costs can be shared, like bussing. A student presented his ideas about a boys team. There were several interested boys to last months meeting, but just him this time. He says there are around sixteen boys interested in soccer. He had ideas about a coach. If we decide to start a boys team I think they would be required to sustain a program without costing very much to the school for two years, just like when we started the girls team. Questions I deal with, are there really enough boys to sustain all the fall sports teams? Would it be similar to the girls, once the initial support group of boys graduate, would there be enough other boys to follow? One of the reasons we started girls soccer was to improve title nine issues. Last year we had 159 boys in all sports combined. The girls with soccer only had 108. If we loose girls soccer and start boys soccer, this really gets out of balance. We talked about this issue at the board meeting. Other concerns I have is all the coaches unpaid now, that I already mentioned. The cost estimate was $3,000 to fund boys soccer, once the district would potentially start paying for it. I don't  think this number includes the coaching stipend. Would it be better to work on restoring coaching stipends first? What about other school programs that are underfunded, some of which are core classes. I hear about things like the science department having fundraisers to buy needed supplies, for example. There were concerns about how the boys could raise the money to self fund. The boys need to show they have enough parent support with fundraisers in mind to better show we should consider this. There are other options for some of these boys to play soccer through clubs or maybe joining other schools teams, like a couple girls did before we started their program. We will need to decide if we should go forward with a boys program by next month, to get game scheduling worked out in time. 

During public comment a concern was brought up about how many games the cheerleaders can cheer at. Mr. Tubbs addressed their concern. They only cheer at home games, some district games, and state playoff games. This has been the policy for a long time. Because of many factors this is unlikely to change, at least very much. 

Because of girls basketball conflicts, next months board meeting was changes to January 14th. 

Other than going over policies this was pretty much all that was talked about. As always if you have questions or concerns let me know. If you have thoughts about soccer let me know. This is one of those issues that no matter what we do not all will be happy. Thanks, Brian

October 9th, 2014 School Board Meeting

Sorry I didn't write a blog last month. I was very busy and there wasn't much business to talk about. A couple things from last month. Bart Cook was presented a lifetime Idaho High School Activities Association pass. After 12 years of board service a board member qualifies for this pass. Bart has served 17 years, so they are a little slow presenting this to him. Thank you Bart for all your years of service to our district. 

Mr. Kunz asked to get permission to send out a bid for a new bus. The old one being retired is 17 years old and has 160,000 miles. It will be auctioned when we get the new bus next summer. 

The new bus lane was discussed. The curb and gutter has been put in. There is still some landscaping to do, but it sure looks better. Next year the plan is to lower the roadway between the high school and berm. Repave the roadway, and repair and replace the sidewalk, and put a curb in on the other side. Hopefully the next phase can start early next year. 

Well onto this months meeting. 

The first thing was the annual audit report by Morgan Hatt. The annual budget year ended June 30. Our total district revenue from all sources was $4,997,645. $4,027,443 from the state, $514,884 federal, $314,753 property taxes, and $120,565 other local revenue. I can't remember what other revenues are. The total revenue amount was $7000 more than last year. Total expenditures were $4,900,765, for a net revenue gain of $76,880. 

We had 754 enrolled last year and spent $6,500 per student. State average was $6,659. Mr. Hatt thought for a district of our size we did very well. He said smaller schools usually spend more per student. For example he said Rockland spends about $11,000 per student. Large schools much less. 

Our fund balance increased $53,382. This was the first increase in many years. Our total contingency fund balance ended up at $836,144. Mr Hatt also indicated this was very good compared to other school districts. With our revenue down $564,000 this past year compared to 2010, the chart only went back this far, it is remarkable that we still have a good balance in our contingency. Thanks to all our staff who manage the budget. Now with the support of the community in voting for our supplemental levy, we will be able to do some much needed updates, and still maintain a responsible amount in our contingency. 

We had 41.57 units of students. Our M&O budget per unit was raised just under $300 per unit from the year before. I asked if our attendance had improved this past year with the efforts mostly through the Education Foundation to reward perfect attendance. He said we went up from 96% in 2013 to 98% last year. I'm not sure how much this helped our funding, but better attendance does help. We received $13,419 in facility maintenance money from the state. This is the first time in many years we received  money for this use. There was also $15,173 from the state lottery. We were told the past few years the lottery money was just put into the overall state education fund, so we didn't know just how much we received. For whatever reason this year they separated it again. We have $821,871 in our non student occupied fund, which is where the money comes from for the bus lane project. We have $203,343 in our student occupied fund, which we used a couple years ago to buy the high school bleachers. 

