Ottumwa schools see 1.5 percent funding cut

By PAT SHAVER Courier Staff Writer

April 27, 2009 11:55 pm

— OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa School District will see a 1.5 percent cut across the board in funding for the fiscal year 2010, said board business manager John Donner.
That totals about $335,000, or $65 per student.
Donner said that is about the same as the 1.5 percent cut across the board for fiscal year 2009.
“The cash reserve levy is going to be almost exactly that amount,” said Superintendent Jon Sheldahl. “We have some other things we [might] have to move around, but we’re in pretty good shape.”
The district also has to make cuts in Phase One funding, which goes into beginning teacher salaries. Those cuts will amount to about $39,000 for fiscal year 2010.
Up until this weekend, after the legislative session ended, Donner said it was uncertain how the district’s budget would shape up.
Most of the cuts that the state has to make that would impact the district will be covered through federal stimulus money, Donner said.
“Keep in mind that there’s going to be a day of reckoning when those federal dollars go away,” Donner told the school board at their meeting Monday night.
The district will receive about $1 million for Title 1, Part A, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds; and about $750,000 for Part B Special Education. Those funds must be spent by September 2011.
“Right now, for next year I think we can put together a pretty solid plan,” said Sheldahl.
Sue Meadows, director of curriculum and instruction for the district, presented 2008-2009 Iowa test results to the board.
For reading comprehension, students are gaining in achievement in grades three, four and five. There is a drop in grades six and nine and increases in grades seven, eight and eleven, Meadows said.
“We are consistent with what’s happening in the state,” Meadows said.
“Achievement is higher in mathematics than it is for reading comprehension,” Meadows said. “We made some very nice gains when you compare this year to last year, or even this year to five years ago.”
By encouraging teachers to collaborate and teach topics in a similar order, Meadows and board members think that will cause some improvements.
The four teachers in the high school’s Family Consumer Science Department also gave a presentation at the board meeting Monday. The presentation was aimed at informing the board on what the department does and how students benefit.
The department serves about 750 students a year and provides a lot of hands-on projects, said Melba Cox, teacher in the department.
Parenting, culinary arts, health education, financial literacy, technology, career and employment skills are among topics taught by the department.
Collette Fisher, a teacher in the department, said a lot of those classes are a reason why some students stay in school. This is because of the interactive setup.
“Of the students I serve, many of them will stay in Ottumwa, and that means making them the best they can be,” said Fisher.