by Marianne Gasaway
With more than 125 parents, teachers and students in attendance at their April 11 meeting, the Clear Lake School Board discussed enrollment trends, class sizes and teacher contract negotiations.
A handful of district patrons and teachers addressed the Board about potential class size numbers in the upcoming school year.
Superintendent Doug Gee said the Board typically waits until April to make an educated guess about upcoming enrollment numbers.
Although certified enrollment is down 47 since 2016, Gee said that open enrollment into the district is up 154 students since 2016 and open enrollment out numbers have been low. The number of students served has increased by 119 since 2016. That number has contributed greatly to the district’s financial status.
“When I started this job seven years ago the district had overspent by $1 million,” said Gee. “We were in a position in Fiscal Year 2018 that if something had happened, we wouldn’t have been able to make payroll. We started a cash reserve levy and cut expenses and last June finished with $5.1 million in cash reserves. We are in a position now where we can spend some money.”
After reviewing the state’s complicated school funding policies, noting what types of payments can be made from various accounts such as the General Fund, Management Fund, PPEL, SAVE and others, Gee reviewed student numbers by buildings and suggested some changes to class sections and hiring additional staff.
He reported Clear Lake’s elementary enrollment has declined over the last five years, while the middle school and high school have increased.
Gee proposed the board update its class size maximum for the elementary. The Board approved the following guideline: Kindergarten, 20 students maximum per class; first and second grade, 22-23 students maximum; third to fifth grade, 25 students maximum.
The board also approved adding a fourth grade section for the next school year and moving a third grade section to second grade next school year.
The board also reached a two-year agreement with the Clear Lake Education Association. Terms of the contract include a freeze of the hiring base wage. It will remain $44,681.
An increase of $2,250 for full-time-equivalent positions, a 3.99% increase, was also approved along with a $750 longevity increase for employees with more than 15 years of experience in the district.
The average Clear Lake teacher salary in 2021-2022 school year was $55,520; The state average was $57,424. Clear Lake ranked 96th out of 327 Iowa school districts whose data was available.
The school board also agreed to a one-time $500 retention payment, to be made in September 2023 to any teacher who signs and returns their individual contract within seven days of receipt and who returns for the 2023-24 school year. Gee told the Board he felt that offer would be a good incentive in the relatively small pool of applicants for teaching positions.