Last year we had a $28,060 budget surplus in our school lunch budget. This year thanks to the new federal nutrition standards we ended up with a $9,793 deficit. The added cost of the required food really adds up. We were told we are losing about .30 for every meal we serve. The government reimburses us $2.95 for free and reduced lunches which has helped fund the difference between what meals cost and what we charge, but with the higher food costs and less participation we are going in the hole. In 2009 our free meal participation was 68%, now it's 61%. Only 50% of the kids that qualify for reduced price lunches are eating it. Overall this past year only 53% of our district students ate school lunch. The lunch service personnel spend a lot of time doing required paperwork, they didn't used to have to do. It will be interesting to see if the standards will get changed much going forward. The waste and how unbending the new standards are is sure messed up.

The district was given thirty five computers and some chairs from the FBI office out of Pocatello. Lisa Trent was instrumental in acquiring this equipment for our district. So thanks to her for her efforts. They will be distributed to several rooms in the district. Trying to put them all together drew to much amperage and the elementary breakers couldn't handle it. Next year we will get some new computers which will use less power and should work okay in the planed elementary computer lab.

The high school participated in a detailed survey to determine how many kids worked during spud harvest, and what they did. Out of about 250 kids 217 filled out the survey. 51 kids worked in the potato harvest. 116 other kids worked during harvest, doing many different things. There may have been a few more kids still working Wednesday when this survey was done. There were 4 kids who worked 13 days, 4 who worked 14 days and 1 worked 16 days, all the rest worked less days. I was surprised to see how many kids that worked during the harvest doing other things. Some spent a lot of time babysitting which could have been related to harvest. They did a simple survey in the middle school. 23 middle school students worked in the potato harvest. We have a lot of ambitious kids in our district. 

I asked during public comment how many students we have enrolled this year. Mr. Tubbs didn't have this information, but would soon update the board. Another suggestion was for us to put up a sign by the main road to indicate where the football field is. We thought this would be a good idea. Just a thought, maybe this could be a good eagle project for someone. 

This meeting had as poor attendance as you could have at a meeting. Three board members, Mr. Tubbs, the board secretary and business manager, and two reporters. Bart came after we adjourned for an executive session, he was still helping in the potato harvest.  Well this ended up very long, but I hope I provided valuable information. The board is going to walk through the buildings and receive training from ISBA on October 22. If you have questions or comments let me know. Thanks, Brian.

Letter to Editor, Thoughts About Leadership Premiums

After reading about the teacher Leadership Premium program presentation in the Blackfoot school district, I felt a need to comment. As a Firth school board member, we reviewed this program a couple months ago. We decided on a much different plan. We as a board, supported a plan that would provide the potential for all teachers to receive an equal share of these funds, as long as they meet the qualifications and requirements presented by our administration.   As I understand it, the state gives $850 per unit or teacher for this plan. The only way a teacher can make more than $850 is if other teachers receive none of this money. So essentially the districts are left with the decision of who can qualify for the funds and who can't, and that didn't seem fair. With teacher pay so flat in recent years, it didn't seem right to develop a plan that would benefit one teacher over another, or offer no potential for some teachers to receive this bonus. It would be harder to have teachers in positions where they couldn't qualify for these funds. I believe almost all teachers are doing their best to educate their students, so deserve to be rewarded for their efforts.

Why does the state Department of Education , with the support of the Legislature, feel compelled to keep coming up with these potentially divisive programs? If they were so good, why do they change the name and criteria every year? I am all for paying our teachers more money, but I believe it would be better to raise the overall pay scale instead of funding merit programs. My son gave up teaching recently. He taught for six years with only a token amount more pay in the final year of his employment than when he started. He couldn't support his family the way he wanted, and chose to further his education and enter a different profession.

I worry that unless Idaho chooses to step up and improve teacher pay, we won't entice college students into the teaching profession, and will continue to lose some of our best teachers to other states where they pay a higher wage.

August 14th, 2014 School Board Meeting

I am late again this month writing my blog. There has been a lot going on. This was however another month with a short agenda, and very few in attendance. 

The meeting started with the resignation of Stewart Portela as the track coach, and the hiring of Jason Chatterton as a Maintenance Man. 

