Posted: 3/1/05
Board doesnít budge on fifth grade class reduction
School board member Mike Novak made a pitch to not reduce next yearís fifth grade class from three sections to two at last weekís school board meeting.
The board voted to 5-1 to make that change in January as part of a budget reduction plan. Novak voted against. it.
ìItís a one-year anomaly,î he said at the February 23 meeting. ìItís not forever. And weíre getting new money.î
Having 30-32 students per fifth grade classroom, as will likely be the case next year, does not reflect the philosophy of the school district, Novak said.
He made a motion to approve the 2004-2005 budget and to include rescinding the elimination of a fifth grade section. His motion did not receive a second.
Board member Chuck Schulte answered that the board doesnít know the final state budget and canít assume it will get a two percent aid increase, as superintendent Mike Moriarty had reported earlier in the meeting. Schulte said he remembers long, arduous meetings with the public when the district was in statutory operating debt. ìI would be nervous about assuming weíre going to get any money out of the state,î Schulte said.
Barb Hurley said the board needs to let Moriarty come up with ways to cut the budget.
At the end of the discussion, a motion to approve the revised 2004-2005 budget was unanimously approved.
Nancy Peter, a parent who was in the audience, also asked the board to keep the fifth grade issue in mind.
Governorís proposal
Moriarty said that the governorís K-12 budget is calling for a two percent formula increase the first year, which would bring in between $90,000 and $105,000. The second year could bring a 4.8 percent increase, with part of that coming from a local levy. There may be a change in the weighting formula, he said, but none of this is certain.
Moriarty also said that Senator Bob Kierlin of District 14 supports funding for all-day, every-day kindergarten. The state currently pays for only half of that. ISD #299 offers all-day, every-day kindergarten, so this change would help the district a lot, Moriarty said.
Caledonia Argus
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