February School Board Meeting

By Leila W.

On Monday, February 10th, the Roland-Story school board met again for their monthly meeting. The main topic of this meeting was finances. 

Member of the school board include Chris McIlrath, Erica Watts, Matt Dahlsten, Ashlee Mullenbach, and Tosha Whipple. Three other speakers were also present: Mr. McQuillen, Rylee Wolf, and Mrs. Hartzler. 

The first thing they discussed were teacher positions. A few people are applying for the Special ED and Preschool positions. There are also some teachers retiring this year, so there is a need for new applicants for those jobs. Rylee Wolff mentioned how the world of education is changing drastically, and fewer kids are interested in becoming teachers. This can cause a problem with many school districts' inability to fill their open positions.

Another subject that was brought up was paying off renovation debt. In recent years, the elementary school has had a huge renovation of its music and art rooms. The high school got a new football stadium two years ago. Some future projects include a new boiler, an update to the high school baseball field, and possibly constructing a weight room in the middle school. They finished this discussion by talking about the plan of paying off current and future loans. 

Then, they went over the 2024 financial highlights. Revenues went up and expenditures increased. They also addressed the increase in food prices. They said they will continue to go up for the next few years as inflation and food prices increase. Mr. Patton gave his insight into when loans and other things needed to be paid off to avoid long-term debt for the school district. 

Lastly, they mentioned the district enrollment. There has been an increase in the past few years in enrollment, however this also means there is a need for more funding for future years. The Booster Club, MAST, and several other organizations handle the majority of the fundraising for the district. They went into detail about how sports greatly impact our money intake. For example, when we host playoff football or basketball games, we make a lot more money. This combined with other fundraisers will be used and needed to help boost and maintain our enrollment for the next school year. 

This meeting openly spoke on the importance of finances for school districts. It highlighted the ways Roland-Story has used our money to greatly improve our school district! The next school board meeting will take place on Monday, March 3rd at Roland-Story High School. 

Location: 1009 Story St, Story City, IA 50248, USA

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