We were then given an update of the summer maintenance projects. There has been a lot of painting in all the schools. Paint can make things look a lot better. There also has been a lot of work putting in new computer and phone wiring. Barb has really helped getting our technology improvements in place. All the gym floors were resurfaced. Rockymountain Power is doing a review to see if we qualify for new lighting in the middle school. It sure would be nice to get better lighting, like the other buildings. One of the main things completed is the removal of the carpet in the high school hallway and the polishing of the cement. It looks much different, but will be much easier to maintain. Having polished cement floors in school hallways is very common now. The cold weather entry at the elementary is on hold, not sure when it will get done. The parking and bus lane improvements between the high school and seminary building are progressing, just not as fast I would like. Hopefully the major work can get done during spud harvest. 

We talked over having board training and if anyone wants to go to the school board convention in Boise. The legislature last session included more funding for board training. We decided to start with strategic planning and have a trainer come to us. I can't attend the convention and I'm not sure if anyone else will go. 

We were given a copy of each schools handbooks and talked about the Superintendent evaluation schedule.

We then had a lengthy discussion about possibly moving back spud harvest one week. A local farmer requested we do this. He depends on help from high school kids and his spuds won't be ready to harvest in time for our first week break. He said there were eight spud farmers in the district, something I didn't know. I think all the farmers had been contacted and  some take longer than the two weeks, some only one week, but the scheduled harvest break didn't appear to be a problem for anyone else.  I hope he can work out his schedule, but to me it wasn't a good idea to change the break just for him. It was estimated about thirty kids work in the harvest. I was concerned about family vacations that may be planned for the same time. Yes we need to accommodate farmers, but changing our traditional harvest break especially after the calendar is set, would likely cause more problems than it would solve. I for one have taken my family on vacations to Disneyland during the harvest break in years past. It's a good time to go to places like this because of cooler weather and less people, and many vacations are planned a long time into the future. I later heard from someone that has a family vacation planned for harvest break and is glad we didn't change it.  I stated at this point the only reason I think we would change harvest break is if we get a lot of rain so the harvest is held up. 

This is pretty much all that was talked about. I hope this wet weather soon changes so our harvest season can get back on track. As always if you have questions or concerns let me know. Thanks, Brian

July 10, 2014 School Board Meeting

I'm sorry this has taken so long to write. I have been out of town a lot and have been very busy. It was a very short meeting without much business. About the first thing was the re-election of the same board officers. Casey as chairman, me as vice chairman, and April as treasurer. 

About the only business was a discussion about the flex program. I had requested an update about how it went. I had heard of some concerns with the program. Dave Mecham gave a report highlighting fewer missing assignments, and fewer F's and loss credits. This program helped with credit recovery. The students needing assistance were able to get help easier. There is also some areas that need improved. There needs to be more variety of activities for the students to participate in. Some teachers also need to support the program better. Some kids were not able to get all the help they needed, at least toward the end of the year. Overall I think it has been a successful program, but like any new program improvements can be made to make it work better. 

We then went into executive session to discuss personnel.

One more update. I was asked by the board to work with Mr. Tubbs to decide what to do with the area between the high school and seminary building. The basic plan we came up with is to remove the rest of the trees and put a curb ten feet wide with a dirt berm between the curbs. New trees and grass would then be planted. The plan is progressing and hopefully by spud harvest the work can be done. I think this will look much better and provide the bus lane security we need.

 

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know. Thank you, Brian

June 12th, 2014 School Board Meeting

Well this marks the start of the fourth year I have written this blog. Never thought I would do something like this. I've written 57 blogs and have had over 7,400 page views.

Before I get into the board meeting I want to provide more correct information about the athletic programs I last posted about. Jeff Gee sent me more updated  information. The track revenue from student fees was $5,440 not the $1,200 I stated last time. The track expenses were about $3,652 for a net of about $1,788. The expenses of softball and baseball were about $900 more each,  because the referee costs were not figured before. The travel cost for softball was higher too, because the state travel cost wasn't figured in either. Overall, our net loss on athletics was about $18,400. None of the coaching stipends are counted. Also not counted anywhere, is all the fundraising each organization does to help buy equipment and pay for other non district funded expenses. We did get reimbursed over $8,000 from the state to help cover some of our travels. For competitions that generate a gate profit at state, we get a share of the profit. For example, we received $3,947 from football. This included two playoff games in Boise.

