Page Ten NVarren Town and County News Thursday, April 12, 2012
DENNY WULF
Concluded from p.l
trator may conduct "wa]kthroughs" or other mecha-
nisms to track progress. At the end of the year, they
discuss progress and goals for the following year. Ev-
ery three years, a "full evaluation" of the teacher oc-
curs. Many meetings and a portfolio presentation.
Whether or not this system is sufficient to ensure stu-
dent achievement is the crux of the conversation at the
Iowa Legislature.
Another bone of contention is the retention of third
grade students who are not proficient readers. As you
might imagine, there were many testimonials, some
were factually-based and some were emotionally-based.
This is a hard call and both sides had plenty of data.
One group mentioned research that students that are
held back are more likely to drop out of school later.
Conversely, the other group mentioned that non-read-
ers are more likely to drop out of school later. Both
have a point. If the legislature decides to retain non-
readers, proponents would hope that an alternate pro-
gram would be researched and developed. Sending
those children through the same program a second time
makes very little sense. Sending them through a more
intensive or some type of alternate programming may
make sense.
A final topic is the setting of allowable growth. As
you know, Iowa Schools have traditionally received
three or four percent allowable growth. This assists dis-
tricts in coping with the inflation of transportation,
maintenance, salaries, textbooks, computers and other
aspects of the school business. However, the economic
downturn has caused a 0% allowable growth to Iowa
schools this year and perhaps 2% growth into the fu-
ture. As is true with your budgets at home, this will
cause some changes in our business.
As we did our problem solving to address this issue,
we used two pieces of information from our yearly par-
ent surveys. As always, hundreds of parents responded
to the survey. As an example of how we use this data in
the past, I offer the discussion over the penny sales tax.
When the penny sales tax became available through the
Iowa Legislature, we surveyed our public. They over-
whelmingly supported the stadium, auditorium and
parking lot as our greatest needs among a sizeable list
of possibilities. Since those dollars could not be used
for salaries or many other day-to-day operating ex-
penses, we moved ahead with these public priorities
while construction costs were at historic lows. The first
chart from this year's survey reveals the public percep-
tion of how we have used public dollars in the past.
Eighty-eight percent of parents agree or strongly agree
that the Norwalk District has used public funds effec-
tively. Ten percent disagree and two percent strongly
disagree. Unfortunately, now we are on the flipside of
that economic situation. We need to consider how to
deal with a decreasing general fund budget. So, again,
we asked our parents how to proceed. The second chart
reveals their preferences.
The survey question asked parents whether they
would prefer that we address the funding reductions
by 1) Increasing local property taxes. 2) Reduce the cur-
rent expenditure to match the reductions in state aid or
3) An equal combination of tax increases and spending
reductions. The second chart reveals that the majority
of parents (51%) want an equal mix of cuts and tax in-
creases. Thirty-seven percent of parents want spending
reductions only and no tax increase. Twelve percent
wanted all reductions covered by property tax increases
with no cuts.
Valuing those survey inputs, the district has devel-
oped a 2012-13 budget that cuts expenditures, delays
implementation and hiring of some positions or adjusts
non-classroom staffing by over five hundred thousand
dollars. Some examples include the reduction of a trans-
portation secretary and a maintenance position, reduc-
tions in curriculum purchasing and technology, delay-
ing some maintenance into the future and other cuts.
In addition, we requested an increase in taxes by ap-
proximately two hundred thousand dollars. We regret
any tax increases, since the district has such a history of
reducing taxes, but we believed five hundred thousand
dollars of reduced spending and two.hundred thousand
dollars of tax increase honor the public sentiment found
in the survey.
Since the governor has continued to propose 2% al-
lowable growth into the future to address state short-
falls, the district is preparing for more cuts in the fu-
ture. As always, we will attempt to keep these cuts as
far away from the classroom as possible. But, as you
imagine, at some point, that becomes impossible. Ex-
pect to see future articles addressing the cuts from the
2013-14 proposed school budget, once the legislature
sets allowable growth and we have some solid num-
bers to discuss. We appreciate your input on our sur-
veys and strategic planning group (SIAC), and your
patience as we all struggle through these tough eco-
nomic times together.
Katy Blomgren and Tammy Sodeen received an
award for volunteering at Oviatt.
