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APRIL 2018
THE COURIER | WWW.THE-COURIER.ORG
Schools in Action Superintendent’s Bulletin
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
TROY FERGUSON ST. FRANCIS AREA SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT
With safety and security in our schools being foremost on all of our minds, I want to share with you an example of what’s working well and how it helped prevent a possible tragic incident. As you may remember, I closed all St. Francis Area Schools on February 23 due to a verbal threat of violence. This threat was initially reported by a student who told a staff member. The police were informed and contacted me. That started a process to determine whether the threat could be deemed credible or not. After several hours of
investigating and consulting with police, administration and others, we determined we could not say with certainty that threat was not credible. All schools and afterschool activities were canceled and an exhaustive investigation by local law enforcement resulted in an arrest. We can’t know for sure what may have happened if this threat wasn’t taken seriously, but we can say for sure that because a student spoke up and staff listened, no one was hurt at St. Francis Area Schools on February 23. I assure you we will take any threat to our students
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and staff with this same level of seriousness. I encourage students to continue to pay attention and report to an adult immediately anything they see or hear that could constitute a possible act of violence. I also want to remind everyone that a threat is not a joke and the consequences are often lifechanging in a negative way. I ask parents to continue to talk and listen to your children and seek assistance if you hear or see any possibility of potential threat or violence. We have experienced firsthand, the power of building relationships, paying attention and working together to keep our schools safe. I thank you all in advance for your continued support and commitment to this most important priority.
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budget and determine how this will impact staffing and programs. A resolution addressing budget adjustments was presented at the February 26, 2018 school board meeting. The resolution passed, with a 6-1 vote. For the past several years the school district has been working hard to build financial reserves, which is referred to as a fund balance. St. Francis Area Schools is not alone in its budget challenges. A recent survey by the Association of Metro School Districts shows that 27 of its 40 member districts face budget deficits totaling $97 million for 2017-18. School systems with declining or flat enrollment, like St. Francis Area Schools, feel the effects of fewer resources even greater. In order to comply with school board policy, the school district must also maintain a fund balance of five percent of its general fund budget. The current fund balance cannot sustain projected deficits and still meet the reserve policy, thus the need to reduce spending. The school board and administration values smaller class sizes and also values compensating our teachers competitively. These values are important because we want to recruit and retain the best and brightest teachers. With our declining enrollment, the school board and administration are faced with difficult choices. The reality is, just like most school districts, almost 83 percent of our annual spending goes to staffing costs and the majority of the remaining 17 percent of school district spending are for essentials (utilities, insurance, student transportation, etc.). Therefore, although reductions are being done in other areas a major share of the reductions must include staff positions. The challenges we are facing today bring uncertainty and Join us Sundays apprehension. It is imperative we continue to focus on the 9am & 11am vision of the school district. St. Francis Area Schools continues its pursuit to be a school district of choice where students are empowered to achieve their dreams. To learn more about rightsizing and other budget information for St. Francis Area Schools, visit www.isd15.org/business.
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