Since I brought this up first, I will report on our discussion about the possible fee increase. After  reviewing this idea extensively, the administration recommended, at least for one more year, that we not raise the fees. They still might require the students to pay for the hotel costs, or at least some of it. The administration has some ideas of how to save money with the travel. 

Well,  more about the meeting. Our spring sports teams were recognized for their accomplishments. The baseball team finished 3rd at district. I know they had some injuries that hurt the team. The boys track won district and I think finished 7th at state. The girls won the softball district championship, and won their first state playoff game. The girls won district in every sport this year except soccer.  According to Mr. Gee, he thought the girls track team had won district for the 18th year in a row. Amazing. They got second at state by .5 point. Thanks to all our great coaches and community support. Firth high was awarded Exemplary Status by IHSSA. Firth finished third behind Declo and Soda Springs. This is based on number of championships in both athletics and academics. 

Julie Cederberg presented the budget for next year. She said for the first time in several years, she was able to project a balanced budget. She thanked the community for supporting our Supplemental Levy. Without these funds, Julie wouldn't have been able to balance the budget. The state increased some of our funding but it was mostly dedicated for specific  purposes without district discretion. She projected a starting and ending balance of $782,762. This is about $100,000 more than was projected in last years budget. We agreed to pay the  insurance cost increase for the teachers, but no additional pay raise. We approved the budget as presented and thanked Julie for her hard work and management of our district budget.

Liz Killpack presented a report from the Education Foundation. She summarized their funding and what they spent the money on. They gave out $7,594 in teacher grants. They gave $4,160 for solicited donations, most of which went to the elementary library. They made $2,900 from fundraising at Barnes and Nobel, and the Halloween Carnival dinner. They also made $10,126 from their donation drive, and another $450 from the fair scone booth. They also managed the Lyons and Killpack scholarships, and provided attendance awards for the kids. They have plans to better align with our district's Strategic Plan, and continue to support our district where they can. They have been a great asset to our district.  

We approved the Leadership Premium Program. We supported a plan by the administration that provides an opportunity for all certified staff to receive $850 if they meet certain defined requirements.  The state wants districts to limit who is eligible to receive a share of these funds. We just didn't feel like that was a good idea. If a teacher doesn't do what is required, they won't receive any money, and their share will be divided among the rest of the teachers. 

We were informed that Stephanie Jones, who worked in the high school office, resigned to go work for the Shelley school district. She has done a great job and will be hard to replace. We also approved the new teacher contracts. Tamara Jolley as a first grade teacher, and Katy Killpack as a second grade teacher. Deborah Richards as a high school math teacher and Blake Chapman as a maintenance man. 

We discussed the plan for facilities and maintenance. I had inquired about doing more than what the district had originally planned to do. I asked about putting a cold weather entryway  at the main elementary school entrance. Some kids arrive at the school before the doors are unlocked. With an enclosed entry, the kids could get out of the cold better. This should also save some heating costs. I suggested  we go ahead and get this done, and the other board members agreed. Mr. Tubbs estimated from prior cost inquiries, that it would cost $8,000 to $10,000. I thought this could come out of our Non-Student  Occupied Fund, but was told it would need to come out of the Occupied Fund. We have a lot more in the non student fund but still have plenty to cover the cost under the occupied fund. I asked about putting in more playground equipment at the elementary. They plan on replacing the basketball hoops which are bent. They are going to do a little more to improve the playground, but not much more equipment. It is very expensive to put new equipment in with all the safety requirements. I need to look more into what we now have and ideas of want can be done in the future. I would like to see more done, but it will probably take time to get it done.

The bus lane at the high school was also talked about. The blocks provided the security necessary, but more needs done. We were too slow figuring this out last year to do more than the blocks. I hope we aren't in the same situation this year. Because of a possible conflict of interest Casey can't be involved in this decision. I am going to meet with Mr. Tubbs Monday morning to further our plans for this project. The rest of the trees need removed and probably a berm with a curb and new trees need put in. More and better lighting will also be installed. 

During public comment I requested an update on the Flex program for our next meeting. I have heard some concerns about this program, and think we should review it to determine what might need changed to improve the overall program. If you have any suggestions let me know.

We reviewed some policies and adjourned. We were done about 9:30, sooner than I thought we would. This is also the first meeting for me not having my daughter in school. I enjoyed graduation and being able to give my daughter her diploma, and one of her scholarships. It's going to be a change for my wife and I not to have any kids in school. We do have 11 grandkids with two more on the way, so we have a lot to look forward to watching our grandkids grow.

