The June 17 meeting of the Prescott School Board was a good old-fashioned marathon session. For 2 hours and 40 minutes, board members tackled a formidable agenda, making decisions to shape the next school year and looking at facility needs for years to come.

It all starts at Prescott with the good news, and with how the 2019-2020 school year came to a close for all students, it was uplifting to hear how Prescott did it right.

First off, there was graduation accolades from Superintendent Dr. Rick Spicuzza.

“I wanted to first and foremost thank (High School Principal Josh Fiege) Mr. Fiege and his high school staff, Mike Matzek, Steve Sizemore and Tanya Holub, our three board representatives,” said Spicuzza. “June 5 graduation of our Class of 2020 was amazing under these conditions. I was just so impressed with how we were able to personalize that event in light of the fact that the pandemic was in place.

“I just wanted to tip my hat to the Class of 2020.”

Director of Teaching and Learning Mike Kosmalski briefed the board on a $10,000 grant the district received to help gets its Personal Finance class going as a requirement for graduation starting with the next incoming class.

The grant from a California organization whose mission is to “revolutionize the teaching of personal finance in schools.” Money will be used for professional development, curriculum development and guest speakers.

Spicuzza talked about Summer Campus, where students in grades K-8 can take enrichment classes, while speed and strength class is offered for high school students and there also are credit make up classes going on in high school.

“As you know under these times when we reopen Sept. 1 it will be nearly six months since we’ve had students in our buildings engaged in academics,” said Spicuzza, who indicated how important interactions between teachers and students are and commended parents for wanting to get their children involved.

“To the teachers working from 9 a.m. to noon every day, I really appreciate that,” he said.

Plus, putting on his superintendent’s finance hat, he said. “It’s a significant revenue stream.”

Schools get state aid for having summer school and not having it would mean less revenue for several years to come.

“To not have summer school run would basically be a goose egg for the next three years,” Spicuzza said. “That our staff was willing to do it at the end of a tiring and wearying year, I can’t appreciate them more.”

“Kudos to Kelly Capps,” said Spicuzza. “On the last day of school, Miss Capps who was in labor was still on our Google call grading papers. That just shows you a little bit of the dedication of the staff we have here.”

Board members concurred.

“Thanks to all the staff, to the faculty, to the aides, to everyone who helped get us through. It’s been a challenge I know. I want to thank every one of you who have put us in a position to hopefully be ready to roll in the fall,” said board president Mike Matzek.

The board regretfully accepted the resignations of two educators and coaches who took jobs in other districts. Football coach Kevin Haglund, an elementary counselor, and softball coach Abbie Morris, a phy ed teacher, are both moving on from Prescott.

Food Service

“I just wanted again to publicly thank Tina and her staff for stepping it up the last three months. We provided food for 400 families, both breakfast and lunch,” Spicuzza said. “The amount of thanks I received and at a time of need for our community, I’m just thankful that our public school was able to help.”

Families got good news from Food Service Director Tina Stenroos. The rates are remaining the same this year. The cost of lunch is $2.90 for K-5 and breakfast is $1.75. 6-12 lunch is $3.10 and breakfast is $1.85.

Stenroos said the district could have gone up five cents a meal.

“I really appreciate it,” said Holub. “Five cents doesn’t sound like a lot but it adds up throughout the year.”

Matzek told Stenroos, “Thank you for all the extra hours you put in. I heard a lot of great feedback from it. Thank you to you and your staff.”

On the open enrollment front, the district had 22 students requesting to attend school elsewhere and approved six coming into the district. Of those 22, 14 have never attended Prescott schools.

Capital Improvement Fund

The state allows districts to put money into a capital improvement fund – Fund 46 – that is used for building expenses in the future. The board gave the go-ahead to put up to $200,000 into that fund at the end of this school year June 30.

The district didn’t want the money in its fund balance, because the state will be on the lookout for districts flush with money because they’re likely to face a shortfall in funding because of COVID-19.

If the district puts $200,000 in, it will have $615,000 that it can start spending on projects in August 2022.

In next week’s edition of The Journal, check out articles on the start of the next school year, including a new start date and busing system as well as an important article on a survey on needed facility safety and maintenance projects.