| $208,000
levy override sought
The school board approved asking for an override request of $208,000 from the district voters at the May 20 election at their regular April meeting Monday, April 21. District clerk/treasurer Denise Uhlenkott had estimated the shortfall at $236,000 in March but was able to reduce the amount to $208,000. This is $10,000 more than last year’s override. Also Roy Schumacher and Bill Hill were the only board members to file for their respective trustee positions. If no one files as a write-in by the May 6 deadline they will be declared elected. Middle School roof bids were reviewed but due to the disparity in the amounts superintendent Gary Blaz asked for further research into just what is being bid. With the current tin roof being only 10 years old he feels it’s more of a repair rather than a replacement problem. The three bids received were all from local contractors. Bus shop foreman Dave Remacle recommended to the board letting two of the three 1998 buses out for bids and seeking bids on one new 54-passenger bus. The plan is to get the bus fleet back on a one new bus per year rotation. That way only one bus will be coming off depreciation each year as well. Vikki Riener was approved for hire as the new varsity volleyball coach. She had been the assistant coach the past couple of years. A one year leave of absence was approved for Kindergarten teacher Katy Gilbert. She and her husband are expecting their first child. Several resignation requests were approved. Kathy Riener and Karen Uhlorn have resigned as cooks. Kim Schumacher has resigned from being the summer school coordinator. Daniel Sigler has resigned from the summer maintenance position. Colleen Sonnen has resigned as Prairie League and co-junior class advisor and Sarah Remacle has resigned as co-junior class advisor. Blaz will seek applicants for the positions. Gus Hoene volunteered to be the board representative on the negotiations committee. The school calendar was brought back under discussion when Blaz received the state testing schedule. State testing is to start the day they would have returned from Spring Break on the calendar approved last month. He presented a proposal to move Spring Break back to the end of March and go back to a full week. This would add a couple days to the end of the schedule, extending the last day of school into June. After discussion it was also decided to add an early out for Good Friday and a couple of early outs for parent-teacher conferences-one in November and one in March. Theresa Carter did a presentation on the crisis team’s work. She said they took what was currently in the policy and updated the safety procedures. In administrative reports Rene’ Forsmann reported they had very good attendance at parent-teacher conferences, especially in the 5th and 6th grades. She reported that John Schmidt from Avista did a presentation on avoiding downed power lines and talked about power line voltage. ISAT testing started April 14 and should continue through May 8. She also reported they have had 9 new students since Sept. 6 and are up to 140. Todd Shumway reported that the Wellness Day, reported on in last week’s Chronicle, was a big hit and they may try to do something like that at least once a semester. He reported the donkey basketball was very well attended. The Prom will be this coming Saturday at the Ferdinand gym. Regarding dual enrollment courses, they have English 101 set up for juniors and seniors next year with English 102 set up for the 2009-10 school year. They are also setting up advance biology and geology for next year. ISAT testing started April 14 and has been going very well. Scores are showing much improvement over the fall testing. Blaz reported that Kindergarten screening had 26 children tested. May 8 will be the science fair and scholastic book fair. The Center For Discovery will be providing dinner. They are also having ISATs in the elementary school. The Center For Discovery carnival went very well and they also received notice that the CFD was awarded a grant that will help fund them for the next 5 years. As superintendent had attended a post legislative session in Lewiston. Tom Luna was there and reported on what he’d like to see done. He also reported he is setting up, along with the Chamber of Commerce, an appreciation picnic on May 8th for NICI from noon until 2 p.m. at the Fairgrounds. He was amazed at the help provided to the school district and community by NICI and the cost savings to both and felt some appreciation was in order. The board adjourned to an executive session at 9:10 p.m. The next regular meeting of the board will be Monday, May 19 at 7 p.m. |
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