70%
Using Public Funding Efficiently
2%
18%
• Strongly Agree
II Agree
[] Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
To Maintain a Balanced Budget
12%
• Maintaining Current Expenditures by
Increasing Local Property Taxes
• A Reduction in Current Expenditures
Equal tothe Reduction of State Aid
• A Equal Combination of Loca!
Property Tax Increases and Reduction,
of Expenditures
Natalie Geyer and Josie Innis demonstrating Oviatt's
technology to the school board. Photos submitted.
Boys Varsity Track Results
Thursday, March 29, the Norwalk Boys Track team
traveled to Johnston to compete in the 10 team invita-
tional. No team score was kept, but the Warriors com-
peted hard and had several very high performances and
a lot of very strong individual performances. A new
school record was set by Garrett Gillen in the Discus-
145'3", and also a new 4x400 Sophomore Class Record
was set by Jared Riter, Caleb Klocko, Nate Johnston and
Josh Lippert, in 3:47.44.
Norwalk place winners are as follows: 1st place-
Garrett Gillen-Discus 145'3" - new school record; 1st
Place-4 x 100 Relay team of Kolbv Greenslade, Carson
Klocko, Kenny Floyd, Chase Onken 45.23; 1st Place-
Weightmans 4 x 100 Relay team of Gillen, Devin
Verwers, Alex Landgrebe, Aaron Westphalen 51.43; 2nd
place -Landgrebe- Discus 134'5"; 2nd Place-4x200 Re-
lay team of Greenslade, Carson Klocko, Floyd, Onken
1:34.75; 2nd Place-Brandon Pevestorf-400 Low Hurdles
1:00.68; 2nd Place-ll0 Shuttle Hurdle relay team of
Collin Schlitz, Pevestorf, Caleb Klocko, Carson Klocko
1:02.40; 3rd Place-Westphalen-Discus 134-3"; 3rd Place-
Onken-High Jump 5'10"; 4th Place-Gillen-Shot Put
47'10".
Friday, March 30, the Warrior Track team traveled to
compete in the very competitive 18 team Winterset Boy
Invitational. Norwalk finished in the 4th position, scor'-
ing 43 points. Conference foe Pella won the meet scor-
ing 142 points.
Norwalk Place winners were as follows: 1st Place-
High Jump-Onken 5'10"; 2nd Place-Shot Put-Gillen
48'7"; 2nd Place-Shuttle Hurdle Relay team of Schiltz,
Pevestorf, Caleb Klocko, Carson Klocko 1:01.75; 3rd
Place-Shot Put-Trey Mateer 48'4"; 4th Place-110 High
Hurdles-Carson Klocko 16.33; 5th Place-Discus-
Landgrebe 134'8"; 5th Place-4 x 200 Relay team of Sam
George, Westphalen, Pevestorf, Caleb Klocko 1:37.88;
5th Place-4x400 Relay team of Nate Johnston, Carson
Klocko, Onken, Josh Lippert 3:37.96; 6th Place-400 Low
Hurdles-Pevestorf 59.46.
Did You Know?
(NAPS)--The National
Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (NHLBI) sponsors
the We Can! (Ways to En-
hance Children's Activity &
Nutrition) program, which
offers plenty of tips to help
families become more active.
For more information, visit
wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov.
Students who score a 3 or
higher on an AP Exam may
be eligible for college credit or
advanced placement. This has
the potential to accelerate the
graduation process and thus
reduce or offset the cost of
tuition. To learn more, visit
www.collegeboard.org/ap.
Becoming a member of the
Army National Guard, a 375-
year-old branch of the U.S.
military, gives soldiers a
chance to accomplish great
things in addition to serving
their country and state. For
more informatiori, visit www.
nationalguard.com.
Syngenta researr2mrs have
contributed to Golden Rico,
which is genetically engi-
neered to contain carotenoid&
It's expected to contribute
significantly to an effective,
inexpensive and simple solu-
tion to vitamin A deficiency.
Johnsons Bedtime prod-
ucts for babies and toddlers
are now formulated with
NaturalCalm, a unique blend
of patent-pending essences
that had been tested and
proven to have relaxing prep-
erties. You can learn more
online at www.johnsonsbaby.
corn/bedtime.
If you are moving to take a
new job, make sure to research
the weather patterns in your
new location to plan accord-
ingly for clothing and getting
about. You may also want to
examine cost of living indexes.
To learn more, visit www.
CareerRelocate.com.
