WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017
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SPORTS: Danielson competes in PGA. PAGE 15
Osceola School Board identifies cuts BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
After approving $851,000 in potential cuts to next year’s school budget, members of the Osceola School Board warned that the district’s schools would become unrecognizable without an increase in taxpayer backing. An April 4 referendum question will ask voters for a progressive levy increase to support the district, topping off at $3.8 million after four years. To the homeowner of a hypothetical $100,000 house, that means an estimated tax increase of $33 to $85 per year, adding up to a total annual increase of $267 after four years. After that, the levy would stay at the new level. The reductions (see sidebar) were identified last Wednesday as a contingency plan, should the referendum fail.
Some of the cuts, such as teacher and staff layoffs or attrition, would constitute savings that roll over into subsequent budgets. Others, such as postponing building maintenance and delaying bus purchases, push costs into the future, possibly increasing longterm expenses. Hoping to minimize layoffs, the board incentivized retirement by extending the deadline for notification to April 13 and adding a $5,000 bonus. The initial March 1 deadline had come and gone, with no one announcing plans to retire. The board also approved eliminating a handful of teaching positions, delaying updates and upkeep, reining in future tech purchases, and increasing classroom fees for high-cost lab and art classes. They declined to eliminate funding for athletic programs, predicting
Proposed cuts for Osceola School District Cuts
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
“I think people have to understand that if the referendum fails, we have to come back with another referendum,” Osceola School Board member Pete Kammerud said last Wednesday, as the board considered potential budget reductions. Pictured right: board member Roseanne Anderson.
that the move might prompt students to enroll elsewhere. But they did implement athletic fees. “Right now we’re the only district in the area that doesn’t charge,” said board member Craig Brunclik. “We’ve held out quite awhile. … We’ve
always had the thought we don’t want the ‘haves’ versus the ‘have nots’ to be able to participate.” More than once, cuts under consideration were juxtaposed with decisions that had already
Outside the Ice Age Center at Wisconsin’s Interstate State Park, the park’s new natural resource educator is dreaming up a trail-running program with a young mother. The woman and her daughter came for nature story time, but stayed late to discuss the potential of a running program with Colleen Tolliver, who is quick to encourage park visitors to take an active role in the park’s offer-
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Colleen Tolliver, the new natural resource educator at Wisconsin’s Interstate State Park, in her Nature Story Time ensemble. Tolliver, who has worked at Interstate before, rejoined the staff in mid January.
ings. “If something is of interest to someone, and it’s in their expertise … let’s do it,” she says. “I want to be the conduit, where I take an idea and help it come alive.” In the woods nearby, sap collects in buckets, bags and milk cartons, which Tolliver installed for an instructional maple syrup making event at the park. She joined the staff in mid January to coordinate events, outreach and volunteers at the park, replacing Julie Fox, who took a job last
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$155,000
Two and a half teachers, grades 6 – 12 • world language, social studies, music
$165,000
A 0.7 reduction to special ed. staff
$62,000
Delay in purchasing materials for curriculum updates
$100,000
Delayed building maintenance • Painting parking lots, replacing carpets, desks, etc.
$180,000
Delay of bus purchase
$90,000
CESA shared services • Northern Lights Networking, Moodle
$16,000
Delay of uniform purchases for high school athletics
$12,000
Transfer a percentage of pool expenses to Community Ed. fund • This will increase the levy
$16,000
Extend technology rotation
$55,000 $851,000
F&A permit toothless, says Dresser trustee
October with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. But Tolliver isn’t exactly a newcomer. She taught environmental education at the park for five summers prior to Fox’s 28-year tenure, and knew the job would demand intellectual curiosity, a trait with which she seems to radiate. “The job calls for flora, fauna, geology, air and space knowledge,” she explains, “and what I have a love for is learning.”
Dresser trustee Bryan “Fatboy” Raddatz admonished Dresser residents last week for failing to appear at a public hearing for the renewal of F&A Dairy’s wastewater treatment permit, and later described the permit as toothless. Roughly a dozen people attended the Feb. 28 hearing, including representatives of F&A
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Two full-time teachers, pre-K – 5 • Reduce sections, intervention staff
Total
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Teaching through wonder at Interstate Park BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
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