School Board in Montevideo talks student, finance goals for new year

MONTEVIDEO -- School board members in Montevideo held a special session on Monday to review progress and set goals before taking care of immediate business with a regular meeting.

Although a levy measure failed in a referendum last year, board members noted the district was able to put into place a well organized budget that keeps the district on good financial footing.

Superintendent Dr. Luther Heller said the district made $768,000 worth of cuts that included a decision to move K-12 class offerings out of the Sanford school.

For the coming year, board members said they want to establish new student achievement and financial goals. They also want to strengthen initiatives aimed at increasing communication and public relations with the community and organizations, Heller said.

At their regular meeting, board members approved a new transportation contract with Clark Transportation Inc. of Montevideo and discussed steps to ready the school buildings for the new school year.

The decision not to hold K-12 educational classes in the Sanford school has brought about a number changes for students and staff, Heller said. Work to revise classroom locations and accommodate the changes in the district's buildings is just about complete, he said.

The Montevideo district has separate high school and middle school buildings and also Ramsey Elementary School. The Sanford Education Center will still be home to other education programs.

A project to install a new telephone system and work out any glitches in it should be completed well ahead of the school year start, Heller said.

The new transportation contract makes only one notable change. The charge for transporting special education students was increased to match the costs associated with the service.

The costs for transporting special education students to out-of-district services is fully reimbursable from the state, and will not adversely affect the district's budget, Heller said.