Breakfast Program begins Jan. 3, 2011.

Beginning January 3rd, Genesee Joint Schools will being offering a breakfast program to all students in grades K-12. Studies show that students who eat breakfast overall do better academically. We are confident that this small step will provide great gains for our students.

Breakfast will consist of a whole grain cereal, milk, juice and bread product. Students will be allowed into the cafeteria from 7:30 - 7:55 to get breakfast. Costs for breakfast will be $1.70 for students K-12 ( $.30 for those who qualify for reduced breakfast/lunch). High school students will have the option of purchasing an additional bread product for $.30 ea.

We hope that this service will help get your families morning off to a great start and hope that you will encourage your child(ren) to take part of the breakfast program. If you any questions, please feel free to call me directly at 208-285-1161.

Mrs. Wendy J. Moore
Superintendent

Genesee Joint School District Receives High Marks

Genesee Joint School District continues to receive high academic scores on the Idaho State Achievement Test(ISAT) and the National ACT as well as receive State Recognition for outstanding FFA program.

Genesee Joint School district received official recognition from the State Department of Education for making Adequate Yearly Progress for the 2009/10 school year. Students in grades 3-8 and the 10th grade scored 97.1% proficient in the area of Reading and 97.4% proficient in the area of Math. Genesee Joint schools also had 100% graduation rate. These high proficiency scores and graduation rate, show a true commitment to the educational process and are reflective of a high level of student commitment, teacher dedication and parent support. Quality education and learning takes place when you have a community that supports and cares about education. I believe these scores reflect such a commitment.

The district also received the ACT College Readiness report. This report reflects the achievement of the last 5 years of graduates from the Genesee Joint School District. The ACT consists of curriculum-based tests of educational development designed to measure the skills needed for success in the first year of college coursework. The 2010 graduates scored higher in all 4 core areas than the state average. (Assessed Areas: English Composition, Algebra, Social Science, Biology)

We would also like to congratulate the Genesee Joint School District FFA program. The FFA program received 2nd place in the Helping Communities Grow Recognition Program. The FFA will receive a $3,000 grant for their hard work and effort. Congratulations to Mr. Morrow and all the students involved in the program.

Congratulations to all of these students, staff members and community for a job well done.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school. I would like to welcome all of you back to the 2010/11 school year. School will begin on Tuesday, August 31st for all students K-12. We will be hosting an Open House for grades K-3 on Monday, August 30 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Tuesday, August 31st for grades 4-12 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. I would encourage you to attend the scheduled Open Houses. This will provide you and your child(ren) time to meet the teachers and for students to become familiar with their new classrooms.

We have a lot of great things planned for the upcoming year and I look forward to meeting all of you.

Enjoy those last few days of summer!
Wendy Moore, Superintendent

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I would like to begin by Thanking all of you for such a warm reception to Genesee. The community has been very warm and welcoming. For those of you who I haven't had the opportunity to meet yet, I would like to tell you a little about myself and my family. I am coming to you from a small rural farming community in southern Michigan, very similar to Genesee. I have been married to my husband Kevin for 23 years. I have three children, the two oldest - Meghan and Katie are off to Universities in Michigan and Ohio. My youngest - Josh will be a Freshman here at Genesee. I have been in Education for the past 22 years. I was an Elementary teacher for 12 years and spent the last 10 years in Administration; 6 of those years as a Superintendent/ Elementary Principal.

When asked what my career goals are, I have to say honestly...this is it. I truly love what I do and can't imagine myself doing anything different. I genuinely love working with students, staff and parents and believe that we can make a difference in the lives of every child that walks through our doors. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to work with your child(ren) and hope that we are able to work together to give your child(ren) every possible opportunity to become successful individuals.

I hope that you enjoy your last few weeks of summer and I look forward to meeting you.


Wendy Moore, Superintendent/Elementary Principal

It's been an honor

As I conclude my second to last day with the Genesee School District, I want to thank the community, students, and staff for making my tenure as Superintendent gratifying and successful.

The parents and patrons have demanded a quality educational environment for the young people of Genesee. That demand has fostered excellent support for the trustees, administration, staff and students. Without that support we would not have been able to modernize our physical plant, recruit and retain high quality employees, and provide our students with the tools they will need to be successful in their chosen career path.

