:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/BXFFLJKIM3KXTSYYMGLKCKQUKI.jpg)
A levy that would have increased property and income surtaxes in the Creston Community School District will not move forward, following a unanimous vote by the Creston Community School Board Wednesday.
The board voted 4-0 against the instructional support program-levy, opting instead to pursue other options to narrow a projected $1.2 million spending gap over the next three years.
The proposed levy would have equaled 5 percent of the district’s regular program cost, consisting of 4 percent income surtax and 1 percent property tax and generating an estimated $458,000 in revenue. Those numbers could have been amended prior to adopting the 2016-17 school budget in the spring.
The board had voted 3-1 in December to consider the levy but voted against it 4-0 following Wednesday's public hearing. Board member Sharon Snodgrass was not present for either vote.
Two community members spoke during the public hearing prior to the board’s vote. Connie Maxson, who asked about the nature of what the levy could and could not cover, said she supported the levy.
“I know that as enrollment continues to get stagnant, you know, you don’t have the revenue that you (would) have,” she said. “I think that as a board and as an administration you need some flexibility in resources and how you can spend them, so I just wanted to ask those questions, and I think it’s probably a good thing.”
Another community member, former Creston School Board member Rich Flynn, said when he served on the board, the board had considered the ISL but always looked for other ways to make ends meet. Even though the school’s solvency ratio has dipped since his time on the board, he said he wanted the board to consider other options first.
“Why I am here is because I want to mention that there are a lot of folks in our new district — the Creston district (and) the Prescott district — who can’t afford even a small raise regardless of whether it’s property tax or whether it’s income tax,” Flynn said. “I’m just asking you not to implement the instructional support levy before you have looked at every possible, conceivable way to save money.”
Board vice president Galen Zumbach said he would also like to pursue other avenues first.
“I appreciate what Rich said,” Zumbach said. “I guess personally, I would like to see ... what we can do to try to bring this problem to resolution without imposing more tax on the community.”
Superintendent Steve McDermott said the levy would have been directed at costs of implementing President Barack Obama’s health care law, which will require the school to offer health insurance to all staff working 30 hours or more in addition to full-time staff. This compliance with the law could cost the school about $300,000 in its first year of implementation, although McDermott said the exact date of implementation is still up in the air.
Coupled with a drop in revenue due to declining enrollment, the district has identified an expected $1.2 million in spending it will need to make up over the next three years.
“We’re going to have to reduce some positions, that’s all there is to it,” McDermott said during the meeting. “Those are some tough decisions that have to be made.”
McDermott said this morning the board will have the opportunity to consider the levy again next year, if it decides it is necessary following more reductions.
“It’s not necessarily totally staff positions that will be part of (the reductions), but we’ll just have to dig in and do more reductions,” McDermott said. “Now that that’s decided, we can move forward. We know what we have, and we know what we have to do.”
Early retirement
One avenue to reduce spending has been the offering of an early retirement package to employees. The board approved early retirement for nine employees Wednesday. They are:
• Deb Fischer, middle school band teacher
• DeAnn Schulz, preschool special education teacher
• Alice Schaffer, cook
• Leon Klug, bus driver
• Joyce Garrett, cook
• Gary Vietz, middle school math teacher
• Carolyn Crigger, fifth-grade teacher
• Jan Lesan middle school success teacher
• Keats Gaiser, bus driver
McDermott said the early retirement bonuses will cost the school $137,159, still underneath the cap of $150,000 designated for this purpose. Three teachers, Schulz, Veitz and Lesan, have been in the district for 30 or more years.
In other Creston Community Schools news:
• Elementary instructional coach Joni Gillam and elementary principals Callie Anderson and Scott Driskell shared the plan to begin standards-based reporting for language arts in the elementary grades. Standards-based reporting identifies student progress on individual standards within a subject area rather than assigning one letter grade for that subject. Elementary teachers are in their third year using standards-based reporting for mathematics and plan to begin language arts in fall of 2016.
• High School Principal Bill Messerole shared Creston's Department of Education School Report Card ranking in comparison to other Hawkeye-10 schools. Creston High School's 65.9 rating is second out of nine schools, trailing only Harlan's 68.7 rating.
• The board went into closed session for a student expulsion hearing. One student was expelled for nine weeks.