MADISON -- The Lac qui Parle Valley School District has submitted a letter of intent to the Minnesota Department of Education to participate in the state's Quality Compensation for Teachers program, or Q Comp.
Q Comp bases teacher compensation on student achievement and other factors instead of the traditional steps and lanes based on years of service and additional education. School districts that are accepted into the program receive additional state and local financial aid.
Superintendent Robert Munsterman said the school is working with the teachers' committee to put the application together. Teachers voted to support submitting the letter of intent and the teachers' association president signed the letter.
"They see it as an opportunity to be compensated for some of the things we're already doing,'' said Munsterman. "We're exploring it. We'll start looking at the application and trying to put it together.''
The timeline for submitting the application is very short, he said. The state wants schools to submit applications before the end of December and before school boards set their final levy for 2006. "That's an awful lot of information to put together in a short time,'' he said.
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Schools approved for the program receive about $190 per student in state aid and can levy $70 per student in local taxes.
The 2005-2006 year is considered a transition year to put the application together and begin the planning.
"You have to have the application submitted before the end of December so that if the application is approved, then it's placed on the levy payable in 2006,'' he said.
Munsterman reported on the application during the board's regular meeting Monday night.
In other business, Munsterman reported on this year's enrollment of 446 students in kindergarten through grade 6 and 549 students in grades 7-12 for a total of 995. He said this year's enrollment is similar to enrollment last year.
The board gave preliminary approval to the maximum levy of $829,527. The final approval will be set in December.
The proposed levy is down 8.5 percent from last year, due mainly to expiration of a levy to pay for health and safety projects that were completed and because of an abatement from the Appleton prison during the previous year.
The proposed levy does not reflect the possible effect of an increase from participation in the Q Comp program, and does not reflect the proposed operating levy. By December, the levy number could change considerably, Munsterman said.
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Also Monday, the board voted to hold public meetings to discuss the proposed operating levy in the Nov. 8 election. Meetings will be Oct. 17 at Madison-Milan Elementary, Oct. 25 at the Appleton Elementary and Oct. 31 at the Milan Elementary. All meetings begin at 8 p.m.