Well thanks to those who take the time to read my blog. I hope you find it informative. If you have any concerns or comments, let

Athletic Program Revenue and Expenses

Athletic Revenue and Expense Update

I mixed up some numbers on my last blog that I would like to correct. I also have more information to share. I said football netted $2,000 and basketball $6,000. I stated them basically backwards. I asked Mr. Gee for a correct accounting of the athletic programs. The final numbers on track and softball are estimates, since they don't have all the bills in yet.

               2013-2014 Revenues vs Expenses
           Revenue          Expense         Difference
FB       14,179.09        8,917.20         5,261.89
VB         5,188.46        9,984.44        (4,795.98)
XC         3,254.00        1,752,49         1,501.52
SOC      1,125.00         3,738.70       (2,613.70)
WRT      1,954.36         8,598.82       (6,644.46)
GBB    13,856.51        13,809.87             46.64
BBB    17,134.75        15,126.19         2,008.56
SFTB     1,000.00          1,680.00           (680.00)
BASE     1,700.00          2,430.00           (730.00)
TRK       1,200.00           2,502.02        (1,302.02)
CHEER  1,200.00           3,921.86        (2,721.86)

Total net loss on athletics $10,669.41

This explains why the district is asking for an increase in fees and for the athletes to pay for their own hotel rooms. I don't think this accounts for all the fundraising teams have to do for equipment and other costs. One football helmet costs $250. Wrestling has entrance fees to pay for tournaments and doesn't receive much revenue. Basketball's gross revenue is high from gate receipts, but expenses are high partly because they travel a lot more. Football expenses are lower in relation to revenue than basketball, mainly because they don't travel as much. I appreciate all those who volunteer a lot of their time to support our teams. I also appreciate all our coaches who put in so much work with little or no pay. I know we have had a supply of good hard working athletes, but it requires an equally hard working dedicated group of coaches to maximize the kids talents. Thanks to all our coaches. It was a truly amazing year for our school athletic programs.

May 8, 2014 School Board Meeting

This board meeting ended up being a long one with a lot of information. So I will get right to it. The first thing was to recognize the students that went to the state FCCLA competition. Eight students went to state. Three presentations received top gold, or first place. Six of the kids qualified for nationals. Only my daughter Celeste chose to go and compete in San Antonio this summer. They did real well and provided a lot of service to many with their projects. Mrs. Anthony also received the FCCLA advisor of the year award. 

Brent Malcolm is retiring at the end of the month. He has worked for the district for 33 years. He was presented a plaque by Mr. Tubbs thanking  him for all his years of service. We also accepted the resignation of Mrs. Stegelmeier. She accepted a position teaching at Ucon Elementary close to where she lives. Good luck to her. 

We then had a discussion about the budget. The administrators still don't have all the information yet from the state. The annual budget hearing will be next month. About 90% of our district budget goes to salaries and benefits. Most of the teachers will get a small  raise from the state of about $400, not much of a pay raise. The Supplemental Levy funds are dedicated to specific uses and will have a separate designation in the budget. Most of the new money has strings attached, we will have little or no say with how these funds are spent. It bothers me how it seems the state is taking more control over every aspect of our budget and operations.

We talked about how to spend some of the Student Occupied and Non Student Occupied Funds. As I've said before we are required to put money into these funds each year, and they can only be used for basically inside or outside improvement projects. The Student Occupied Fund is what we used to buy the high school bleachers, for example. By the end of the budget year we will have about $700,000 in our Non Student Occupied Fund. A healthy sum. I wish we could draw some  for other uses, but can't. It was recommended we spend about $36,000. Proposing $22,000 to further improve the bus lane and parking between the high school and seminary building. $10,000 for a new backstop for the high school  baseball field. $2,000 for some concrete work around the middle school play ground. $2,000 for more wood chips for the playground at the elementary. After going over these proposals, I questioned if there were other needs we could address with these funds. I also tried to find out about how much we put into these funds every year, and Mr. Tubbs wasn't sure. I think it's 2% of the replacement costs of the buildings, but I don't know what that amount is. He will let us know more about this later.  I asked for a wish list of improvements. With as large as this budget is, I think we should consider doing more things if the needs are justified. I suggested more and better lighting in the high school parking lot. It was also mentioned how there is no real lighting between the high school and seminary building. I didn't think about it at the time, but we have talked about putting in cold weather entries at the elementary. I think we could use these funds for this if the board supports it. I think the elementary could use a major facelift, with some new windows, and doing something about the old siding.