It is not easy to vote to increase your tax burden, but the community has consistently voted to provide additional funding to maintain the type of academic and extra-curricular programs they have come to expect even as the economy has faltered. I want to thank the school trustees who have worked hard to balance the educational needs of the students with the means of the taxpayers. The Board has had the foresight to maintain a safe environment that is conducive to learning in the 21st century.

The teachers and classified employees have worked long and hard to provide the best opportunities they can for students. It shows in the consistently high assessment results as measured by numerous state and local tests. Many years, Genesee School has had the highest scores in the state on the Idaho Standards Achievement Test. Our clubs and sports programs are flourishing as a result of excellent student participation, supportive parents, wise coaches and advisors. We are fortunate to have two wonderful parent groups supporting our efforts. I applaud both the Genesee Boosters and the Genesee PTO.

What makes the Genesee School special? It's the people... all of them. Thank you and the best of luck in the future.

2010-2011 School Calendar Finalized

The 2010-2011 school calendar was approved by the Board of Trustees Monday evening. Please take a moment to view it on our web site or here.

There are some changes in store for next year. School will begin at 8:00 AM and get out at 3:20 PM. This change is primarily due to the need to switch the secondary master schedule from six to seven periods daily to accommodate the increased graduation requirements which begin with the class of 2013. Because of this longer day and the subsequent increase in daily instructional time, the calendar has fewer days of school but the instructional time remains at a similar historical level.

There are no early release days in the calendar to maximize the efficiency of our transportation system and instructional time. Instead, a number of full days have been scheduled for professional days for staff. You will also note two furlough days, one on what would have been a student contact day and one on what would have been a professional day. These furlough days are being taken as a result of decreased state funding to help limit the impact on the local budget.

The Board and administration will appreciate your feedback next school year on this calendar. I would like to thank those parents and staff members who volunteered to serve on the calendar committee this year for their help.

If you can read this, thank a teacher!

You may have seen the bumper sticker: "If you can read this, thank a teacher." You probably have read or heard of Hillary Clinton's book "It takes a Village." Educating productive citizens is of paramount importance to the perpetuation of our democracy. Teachers and education support personnel, in conjunction with parents and other community members, play a vital role in preparing young people for the future. 

Today is Teacher and Education Staff Appreciation Day. We are so lucky in the Genesee School District to have outstanding teachers and support staff. We are also very lucky to have an education-minded community who supports their school system.

Our students are number one in the minds and hearts of all of the employees of your school district. If you get a chance, please thank them.

DRAFT Fiscal Year 2011 Budget

The Board of Trustees will hold a budget hearing at 6:00 PM on June 8 to review the budget. Later that evening, at the regular meeting, they will take action to approve or deny the budget. A draft copy of the 95 page document can be accessed by clicking on the link below:

     DRAFT FY2011 Budget Document

Patrons are invited to the budget hearing. This will be your opportunity to ask questions and/or comment on the proposed budget prior to Board action. Please understand the budget is subject to revision at any time prior to acceptance by the Board of Trustees.

You may contact me via email (dneumann@sd292.org), telephone (285-1161 extension 201), in person or via this blog if you have questions or concerns.

DRAFT 2010-2011 Calendar

A committee of parents, teachers and classified staff met Monday evening to collaborate on a calendar for next school year. Board policy dictates that the superintendent recommend a calendar to the trustees for approval. It is our practice to include the staff and parents into the process.

The Board requested that the 2010-2011 calendar include the following: longer school day to accommodate the seven-period secondary master schedule necessary due to increase state-mandated graduation requirements,  fewer school days, no early release days, professional days not to be more frequent than every three weeks, and a similar number of instructional hours to our existing calendar.

You can view the calendar I will be recommending to the Board here. This is a compromise between a staff-generated proposal and an administrative proposal.

There were numerous discussions held by the committee including:

• First day of school. Labor Day is late this year so beginning after Labor Day put the end of school too late. Also parents and elementary teachers felt it was important not to have a full five-day week the first week of school to give young students the chance to acclimate to school.
• Winter and spring break. These holidays are always an important and lively discussion within the committee, but there was unanimous support this year for a two week winter break and having spring break the final week of March versus the first week of April.
• The placement of the professional days was considered at length, as was the importance of a two-day time frame for parent/teacher conferences in the fall. 

