Ice rink, next year's budget shortfall and lack of preschool funding discussed

SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary School board approved Seeley Lake ROCKS installing a permanent light and temporary storage unit for the Ice Skating Rink this winter. The board also discussed an estimated $51,456 reduction in next year’s budget based on declining enrollment and the lack of funding for preschool next year.

Seeley Lake ROCKS board members Garry Swain, Scott Eggeman and Mike Lindemer presented on the Ice Skating Rink. They were all encouraged by the use that the rink received last year from the students at the school and the local families. They look forward to expanding the size and adding a shed and timed light. They also hope to keep better ice this year and run the rink from December through the end of March, weather permitting.

“I think there are more people skating which is great,” said Swain. “It gives these kids a lot to do in the winter time or at least another option.”

This summer, Seeley Lake ROCKS brought in gravel expanding the rink from 100 X 60 feet to 150 X 70 feet. This is closer to the size of an actual ice rink, 200 X 85 feet.

Board member Todd Johnson asked if there was any discussion before the rink was expanded since not everyone agrees that an ice rink is a good use of the field.

“I think we need to make sure we are serving all factors and we have some sort of discussion about how we want to do it and how big we want to make that,” said Johnson.

Lindemer explained that the rink should have been larger last year but they didn’t get all the material they were supposed to have, the weather prevented them from getting a level surface and they got a late start.

This year they wanted to bring the material in where they needed it and allow it to settle over the summer. They also brought in more material to eliminate the hill that goes down into the dugout area.

“It can be multi-use. Once the rink is gone, it can still be used as a softball field. It’s not taking anything away, it is enhancing it and adding use for it in the winter,” said Lindemer.

Swain said they would like to bring in a movable shed to house between 40-50 pairs of skates, their skate sharpener and they opened up the possibility for storing skis.

“The better the ice, the better those skates being sharpened are and the kids are going to have more fun and they are going to get into it a lot easier,” said Swain.

Director Jenna Boltz questioned if theft is an issue if the shed is left unlocked.

Swain said while they may have lost a few pairs of skates last year, they are mostly used or donated skates and he hopes whoever took them is using them.

The board agreed that storing the skis in the shed should be a decision made by Superintendent Daniel Schrock and the staff since the skis are school property. They felt someone would need to be in charge of managing the skis if they were stored out there.

“I appreciated that the school allowed the community to have access to those skis and the skates,” said Board member Gary Wayne.

Lindemer asked if the board would be willing to allow them to install an LED light over the rink so people can skate in the evening. They have the pole donated, they would pay for the wire and the light and it would be on a timer. They are still exploring options of how to protect it from being shot out.

The board unanimously approved putting up a temporary shed and permanent light pole with the locations to be determined with Schrock.

Lindemer said they will not be using the Seeley Lake Fire Department to haul water to fill the tank. Instead they would like to use water from the Food Bank and ROCKS would pay for the usage. At the board’s request, Lindemer agreed to try and get a temporary meter from the Water District so usage could be tracked.

The board discussed the written superintendent report since Schrock was not in attendance. As of October, schoolwide enrollment is 156. Last year, SLE had 177 students. District Clerk Heather Mincey said six students transferred out-of-district this year.

Schrock predicted if the numbers hold for next year there will be a $51,456 drop in the Average Number Belonging (ANB) funds, funding per student that the District receives based on the students’ grade level. Schrock wrote he will be looking at the state preliminary budget data in February with District Clerk Heather Mincey. They also will be going with a three-year average for ANB to mitigate the reduction to the General Fund.

While the board did not feel this was good news, many agreed that SLE has weathered the statewide enrollment drops seen in rural school across the state better than most. Chair Ryen Neudecker said she has talked to some of the families of students who have transferred out-of-district. She is hopeful that they will be able to get some of the students back since they chose to go out-of-district due to recent issues.

Schrock wrote in his report that there was no funding for preschool and transitional kindergarten. The only way the District could receive funding is if SLE opened up kindergarten to four-year-olds.

Mincey said this is the second year the preschool and transitional kindergarten program has not been funded by the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation. The program, which currently costs $70,000 for wages and benefits, is currently paid out of the General Fund and Title 1 Funding.

Johnson said they need to have some serious discussions with the community about the value of the preschool program.

“This is money that we need to be spending out of our general fund for other things that we currently are using to fund [the preschool and transitional kindergarten] program,” said Johnson. “If it is a value to the community, which I think it is, then we just need to figure out how to fund it.”

Ideas were tossed around including fundraising for the program or charging tuition to attend.

Director Jenna Boltz has seen the benefits of the program with her daughter versus her son who didn’t have preschool.

“But $70,000 is a lot of money to come up with,” said Boltz. “As an outsider in the community, I don’t know how much the community relies on the preschool. I think my daughter had 11 kids in her class. How do you charge for that?”

Johnson said they paid for their children to attend, he thought around $300 for the year. People were glad to do it.

Neudecker said that she feels the preschool program makes SLE unique. She thinks it is interesting that Montana is only one of two states in the United States that doesn’t have preschool funding.

“We are funding it this year but I think we need to take a good hard look at the future,” said Johnson. “If the state hasn’t done it yet, the odds are they probably won’t.”

In other business:

• The board approved the Seeley Lake Organization of Teachers Collective Bargaining Agreement for the 2019-2020 school year.

• Brett Haines and Brad Miller were hired as the boys basketball coaches.

• The SLE board will be working on a strategic plan in the upcoming months. Dr. Daniel Farr, a consultant that facilitates the process of developing school district goals and strategic planning, will be presenting at the November board meeting and be available for questions from the board.

• The Seeley Lake Trunk-or-Treat will be held at SLE Oct. 31 from 6-8 p.m. The community is invited to participate. There will be trunk-or-treating in the parking lot, games in the gym and a haunted house and pumpkin decorating in the multi-purpose room. Everyone is welcome to participate in this free event.

The next SLE School board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m.