Monday night’s Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Board of Education meeting was again a busy one. There were two hearings and much discussion of building projects after the special election last week.
The first hearing was to give the board a preliminary look at the proposed budget for next year. Since it was a prelim hearing, the board could still suggest changes. The budget suggested a property tax levy rate of $13.265 per $1,000 of assessed value for Clarion-Goldfield and $12.725 for the former Dows district. Last year’s levies were $13.25 and $12.70, respectively. The board okayed moving forward with this levy for the final budget proposal. The budget hearing will take place at the next board meeting on April 12. See the Monitor in upcoming weeks for more on CGD’s budget.
The next hearing pertained to next school year’s calendar. The board approved a calendar with the first day of school starting on August 23. Graduation will be May 15 and the last day of school (barring snow days) will be May 24. Next year’s calendar will also add a spring break from March 15-18.
The board approved the 2-year tentative agreement with the CGD Education Association. Fiscal year 2022 would include a salary increase of 3.65% – total package increase of 3.06%. This allows everyone to move steps after being frozen for two years. FY23 would be a salary increase of 2.32% – total package increase of 1.96%. For the 2 years combined salary increase is 2.99% and total package is 2.51%.
The board was asked to consider financial plans for the middle school gym and baseball/softball complex projects. The district plans to ask for $5.5 million for the projects. School business official Anita Frye noted that the projects are budgeted at around $6 million and the district has enough saved should the project approach $6.5 million. The board approved the plan that would include a 13-year payback. They then approved plans for the gym and baseball/softball complex designs. A contract with ISG for engineering and architecture services was also approved.
In the superintendent’s report, Supt. Joe Nelson noted that the district’s principals are planning for summer school in June. Offering this is a requirement along with receiving COVID relief funds. He reported that masks will still be required for the rest of the school year, as of now. Nelson added the district’s gyms will open for city rec activities starting next week. Cameras will be getting installed in district busses and vehicles later this month. Finally, Nelson said that the district is planning to move to a 4-day work week for nine weeks in the summer to save costs.
For staffing changes, Paul Hansch was officially approved as the high school principal hire; Karen Staples was approved to move to At Risk/9th Grade Health Teacher, Jose Herrera for HS Counselor, Ryan Nail – HS PE/HS Baseball Coach, Matt Odland – Asst. Baseball Coach, and Steve TerHark – Head Softball Coach. Middle School Principal Steve Haberman has recommended Christen Foster-Thomas – MS Science, and Brandon Lantzky will move to MS Boys Basketball. Recommended for the Elem/MS: Full Time Substitute – Jessica Nail and Ashley Olsen MS English Language Arts.
