Posted: 9/27/05
Board certifies levy limit
More discussion on fifth grade class
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
The Caledonia School Board approved the 2005-06 levy limitation and certification at $1,813,295.80 on September 19.
The amount is about $49,000 more than last year, superintendent Michael Moriarty said. Taxpayers may see a ìvery minuteî increase in taxes, he said.
Taxes could even go down, board member Chuck Schulte added.
The district will not hold a truth in taxation meeting. The increase is less than what is required to trigger a meeting, and few people attend them. Board chairman Charlie Wray encouraged anyone who has concerns with the levy or their taxes to attend the next regular meeting on October 17 at 7 p.m. in the elementary school cafeteria.
A final levy will be set in December.
Fifth grade discussion
In the public comment section of the meeting, parent Nancy Peter said she is disappointed with the way the fifth grade class is set up. She invited people to go to the two classrooms when there are more than 30 kids present in each room. ìI feel for those two teachers,î Peter said, referring to Trina Scanlan and Dorothy Pettit. ìI just question why they couldnít have been moved to bigger classrooms,î she said.
Peter said the board had listed having three sections of fifth grade as a top priority. ìI just donít think it got top priority,î she said.
The class has three sections of language, math, science, and social studies, then two sections of physical education and music starting at 2:05 p.m., elementary school principal Connie Hesse responded. There are about 50 minutes that students are in the two classrooms, and only about 25 minutes of two full sections, since keyboarding class is split into two different locations during that time, Hesse said.
You still need 30-some desks in each classroom, Peter answered. ìThose teachers have their desks right on top of each other,î she said. ìWe couldnít be sitting that close to each other all day ourselves.î
Board member Mike Novak, who has consistently lobbied for three full fifth grade sections, made that pitch again during Peterís comments. He said the district has the money and the room for it. ìItís a one-year anomaly,î he said.
Hesse said she would do some brainstorming with the staff to see what could be done about the space issue in the rooms.
Personnel items
The board approved several hirings and resignations.
Tricia Troge was hired as the middle/high school special education and middle school assurance of mastery math teacher at $30,216.
Mitch Mullins was hired as the junior high girls basketball coach at $1,633. He replaces Merle Hanson, who resigned.
Josh Diersen was hired as the head boys basketball coach at $3,004.
Larry Thompson was approved as a long-term substitute high school math teacher for Amy Wild during a medical leave at a daily rate of $163.33.
The board also granted a maternity leave request for cook Becky Carmack to begin around February 21.
Other business
Here are some of the other highlights of the meeting, which lasted 2-1/2 hours.
ï Enrollment: Moriarty distributed a sheet giving enrollment figures. This year there are 870 students, which is down 13 from the end of last year. He is projecting 838 for next year and 795 for 2007-08.
There have been several transfers into the district through open enrollment, Most of these are students who are looking for more classes than what their old district offered, Moriarty said.
Board member Barb Hurley said she was glad to hear that because it was a goal of the district about three years ago to improve curriculum.
ï Fifth grade math scores: After board members looked at the 2004-05 System Accountability Report, Schulte said he noticed a five year trend in fifth grade math scores being below state average.
Hesse said that new math texts will help, and the schoolís Main Street Academy can be used too. Middle school teachers have been informed who the students who need help are so that they can be targeted there, she added. ìItís something weíll continue to monitor,î she said.
ï Student planners: Novak asked if student planners, which are like assignment notebooks, were required at the middle/high school. Moriarty said yes. Novak then asked if parents were being asked to pay for them, Moriarty answered yes, but that the district will look into changing that policy down the road.
Novak then reiterated a point he made at the August board meeting that if the planners are that important as to be required, the school district should pay for them the same as it does for textbooks.
There is a stigma on parents who canít afford the planners, Novak said. ìThose that canít [pay for them] feel it,î he said.
Moriarty told The Argus on September 21 that the planners cost the school district $5.21 each, and that the school asks for a $2 donation from each student. The difference is paid for from funds from a ìPizza Peteî fundraiser. The district ends up paying for some studentsí planners, Moriarty added.
ï Open campus: High school principal Ron Helmers said that the school has an open campus at lunch for seniors this year. The students who signed up for it and received parental permission have two days of open campus the first semester, three days the third term, and five days the last term.
The guidelines state that seniors who sign up must maintain excellent attendance and behavioral records. If students have more than three violations of any kind per semester, their privilege will be revoked. There are other restrictions as well.
Helmers told the board that the program will be discontinued if there are too many problems.
ï Amended budget: Novak said he would like to see an amended budget. Last year the district spent $60,000-$70,000 more than it budgeted because of negotiations, he said. That ended up shorting out programs and staff, Novak said. There was no response to his request.
ï Merit pay: Schulte asked if administrators had looked at merit pay. Moriarty said the education association hadnít requested it. The district would need to levy $70 per student to receive $226 per student in state aid to implement merit pay, Moriarty said. Mentoring staff would need to be added, which would be like adding another layer of administrators, he said. He saw merit pay used when he worked at the Rushford-Peterson School District. Merit pay helped the district financially, but not the students, Moriarty felt.
ï Promote the band: Schulte also said the four period day is hard on the band program. He asked if there were ways to promote or enhance the band.
Building a good program from the middle school to the high school is the key, Moriarty responded. He feels staff members are in place to do a good job, and the quality of instruction is good.
Helmers added that schedules have to be done so kids who want to be in band and choir can do so. ìItís a scheduling thing,î he said. ìWeíll work on it really hard next year.î
Board member Mary Frank was absent from the meeting.
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