Posted Date: 03/07/2024
Board Members:
What an incredible week! Congratulations to our boys basketball team on a phenomenal run in the state tournament! Tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m., they'll play for the state title in Wells Fargo Arena. Regardless of the outcome, we'll host a welcome home ceremony for the team tomorrow evening sometime around 8:00 p.m. in the competition gym. If you are planning to attend, please enter through the back doors by the football field.
The week has included a lot of moving parts, as parent teacher conferences also needed to be fit into what was already scheduled as a short week leading up to spring break, which officially kicks off tomorrow. Mrs. Betts was also able to hire a preschool teacher. In addition to the kindergarten position that is currently open, we have made the decision to replace the special education teacher that was vacated due to retirement and have also subsequently posted for a part time ELL position. Part time positions are very tough, but it is difficult to justify a full time position when the enrollment numbers just don't support it. The other position that we are currently seeking at this time is a junior high reading teacher. We are still considering adding a .25 FTE to our third PE teacher, making it full time. Other positions still in the hopper, but much further down the list in terms of being added would be an ELA teacher at the high school and an additional custodian.
In legislative news this week, it seems to me that everything is frozen until there is some sort of movement on the AEA bill. The Senate had planned to debate their proposal on the floor Tuesday, but it was pulled after learning they didn't have the votes to advance the proposal. The House has passed their version, but it doesn't appear to have the votes in the Senate, and the Senate version won't pass in the House. This afternoon I did learn the House version of the teacher wage bill passed out of that chamber, but its fate remains uncertain in the Senate. Meanwhile, we wait for SSA. (Our levy proposal was published today.)
That's probably enough for one week. Ann and I will be in Iowa City tomorrow most of the day for doctor appointments so I will largely be unavailable. Have a great weekend and Go Pirates!
Dr. Tony Voss
Superintendent