Sean C. Morgan
The District 55 School Board is reviewing four new goals for possible adoption at its meeting in December.
The board received draft copies of the goals for 2003-04 during its regular meeting this month.
“The board had a retreat in September,” Supt. Larry Horton said. “During that retreat, they developed four goals.”
The goals include the following:
Curriculum area: The board desires to bring back teachers, support staff and programs as additional money becomes available.
Facilities: The board desires to increase the long-term maintenance fund to $30,000 in the 2003-04 school year should additional funds become available. It is hoped that the fund can be raised to $50,000 during the 2004-05 school year. This fund will be used as a special maintenance fund to cover costs of regular maintenance of district facilities. The goal would be to maintain this fund even when funding shortfalls exist.
School Board: The board must work with administration, staff and community to develop a clear course of action to address the future of Holley and Crawfordsville schools. This plan must be ready and in place by the end of the school year.
Students: Community service will be a part of every Sweet Home School District student’s educational program.
Curriculum
“If indeed we get more money, we want to bring back staff, we want to bring back programs,” Supt. Horton said. Staff and programs include those cut over the years, not just last year as funding shortfalls increased.
Among those programs are the computer-aided drafting program cut three years ago. Also in mind are elementary music programs.
“I could keep going,” Supt. Horton said. There are many programs and positions the district would like to see restored.
“If funding holds at the $5.2 billion funding level, it would be a goal of the board to try and bring back some programs and positions,” Supt. Horton said. Some positions might not be restored though because of declining enrollment.
At the same time, the idea would be to try to keep class sizes small, he said.
Facilities
During the district’s successful bond campaign, “when board members were meeting with the public and talking about the facilities needs, they were questioned pretty regularly about why haven’t these things been maintained along the way,” Supt. Horton said. “It’s hard to do that unless you have some long-term maintenance fund.”
No matter how much day-to-day maintenance is done, schools still need to replace old pipes, boilers and other equipment.
With the bond came new equipment and facilities, and the board would like to “try and stay ahead on our maintenance projects so we can extend the life of the facilities,” Supt. Horton said. The district has $5,000 budgeted for this year. Last year, it didn’t have a long-term maintenance fund at all.
Under this goal, the board would appropriate $25,000 more for maintenance this year if total state funding levels come in at $5.2 billion. The current budget was created on a figure of $4.8 billion statewide.
School Board
“What’s the future of Holley and Crawfordsville, and even though they didn’t say it, Pleasant Valley,” Supt. Horton said.
The district decided against a proposal to reorganize Holley and Crawfordsville schools last year following meetings with parents and staff at those schools. During the discussion, information showed the per-student cost of operating the small, outlying schools are higher than the larger schools in town.
Under the goal, the district will establish a long-term facilities committee that will consider what to do with all of the district’s schools.
“I think there is a need to go beyond Holley and Crawfordsville,” Supt. Horton said. “That’s part of it, but the bigger picture is what are we going to do with the elementary schools in this district.”
The buildings themselves are 40 to 60 years old; and one, Pleasant Valley, is empty, though part of the building is being leased.
“With 60-year-old buildings, what do we do 10 years from now when they’re 70 years old?” Supt. Horton asked. The bond is helping the district upgrade those buildings, hopefully giving them a useful life of 15 to 20 more years.
By that point, the district will still be paying off the bond that funded the improvements.
Supt. Horton hopes annual maintenance funding will help extend the life of the buildings as well, but “somewhere along the line, the useful life of the school is going to run out.”
“I know the board is concerned about the costs of running the smaller schools,” Supt. Horton said. This is the short-term interest of the goal. The board decided to look the issue again for next year.
“Planning ahead, I think, is what the board wants me to do,” Supt. Horton said. “I think we have to look at how we’re doing business. It’s my responsibility to look not just at Holley and Crawfordsville. I have to look at Oak Heights, Hawthorne and Foster.”
Students
“What I got from the board is they wanted to see all students in the school district working on projects that will benefit others,” Supt. Horton said. “Others potentially being their schools, their classrooms, the community, the state, the world.
“It’s my belief that the board wants to see kids involved in projects that will focus on areas that will give value to the community.”
Already, students in the district are involved in a tremendous amount of community service, especially high school students. On Make a Difference Day, five of seven schools had organized community service projects.
“My experience is it’s a very positive thing for the community and positive for the high school kids to help others.”
Their work ranges from coaching sports teams of younger students to painting buildings and working with senior citizens.
“I think it gives them a sense of self-worth as they do good for other people,” Supt. Horton said. “I am pleasantly amazed at the number of hours and the number of people surrounding the concept of volunteerism in this community. I think that’s what makes it a special place to live.”
Administrators and teachers will work on a proposal for the board’s consideration in April.