BLAIRSBURG — The Northeast Hamilton School Board approved a $3.66 million budget for the 2018-2019 school year at its regular meeting on Thursday, March 22.

Following a public hearing, the board approved the budget which includes a tax levy of $10.91 per $1,000 property value.  This is an increase of $0.05, said Superintendent Mike Sherwood who noted that the board has saved district taxpayers over $434,000 by choosing an early pay-off of the bonds for the new elementary school building. 

Sherwood also reported that NEH’s current Unspent Budget Authority is $375,000.  That is down from last year’s $548,000 total, he said.  The projected Unspent Budget Authority for the 2019-2020 school year is $172,000.

After a public hearing, the board approved the 2018-2019 school calendar.  The first day of school will be Aug. 23, 2018.  The end of the first quarter will be on Oct. 26 and Christmas Break will run from Dec. 24, 2018 – Jan. 2, 2019.   The last day of school will be May 29, 2019.

NEH Principal/Assistant Superintendent Mike Kruger noted that NEH strives to align its calendar with Webster City in order to reduce scheduling conflicts for families who have children attending both schools. 

Kruger also explained that like this year, next year’s calendar will not have any scheduled snow days added and any missed days will extend the school year into June.  Kruger reported that four snow days have been called during this school year and announcements on their rescheduling will be made soon.

The board approved eleven Open Enrollment requests out of the district.  Five of those requests were made by students who had recently moved into the district and had never attended class at NEH, explained Kruger.

The board approved the first reading of the board Policy updates.

The board approved the 3.95 percent increase of the ISEBA Health Plan to bring the cost of a single premium plan to $534/mo. and a family plan to $1,700/mo. 

Sherwood and Kruger gave a review on the facilities updates.  

With the new greenhouse nearing completion, Kruger told the board that the district is working to make NEH the STEM center for the region.  Along with the MakerSpace room, the Maker Day event and now the greenhouse facility, the school offers many hand-on learning experiences for students.

“We would like to find a way to brand our school,” said Kruger, who has proposed naming the new greenhouse “The Growing Minds Center” and possibly putting school signage on the north side of the school along Second Street. 

Currently, the school is using the eggs from the 4th-6th Grade’s Science class chicken flock project in its SWITCH program.  Next year, students will be growing lettuce and salad greens in the greenhouse, he said.  It is hoped that these can all be incorporated into the school menu.

Kruger noted that work in the new day care room is progressing and the room has now been painted.

Sherwood reported that several projects, such as window installation in Old Main, are currently on hold, pending the results of the school reorganization vote.

The school is still in possession of many classroom textbooks that are available free of charge to the public, said Sherwood.  It was announced that any person or facility who would like them, may contact the school office for more information.

Sherwood also reported that the administration is preparing for staff contract negotiations and the April 3 reorganization vote.

Kruger gave a legislative update from the School Administrators of Iowa conference he attended last week.  The SAI has decided to retain the Iowa Assessment Tests that are aligned with CORE and are pencil and paper and computer based, he reported.

Sherwood told the board that while little has been heard from the school voucher program, it is still a viable issue.

“The school voucher issue is quiet, but not dead,” said Sherwood, who predicted that its passage would have a detrimental impact on public school funding.

In reports, Kruger announced that the school’s Crisis Team has been working with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department and the Webster City and Stratford schools to pool its resources and develop security training procedures.  The school is scheduled to revisit the plan with Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Alex Pruismann during a Professional Development session on April 5.

The NEH’s recent school assembly on bullying was very successful, said Kruger.  Representatives from the Minnesota Vikings football and cheerleading squad were invited to the school by NEH Physical Education, K & Title 1 teacher Matthew Vagts and students learned techniques on how to control and stop bullying behaviors, he said.

The school greenhouse was recently awarded a $2,500 Barlow Family Grant, reported Kruger.  School Nurse Cindi Sweedler submitted the grant application for the school, he said.

Sweedler is also spearheading the SWITCH healthy lifestyle program, said Kruger.  The program encourages students and staff to use technology wisely while eating healthy foods and becoming more active.

Kruger also told the board that Jewell Family Dentistry visited the school last month and did dental screenings for students in the 1st-2nd Grades.  The Williams Lions Club will also be doing sight screening at the school next month, he said.

Upcoming events at NEH include: Title I and Family Reading Night on Thurs., March 29; Pre-K and Kindergarten Round-up on Wed., March 30; the reorganization vote on Tues., April 3;  the Maker Day/VIP Day on Thursday, April 5; School Carnival on Thursday, April 12 beginning at 5:30 p.m.; and the Spring Concert, Tuesday, May 1.