Superintendent's District Update - September 2019
Falls City Public Schools Superintendent’s District Update – September 10, 2019
Superintendent, Tim Heckenlively
The Falls City Public Schools held its regular monthly board meeting on September 9, 2019. Here are the highlights of the meeting.
The School District 56 Budget and Property Tax Request Hearings for fiscal year 2019-2020 were held on September 9th at the Central Office in Falls City Middle School. The school district budget increases by 1% for 2019-2020 and calls for a property tax requirement of $9,371,691, representing a -2.80 percent decrease in the property tax requirement, amounting to a reduction in tax asking of $271,047. Furthermore, the Richardson County School District 56 assessed property valuation decreased by $24,701,487, resulting in over a 3-percent property value reduction for the 2019 tax year.
School District 56 Receives Donation - The Family of Dr. Larry Stednitz has pledged a donation of $20,000 to the Falls City Public Schools to assist in the construction of a new press box at Jug Brown Stadium. Dr. Larry Stednitz, 78, of Falls City, NE, passed away August 18, 2019 at Falls City. Larry was raised at Falls City and graduated Falls City High School in 1959. Construction of the new press box is expected to begin at the conclusion of the 2019 high school football season.
Summer Reading and Math Programs Serve 52 Students - The North & South School Reading Summer Programs helped children practice effective comprehension strategies and increase vocabulary, while encouraging reading for pleasure and writing with a purpose. The Math Summer Programs assisted children in math skills based on the goals of the Saxon Mathematics program through small group instruction, math games, and independent practice. The Reading and Math Program ran for 2 weeks. The Parent-Child Center Summer School Program served children ages 3-5, and had 13 students the first 3 weeks of summer break.
Student Enrollment - Enrollment figures as of September 4, 2019 show an increase from the 2018-2019 school year. Current enrollment numbers show 846 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, which is up 24 students from a year ago. The largest class is the kindergarten with 68 students, and the smallest is the 1st grade class with 51 students.
F & M Bank Presented the Fourth “Spirit That Pays” Donation earned by Tiger debit cardholders. F&M Bank is all about Family, Service, Community and Hometown Spirit! The Spirit that Pays Program was launched two years ago. The donation of $1,962.99 is the biggest donation to date and brings the total earned to $5,618.22.
South School Teacher Recognized - Congratulations to the Noyce STEM Master Teaching Fellow Leigh Anne Blankenship who earned a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in August 2019.
The Capacity Resolution for 2019-2020 Approved by the School Board - The option enrollment capacity resolution outlines how many students are allowed to opt into the Falls City Public School District from their home school district. The number of students Falls City Public School District will accept each year will be based on a number of factors, including: the maximum capacity of each school/program; projected enrollment and available staff and facilities. No option enrollment students are allowed currently for preschool, which is at capacity with 70 students, elementary level II & III special education programs, which is at capacity at 4 students, middle and high school level II & III special education programs, which are at capacity at 8 students, and the alternative education center, which is at capacity at 14 students.
The District 56 Board of Education acted on several items before concluding the regular meeting.
1. Approved the District 56 Budget of Disbursements, Receipts, and Transfers for 2019-2020 as published.
2. Approved the Property Tax Request for the General Fund to be set at $8,825,312; (2) The Tax Request for the Bond Fund set at $217,443; and (3) The Tax Request for the Special Building Fund set at $328,936.
3. The Board took no action on the District’s Early Separation Incentive Program for 2019-2020
4. Approved policy reviews on 1) Policy 6321 Suicide Prevention Training; 2) Policy 7121 Student Grades; 3) Policy 7122 Option Enrollment Program; 4) Policy 7124 Contact with Students; 5) Policy 7131 Questioning of Student by Outside Agencies; 6) Policy 8216 Reading Instruction and Intervention Services.
5. Approved the capacity resolution for 2019-2020.
The next regular monthly Board of Education meeting is scheduled for October 14, 2019 at 7:00 P.M. in the Central Office in Falls City Middle School. Regular and special meeting agendas are kept in the Office of the Superintendent, Tim Heckenlively.
Falls City Public School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, age, genetic information, citizenship status or economic status in its programs, activities and employment.
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