Committee will study whether some should be dropped by next year

By John McLoone

The Ellsworth School Board approved school fees at its meeting Monday night but will study if some should be dropped by the 2023-24 school year.

The board had a lengthy discussion last summer of fees sparked by board member Gary Kressin’s opinion that fees for classes students have to take to graduate are inequitable. When the matter came up for review this year, he voiced those opinions again.

The fee schedule that was OK’d by the board will be the same as last year. The board will decide on the makeup of a committee at a future meeting that will study the fee structure during this school year to see if changes should be made before the 2023-24 school year.

Superintendent Barry Cain said he reached out to other districts and learned that fees Ellsworth charges for classes where things are made or consumed, such as art, technology education, Family and Consumer Education and agriculture, are about what other districts charge as well.

“The senior high school fee list and the middle school fee list is the same as it’s been,” Cain said. “The big thing here is we’re pretty similar to other districts.”

The fee schedule holds the line on meal prices. Breakfast is $2.20 per day, and lunch costs $3.15.

High school class fees can range from $20 for Introduction to Industrial Technology to $25 for all art classes. Foods classes cost $25. Some foods and technology classes include an additional fee for projects that are made and taken home by students.

The fees for those classes bring in $11,642. In middle school, a separate class fee of $15 is charged for Family and Consumer Sciences.

There was no dispute to fees being charged for extra-curricular activities, but Kressin said that if the district is requiring a student to take a class to graduate, there shouldn’t be a fee attached.

The overall fee schedule for the district including classes and extra curriculars brings in around $35,000.

“If we’ve got a family with financial need, how does that work?” board member Michael Petersen asked.

Cain said no student is prohibited from class due to financial need.

“If they’re in need, they express it to us. They have no need to pay. We work with our counseling staff and administration. If we hear of financial hardship, we’re going to work with them. We don’t want that to be the decision-maker of them not taking the class,” said Cain.

Kressin said the district should absorb the fee if it’s a class the student has to take.

“For the fourth year in a row, I’ve never been in favor of fees for required projects,” he said. “If they’re doing an advanced project or an extra-credit project, it’s fair to charge them a fee. I think the district can consume that cost instead of it going out to families.”

He said the fees keep some families from allowing students to take classes.

“I do know firsthand some students who didn’t take a class they wanted to take,” said Kressin. “I don’t feel it’s equitable. It’s not fair to put families in that spot.

“I’ll pick on Intro to Industrial Tech. The fee pays for a chair they make. The chair is required to make. They shouldn’t have to pay $20.”

For families with multiple students, the fees could hit hard.

“That can come to a lot for some families,” Kressin said.

Board member Steve Mark agreed. “I can totally see both sides of this coin. I side with Gary. If a class is required for graduation, the district should cover that cost,” he said. “This has been a very slippery subject for years and years.”

“If we’re requiring a class, I don’t think we should charge for it. Electives, that’s very fair,” Mark added.

School board president Katie Feuerhelm suggested advancing the fee schedule and looking at it this school year.

“I think that would be productive,” she said. “I think instead of us kicking it around every year, we get a committee together to give us a recommendation. We’d all be better prepared.”

With the committee concept included in the motion, the fee schedule passed unanimously.

Stang

Cain credited teaching staff for stepping up to make the first session of summer school a big success.

“Staff did a great job of coming back and helping us in June,” he said.

On the matter of staffing, the district still has a few holes to fill for the coming school year, and it’s a competitive market for teachers.

“We’re going to have to get creative and work to get staff here,” said Cain. “We have a really busy time. We had our meeting with 17 area superintendents. Every district is seeing the same thing, a lot of movement and a lot of shortage of applicants.”

Ellsworth is seeking a middle school English teacher, an algebra teacher and a second- grade teacher for the coming year. “Districts are talking about zero, one or two applicants for openings. For elementary, we’re seeing four to six applicants,” said Cain.

In the personnel report at the meeting, the district had resignations from seven staff members and the retirement of Lori Thoms, an elementary teaching assistant.

“She did a great job for us,” Cain said of Thoms.

On the other side of the ledger, there were eight hires: Courtney Brunner in high school and middle school guidance, Chealsey Gerth as a high school/middle school art teacher, Sara Harrington as a long-term sub, Kendyl Horn as a third-grade teacher, Danielle Lewis as a seventh-grade teacher, Autumn Ninke as a fourth-grade teacher, Alexandra Runyon as a teaching assistant and Ashley Zierl as a kindergarten teacher.