Published: May 09, 2006 10:53 am            

School board certifies budget, adds band position

CLINTON — The Clinton School board voted unanimously Monday to adopt the 2007 operating budget but not before approving spending $10,000 to fund a part-time instrumental music instructor to give individual lessons.

According to School Superintendent Randy Clegg, the total operating budget of $35.7 million is the fist fiscal budget in six years that does not rely on the district’s unspent balance to off-set projected increases in expenses.

During the budget process board members voiced concern that with a tight budget there would not be enough money available in case of an emergency or to meet the projected rise in fuel costs.

“We went through the budgets throughout the district to see where there might be money available,” Clegg explained to the board. “We found $133,000 we could set aside in a contingency line item for unforeseen problems…”

The 2007 budget eliminated the 11/2 mile busing service, which means students who live within 11/2 miles of their school will have to walk, ride the city buses at no cost or provide their own transportation. This saves the district $150,000.

To help balance the budget, the $68,000 subsidy to the Education Foundation was eliminated as well as one full-time instrumental music instructor at $58,665 leaving the district with two full-time middle school band teachers.

But members of the instrumental band department had one concern. WMS band instructor Jack Martinez told the board “nobody is arguing that we should have a full-time person up a Lyons. … We’ve looked at the numbers and we do realize the numbers do not merit having a full-time person up there.”

Martinez said the job would be to combine the two bands into one performing program, which can be done, “but what we have run into a wall with is the individualized instructional time.”

According to Martinez, the strength of the program is in the individual lessons provided to beginning and middle school students. He asked the board to provide a stipend for someone to teach the individual lessons to LMS students that he and Marilyn Fee could not cover.

“We are willing and excited to go to the north end and… get those students involved in our program.”

Martinez and Fee will give up their preparatory time to go to Lyons, but even with the prep time there would be 25 to 30 students they could not fit in.

Board member Jim Bruhn said one of the assets of the school district was the strong music program and suggested creating a $6,000 stipend for that part-time instructor — but Clegg said that probably wouldn’t be enough and suggested $10,000, which would be taken from the newly created contingency fund.

Clegg said the position would have to be posted in the district and advertised. That person would have to be a certified Iowa teacher and be issued a teaching contract. It would include FICA and IPERS but not insurance. Candidates also will have to go through an interview process.

“Right off the top of my head I can think of probably six people in the community that are certified,” Clegg commented.

        

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