by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
A preliminary levy that includes an overall 2-percent increase from last year was approved by the Sartell-St. Stephen School Board at its Sept. 18 meeting.
Director of Business Services Steve Wruck provided some background information with regard to the levy and noted the requirements by the state seem to change almost daily, and that is why the motion to certify is for the maximum levy.
Superintendent Jeff Schwiebert explained certifying the proposed levy as “maximum” for 2017 payable in 2018 would eliminate the need to re-certify the levy for Minnesota Department of Education changes later on and allows the county auditor to use the revised levy-limitation report.
The general levy will see a 2-percent increase from the 2016-17 levy as part of changes by the state in the per-pupil-aid formula. The 2017 levy will give the district $6,188 to work with compared to $6,067 at the end of 2016. The 2018- 19 numbers will see another 2-percent increase to $6,312. The general-levy funds are used for operational purposes and should not be confused with non-operational building funds dedicated to the building of the new high school.
In addition to the funds provided through the state per-pupil formula, there are other provided funds provided specific to each school district. Those funds primarily try to equalize monetary disparities between wealthy school districts and poorer school districts. The guiding principle is no child should receive less of an education because geographic location places him or her in a less-wealthy school district.
Those funds include items such as extended time, gifted and talented, declining enrollment, small schools, basic skills, secondary sparsity, elementary sparsity, transportation sparsity, operating capital, equity, pension adjustment, transition, referendum and local optional funding. Sartell qualifies for some but not all of these special state-funding mechanisms.
“We are looking at a 2-percent increase overall, so that is pretty much the revenue we are picking up in a year’s time-frame,” Wruck said. “They (the state) are reducing levies in some areas and increasing in others.”
Sale of property
A second action item was the approval of the call for bids on the sale of 42 acres of property the district holds in St. Stephen. The property is being surveyed, and the hope is to have bids before the November board meeting so the matter can be dispensed with at that time.
Personnel omnibus
The third action item approved was a Personnel Omnibus Resolution dealing with the hiring of personnel within the district.
In other business, the board heard reports from student representative Nicholas Juntunen, who told the board the start of school was a success. A back-to-school dance drew some 500 students after the football game. Homecoming is scheduled for the week of Oct. 2.
Schwiebert confirmed the start of school was a good one with the new air-conditioning units installed in several schools working well. He also relayed information dealing with ongoing negotiations with the city about Champion Field. A sort of swap of dirt from the new high school building site for use of Champion Field might soon be negotiated. Schwiebert also commended Joe’s Excavating for the quick, efficient way in which the work on 27th Street was handled. Because of that, there was little problem with the opening of the schools in the area.
Schwiebert also commented on the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training. There have been some big changes Schwiebert noted. The Sartell Police Department is taking a major role in training and implementing parts of this program. The goal behind it, Schwiebert explained, is to get the students to react in as prepared and calm a manner as they now do when a fire drill takes place.
Schwiebert also gave the board an update on student enrollment, which is up.
The board also heard a report on the construction work on the new high school. Things are moving forward and a major review of the building process is slated to be done in the next week to ensure all parts of the plan are implemented correctly. The board was also shown a short video taken by drone of the site and work that’s ongoing at the site.
Finally, the board listened to a school-by-school review of the 2017-18 Sartell-St. Stephen Continuous Improvement goals. Kay Nelson, assistant superintendent; Marie Pangerl, executive assistant to superintendent/district assessment coordinator; and building principals Kip Lynk, Sara Nelson, Kurt Stumpf and Brenda Steve all presented a prepared commentary on what they hope to achieve in the areas of reading, mathematics, and social and emotional growth.
The report documented not only the goals but data used to support the choice of a goal, and the action steps teachers and staff would be taking to reach the goal. Ways of measuring and assessing whether the goals are reached was also a topic of discussion.
