Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
HURLEY STUDENTS Dani Mattson, left, and Reggie Kelly discuss how they use their computer skills to put together the yearbook at Monday's school board meeting. Advisor Shannon Peterson is at right. Also shown are school board member David Pajula, of Montreal, and school board secretary Donna Thomas.
By RALPH ANSAMI
Hurley - Hurley School District Administrator Chris Patritto discussed the ramifications of a drop in student enrollment of 15 students with the school board on Monday.
Patritto told the school board the third Friday K-12 count was conducted last week and it registered 589 students. The district adds on the equivalency of four full-time students from the summer school count for a total of 593.
He said he expected the decline.
Patritto projects a $210,000 drop in state aid, so 2016 property taxes will rise. He said school district officials are looking at a millage rate of $9.12 per $1,000 of property valuation, or about a 38-cent increase from a year ago.
School taxes will total around $3,282,000, or $179,000 more than a year ago.
Property values dictate how school taxes are split up. Patritto projects a total district valuation of $355 million to $360 million, to be determined after Oct. 1.
Simply put, he said the district is spending less because state aid continues to drop.
He assured the board that the budget will be balanced, however.
Board President Joe Simonich, of Kimball, asked Patritto what other similar-sized districts are doing to get by with their budgets.
"A lot of districts are going to referendums," Patritto responded.
He said Hurley doesn't need to go to a referendum to ask district residents to increase the tax levy limit, but it may have to do so in the future.
"It's getting to be bare bones here," he said.
In other business, the board adopted Common Core and the Wisconsin Model of Academic Standards for 2015-16.
The school district must work on a new five-year strategic plan, since the current one expires in 2016.
Patritto said action team chair people will begin meeting today on a new five-year plan and in February, 70 to 80 people will start drawing up a new plan.
"It will take two or three nights to get it done." he said.