As you can see on the calendar, the school day next year is proposed to begin at 8:00 AM and end at 3:20 PM. Kindergarten is proposed to run from 8:00 AM until 11:15 AM. This will allow for 55 minute secondary classes, which are currently 60 minutes. It is a longer day for all students, but by shortening the number of school days, the instructional hours remain very close to the current level. Most of the professional days have been moved to Fridays to provide some long weekends for those families desiring such an option while still providing ample time for teacher training and collaboration which is such a vital part of continuous school improvement. Some of those professional days have also been placed on historically low attendance days which also helps in our calculation of average daily attendance which impacts our state funding. Reducing the number of school days also will help the District balance the budget while maintaining the same instructional focus.

The adoption of the calendar will be an agenda item at the May 10 Board meeting. Patrons are welcome to attend the meeting to comment on the proposed calendar.

Supplemental Levy Results

The $700,000 supplemental levy for fiscal year 2011 has passed with a 70% approval. There were a total of 206 ballots cast of which 144 were YES votes and 62 were No votes. I would like to thank the community of Genesee for their support once again of their school system. Given the current economic climate and the reduced state funding, this supplemental levy will go a long way toward maintaining the quality programs residents have come to expect from their school system.

Supplemental Levy Information Meeting - March 25

Please consider attending the supplemental levy information meeting in the multi-purpose room at 7:00 PM on Thursday, March 25th. I will show a PowerPoint presentation that briefly explains the budgeting process, how state aid is impacted by average daily attendance, the cost of the levy and the reasons that the Board of Trustees passed a resolution requesting that the patrons consider the passage of a supplemental levy to support education in the school district.

The proposed FY2011 maintenance and operations budget includes reductions in staffing, expenditure of carry-over funds and other reductions to arrive at the $700,000 levy request. While this request is more than last years levy, it is less than anticipated due to several factors. However, concern remains that the Governor will declare a 5% hold back in FY2011 due to declining state revenue so we are being advised to prepare for that possibility. The hold back was not anticipated at the time the levy was set.

The entire budget is not finalized and adopted until the June board meeting. There are actually twenty different budgets. The maintenance and operations budget is the main budget which supports the general education of students. The other nineteen budgets address specific areas such as technology, professional-technical education, plant facilities, child nutrition, special education, etc. The M&O budget will change right up to the day it is adopted as additional information is received which helps us determine more accurately the financial position of the school district.

The meeting is a good opportunity to ask your questions about the budget and levy.

What factor drives state funding in Idaho?

The primary factor which drives the amount of state funding each school district receives is average daily attendance. If you have an enrollment of 300 students and, on average, 15 students are absent daily, then you have a 95% ADA. This means you only get paid for having 285 students even though you still need to provide teachers, classrooms, textbooks, supplies, utilities, busing and more for all of those enrolled; attending or not.

Some have argued that funding should be based on enrollment, not attendance since schools have to prepare for the maximum number of students enrolled. That actually makes a lot of intuitive sense. We can't remove a desk, return a textbook, fire a teacher, or sell a bus in the middle of the school year. If Idaho switched to an enrollment-based system, some districts would lose money and some would gain. While it may not make a lot of economic sense to fund schools based on ADA that is the system used in Idaho.

Three-fourths of our funding is based on the first attendance reporting period from the start of school until the first week in November. The remaining funding is based on our best 28 weeks of attendance. Even though we certify our budget in June, we will not find out until November how accurate our attendance estimates were for the largest portion of our funding. And we won't know for sure until July 15 of the following year how well we estimated our best 28 weeks!

In addition to the obvious educational reasons for students to attend school regularly, the financial impact of poor attendance patterns effects all students regardless of how well or poorly they may attend. The Genesee School District has historically had a 95% attendance rate. Given our current enrollment, that means we lose out on $96,000 worth of potential funding. That is $536 per day or $36.75 for each day a student does not attend school.

Supplemental levy, school calendar and more

The Board set the supplemental levy election last night to be held on April 13 in the amount of $700,000. If the levy passes, there is a high probability that the school calendar for 2010-2011 will be a slightly modified traditional calendar. I presented a sample of what that might look like to the trustees last night and you can see it here. Once again, this is a draft of what next years calendar might look like. I will put together a committee composed of staff members and patrons to provide input to help me formulate a final recommendation to the trustees once we know the status of the levy election.

