Summer School Better Than Expected for Owen-Withee School District
Thursday, September 17th, 2020 -- 9:17 AM
-The Owen-Withee School Board discussed the Summer School report at their meeting on Monday.Summer school numbers were a bright spot. They expected lower numbers this year because they did not provide transportation for the four week session in July. The numbers weren’t as bad as expected with the district recording 13 full time equivalency students for the July and August sessions. Summer school students count as .4, so the district added 5 students to their enrollment for 2020- 21. The board also heard preliminary 2020-21 budget information. Early numbers show that the budget is on track with what has been planned for. Overall enrollment is down slightly, which will impact revenues, but overall, they are in good shape going into the 2020-21 school year. State aids should be up which will drive local property taxes down. The board also discussed a solar array project. Board Member Charlie Milliren and District Administrator Bob Houts discussed a tremendous opportunity the district has to “go green” and save money on their energy bill.
Cal Couillard, a former student in the district and head of the Couillard Solar Foundation, had offered to give a gift of a 100KWH solar array to the district as part of his foundation's work. The array will generate enough electricity to save the District upwards of $20,000 each year. Plans are for the project to start in the spring/summer of 2021. The board unanimously approved acceptance of this gift. Finally, the board discussed district insurance for 2020-21. The board reviewed the insurance proposal provided by The Insurance Center for liability, property, worker’s comp., crime, and auto. The total cost shows a 1.5% increase in rates over 2019-20. The board unanimously approved the insurance package.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.