Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
students of the Ewen-Trout Creek robotics class make a presentation to the board of education Wednesday.
By JAN TUCKER
Ewen - The Ewen-Trout Creek School District joined with other area districts Wednesday in approving a later school starting time for the 2016-'17 school year this fall.
Students in grades sixth through 12th will have an advisory period in the morning from 8:35 a.m. to 8:52 a.m., with classes to begin at 8:55 a.m.
Elementary students will begin classes at 8:35 a.m.
Superintendent Alan Tulppo said parents who need to drop off students at school earlier than the start time will be able to do this as the building will be open at 7:30 a.m. and there will be staff on hand to supervise students. Breakfast will be served every day of the week.
At the onset of the meeting, students from the E-TC robotics class discussed the participation of the robotics events in Escanaba and Sault Ste Marie. They then demonstrated the robot built by the class.
The board received good news about the district's fund balance. Business manager Tammy Gibson reported the projected fund balance at the end of the school year will be $421,576. She said the balance is even better than projected when the budget was developed. She said work on the 2016-17 budget has begun and a draft will be given to the board in May.
Tulppo reported that plans for the building project are on schedule. Work on the exterior lighting will begin in the middle of May, with work on the rest of the project to begin June 9.
In other action, the board:
-Accepted with regret the retirement of business education teacher Dianne Hardes.
-After returning from a closed session, voted unanimously to accept the evaluation rating of business manager Gibson as "highly effective."
-Heard the district will receive a 3-D printer being donated by a resident of the district.
-Learned the school is in the process of developing a STEM lab for students in grades kindergarten through 12th.
-Learned students from E-TC participated in a trip to the Michigan Career and Technical Institute and the student trip to Washington D.C. was a success.
-Heard student registration for 2016-17 classes is complete and staffing needs are being finalized.
-Following a closed session, approved contract proposals with the E-TC Education Association.