The Board also directed me to determine the interest for a tuition-based afternoon kindergarten program. The intent is that such a program option would be self-supporting. If a full-day kindergarten option is offered, the preschool would be moved to three mornings a week and taught by a different employee. The Board expects to make a decision in April or May.

Jt. District 282 and Proposed State Education Budget

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee passed a FY2011 budget for K-12 education including some important intent language to provide districts with increased financial flexibility and local control. It is anticipated that it will take a week to draft the actual bill. Most people close to the process feel it will pass the Senate without too much difficulty but there is some concern in the House that the JFAC budget does not cut enough to prevent a potential mid-year hold back in FY2011.

Some of the highlights of the proposed state budget include:

• reduction in state funding of 8.5%
• transportation reimbursement cut 10%
• teacher and classified salary apportionment cut 4%
• administrative salary apportionment cut 6.5%
• state paid benefits cut proportionately
• teacher incentive award postponed for at least one year
• Substance abuse prevention funding cut from $7 million to $290,000
• technology funding eliminated
• math and reading initiatives plus ISAT remediation cut 20%
• Gifted and talented training grants eliminated
• classroom supply and textbook supply dedicated funds eliminated
• state discretionary funds reduced 14.4% from the current year

The funds from some of the cuts identified above have been placed into discretionary funding which is the action that helps provide flexibility to districts to meet the current financial conditions. Had the legislature not done so, the discretionary funding could have been reduced 32%. Discretionary funds are used to pay for utilities, employee health insurance, supplies, purchased services, etc.

We have been assured that there will not be a mid-year hold back of FY2010 funds. Of course this just means that funding is reduced for FY2011 but it is always easier for a district to reduce spending before a budget year begins than after we are two-thirds of the way through the year.

We made some cuts during this year in anticipation of a possible hold back which has increased our anticipated fund balance at the end of our fiscal year. We will be able to expend more of our fund balance to help ease the pain in FY2011.

I will be proposing that the Board of Trustees consider setting a supplemental levy for the 2010-2011 school year in the amount of $700,000 with an election to be held on April 13. Because of the increased flexibility provided through JFAC, our increased fund balance due to mid-year spending reductions and to the increased state revenue as a result of the Land Board decision to increase the payment to schools next year, I have been able to produce a preliminary budget that does not require a severely compressed calendar nor additional staff reduction beyond anticipated attrition. That preliminary maintenance and operations budget will be discussed at the regular March board meeting Monday night.

Another potential school calendar

At the request of the Board, after receiving comments from the public meeting held on Monday, I created another draft calendar for consideration. You can find it posted here. As always, comments are appreciated.

Compressed calendar is only one idea to manage reduced state funding

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee is scheduled to set the K-12 education budget on March 1st. As you can imagine, there is a lot of scrambling among the various education stakeholders to have input into the final budget. We will see if they get it done on Monday and then try to get the best estimate of the impact on the Genesee School District.

The administration and Board have been working on various ways to develop a balanced budget for the coming school year. During the past several school years, the Board has reduced the school district budget to reflect a drop in enrollment. The 09-10 budget is 5.8% less than the 08-09 budget. The 08-09 budget was about 1.1% less than actual expenditures in 07-08.

This year we are looking at a reduction in state funding of $168,000 or more due to the current economic situation. In addition, we are looking at a further state funding reduction in the amount of $122,000 due to the drop in enrollment from last year. Couple this $290,000 state funding reduction with the need to replace $60,000 worth of stimulus funding which is no longer available and the $105,000 one-time expenditure from the District's fund balance and now we are looking at $455,000 above and beyond our position this year.

Add that $455,000 to the current one-year supplemental levy of $515,000, tack on the $25,000 it would cost to purchase updated math textbooks which was postponed last year and all of the sudden maintaining the status quo requires $995,000 local funds above what is provided by the state.

We anticipate some retirements, we can expend more of the fund balance, we might be able to further reduce supplies, services and equipment, we can postpone the purchase of updated math textbooks for another year or two and that might get us to a $750,000 levy. That levy will cost in the neighborhood of $5.46 per $1,000 of assessed valuation which represents an increase of nearly 50%.

