Nevada will receive $76,618 in Title I funds. Superintendent Jim Walker said the plans are to use this money to replace the reading specialist position at the elementary school. The position, formerly held by Janet Handsaker, was being eliminated with Handsaker's retirement this year due to budget constraints. The school would now look to bring in a new hire for the position.
Nevada schools will also be receiving $208,788 in special education funds during the next two school years and administration has made the following recommendations to utilize this money:
It will replace the loss of Phase I funding, unrenewed by the Iowa Legislature, which will help to pay teacher salaries.
The district will increase the alternative high school teaching staff from a shared .5 position to a shared .7 position.
The district will increase, by .2, the eighth grade history position, which was being cut back due to budget constraints.
The district will reinstate a fulltime at-risk position, that will be a blend of what has been the GOALS position, along with more help for at-risk students. Walker said it's been about five years since the district has had a full-time at-risk position and they need to get back to it.
Board members will consider the recommendations and make approvals at their next school board meeting, June 22.
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Nevada schools food service director Diana Weber spoke to the Nevada School Board Monday about the amount in delinquent accounts, the number of meals served and cost comparisons on meals in other school districts.
Weber said in the 07-08 school year, the total amount of delinquent accounts was $1,335.01, which represented .54 percent of $358,981.35 in total sales and .33 percent of total revenue at $583,987.75.
As of June 1, the 08-09 total on delinquent accounts was $1,952.83, which Weber said represents about .6 percent of sales. But even though delinquent accounts are higher this year than last, Weber said it is still less than 1 percent of the total amount of money brought in by food service. "So it's really not that high of a number," she said, noting that some school districts are dealing with $25,000 or more in delinquent accounts.
"We really work with the parents in keeping them informed of their balances and working with them on getting their money in," said Weber.
When it comes to the number of meals served, Weber reported that food service has seen an increase in meals served this past school year, even though enrollment has declined. She credits some of this to increases in the number of students eating breakfasts and also to increases in participation at the elementary level, which carries over to more kids eating at the middle and high school levels.
In terms of pricing, Weber compared Nevada's prices to nine other central Iowa school districts, showing that Nevada isn't the highest or the lowest on the list. Taking Nevada's $2 elementary lunch price for the coming year, it fell below two other schools - Ames, which charges $2.10, and Colo-Nesco, which charges $2.25. Colfax-Mingo was at the same amount as Nevada. These other schools were below Nevada's cost on an elementary lunch: Ballard, $1.90; Collins-Maxwell, $1.60; Bondurant-Farrar, $1.80; Gilbert, $1.80; Roland-Story, $1.80; and North Polk, $1.75. It was noted that Colo, Ballard and Colfax Mingo have not established 2009-10 prices yet.
