Elk Mound school district property tax levy expected to decrease by 3 percent
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The total property tax levy for the Elk Mound school district is expected to decrease by 3.16 percent for the 2022-2023 school year.
The budget is expected to decrease by 1 percent, and the local levy is expected to be $1,657,049 with a debt levy of $1,515,000 for a total levy of $3,172,049,, said Eric Wright, district administrator, during his report on the budget at the Elk Mound Board of Education’s July 25 meeting.
Last year’s total property tax levy was $3,275,693, representing a difference of about $104,000, he said.
For right now this is the “best guess,” Wright said.
School district administrators cannot calculate final budget numbers until they find out the property valuation, student enrollment after the third Friday in September count, and the amount of state aid, which is released to school districts in October.
The mill rate is projected at $6.99 per $1,000 of property value, while last year’s mill rate was $7.65 per $1,000, Wright said.
Open enrollment also is one of the unknown factors in establishing the budget, he said.
Students can apply for enrollment in up to three school districts, but the school districts do not know exactly which open enrollment students will be attending until school starts.
Due to the large increase in energy costs over the past the year, the Elk Mound school district has increased the amount allocated for energy costs by 30 percent, Wright said.
The Elk Mound school district’s annual meeting will be held on August 22 at 8 p.m.
Construction
Renovation of the Elk Mound Middle School gymnasium has been completed, Wright said.
The high school roof has been completed, and crews are working on the middle school roof now, he said.
The high school locker rooms are almost completed, and the swimming pool also is almost done, Wright said.
The heavy equipment for the technology education department was expected to be moved back the following week since there was still some electrical work to complete, he said.
On August 15, work will begin on the back parking lot, and the back parking lot is expected to be completed by October, Wright said.
The buses will have to be
parked somewhere else, and the parking lot will not be available for football games, he said.
People have asked why the back parking lot was not completed earlier, but construction crews required access to the tech ed area, Wright said.
Heavy equipment is needed to move the technology education equipment back into the building, and heavy equipment on new pavement would damage the new pavement, he said.
Substitute teachers
The Elk Mound Board of Education has approved increasing the substitute teacher pay from $120 per day to $130 per day.
After a substitute teacher has worked in the Elk Mound school district for 20 days, the substitute teacher pay will increase from $130 per day to $150 per day for the remainder of the school year.
There are not enough substitute teachers out there, and increasing the substitute teacher pay to attract more substitute teachers to Elk Mound will help keep the schools open, Wright said.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Approved setting athletic fees at $10 per sport with a maximum of $25 per student, so that if a student enrolls in three sports, the maximum fee will be $25.
• Approved not increasing the cost for meals, which are set at $2.40 for lunch at the elementary school and $2.75 for lunch at the high school. Milk is 25 cents per carton, and breakfast is $1.25. As of the July meeting, the federal government has not extended the free meals program that was in effect earlier in the pandemic. Parents who may qualify are encouraged to fill out the application for free or reduced lunch prices, Wright said.
• Approved the annual declaration and parent notice of the Elk Mound school district’s student academic standards that will be in effect for the 2022-2023 school year as per 120.12(13) and 118.30(1g)(a)1 of Wisconsin state statutes.
• Accepted the resignation of Wendy Nelson, high school science teacher.
• Accepted the resignation of Erin Foiles, middle school fifth grade teacher.
• Accepted the resignation of Brandon Powell as the Science Olympiad coach.
• Accepted the resignation of Darla Diermeier as the assistant softball coach.
• Approved the Elk Mound school district safety plan as per Act 143.
• Approved the 2022-2023 extracurricular handbook, professional staff, support staff and student handbooks, teacher compensation handbook and building level procedural handbooks.
• Reviewed the annual seclusion and restraint data from the 2021-2022 school year as per Act 125.
• Approved the 2021-2022 budget variance report.
Following a closed session, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Approved hiring Michael Maenner as a high school science teacher.
• Approved hiring Aaron Walczak as a high school science teacher.
• Approved hiring Angela Barrios as a fifth grade middle school teacher.
• Approved Bobby Jo Carothers as a full-time paraprofessional. Carothers previously worked part-time for the Elk Mound school district.
• Approved hiring Theresa Topper as a full-time special education paraprofessional.
• Approved hiring Nichole Mullet as a part-time special education paraprofessional.
