February 20, 2015 at 2:14 p.m.
School officials focused on improving communications with the public
School officials focused on improving communications with the public
Last month, the discussion centered around the district's financial stability. Monday's talk was focused on the goal of improving communication with the public.
"The plan report included the various ways that we are working to communicate with parents and the community to help people stay up to date on what's happening in the district," said Kelli Jacobi, district superintendent.
"We reviewed the community education program and what's taking place with that programming and how we're able to get people into the schools not only for the programs, but also to see our schools and to be part of our school community, which is really important."
In terms of reaching out to parents and the community, Jacobi said the district utilizes many avenues to ensure everyone knows and understands what's going on in district.
"We have our newsletters. I do monthly radio spots. We work with (the Northwoods River News) on a weekly education page which includes the weekly Hodag Pride newsletter and then we also always try to have a good article in there that's informative and shares the news of what's going on in the district or explaining changes within the district," she said.
"(Board member) David Holperin called it a good executive summary because if you look at the different priorities for (the goal), we really touched on the different priorities and how we are working to address those. This goal will always be on an ongoing basis. I'll continue to meet with community groups and we'll continue to work hard to keep everyone informed."
This goal will be especially important over the course of the next year. The district is currently aiming for a February 2016 referendum. The idea is to ask the voters to exceed revenue limits for three years, though no dollar amount has been determined.
Jacobi said she's already meeting with community groups to ensure everyone has all of the facts they need to make an informed decision.
"We've been meeting with community groups already. I tried starting that even last year just so we can get out and spread the word and talk about SDR's story," she said.
"It's critical that people understand what our story is. There is a long history of being fiscally responsible and working to make every dollar stretch as much as we can. We've got to do a good job of getting that story out and explaining why we need our community to support us. Strong schools are really important for the whole community."
Board approvals
In other business, the board gave final approval to three recommendations made by its committees. All approvals were unanimous.
Two of the recommendations came from the Operations and Strategic Planning Committee.
Earlier this month, the committee recommended the board purchase a moveable partition wall for the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom and allow high school DECA/FBLA members to solicit funds for the 2015 national competition.
The district will contract with VarHalen Commercial Interiors of Green Bay to install the wall at a cost not to exceed $17,650. It will be paid for using money from the district's timber sales.
The third recommendation came from the Employee Relations Committee, which recommended board approval of language updates to the employee handbook.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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