September 2022

Building Project

Our building is beautiful! We have quite a few finishing details to work out yet, but the internal remodeling to create more classroom space is simply amazing. We are working on a date for a community open house this fall, so please watch for an announcement. The music rooms and auditorium are still a few months off, but the much needed classrooms are complete.

Enrollment

The additional space is just in time. Our enrollment numbers have grown a great deal. We’ll have an official enrollment report for you in October, but if you’ve heard talk of growing enrollment, it is true.

It’s natural that there may be questions about our capacity and our maximum enrollment. You may recall that our facility project was based upon a projection of 75 students per grade, which would equate to a total enrollment of approximately 1,000 students. While enrollment grew significantly, we are not to this level.

Everyone has their own opinion of the ideal school size. Seventy-five students per grade would allow us to maintain three sections for each grade level and maintain our one building small school environment. To maintain this vision for enrollment, our school board and administration will begin working on establishing policies to cap open enrollment.

Special Election - September 13

It is time to ask our community to renew an important funding source that we call PPEL, or the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. The upcoming election will ask for a renewal of the levy at the same tax rate, $1.34, for ten (10) years. No changes to the allowable uses are being proposed.

The Alburnett district uses PPEL funding in three categories - technology, transportation, and facility needs. For technology, the district updates one-third of the student computers each year and one-third of the staff computers each year. We also do periodic updates to hardware such as servers, switches, and access points. For transportation, we have been able to gradually improve our fleet with the purchase of one new bus and one new support vehicle each year. While we still have a somewhat aged fleet, the annual purchase with PPEL funds has yielded five new buses and four new support vehicles since 2019. For facilities, expenditures vary depending on needed repairs and maintenance.

Please contact me directly at dtrimble@alburnettcsd.org if you have any questions about the upcoming elections. Your participation in this or any other election is important.

SIAC

Are you looking for a way to get more involved? Consider being part of the School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC). The purpose of this committee is to study timely topics related to the ever-evolving delivery of education at Alburnett. SIAC will meet twice this year. Meetings will be held from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. on Monday, October 24 and Monday, March 13. If you are interested in being considered for this committee, email dtrimble@alburnettcsd.org by September 15.