Board approves permissive levy, election for general fund levy

SEELEY LAKE – At their monthly meeting March 22, the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board unanimously approved a resolution of intent to impose an increase in levies for transportation, building reserve and tuition fund and to run a general fund levy election. The general fund levy will appear on the May 4 mail-in election for those within Seeley Lake School District #34. Ballots will be mailed April 14.

For the permission levy, transportation saw a 1.72 decrease in mills for an estimated revenue change of -$15,275.71. Building reserve saw a .03 decrease in mills for an estimated revenue change of -$281.80 and the tuition fund saw a 2.98 increase in mills for an estimated revenue change of $26,523.90.

In total, homes worth $100,000 will see an estimated increase of $1.66 while homes worth $200,000 will see an estimated increase of $3.33. This is to make up for a total estimated revenue change of $10,966.39 with an estimated mill increase of 1.23.

These revenue and mill estimations are for the next school fiscal year which will begin July 1. Final budgets will not be set until August.

Board members then unanimously approved ballot language for a general fund levy. This increase in total would equate to $42,687.54. This would increase the tax impact of a $100,000 house by $6.48.

“I think it’s important when we pass these things to let the voters and the taxpayers understand the minimal impact that it has on their taxes as far as keeping the school budget workable,” said Board Chair Kyle Marx.

During this segment, the Board went over the school’s preliminary budget. The current budget for 2020-2021 is $1,438,543.59. For next year, the highest budget that is possible without a vote is $1,399,705.87 while the highest possible with a levy vote is $1,442,393.41.

According to the information provided by Superintendent Josh Gibbs, enrollment declined from 177 students in 2019 to 156 in 2020 and dropping further to 143 in 2021. Gibbs said the school expects its budget to decrease over the next few years because of declining enrollment.

“I don’t want to put a burden on our taxpayers, but we also have to make sure we can offer the things that we need to offer to be successful at the school,” Gibbs said.

SLE District Clerk Heather Mincey said if the school kept its current operations it would have to cut $66,300.07 off the 2021-2022 budget without a levy. With a levy it would need to cut it by $23,612.53.

The board also unanimously approved updates on policies 2161 P-R and 2141. Policy 2161 was regarding discipline for students with an Individual Education Plan while policy 2141 covered student promotion and retention. There was some concern about parents having the final say on promoting their own child if the child skips a grade altogether. However, board members ultimately felt it should be the parent who makes that decision.

The Board decided to table their decision on the 2021 summer lunch program to make time to send out a survey.

During his report, Gibbs provided updates on the School Improvement Plan. Currently the School Improvement Team is working on developing a prioritized list of subject areas that need updates, implementing PAX school wide, establishing a structured intervention process within the school’s schedule and completing a technology inventory.

The team has completed a curriculum inventory for each grade level, updated the policy handbook, created a Community Engagement committee, implemented STAR to track student progress for benchmark testing and explored alternate funding ideas for curriculum adoption.

Gibbs said the school has also updated its internet service which now runs three times faster than before. The school now has more bandwidth and a separate network for guests that can be monitored to adjust speeds accordingly.

During his COVID-19 update, he stated that the school has yet to experience any cases. However, March 25 SLE was notified of a positive case in the school community. According to Gibbs, the positive case had had no contact with other staff or students since before spring break so there was no concern of close contacts within the school. Once SLE was notified, extra sanitization was completed.

The school began its track season this week. Gibbs said they are hoping to fit some track meets in but as of now they have not yet figured out a way to host any in Missoula County. They may eventually host one in Frenchtown instead of Missoula. He believes that Head Coach Brett Haines has a few scheduled events, however the team would have to travel to towns like Superior, Ronan and Charlo.

In other business the Board unanimously approved the following:

• Hiring Sandy Abbott as a paraeducator for the remainder of the year.

• 2021-2022 school calendar with the clause that spring break days may be adjusted.

• Hiring of Haines for spring 2021 track coach, assistant coaches will be recommended at the next meeting.

• All certified teachers were offered contract renewals.   

The next meeting is April 19 at 5:30 p.m.