USD 383 Board of Education

Aug. 6, 2014
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Dr. Bob Seymour, Associate Superintendent, reported on student enrollment.  At the elementary level, enrollment was up by 246 students, and Dr. Seymour said that elementary buildings are "very tight."  As a result, requests for transfers to a different school within the district may not be honored.

The board received a report on enrollment for the Manhattan Virtual Academy from Brooke Blanck, the program director.  The 2014-15 school year will be the first year that USD 383 will be managing the virtual school program on its own instead of working with a vendor.  Ms. Blanck said 81 students had enrolled, which was not where she would like it to be, but there were still three weeks left for students to enroll and time for enrollment to increase.  The district has hired New Boston Creative to market the virtual school and increase awareness of the program.

Board members discussed the proposed budget with the guidance of Lew Faust, Director of Business Services.  Mr. Faust recommended an increase of 1.0 mills to capital outlay and transferring $250,000 from reserves to supplement the budget authority and in order to maintain cash flow.  Accounting for other increases to the bond and interest fund and adult education, the overall mill levy increase would be 0.04.  Mr. Faust also noted that the district is relying more on the Local Option Budget than in years past.  Board members approved 7-0 to hold a public hearing on the budget on Aug. 20.