Our school board has not set a transfer student policy to govern how many transfer students to accept and how to select which applicants will be allowed to enroll. Decisions are left to the discretion of the superintendent with no oversight. An optimal policy would probably accept some transfer students in order to balance studentContinue reading “Transfer Student Policy”
Category Archives: School Budget
Small Town School Board Campaigns
I am running for one of the three open WLCSC school board seats and will be on the ballot November 8, 2022! This isn’t my first time running for the school board; I was one of 15 candidates in the election two years ago and was very close to winning a seat. Participating in thatContinue reading “Small Town School Board Campaigns”
Responses (March 2021)
I sent a follow-up email to school board members. I received a response from Alan Karpick, School Board President. The questions I emailed to the school board members are given in bold, the responses are in italics, and my thoughts are in regular text. 1. At the December and January school board meetings, there wasContinue reading “Responses (March 2021)”
March 1, 2021 Summary
HIGHLIGHTS: Dr. Killion’s “State of the Schools” Address (5:35), Class Size and Teacher Retention (6:22), Higher Spending on Construction because of Cost Increases (6:42), Recent School District Borrowing was not Illegal (6:48), No Ability to Borrow for 18 Years (6:59), Killion wants Happy Hollow remodeled into an Early Childhood Education Center (7:47), Working Together withContinue reading “March 1, 2021 Summary”
February 1, 2021 Summary
HIGHLIGHTS: Offering Online HS Social Studies Summer Courses (6:45), Revisions to Unspecified School Policies (6:49), $300,000 Boiler Replacement at Happy Hollow (6:50), Number of Students (7:03), Resolution Calling for Vaccinations for Teachers (7:13) Location: Happy Hollow Building, LGI Room; At the end of December 2020 SB meeting, Superintendent Killion said that he was looking forContinue reading “February 1, 2021 Summary”
Responses (January 2021)
I spoke at the January 2021 school board meeting and asked to be appointed to the policy committee in order to help review current school policies and recommend changes to the school board. I received an email from Karen Springer stating that they do not allow public appointments. I sent a follow-up email to schoolContinue reading “Responses (January 2021)”
December 7, 2020 Summary
HIGHLIGHTS: Possible Library Lease of Happy Hollow (6:39), Ribbon Cutting for New Construction (6:44), Hiring Dr. Carolyn Johnson to Facilitate DEI Committee (6:49), School District Borrowed $95 Million Over Past 4 Years (6:57), Approval of Unspecified School Policies (7:00), Purchase of Forecast5 Software (7:02), All Teachers and Staff to Receive Same Dollar Amount in TeacherContinue reading “December 7, 2020 Summary”
Financial Transparency
In a series of town halls in 2015 and 2016, school leaders presented plans for $50 million in construction (with donations expected to cover some of that cost) to build WLIS and renovate portions of WLES and Jr/Sr HS. But, then the school board quietly borrowed $95 million between 2017 and 2020 for these constructionContinue reading “Financial Transparency”
Debt Payments
In 2023, the school corporation will make debt payments of $6.15 million. This is about $800,000 more than the projected tax revenue to the debt service fund. This means that funds that had been intended for other purposes will be diverted to pay the debt on the recent construction. The school board already transferred $1.4Continue reading “Debt Payments”
Access to Information
What is the single most important thing I want to change about our school board? I want to bring community input back into school decisions. This cannot happen if the school board “gag order” is left in place. Current school board policy is to not release any information until after the school board has votedContinue reading “Access to Information”
Dacia Mumford 