Sept. 20, 2010 School Board Meeting

Elmwood School Board reviews 2010-11 Budget


Submitted by citizen journalist Rick A. Talford


Elmwood, WI - Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 the Elmwood School Board met for their monthly meeting. In Public Input, I spoke to the board, to let them know how two of their recent graduates were doing. Brandon Bauer completed and graduated from Basic Combat Training in North Carolina earlier this month, then went ahead to AIT, and Timothy Talford graduated late last month from training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Timothy has went onto AIT in Maryland, were he set a new record for their two mile run. He continues to be an active runner, with the hopes of joining the Army running team and trying out for the Olympics.

In the Administrative Report, the board heard from Dave Smith, a member of the Maintenance Dept. at the school. He explained a couple areas they are looking to get repairs done next summer. The asbestos removal in the Elementary area is one of the biggest concerns. There are two rooms approx. 30x30, as well as a 10x20 hallway and a storage area. They received a bid for repair work to be done. This would replace the tile, remove the asbestos, and place carpet in the Kindergarten classroom. The only bid received for the work was close to $15,000.00. This was simply to get an idea of the cost. He then spoke about the Elementary bathrooms that are in need of updating. To do any work, they need to bring the bathrooms up to ADA requirements, and make them handicapped accessible. The work would include replacing all the plumbing, sinks, toilets, and urinals. They would also need to replace the entry doors to the bathrooms with three foot doors. This would then leave the bathrooms fully automated. The cost would be near $40,000.00. Again this was a cost estimate for the future work. Next, Dave told the board of some roof leaking in the new gym. The sky lights and roof drain areas seem to be the problem spots. He explained how the rock would be removed and a vinyl style roofing would be used to replace it. The cost would be near $40,000.00. This would make it the same as the old gym roof, that has a 25 year warranty. There is also a change he would like to make to the lawn mowing service the school receives. He stated the cost is high, and he feels the Maintenance Dept. could keep up with the mowing for much less. He is going to look into this a bit more and return to the board with the information. Concluding his report, he told the board of some repair work being done in the upstairs bathrooms, and the upcoming need for the lights on the football field to get repairs done. Board Member Paul Peterson then told Dave, he felt the grounds keeping in front of the school was needing better attention.

New Principal Jennifer Alwin then gave her first report to the board. She started by explaining her visit to Elk Mound School for the In-Service earlier this month. DR. Rich Allen gave a presentation to everyone on his book “Green light in the classroom”. One of the areas covered was teaching memory skills. She then went on to speaking of the Sept. 7 assembly with the students and Carl “the energizer” Olson who gave three presentations throughout the day. Jennifer then told the board how she requested and received feedback from all the teachers on what their current activities were with the students. “The student handbooks had just been received today, and all the students need to have them signed and returned by Friday. The MAP testing will begin tomorrow, for the next three days,” she added. Finishing up, she gave the numbers for each of the fall sports going on, and stated a few changes to the upcoming Homecoming from Sept. 27 thru Oct. 2. The King and Queen are already known, so they will provide that information next Monday. There will be a Volleyball game on Thursday, without a pep fest. There will be a pep fest for the students during the day Friday, then the parade and watermelon feed. The Community pep fest will be Friday evening. Saturday will be the football game and dance. There will also be dress up days all week. She then Thanked the Board for being hired, and said “she believed she has found a home.” Gabe Weix then questioned the cost of the handbooks, stating he was confused on the needs for them. He was told they cost between three and four dollars, and they are used for the kids to keep track of homework and other activities. Gabe then spoke of his feelings that they are not a worthy cost for the school. He was then told that the athletic code was part of the handbook in which all the students then sign they have read and know the rules. The books get used for many different reasons, all of which are to help the students, as well as a communication tool for parents and teachers.

Superintendent Paul Blanford then began his administrative report. He spoke of a foreign exchange student from Russia, that will be with the school district for the entire year. She is doing well, and has very good English. Paul then went into explaining the changes they have made to the schedule for the Elementary students, providing them with Reading, Math, and Science in the morning for better learning. Their lunch hour has changed from one hour, to forty five minutes. And the day has been extended six minutes to work everything together. This now makes the school compliant with the DPI standards. The playground space has been completed, with the fence being moved so the kids have a grassy area to play. He told the board how “bullying” was a topic covered by Carl Olson in his presentation. He finished by stating the new Special Ed bus is in use already, with the old one being ready for sale.

In Action Items, the board reviewed the 2010-11 Budget. Paul went through a very long explanation of the budget, covering everything very well to the board. The student count for Sept. was 323. Going through all the numbers and using the 16.7 mil rate, the school district will have a tax levy of 4.2%, which is down from 10.7% last year. One of the biggest areas of savings was covered by a Fund 38 pay off. This will save the district $160,000.00 over nine years, in interest alone. There will be a Public Hearing on the Budget next Monday evening at 7 pm. The next area covered was for the Automated Lunch Accounting System Policy. The policy has been reviewed to help the district not have so many delinquent accounts. There will be a 1st notice sent home when the account reaches twenty dollars delinquent. It was agreed that this change should help keep the accounts in good standings. The need to purchase a Route Bus was then discussed. The budget had already set aside $80,000.00 for a new route bus, and Paul has been in touch with a dealer that is willing to give a discount on a 2012 Bluebird. The 59 passenger bus would then be delivered in December, costing the district $78,658.00. The bus has a height of 74”, which will fit into the bus garage. He then explained how they should keep a rotation every two years, to keep the buses in good condition. This would lead to having each bus exchanged after 16 years in service, by the district.

The Information Items were then covered. The Building and Grounds Update had already been provided by Dave Smith earlier in the meeting. Next up, was the Life Track Post Graduate Survey. This was information received by Paul Blanford that he felt could be used as a positive feedback source for the school district. He then ran a presentation program off his computer for everyone to watch. This is a program created to get Graduates follow up after they leave high school. This is intended to provide the district with a sense of accountability, PR relations, and a measure of their effectiveness. The students would provide a survey prior to leaving high school. Then, over five years, they would be contacted another five times to give information back to the district on how they are doing, and how they feel the school helped them in their current situations. Gabe Weix questioned the need for, and the cost of the program. Paul explained the cost for the entire process would be $12.75 per student that is signed up. All the surveys are compiled, with the results and surveys being returned to the district. The response to this was not all that great by half of the board. Finishing up with the information items, the need to get the committees meeting on a regular basis. The Policy Committee needs to get together and provide a “Bullying “ policy for the district. In the past, the committees have only met when needed. Paul feels that they should be meeting regularly to keep everything up to date. The Policy Committee will meet on Oct. 18th at 6 pm. The Support Staff will meet on Oct. 6th at 6 pm. The Board then went into closed session to cover Support Staff Contracts, and Non-Union Contracts.


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Rick Talford- Writer and Blog Publisher