That is why the Board and administration are discussing a compressed calendar. Other ideas: reduction in activities, reduction of teachers, reduction of classified staff. Some have rightly suggested that we consider furloughs as a way of saving money. This is also being discussed but Idaho has a law that only allows a District to pay employees less next year than they received this year if a financial emergency is declared. There are a number of criteria required before a district can even qualify to declare a financial emergency (Idaho Code 33-522).

You can be assured that the trustees and administration are looking at all options while maintaining the focus on the students.

150 day school year calendar

As we have been working our way through the research of the four-day week and listening to patron input about the idea, many suggestions have been made. The Board of Trustees asked me to develop a calendar that had many of the financial benefits of the four-day week idea but was more traditional in nature (i.e., go to school most weeks for five days).

Mr. Caldwell and I collaborated on just such an idea which I am calling the 150-day school year calendar. This calendar can be viewed at the following link: 150 day calendar. This calendar starts school the day after labor day and ends school the Friday before Memorial weekend. It actually adds five more days of school than the calendar we developed for the four-day week. You will see a number of "vacation days" which have been designed to fall on historically low attendance days which would maximize our average daily attendance which is directly related to state funding.

We shortened the length of the extended school day from 70 to 35 minutes. With this reduction, but the extra five days, we have created a calendar that provides kindergarten students with 486 hours of instruction which is eleven more than they currently have. We are also entertaining the idea of offering a bonus afternoon kindergarten session for parents who would like their children to attend kindergarten for a full day for $250 per month tuition. The 150 day calendar provides 947 hours of instruction for grade 1-6 students compared to the current 992. Secondary students would receive 1,002 hours compared with the current 1,065. There would be no early release days and secondary classes would be 56 minutes long compared to the current 60 minutes (however, that is in a seven versus six period day).

Is this the ideal calendar? I doubt that it is, but it is an idea to generate discussion. The savings from this calendar only differ by about $2,000 from the four-day school week calendar. Would a calendar like this negatively affect student achievement? That is a difficult question to answer. The research on schools that have transitioned to a four-day school week have found that student achievement did not decrease. However, I have yet to find any research which indicates that reducing instructional time increases student achievement other than the literature on the four-day school week. There is good research that indicates that increasing instructional time improves student achievement. My best guess would be that our students would continue to achieve well but teachers would have to eliminate some activities which might not relate directly to Idaho Achievement Standards.

School Budget

With the school year just barely half over, it may not seem like it is time to begin budgeting for the next year but that time is quickly approaching. The budget for fiscal year 2011 will be the most difficult budget I have developed due to the decreased revenue projections for state funding, reduction of stimulus funds and the decreasing enrollment in our school district. Based on the information we currently have, the District would need to run a $1,005,000 supplemental levy to remain at the status quo.

During the past sixteen years, the District has built one of the highest quality rural districts in Idaho as measured by student performance. We have worked hard to maintain reasonable class size at the elementary level, we have made sure that all of our students have appropriate supplemental education services to eradicate performance deficits, we increased our humanities to provide for a well-rounded education, we have recruited and retained the highest quality teachers and support staff possible, we have challenged our high school students by offering additional math and science, and we have been modifying our school culture and curriculum to better prepare our students for the 21st century. All of this came at a price. Fortunately, the community has continued to support a quality education.

Beginning about four years ago we began to see a decline in student enrollment. Over the years, our enrollment has been lower than it is currently and it has been higher. It is not uncommon to see such fluctuation but it is much more difficult to create a budget during declining enrollment than during growing enrollment. Our enrollment will likely increase in the future but the double whammy of declining enrollment and reduced state funding puts significant pressure on school budgets.

Over fifty percent of the school districts in Idaho run supplemental levies as we do. That tells me that the people of Idaho and our school district want more than the minimal level of education that state support provides. A number of years ago the funding for schools was altered in a one-day special legislative session. The property tax mechanism was removed and replaced with general state funds (income and sales tax). At the time, school districts expressed concern that replacing this stable tax base with general funds could cause problems during an economic downturn. That is exactly what is occurring now with state funding. The only mechanism a public school has to increase revenue is a supplemental levy.

