The District #18 Board of Education Wednesday night acted on two action items, but spent more than three hours discussing issues before the board.
First, the action. Superintendent Steve Dennis said the board approved recommended changes sought by the Curriculum Coordinating Council. The primary change, he said was to change the number of meetings. Previously the council met monthly. Now, as a result of the change, the council will meet just four times a year, other meetings could be set if needed. The council consists of District #18 personnel and community members who advise the school board, through the superintendent, on matters concerning curriculum and instruction.
The other item on the action agenda was to consider an alternate graduation request from a senior who is moving out of state and wanted to check into the possibility of graduating at the end of the first semester. Dennis said the board took no action on the request.
The rest of the meeting was spent discussing the superintendent’s report. Dennis said State Senators Greg Adams, Cap Dierks and Kate Sullivan spoke about state aid at a recent meeting of ESU 8 members. According to Dennis, Senator Adams said schools will have to “ratchet their spending down.’
“The prediction and picture he painted were not very rosy,” according to a summary Dennis prepared for the board. Noting that the issue of state aid won’t be a problem for District #18, he said the state may attempt to limit spending authority for school districts. Should the increase in spending authority continue to decrease and costs continue to increase, he said the school board will soon be facing the need to evaluate even more closely what expenses, programs, etc they need to offer to be a viable educational facility.
Much of the remainder of the meeting, just short of two hours was spent in closed session to discuss Superintendent Dennis’ evaluation and contract negotiations. Emerging from closed session, the board took no action and adjourned the meeting.
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