EM eliminates every-other-day kindergarten

By LeAnn R. Ralph

ELK MOUND — Parents in the Elk Mound school district will no longer have the option of sending their children to all-day kindergarten every other day.

The Elk Mound Board of Education approved eliminating the every-other-day option for all-day kindergarten at the April 28 meeting.

About ten years ago when the Elk Mound school board approved all-day every-day kindergarten, the board also approved an every-other-day option for those parents who had decided that their children were not yet ready to be in school all-day every-day.

State law now requires kindergarten as a prerequisite for first grade, noted Dr. Ron Walsh, superintendent.

School districts are allowed, however, to have a partial day of kindergarten and it still qualifies as a prerequisite for first grade, he said.

Over the past ten years, only a few parents have taken advantage of the every-other-day option. One year, not long after the school board approved the every-other-day option, six students took advantage of it, but most years, there have been no kindergarten students on an every-other-day basis, Dr. Walsh said.

Because of the curriculum in kindergarten and testing requirements, it is difficult for students who only attend every-other-day to get caught up with the students who are there every day, he said.

Dr. Walsh said he had checked with all of the other schools in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference and with additional schools in the area, and none of them offer an every-other-day option for kindergarten.

The Elk Mound Board of Education unanimously approved only offering all-day every-day kindergarten.

Food service charges

For the rest of this school year and next year, students in the Elk Mound district will benefit from a surplus in the food service fund balance.

The Elk Mound district received a notice from the state Department of Public Instruction that the district needs to reduce the food service fund balance, Dr. Walsh said.

The fund balance is currently at around $200,000 but needs to be at $140,000, he said, noting that the DPI wants school districts to keep three months of the cost of the food service program in the fund balance.

To help reduce the amount in the fund balance, the Elk Mound Board of Education approved reducing milk prices from 35 cents per pint to 25 cents per pint.

In addition, students who qualify for reduced lunch and breakfast will get their meals for free.

Offering reduced lunch and breakfast for free affects about 20 students, Dr. Walsh said.

Elk Mound runs an efficient food-service program, so that is how the fund balance grew to its present level, he said.

“I really like the idea of being able to reduce prices,” Dr. Walsh said.

Other business

In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:

• Administered the oath of office during the organizational meeting to school board members elected on April 1: Tim Sivertson; Patrick Rhude; Mark Cedarblade.

• Elected officers during the organizational meeting: Sivertson as president; Kyle Jenson as vice-president; Margaret Dieter as clerk; Gary Bodenburg as treasurer.

• Approved during the regular school board meeting adding middle school show choir to the summer school class schedule.

• Accepted the request to retire from Sharon Raprager, who has been a school crossing guard in Elk Mound for about 25 years.

• Authorized Dr. Walsh to meet with school staff and representatives of the district’s health insurance company, Medica, to finalize a change in the health insurance offered by the school district.

• Postponed taking any action on the dental insurance offered by the school district.

• Scheduled the next meeting for May 19. The Elk Mound school district will hold its annual staff recognition luncheon at 3:15 that day. The Elk Mound Board of Education will meet at 5 p.m. for the regular monthly meeting.

In closed session, the Elk Mound Board of Education:

• Appointed Moriah Mauer was the student council representative on the Board of Education.

• Approved hiring Logan Roshell as the high school social studies teacher. Roshell is a graduate of Elk Mound High School.

• Approved teacher contracts for the 2014-2015 school year. All of the teachers will be returning, except Steve Turek, who intends to retire.