Caledonia Argus

Funding secured for after school program

Posted: 7/8/03

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

The After School Program at Caledonia Elementary will be funded through state dollars in 2003-2004, Principal Connie Hesse told the ISD #299 school board on June 30.

The future of the program was called into doubt this spring, when Governor Tim Pawlenty indicated that Targeted Services dollars, which provided funding for at-risk students, would be eliminated as of July 1. The After School Program in Caledonia served 100 at-risk students in 2002-2003, and Targeted Services dollars constituted three fourths of the programís funding.

But ìPawlenty had a change of heart,î Hesse said, and he decided that at-risk students in grades 1-5 are eligible for 187 hours of state-funded programming in addition to that which they receive during the regular school day.

The 187-hour allotment, Hesse said, will be divided between the After School Program and an extended year program, Summer Success. The After School Program will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the school year, for a total running time of 110 hours. Summer Success will be held 12 days in August, for a total of 60 hours. 170 total hours of additional programming will be available to each at-risk student.

The After School Program is open to all students, not just at-risk kids. Since Targeted Services dollars can be used only for at-risk students, a grant was secured from the Houston County Collaborative in past years, to allow for other students to be in the program. About a quarter of the programís funding last year came from the Collaborative grant.

In March, Pawlenty eliminated the Collaborative grant, so Hesse sought alternate means of keeping the program open to all students. PACE, the schoolís parents organization, intends to hold a ìPizza Peteî fundraiser to foot the costs not covered by Targeted Services dollars.

Principal negotiations finalized

The school board approved principal salaries for 2003-2004 at its June 30 meeting. Elementary principal/curriculum development coordinator Connie Hesse, who was salaried at $69,280 in 2002-03, will receive $70,665.60 in 2003-04. Brian Doty will be salaried at $72,000 as the middle school principal, special education coordinator, and work experience coordinator in 2003-04. As high school principal in 2002-03, Dotyís salary was $81,500. 2003-04 high school principal Cory Klabundeís salary was set at $76,000.

The 2003-04 salaries were set after talks between the principals and the Administrations Negotiations Committee, consisting of school board members Suzanne Roesler, Barb Hurley, and Naomi Fruechte.

New volleyball coach at CHS

In other news, the board accepted the resignation of Chris Miron as head volleyball coach at Caledonia High School, and hired Scott Koepke for the position. Koepke is a second grade teacher at Caledonia Elementary.

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