NORTH CRAWFORD - The North Crawford school board met on Wednesday, June 21 to discuss summer school, funding, and district plans for the coming school year.

Around 15 people attended the meeting. Some arrived early to survey the progress of the building renovations at North Crawford.

The group congregated in a meeting room and began with a proof of publication and a roll call.

Superintendent Brandon Munson discussed the summer school program at North Crawford.

 “Other than enrichment classes, strengthening and conditioning, and other programs, we’ve got some unique events happening.  For example, the Spanish Club headed to Costa Rica during the summer and we were able to pay the staff chaperones for their time there.”

Some students are participating in other unique activities such as tractor certification classes during the summer.

“We’re trying to get creative and fold as much as we can under that summer school umbrella, because in the end it not only provides opportunities for kids, but it’s also helping the district with our Full Time Equivalent (FTE) amounts,” Munson emphasized.

Munson explained that an FTE projection couldn’t be made at present for this year. He referenced last year’s FTE of seven, adding that this year funding would amount to around $11,000 per student.

As Munson described, tracking student time during the summer is a bit more complicated than during the regular school year.

“There’s a whole different summer school formula… students are tracked individually based on what they need, and we log their minutes on a spreadsheet.”

High school principal Rob Sailer reported that the high school softball and baseball spring season had gone well.

Director of student services Cara Wood gave a report on the post-school outcome survey, which she has been working on this summer.

“We report on previous year’s special education graduates and what they are doing post-high school; whether they’re attending any job training or secondary school,” Wood explained.

“The survey also covers employment, including whether graduates are making more than minimum wage, how many hours they work per week, and whether their places of employment offer benefits.”

Wood stated that six students had been surveyed so far. The surveys could qualify for $1,000 of funding from the state. Wood explained that ‘qualifying’ surveys need to display that the graduate is employed. In terms of other criteria, there were none that she was aware of.

“I think it’s a really interesting thing that not many people know we do,” Wood said.

Following Wood’s report, Brandon Munson moved on to discuss the school’s construction, state funding, and recent legislation in regards to education.

“Construction is definitely on track right now and moving along. The contractor and subtractors have done a great job of communicating and keeping things moving,” Munson praised.

Munson mentioned that a decent amount of the state’s budget has been worked out, especially pertaining to education. His take on the direction things are headed was not very optimistic.

“We’re grateful to be receiving new money, considering the last two years of not receiving any new revenue.  However, considering inflation rates and the state’s recent historic investment into private schools and voucher programs, it’s a little disappointing from a public education standpoint.”

In the revenue cap area, $325 per student was received in new money. Munson stressed that this amount has yet to be approved, but is the most likely direction. Another $325 will be added next year per student as well.

The low revenue ceiling was raised from $10,000 to $11,000.  Munson explained that this raise would’ve impacted North Crawford positively in the past. However, with the recent referendum, the change will have little effect on the district.

To mitigate the tax increase brought with the revenue ceiling raise, equalization aid will also increase.  Munson said that this wouldn't affect the district directly, but would help the taxpayers.

“The thing that I personally think is the most disappointing is special ed reimbursement,” Munson expressed.

“Reimbursement is currently between 30 and 31 percent. The state’s initial proposal was to raise reimbursement to 45 percent this first year and sixty percent the second year.  They settled on 33.3 percent… that’s a pretty insignificant amount.”

Overall, Munson said, the state’s budget was less than satisfactory.

“It was pretty crucial for the district that we passed the referendum… otherwise we wouldn’t have been in good shape.” 

Munson said that salary increases in the district are projected to be between five and six percent, which is consistent with other school districts.

Moving along with the agenda, library media specialist Liz Bransky presented about the district library plan.

Branksy discussed trends in book checkouts form the library, as well as the ‘weeding,’ or phasing out, of books that are out of date or not as relevant.  This past year, over 1,000 books were weeded.

In terms of library spending, Bransky produced a graph displaying the areas where funds were dedicated. Computers and technology took up the most funding in 2023 with $17,850. Print books followed at less than half that amount, with digital subscriptions, digital books, and streaming at the bottom.

Bransky highlighted some of the areas she plans to focus her attention on in the coming year.

“Collaboration is really valuable for the library,” she said.

As part of the 2023 to 2024 library plan, Bransky emphasized plans for collaboration with other libraries, as well as with teachers in the school.

Bransky mentioned that assistance in the library has been reduced by half for the 2023 to 2024 school year.

“We are going to make a good go of it, but things like weeding, ordering, processing, and collection development will be really challenging.”

Liz presented a full plan for the coming school year, which the board approved with an agreement to deliver several updates throughout the year.

Elementary school principal Amanda Killeen presented the Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) end-of-year report.

“Since we are a rural school with high poverty, we receive additional funds through AGR,” Killeen explained.

The report is broken up by grade level and examines reading and math levels.

“Starting with kindergarten, our math scores are looking really impressive. 90 percent are at or above the goal,” Killeen said.

“Considering the fact that classes have been larger than usual, this is a true testament to how hard teachers are working.”

First grade also showed some positive trends.

“Second grade has smaller classes, and students have been mirroring growth expectancy in reading. A large percent exceeded goals in math,” Killeen added.

Third grade students also showed positive development.

“Overall, things are leading in the right direction,” Killeen said.

The board approved the AGR report and moved on to discuss open enrollment.

Brandon Munson said there are up to 30 open-enrolled students who will potentially start in the fall.

“Of course, this is just on paper – we can never really be sure until they show up on the first day,” Munson pointed out.

He added that several of the students open-enrolling were previous students who have recently moved out of the district.

“Still, on paper, our net loss gap is closing, which is a positive sign,” encouraged Munson.

The board approved the open enrollment report and went over several field trip requests, all of which were approved.