Lake Holcombe School Board; Budget balance is met, thanks to referendum
By Ginna Young
In looking ahead to the annual budget meeting at the end of October, the Lake Holcombe School Board discussed how numbers look, at a regular meeting Sept. 28.
“We closed out the last fiscal year in good shape,” said superintendent Kurt Lindau, “put some money into the fund balance and also a significant amount of money into Fund 46 (capital improvements).”
Lindau said it’s been an interesting year, as the state budget didn’t “do much” for the district, since Lake Holcombe is property rich, so a reduction occurs every year with state aid.
“We didn’t get any additional funding out of the state budget,” said Lindau.
Lindau said Lake Holcombe did get more high cost transportation aid and a small increase in special education funding. District accountant Lisa Spletter mentioned that without the three-year referendum approved by taxpayers, which grants levying above the state amount, the district wouldn’t have a balanced budget.
“And you wouldn’t be offering course offerings that you are offering, to provide a more rich experience to students,” said Lindau.
Lindau said since the start of the 2021-22 school year, for the most part, Lake Holcombe has retained students and attracted some more.
So far, since the start of school this fall, four cases of COVID- 19 have been recorded and the second grade had to be quarantined. There also have been number of others quarantined, because of close contact with family members who tested positive for COVID-19.
“I believe our plan, our strategy, was, barring we had a severe outbreak, was to keep school open and to keep having business as usual, as much as possible,” said Lindau when asking for approval of the LH Forward plan.
Chippewa County said they would do the contact tracing for the school, but that it would take at least a week to notify people of an exposure, so the district decided to do it on their own.
As of the board meeting, there were 16 active cases in the school district. Lindau said he is not recommending any other changes to the plan, which are of course, subject to change.
Board member Jamie Tester Morfoot asked if masks will be worn on school buses until further notice, after the CDC said it would be indefinite, and Lindau said that is correct.
Brian Guthman, board president, said it’s also a matter of the risk of getting sued or insurance penalties.
“It is mandated to wear them on a bus, no matter where you’re going,” he said.
The board agreed to the plan, with the understanding if cases increase, they could hold a special meeting to amend the plan.
“We’ll just continue to monitor and if anything changes significantly, we’ll bring it back to the table,” said Lindau.
Members also approved the resignation of maintenance/ custodian Matt Schroeder; kitchen assistant Joy Ducommun; and co-middle school girls basketball coach JD Kirkman. They also agreed on the hire of maintenance/custodian Elaine Cornell; and kitchen assistant Kaitlyn Sigmund-Kozial.
The board also accepted $240.65, from Eastbay Lodge, for the music department, and $200, for the football program; school supplies from the Emerging Leaders of the United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley; $20, from Jennifer Moore, to the after-school program; $200, from Greg Mitchell, to the after-school program; $300, from the American Transmission Company to Kent Dorney for trees; $500, from the Lake Holcombe Lions Club, for weight room improvements, $350, to Jeff Milas, for a mini-grant, and $150 to Dorney, for a mini-grant; and $100, from Bruce Anderson, to the football program.
As a reminder, the annual budget meeting is set for Monday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m., followed by the regular meeting.
