| Superintendent
answers levy questions
School superintendent Gary Blaz has been getting questions about the school levy and he would like to answer the most frequently asked ones here. What happens if the levy fails? It has been rumored that if the levy fails the board of trustees will eliminate the upcoming process of closing the elementary building for the school year 2011-12. This supplemental levy of $275,000 will impact the school year 2010-11 only. As you recall next year’s budget was short an estimated $600,000. The administrative team and board members trimmed $325,000 from the current budget prior to setting the levy number. If the levy fails the administrative team and the board of trustees will go back to the cutting block and eliminate where they feel necessary. Or, they can cut more and go back to the voters with a reduced levy projection. The projection of closing the elementary building is not connected to this levy. When the district transfers to two buildings it should provide enough savings as to lower the amount of future levies. That is of course if the state’s economy gets healthy and our legislation provides education dollars at the level of two years ago. We have done an admirable job trimming a budget without severely harming programs. Any more cuts could start to eliminate valuable educational programs. Where is the money coming from for the remodeling projects at the high school and the middle school? The rooms in the lower level of the high school are being remodeled to house the 7 & 8th grades for the transition for the fall of 2011. We feel that it is important to keep the older and younger students separated as much as possible. Thus, we are using money from the Craig/ Wyden School – Forest Coalition Funding. As most are aware this is one time money that we have decided to use for one time projects. If we were to use this to fortify our budget it would become a burden to the district when the money runs out. When will we build or add to the middle school building? At the February board meeting it was decided to concentrate on the high school renovation. Next summer we would then move the 7 & 8th grades to the high school and move grades 2 -3-4 to the middle school. The Pre School, kindergarten, & first grade will be housed in the annex building across the street from the current Elementary building. Busses will be used to transport students to the middle school building for lunch. This will allow time for the district to assess the current situation then decide on the next logical move. Please call if you have a question or concerns: wk: 962-3971 hm:962-7110 cell 208-553-8740. |
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