Marshalltown Times Republican, IA
01-23-07
SILO levy renewed for one more year
By GREG PIERQUET
Many topics were discussed at Monday’s Marshalltown Community School
District Board meeting, ranged from keeping the school resource officer at
Marshalltown High School to passing an extension of the Instructional Support
Levy.
After having received no comments from the community before or during the
meeting, the board unanimously approved an extension of the ISL, which
supports up to 10 percent of the district’s costs.
The levy draws funds from local property taxes along with some state support.
Those funds are allotted for general fund purposes, such as textbooks,
instruction-related supplies and programs and technology.
District Director of Business Operations Kevin Posekany said the district will now
collect approximately $1.7 million in local property taxes and $300,000 in state
aid for the 2007-08 school year. The board reviews the levy each year and it
takes affect July 1.
Police Chief Lon Walker, accompanied by MHS Principal Bonnie Lowry and
Marshalltown Police Officer John Augustine, requested that the board agree to
pay for half of the total costs of keeping Augustine at the High School. He said
the City has offered to pay the other half, recognizing the service having an
officer in the building provides.
The district is in the final year of a four-year Community Oriented Policing
Services, or COPS Grant. The grant initially allowed for the high school to have
an officer there all day, but that grant is now expiring.
The board agreed with Walker and Lowry that having a school resource officer at
the school is a wise investment.
“Officer Augustine does a tremendous job of responding to everything from
preventing fights to contacting parents when need-be,” Walker said. “He’s a busy
guy, but busy in a good way.”
Lowry said Augustine routinely attends sporting and other events at the school,
as well as eats in the cafeteria and forms bonds with students who need
guidance. She said he is well recognized and respected by the students there
and regularly leads class discussions on conflict resolution and resolution in the
classroom.
Augustine’s presence and other related costs amount to $72,000. The board will
act on extending Augustine’s contract at a later date.
District Director of Instruction Lisa Beames presented new student tracking
media which will be available through the district’s Web site. Beames is
attempting to gather data from this year and previous years and make it easily
accessible and traceable for teachers and parents.
She also informed the board about a new law requiring parents of students
kindergarten through third grade to be notified if their child is not performing up to
minimum benchmarks in tasks associated with reading. Beames’ expressed
concern that the letter could worry parents unnecessarily, but acknowledged that
parents should be aware of any strategies they can be using at home to adjust to
the child’s specific needs.
In other business, Lowry and MHS Science Teacher Pam Brewer-Michael
presented an initial summary of a program at Miller Middle School and MHS
called Science Bound. In collaboration with Iowa State University, the program
encourages minority students who show excellent potential in the science, math
and technology fields to delve deeper into those interests and, eventually, seek
college educations.
The 15-member program in the MCSD asks teachers to volunteer their time after
school to participate with the students in exploring the sciences.
Officially partnering with ISU could mean scholarships for MHS students, but
would require a minimum start-up cost of $30,000. Those funds would come,
theoretically, from community groups and local businesses interested in keeping
some of Marshalltown’s brightest, local.
Students are identified for the program in seventh grade and they begin in eighth.
The program at MHS currently serves ninth and 10th graders.