January

State of the Schools January 2020

Jim Kent, Superintendent

Positive comment

During the monthly positive comment section of the board meeting, members of the board offered the following positive comments about our district:

Toby Marlin - Mrs. Ronne on the elementary music concerts. They were very good, the length of the program was perfect and all of the students were involved.

Jason Frederick - The boys basketball team helped set up for the home wrestling meet on Friday. He noted that our students and groups help each other out in these situations all the time.

Nick Ladenburger - Teachers at Stratton Elementary take the time to put personal comments on report cards.

Steve Guernsey - Welcomed Ms. Knutson, the new Vocational Agriculture instructor and FFA sponsor and Mr. Zweygardt who is student teaching in the district and thanked them for coming.

Brad Baney - Thanked the bus drivers for getting the kids to school and back safely every day and to all the activities and events as well.

Sandy Noffsinger - Thanked Jody Crouse and Crissy Latta in the office at the high school for all their help

Shad Stamm - Complimented the players and fans on their sportsmanship during basketball season.

Craig Kerchal - Complimented the players on their behavior and it's impact on the fans.

Band Uniforms

The board authorized the purchase of 40 new band uniforms. The company we have been working with sent a mock up of the uniform for the board to view. It has been quite a while since our students had new band uniforms.

Teacher negotiations

In a process that began in October, the board approved the newly negotiated contract with the teachers association. I would like to say that both groups did an excellent job of focusing on the issues before us and working on solutions to those issues. The two big issues being how we pay in comparison to

like schools, and continuing to attracting and retain good teachers to our school as our existing staff leaves.

With the potential for many of our staff to leave in the next few years, the best way to continue to attract good new teachers here is twofold. The first is to create a base salary that gets their attention. Secondly, we need to get them here to see our great communities and school and to meet our current students and teachers

The board and teachers negotiated a two-year package that includes a major overhaul of the salary schedule. That change in the schedule allowed a very large increase in the base salary while keeping the total cost to the district in the normal range. This agreement raises the base salary by $2150 (4%) in year one and $2400 (3.9%) in year two. The year two base change may be changed if the insurance rates vary outside a 4-6% range.

The board and teachers are to be congratulated for recognizing the issues and being aggressive an addressing them. Our students came our winners in this agreement!

Finances

The district continues to be in good shape financially. Our bank balances are good and our general trend is positive.

Board officers

The board conducted the annual officer elections at the January meeting. The following members were elected:

President: Brad Baney

Vice President: Jason Frederick

Secretary: Toby Marlin

Treasurer: Nick Ladenburger

Congratulations to each of you and good luck. I would also like to take a moment to thank the outgoing officers: Kent Lorens, Sandy Noffsinger and Shad Stamm for their service to the district as board officers. We know your record of service and professionalism as members of the board will continue.

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