CC/E adopts 2021-22 budget

Enrollment numbers at Clay Central/Everly need to improve or the district's budget will be much tighter next year, according to Superintendent Kevin Wood.

The warning came March 24 during Wood's 2021-22 budget presentation to the school board. He noted CC/E's unspent authorized budget (UAB) is "staying pretty healthy," but warned that figure will start going down "in a hurry" if enrollment dips further.

Wood is projecting an enrollment of 49 PK-6 grade students next year. Right now, the elementary-only district has 67 students.

"This next year won't be as affected, budget-wise," he explained. "The following year if we are in that 40-50 range, we will certainly see a big difference as far as our budget goes."

The UAB is the difference between the district's legal budget authority and actual expenditures in the General Fund for the fiscal year. Wood said CC/E is still spending less than it's taking in, but that gap is tightening due to declining enrollment.

"Our hope is that we start seeing an uptick in numbers," he said. "We need students. We need butts in seats."

Six kindergarten students and six PK students attended roundup on March 23. That was more than expected, according to discussion.

Wood said the General Fund is in good condition under the new budget, which begins on July 1. However, he reiterated the situation is tenuous beyond the 2021-22 school year.

"We're sitting pretty good right now," he said. "We have to make sure we continue to work on getting students in our building. This conversation might look a little different next year just because of the numbers that we're experiencing right now."

The tax levy under the new budget is $8.06 per $1,000 of property valuation, down from $8.57 the previous year.

• Mask mandate staying put

In other business, the school board agreed to keep the district's mask policy in place and unchanged.

Wood noted some school districts have removed their mask mandates. He was against making any changes because of the state's quarantine rules. If a student comes in contact with a COVID-19 positive individual without a mask on, they have to enter quarantine. If they're wearing a mask, they don't.

Wood also said it's difficult to do contact tracing since CC/E's nurse is only there a half day each week.

"It puts a lot on the office and it puts a lot on the administration to do that," he said. "My recommendation would be to ride the wave until we get further guidance. If they drop the guidance as far as no more quarantine of students, then I think we go that route."

Wood shared the kindergarten class was placed in quarantine last week due to a potential exposure. The board believed it was best to keep the mask mandate in place.

"I think you're going down the right path, and I support you," said Board Member Denny Dalen.

Wood said wearing masks was the most effective tool at keeping kids in classrooms and avoiding distance learning.

"We want to make sure we stick with [masks] and are talking about it and teaching about it every day," Wood said. "This is something that we need to do to stay in school."

• School elections to change

The board agreed to move forward with plans to alter how members are elected.

Right now, each board member is elected from the director district in which they reside. Members must live in the district they represent.

The setup has made it difficult to find candidates in recent years. In an effort to remedy the situation, the board plans to change the rules so two members must reside north of county road B24 while two must reside south of B24. There will be one at-large member.

Under the setup, current board members Allison Goyette and Steve Kracht would represent the south side of the district while Allyn Heikens and Denny Dalen would represent the north. Board Member Brian Schmidt will hold the at-large seat.

A final vote on the change is expected to take place at April's meeting.