The Student Occupied Fund  has about $180,000 in it. They are proposing a budget expenditure of $25,750. The major portion of this money, $14,000 will be used to remove the carpet in the hallway of the high school, and to buff the concrete. It would look like the Ag shop, if you have seen it. This is a common way to finish floors in buildings now. Carpet just doesn't hold up in hallways. We talked a little about doing something similar in at least part of the middle school, but no decision was made. There may be some classrooms that will get new carpet too. Other items were painting and upgrading the phone systems in all buildings. They also want to buy some more desks and chairs for the elementary. I asked if all projects had to be planned out with the budget figured out for them before the budget is approved. I was told no. The budget for these funds are for these purposes, so we can decide anytime to spend out of them if we need to. 

Other budget items, that are mostly dedicated to specific things are; $1,000 for the 8 in 6 Program. $9,200 for content and curriculum. $35,000 for leadership premiums. $6,500 to add to the levy money for math and science. $30,000 for professional development. Some of this might be used to send  teachers to a training conference. $2,000 for strategic planning. $6,225 for safe schools, this  can be used for the dare program, security cameras, and better door security. 

There is also a proposal for $34,350 to spend on technology in addition to the levy money. And finally $25,000 out of the general fund for supplies and other miscellaneous uses. 

We then had a lengthy discussion about the calendar for next year. There was some talk of going to school after Memorial Day, which I have been against. There was also some talk of starting a couple days earlier to give the teachers more time with the students. It was said how good it is to have as many days as possible early in the year for students taking AP classes.  The AP tests are around the middle of May so extending the school year after Memorial Day wouldn't benefit these students.  In the end, we approved a similar schedule as this year. We will start August 18th and end before Memorial Day. We will have school the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas, which is on Thursday. In 2016 Memorial Day is later in the month, and the dates will be easier to manage.

We talked about the Leadership Premium plan for this year. The state has had some type of Pay for Performance Plan each year recently, but every year they change the name and rules for how we use these funds. The state really doesn't want us to set up a performance plan that all teachers can qualify for. But  how do we as a board determine who qualifies for these funds and who doesn't. It was pointed out some teachers wouldn't want to teach certain subjects or classes if they couldn't qualify for extra pay. Mr. Tubbs said the state has threatened to end these programs if districts don't use the funds the way they want us to. The management team developed two plans, the plan we accepted is each teacher can receive an equal share of the money which is $850. Every teacher will have to accept a committee leadership position and accomplish certain things to receive the money. If, for some reason a teacher doesn't qualify for the money, the balance will be divided among those who do. The state won't like it, but it does meet their mandated requirements. Unlike last year we can only give it to the certified teachers.

We discussed the Differentiated Pay Plan we had for this school year, same type program as I described above, just different name and rules. Basically, the students took pre and post tests. 80% of the students needed to achieve at least a 10% growth. There was more to it than this, but everyone will get a share of the funds as we set it up last year at this time. 

We were presented a report about the recent SBAk testing, I'm not sure if I got the abbreviation right. It is a test of the test for common core. There was a lot of concern about several aspects of the testing. The length of the testing was a problem. It took at least two and a half hours for most kids. Some kids knew it didn't count for anything this year, so they just skimmed through it. The teachers giving the test couldn't say anything or look at the questions during the testing. Questions could be asked afterwords. One concern has been how there might be a too liberal slant to the questions, or questions about moral issues our community wouldn't like. Mr. Jolley didn't think from what  he was told that this was a problem. I think one of the biggest problems with this is the lack of feedback we will get. They don't seem to want us to know how we can change or focus our teaching, so the kids will learn what is needed to score well on the tests. It also makes it hard to gage overall performance of our schools. I think  essentially we will go three years between real testing results. I asked how many students ended up not taking the test because of these concerns. Four in the elementary, five in the middle school, and two in the high school were held out of the testing by their parents. I know there are threats to the school funding if we don't get most of the kids to take the test in the future, another strong arm state tactic to get us to comply with what they want. I guess we will see what happens going forward or if anything changes.