The Board of Trustees has been discussing the FY11 budget, and particularly, the levy, for the past three months. They have directed me to provide ideas to help balance the budget at a supplemental levy amount they believe is fair and reasonable to ask voters to pass. This District, like all school districts, expends 80-85% of their budget on salary and benefits. Reductions in the M&O budget have been made in supplies, equipment, purchased services and staff. Further reductions are anticipated. Where and how deep those cuts are made without substantially impacting student achievement is the difficult work of developing the budget.

Civil public input is vital to the process. Comments to the blog, email and letters to the trustees, and public comments at board meetings are essential for the process to be successful. It is important to know the facts and be careful of rumors. Patrons may contact the administration any time they have a specific question or need for additional information. Your trustees will make the best decision for the students. It is not likely to please everyone, but that is how representative democracy operates.

Please continue to provide your thoughtful input to all proposals.

Four-day school week public meeting-Feb 22nd

Genesee School will hold a public information meeting at 7:00 PM on February 22nd in the MPR to provide information regarding how a 4-day school week works and to answer patron questions.

A PowerPoint from the Idaho Department of Education will be shown. Committee members, who had the opportunity to visit School District 271 in Orofino as well as Mr. Neumann, will be on hand to answer questions. The committee was set up by the Board to see how this neighboring school district set up their four-day school week, what issues were addressed and how and other general information. Orofino was selected because they have been on the four-day week the longest in Idaho and they are also the closest school system using this schedule.

The committee and the school district understands that the Genesee education system differs from that of District No. 271. The intent of the visit was not to emulate the Orofino school system. Every community has unique needs and goals and the school system reflects this uniqueness.A four-day school week in Genesee would take this into account.

This meeting is information only. No decisions will be made at the meeting. Any decision to consider a 4-day week or any other method of scheduling school in the future will be made at the school board meeting by the trustees. Patrons who desire to provide input regarding the decision, should either attend the March Board meeting or send a letter to the Board via the Superintendent. Patrons may also contact their trustee directly.

Four-day School Week

The Board has been discussing the District response to the pending state funding shortfall we anticipate for the 2010-2011 school year. One of the topics of interest to the trustees is the four-day school week. This concept has been discussed at public meetings during the past two years. While there were some financial savings from transitioning to a four-day school week in prior years, a change in the way school bus transportation is now funded has almost doubled the savings which would result from the schedule change. Idaho now reimburses allowable bus transportation at 50% of the cost versus the prior 85%. Saving twenty percent of our regular transportation is now 10% saving versus 3%. In addition kindergarten would likely transition to two full days which would eliminate the noon bus routes further increasing the savings to the District.

The Board appointed a committee under the direction of Mr. Caldwell which will include four staff members and several parents to go visit a school district currently on the four-day school week. A public meeting will be held in February to provide information regarding the four-day school week and committee members and Mr. Neumann will be available to answer questions.

It should be noted that there are other positive educational reasons to consider the four-day school week in addition to the financial benefits which will be discussed at the meeting. There are challenges as well, but the track record of schools transitioning to this form of schedule has, for the most part, been very positive. The school board plans to make a decision in March

Emergency Release of School

As the flood waters rose on Cow Creek yesterday, we received numerous calls from anxious parents wanting to know if we would be releasing students early. The answer was no. It is the policy of the school district not to release school early because many young students would arrive home to empty and/or unsupervised homes. The school building is a safe environment. In the instance of a flood, being at the top of the hill, makes the school a very safe place to be. Further, releasing unsupervised students who may venture too close to icy cold and unsanitary flood waters would pose another threat to student safety.

Similar situations can occur when significant snowfall occurs during the school day. Again, we will not release students early. Our transportation supervisor is in continuous communication with the appropriate road departments. Alternative plans and routes exist to take students home from school. In the very unlikely event that this could not be accomplished, parents and guardians would be contacted and alternative plans would be put into effect. As always, our highest priority is student safety.

There could be a situation when it would be necessary to evacuate the school such as a fire, bomb scare or similar event. The school has emergency closure plans in place which utilize alternative locations in the community to facilitate transporting students to their homes. This process is practiced and students and staff know what to do and how to act in the event of such an unlikely event.

If you have specific questions or suggestions, you may email me at dneumann@sd282.org.