Superintendent's Back to School Notes
This is our summer issue of the Bluestem Briefings. The dog days are upon us and we are finishing preparations for a new school year. By now every box holder in the district should have received the annual school calendar. If you did not, you may drop by our office at 711 N. West Street in Leon to pick one up.
This issue also contains our annual notice of hearing for the 2010-11 budget. The Great Recession is still affecting the State’s schools and we will be operating with lower budgets than approved last year. This is once again compounded here in Bluestem by continuing declines in enrollment. This past year, the school board authorized budget cuts for 2010-11 that amounted to approximately $425,000. With this budget cutting, you’d think local tax rates would decline, but the condition of the State’s budget has resulted in a shift of taxes away from income and sales (even with the 1% sales tax hike) to property taxes. This is a similar scenario to the last years before the most recent (1992) major change in school finance took place. Two informal public presentations will be provided on Monday, August 2nd and Tuesday the 3rd at 7:00 PM in the district office to illustrate the school district’s budget and to answer questions regarding its development. The formal budget hearing is scheduled for Monday, August 9th at 7:00 PM prior to the regular August Board meeting.
The school district will be embarking on a significant change in delivery model this year, as well. One of our budget cuts involved shortening the school week to four days. Students will still attend school an equivalent number of hours as before during a longer daily school schedule. This strategy should save approximately $100,000 next year and saved two teaching positions.
We are welcoming a new principal and assistant principal to Bluestem High school this year. Joel Lovesee, will assume the duties of principal for both the middle and high school and Brian Minks will be his assistant and activities director for both levels. The district cut 1.5 administrative positions as part of this year’s budget cuts.
We have new staff this year at the elementary and high school. Anna Noble will be our new K-8 Counselor, Becky Henry returns to Bluestem as a 5th and 6th grade science teacher, Claire Koops and Andrea Menousek will take over the band and vocal programs at the middle and high school, and Phil Swindler will be teaching science at the high school. With these changes, the district will still be operating with 3.5 fewer teachers than last school year.
The face of public education seems to be in the infancy of a significant shift. Virtual education tools, shrinking budgets, and higher public performance expectations are forcing educators around the world to rethink delivery models and systems. We will be evaluating our processes this year, as well, with the help of the Center for Innovative School Leadership from Emporia State University. The Center will conduct local surveys and on-site visits to identify strengths and areas for improvement. We are continuing to strive for improved public understanding and support for the mission of the school system and encourage dialogue, whether face to face, on the phone, or via email and the web (www.usd205.com) . We encourage our stakeholders to get involved and take part in the development of our most valuable resources…children!
