E-S Board reacts to referendum results

Head Start program on its way out at Strum

 by Beth Kraft With the passage of a $700,000-per year referendum to help the Eleva-Strum School District make ends meet for the next two years, the E-S School Board and administrators now have a clearer direction for budget planning for 2015-16 and beyond.At the Board’s regular monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 10, Board president Lois Havenor thanked school administrators and other staff who helped make the district’s operational referendum a success.Question 1 on the ballot allowing the E-S schools to exceed revenue caps by a total of $1.4 million over two years passed with 60 percent of the vote during the Nov. 4 general election.However, despite the referendum’s passage, the Board acknowledged the district will still need to make some minor budget reductions to balance the books. School administrators and supervisors plan to zero in on some specific reductions soon.A close vote on the district’s advisory referendum question to take gauge the public’s take on a centralized K-12 school site also had the Board talking that evening.Fifty-one percent of district residents voted ‘no’ on Question 2, indicating they are in favor of retaining three separate school sites in Eleva, Strum and at Central going forward.In light of the split results, Board members agreed to revisit the question after the district’s 1998 building debt is paid off when local taxes are forecast to drop.Also that night, the Board discussed a recent notice from Western Dairyland informing the district of its intentions to discontinue the Head Start program at Strum Primary at the end of the school year.According to the notice received from Western Dairyland, the organization reasoned that most school districts are operating their own 4K programs resulting in fewer children enrolled in Head Start. Lower student numbers has resulted in reduced federal funding for the program, forcing Western Dairyland to reduce its offerings.Currently, Head Start provides the district with an early childhood special education teacher, full-time 4K teacher, a 4K aide, kitchen help, and busing help.The school board will consider how to replace those positions in the coming months. Administrators shared that the district has enjoyed a successful collaboration with the Western Dairyland Head Start program and they are sad to see it come to a close.The Board was also updated on the status of hiring a new school nurse and IMC director.According to superintendent Craig Semingson, the interviewing team did not yet have a recommendation for hiring a replacement for current school nurse Kathy Thomas, who will be retiring at the end of the calendar year.The Board did approve hiring Margaret (Meg) Nord for the open IMC director position. However, Semingson was unsure if Nord, who was the only applicant for the position, would take it if offered. He promised to keep the Board updated.In other business that night, the Board approved the following:• hire Gary Schmidt for bus driver• bid for snow plowing at E-S Central awarded to Doug’s Trucking and Excavating• resignation for Martin Walter, seventh grade boys basketball coach• Josh Skoug to replace Chad Hanson as C-Club Advisor

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