run deficits that will exceed ….
run deficits that will exceed $808,000 by 2025-26. The future of the school district would be in jeopardy.
A tax rate projection if the referendum is approved is as follows:
_ 2021-22, $10.53.
_ 2022-23, $10.49.
_ 2023-24, $10.48.
_ 2024-25, $7.89.
_ 2025-26, $9.07.
An alternate tax rate projection should the referendum not pass is as follows:
_ 2021-22, $9.62.
_ 2022-23, $8.56.
_ 2023-24, $8.51.
_ 2024-24, $5.49.
_ 2025-26, $6.73.
Board members approved putting the referendum question on the ballot without much discussion.
Board member Gary Lewis asked about a timeline for promised capital improvements if the referendum were to pass.
District bookkeeper Morgan Mueller said care was taken to make sure the projects could be paid for with the referendum, but that they will be phased in over a course of years. School district administrator Dr. Cari Guden said that she and Mueller, along with board members, would give referendum presentations to community organizations and municipal boards.
Board members talked about the district paying for informational items, including lawn signs, to get the word out about the referendum.
In either school district business:
_ Food service director Rebecca Larson reported that she serves between 400 and 440 lunches each day and between 210 and 250 breakfasts. She said breakfast meals were up. Students, she said, are able to grab breakfast meals right out of the kitchen to eat in classrooms.
Larson said that the food service staff has adjusted to the challenges posed by COVID-19. “There’s nothing we can’t face,” she said.
The director said the food service program ran a fifth annual food drive and were able to donate Christmas meals and snacks to a dozen needy Edgar families.
Principal Tom McCarty said high school and middle school students will eat lunch separately, but in only two cohorts with six feet social distancing
_ District bookkeeper Morgan Mueller said the district was benefitting budget-wise from a mild winter and relatively low bus fuel prices. She noted the district has spent approximately $60,000 of the $87,000 received from the federal CARES Act.
_ It was reported the district has 13 students who have opted for virtual education during the COVID-19 pandemic, including five at the middle school and seven at the high school. High school principal McCarty said he has 10 high schoolers and five middle school students who struggle to be engaged with virtual learning and, in a second semester, school rules will be tightened to hold students more accountable for learning during virtual education.
Board member Corey Mueller appreciated this change. “A clear, concise set of rules is not a bad thing,” he said.
_ Administrator Guden reported on fall sports participation: 18 girls and two boys in cross country; 25 girls in volleyball; and 50 boys in football.
_ It was reported high school teacher Kris Federwitz will teach a careers unit over a CESA webinar.
_ McCarty reported that high school resource hour, shifted to the end of the school day, will be moved to a different time because of scheduling issues with staff split between the high school and middle school.
_ Board members approved advisor positions, including Emily Timm, fall musical director; Andrew Diestelhorst and Amanda Albrecht, technical director; and Tina Higgins, Ski Club.
_ The board approved spring sport coaches. They are: baseball, Connor Handrick, head coach; Mitch Mueller, varsity assistant coach; Shawn Bunkelman, junior varsity coach; Brian Halvorson and Jeremy Apfelbeck, middle school coaches; softball, Angela Totzke, head coach; Kelsey Boeger, middle school coach; track: Greg Streit, head coach; Andrew Lukasko, Dennis Webb, Andi English and Nathan Dahl, assistant coaches.
_ Board members hired two custodians, Paige Manderfield and Josh Kroening. A fifth grade intern, Caitlyn Kolehouse, was hired.
_ The board scheduled teacher inservice workdays on Monday, Jan. 25; Friday, Feb. 26, Wednesday, April 28, and Wednesday, May 19.