We then had a discussion about raising the participation fees for the athletic programs. We have had outstanding success with our programs this year. Five out of six girls sports teams won the district tournaments, and three out of six boys teams won. I think that's right. So we sent a lot of kids to state, which costs a lot of money.  When we had to make cutbacks a few years ago, we decided then that the athletic programs should be as self sufficient as possible. Before this weekend's tournaments, the district has spent $12,000 just for hotel rooms. The state average transportation cost for busing is $3.63 per mile. Firth's cost is $3.15. There has been some questions if taking an extra bus,  that isn't used for regular bus routes,  would be cheaper to use. Mr. Tubbs said he didn't think it made any difference, but he would find out more from Mr. Kunz the bus foreman. As far as net revenue from gate admissions, the boys basketball program brought in $6,000, the football program made $2,000 and I think he said the girls basketball made $62. The proposal going forward is to raise the student fee per sport from $100 to $110, and to require the athletes to pay for their own hotel rooms at state. They anticipate this added revenue to make up the deficient that we have had over the last three years. The middle school fees would go up $10 per sport. There is concern about how this will effect the kids. We don't like the idea of kids not being able to participate because of the added cost. Some ideas were talked about how to help those that really need it. This increase in fees will be presented next month as part of our budget hearing. One other fee increase presented is to increase the drivers education class from $75 to $125. 

The senior sneak was approved for next Tuesday to Lagoon, and my daughter going to FCCLA nationals was also approved. There was some policy readings and approvals. We then went into executive session to discuss personnel and labor negotiations. 

Well I hope you made it to the end of this blog. As I said there was a lot of information. I hope some find it valuable. It took me a long time to write it too. I appreciated those in attendance who stayed to the end. I didn't get home until 12:30 that night. I look forward to giving my daughter her diploma next week. It will be different not having any kids in school anymore. As always if you have any questions or concerns let me know. If you have ideas of facility improvements you think we should consider, let me know that too. 

Thanks, Brian

School Board Meeting April 10, 2014

I'm sorry this is so late getting written, I've been very busy. One thing I want to say since I didn't  write a blog last month is thank you to those who supported our Supplemental Levy. It isn't easy to ask for you to pay more in taxes to support our schools. It's disappointing that the state funding support leaves us no choice but to ask for local support. At least taxes won't go up. These funds will help us stay in sound financial shape. Hopefully the state will come through with some meaningful funding increases in the next couple years. But I'm not going to hold my breath counting on it.

We started out honoring the Mock Trial participants. They did very well and had a good time doing it. 

Two resignations were announced. Brett Malcolm is retiring after many years as a district maintenance worker and electrician. He kept a lot of things going for a long time. Rebecca Thayne is also leaving to move with her husband to Alaska. 

We then went into a discussion about the upcoming budget. Mr. Tubbs just received some information two days before the meeting. Mr. Tubbs and Julie didn't know all the details yet. Since it is early and not all the details are known I won't go into it very much yet. The main point I got out of it was. The state has a way of making it look like the funding is better, but not much has really changed. Every point of potential funding increase Mr. Tubbs would say, this has many strings attached. In other words we are told pretty much exactly how all the money will be spent with very little discretion. 

Teacher minimum pay was increased from $31,000 to $31,750. Not much difference. I don't think any other level of pay was increased. They did come up with what they are calling this year Leadership Awards. Similar to Pay For Performance in the past. The total money we will get will be about $850 per teaching unit, or FTE. But like the supposed budget increase they clamped down on our discretion for how we can distribute these funds. We are not allowed to give any of this money to non certified teachers. We can't simply divide up these funds as long as teachers achieve a certain level of improvement in their classroom, kind of how we did it last year. We are supposed to reward only leadership. The administration team with input from the teachers will come up with a recommendation to the board in how they think we should set up the awards for these funds. But ultimately the board will have to decide what to do. I worry this process could be contentious. Someone who surely deserves a share of these funds will be left out.   

We then went over policy updates. Many of the updates were about Superintendent and Principal evaluations. Last year with some outside committee help we developed a new Superintendent evaluation, which I thought was done pretty good and worked well. Now the state wants us to make changes more how they want us to do them. The principal evaluation policy is very long and more detailed than before. After going over this Bart expressed his frustration saying something like thanking the legislature for making life miserable for the district to comply with their requirements, and added, you can print that in the paper, which they did. He questioned if we are required to adopt the recommendations from the state. Mr. Tubbs said it might cause a problem at some point if we don't comply. Since it was the first reading we will discuss it further next month. We then went over the second reading on some policies without anymore comment, and voted to adopt them.

We then went into executive session to discuss personnel issues.

