School board secretary Anita Frye presented an exceptionally detailed report for the next fiscal year at CGD. She compared enrollment numbers, broke down the general fund spending authority, and shared a decrease of $72,577 in overall costs.
Frye shared “several challenges” the CGD District is facing:
– Declining enrollment
– Migrant students enrollment “in and our before count date”.
– High School Migrant student dropout “Students enroll and dropout before completing requirements for graduation”.
Frye stated, “The funding per student is paid by a combination of local property tax dollars and funds from the state.” Property taxes make up about one-third of the total funding in our general fund. The mix of property tax and state aid is determined by a formula she shared in her presentation. “A district with lower valuation will have higher tax rates than a district with more property value.” For a detailed report, please contact the CGD District Office.
During public input, Pat O'Brien, an experienced teacher of 43 years and current substitute, expressed concerns about fast changes at the middle school. “Should we fix something that's not broken?” He asked the school board. While O'Brien did not specifically mention what changes he felt were unnecessary or breaking the staff's trust, the board listened respectfully to him, allowing him to take up a bit more than the three-minute allowance.
Tricia Rosendahl, Dean of Students, highlighted improvements in student support and behavior, emphasizing the positive impact of proactive measures. “Before we just were always reacting when it was too late,” Rosendahl shared of how “dysregulated” students were handled prior to the establishment of her position. Rosendahl then led the board in an activity she learned at “restorative practices.”
Nelson moved on to his report which included:
– Job openings in the district,
– A continued shared coaching agreement with the BK school district,
– No school on October 4 because of a school staff county-wide safety training taking place in Belmond,
– A day to honor local veterans at Target Field.
The board then moved to policy discussion. Beth Severson considered if members of the school improvement group needed to be approved by the school board before their first meeting. There was no clear answer given to Severson. As far as The Wright County Monitor is aware, there were no publicly posted interviews for the school improvement committee or the state-mandated literature review board. For a detailed report of the policies reviewed, please contact the district office.
School Board Secretary Anita Frye briefly mentioned upping the scholarship amount given to the top two graduating CGD Seniors because of a sizeable donation to that scholarship fund. She shared the Golden Apple Teacher award, staff appreciation, and staff retirement to take place Wednesday, May 1st from 3-4 P.M., Senior awards night and Baccalaureate will take place Wednesday, May 8th. She closed her report with news of Governor Reynolds sending Superintendent Joe Nelson a thank you for attending a meeting she held.
The next Board of Education meeting will be on May 9 at 4:30 P.M.
