I am pleased to introduce myself as the new superintendent of the North Tama County Community School District. I want to thank the school board for their confidence in me, and the staff and community for their warm welcome. I also want to thank Mr. Bob Cue for his leadership as superintendent over the past four years as well as his ongoing support of the school and of me personally during the transition. I know you will join me in wishing Mr. Cue all the best in his retirement!
I’ve been brainstorming for several weeks about the topic of my first Star Clipper column. I had hoped to give you some background on myself and the path that has led toward my becoming the new part-time superintendent at North Tama while continuing as the part-time principal at Dysart-Geneseo Elementary. I intended to discuss the unique administrative sharing agreement between North Tama and Union and to reassure you that the sharing of administration is not a step towards a merger between the two districts. I wanted to share my first impressions of North Tama, and I also hoped to share my vision for education and the future of our schools. However, I soon realized that I would have so much to say on these topics that this would fill the entire paper, and that a better approach would be to divide my thoughts into smaller portions over a series of columns. I plan to share my thoughts with you in this column once or twice per month over the coming months and years.
Then, just as I was sitting down to write my first column, we received word that the Governor had used his line-item veto power to eliminate $56 million in funding for Iowa schools. I realized that I needed to scrap the original plans and prioritize my first Star Clipper column to focus on the long-term financial health of the North Tama district. The other topics are important, but we must put first things first.
In April, the North Tama board approved a budget for the coming school year without knowing how much money would be appropriated for their operations. The board had no other choice, as they were required by law to approve a budget by April 15. I began as the new superintendent on July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year -- still unsure about funding for the coming year. Now that the Governor has made his decision, we know that North Tama’s per pupil supplemental state aid will increase by 1.25%, which means a significant loss of total funding compared to last year due to declining enrollment. We also know that North Tama will lose $53,931 in one-time funding due to the veto.
Because your school board and Mr. Cue anticipated declining enrollment and predicted inadequate funding, several cost-saving measures were taken for this year’s budget. These cost savings included the elimination of a number of positions, reducing the hours of some positions, the sharing of a superintendent, and several other incidental savings measures. Because of your board’s foresight, North Tama should maintain a relatively stable financial position for the coming year while not eliminating opportunities for students. I applaud Mr. Cue and the board for their foresight. In the coming years, we will need to continue to seek additional cost saving measures while advocating for appropriate funding for our schools.
Your school board’s number one goal is to maintain the financial stability of the district and retain existing programs so that North Tama will remain a viable K-12 school. I strongly support this goal. While this most recent loss of funding and the district’s declining student numbers will present challenges, I believe they are challenges that we can overcome -- in both the short term as well as the long-term -- if we are intelligent and intentional with our allocation of resources and if we take the necessary steps for continued cost savings during the coming months and years.
Thanks again for your warm welcome. I’m so excited about working with the North Tama board, staff, students, parents, and the entire school community as your superintendent. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming weeks as we prepare for a great 2015-2016 school year.
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