As I have said in past years, I believe there is too much top down management of our schools. It is very frustrating how it seems the Department of Education and the legislature have little trust in how we educate the kids or spend money in the district, or even how we feed the kids. I forgot to mention we had to approve a new wellness policy around the school lunch program. For those who think as a board member we have a lot of control over these issues, we don't. 

I know many of our legislators are trying to do their best for the kids, but I think far to many just follow along with the party leadership or the Education Department's wishes. I feel like I can say this because I see this same attitude on the national dairy board I serve on. Some board members are intimidated by leadership and don't dare stand up and say anything against what they want. Believe me when I say I am not one who does this. I always speak up and state what I think, which at times has got me in hot water, but I haven't conformed to their wishes. But I have also learned I am heard because many of the 100 board members support me, even if they don't always express it, so they pay attention to what I say, and even though I am only one person I have made a difference. If or when the day comes that I feel like I no longer make a difference that will be when I quit serving on the school or dairy boards I'm on. I might also add that I struggle with fibromyalgia and numerous side effects from this condition. I have dealt with this for many years.  For those familiar with this, life can be a challenge some days. I guess I'd like to think that being involved in so many things helps me to force myself to keep going and make the most of the energy I can muster. I hope I have made a difference on the school board, and will do my best to continue trying to make a difference. 

I'm sorry this ended up so long and I got on my soap box so much. I also didn't mean to bore you with my personal experiences or problems the way I did. Thank you, and as always if there is anything you would like to talk to me about or comments you might have let me know. Brian

February 12th, 2014 School Board Meeting

I'm sorry this is so late getting written. I have been very busy. The agenda was pretty short with the anticipation of a lengthy discussion about the proposed levy. Which didn't happen. 

Casey reviewed our evaluation of the Superintendent we did last month. We all thought he is doing a good job considering the demands we place on him. Hopefully the time will come where he won't have to be the elementary  principal  in addition to his superintendent responsibilities. We voted to extend his contract another year. So he has a three year contract, which is common for superintendents.

Mr. Tubbs provided us with a budget update. In every category it appears as if we are on track with our budget projections. 

Casey and Mr. Tubbs then presented a power point about the levy. I think they will have it posted to the school website if you wish to look at it. I wrote about it a couple months ago, so I won't go into the details again. After the power point Casey opened it up for questions. I made a couple extra points. It has been brought up that we have over $700,000 in our contingency fund, so why are we asking for more money. The Auditor recommended we maintain a contingency to cover three months of our operating expenses. This amount is only two months. It was also pointed out Aberdeen only has about a $100,000 contingency. They are about the same size as we are. I said they depend on continually passing a $600,000 annual supplemental levy. This seems pretty risky to me. Since we haven't had a supplemental to fall back on like they do, we have really needed to maintain as much in our contingency as possible. So we haven't spent money on some things that we really need. Our projected budget will spend about $150,000 of our contingency. So even with the levy it will still be hard to maintain our contingency without more state funding. We have no way of knowing what the state will do, but in recent history they haven't restored much funding back to us. I believe it was said two thirds of the states school districts depend on supplemental levies. We don't have plans to continue a levy after this two year levy. But if the state doesn't fund us better going forward, we might need to ask for another one in the future. I think the levy will help a lot toward catching us up on much needed curriculum and technology. There was some questions about our curriculum plans. Our history books go back to President Clinton's first term. 

There was some discussion about the elementary. Like how much longer it would last and if we felt like it was worth spending so much to update the heating and cooling system. Other than some cosmetic issues it's very sound. I think it will last a long time. I said we would like to keep improving it. I for example would like to see us put in cold weather entries especially in the front to help keep the cold out and provide a place for kids to go into if the building isn't opened yet when they come. The building is 51 years old, but the only area we have had roof leaks is on the end that was built in 1991. I also pointed out another reason districts build new buildings is because of being overcrowded. We have several extra classrooms so that isn't an issue either. I honestly think it will last at least another twenty years, and probably longer. I have heard of some people wanting us to consider plans to replace it. I wouldn't support any plan to build a new building. 

We then approved our school closure for cold weather. Our seniors would have a hard time missing anymore class time. If we have anymore closures they might need to come in on a Friday. 

We then went into executive session to discuss the Principal evaluations.

If you have any questions or comments please let me know. I really think we need this supplemental levy. It won't raise taxes, and will help us comply with the common core requirements and testing needs. It will also greatly improve the elementary heating and cooling. Computers and kids would really like bing kept cooler when it's hot outside.  Thanks, Brian