Sharing possibilities and the school budget were discussed during the Oct. 17, meeting of the Emmetsburg Community Schools Board of Education.
"We've been approached by Jon Josephson, athletic director at Ruthven-Ayrshire, about pursuing sharing football. He's also talked to other neighboring districts. I do recommend we have three board members and administration meet with Ruthven-Ayrshire to discuss the possibilities," said Superintendent John Joynt. "It'll be a board decision if anything happens. This is just to get some talk initiated and get things going."
Principal Jay Jurrens encouraged the school board to create a committee of Emmetsburg board members to meet with Ruthven-Ayrshire to discuss sharing. He presented a list of past sharing experiences between the districts, including: in 2002, the Emmetsburg and Ruthven school boards toured each other's facilities; in 2008, an invitation to share all activities was sent to Ruthven-Ayrshire; in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, wrestling was shared with Ruthven-Ayrshire; in November 2009, a sharing packet was sent to Ruthven-Ayrshire and other schools in the county; in January 2010, Ruthven-Ayrshire sent out a questionnaire regarding sharing opportunities; and in the spring of 2011, Ruthven-Ayrshire met with Emmetsburg to discuss sharing baseball. Softball was also shared between the districts.
"We have a history of sharing with Ruthven-Ayrshire," said Joynt. "I think it would be a good idea to have discussions."
"I agree, I think it's a good opportunity to see the possibilities it might bring," said Rick Brennan, board member. "I think it would be interesting to see where discussions could go. If you're looking for volunteers, I would personally volunteer for that group."
Scott Kibbie and Tammy Naig also offered to serve on the committee.
Brennan, Kibbie, and Naig, along with the Emmetsburg superintendent, high school principal, activities director, and the head football coach planned to meet with Ruthven-Ayrshire committee to discuss sharing possibilities on Oct. 27.
In other business, the school board discussed applying for allowable growth.
"I recommend a board motion to apply for allowable growth to cover our special education deficit," Joynt said. "Our 2010-2011 deficit was $113,470.12, and we can tax for that in the 2012-2013 school year if the board wants to tax for the deficit."
Joynt noted that the application for allowable growth would also allow the state to grant spending authority for the funds already spent.
"This is an additional tax?" asked Scott Kibbie, board member.
"Yes, it will be another 30-cents or so," Joynt answered. "We've been as high as 80-cents or so. We've had deficits up to as high as $277,000 with kids moving in and expenses going up."
With no further discussion, the school board moved to apply for allowable growth to cover the special education deficit incurred by the school district.