REC commission expresses funding concerns at school board meeting
School board says recreation is not on any cut list
Staff writer
Concerned with rumors the school district and City of Marion are planning to cut funding, members of Marion Recreation Commission met Monday night with the Marion-Florence USD 408 Board of Education to find out its intention.
REC Commission chairman Rodney Richmond said the commission has been told the city and school board may cut funding if state budget cuts again are imposed.
Richmond said the commission was interested in learning "about the options in putting a mill levy in place" to guarantee funding for the REC program.
"We'd like USD 408 and the city to get together and see if this is something we should look into," Richmond said.
The joint resolution between the school district and city notes that each entity is "historically committed" to funding the program and "resolves to continue this practice as deemed appropriate by their governing body and school board."
"What I understand this agreement says is that either entity can decide to discontinue their funding," Richmond said.
Richmond noted school district and city funding has been imperative to the REC program's operation. He noted the most expensive program is baseball/softball which costs "about $10,000 a year."
"It's tough to try and keep the cost down for kids, but we could use our entire budget on that program alone if we're not careful," he explained.
The total REC Commission budget is approximately $42,000 per year. The city contributes $17,000, while the school district chips in $10,000 which goes toward the director's salary.
"If our funding is in danger I think it will take at least 18 months with a mill levy before we would get any funding," Richmond said.
If the school board is considering ceasing its portion of the funding, Richmond asked they give the REC Commission at least 18 months prior notice.
"Let us know what our future is," Richmond said.
District business manager/board clerk Martin Tice, who also serves as Marion's mayor, noted a recreation mill levy only could be one mill the first year and only increase to a maximum four mills.
A mill levy only could be initiated by the school district, the city, or by the public, Tice said.
Board member Roger Hannaford III asked Richmond if the commission was happy with the current funding setup.
Richmond replied they were, but had been told by city officials the city "can't do this forever."
Board member Keith Collett assured Richmond the school board had no plans to cut REC Commission funding.
"I haven't seen any indication on the part of the board to move recreation to the top of the cut list," Collett said. "You should continue to expect funding."
Curriculum
District curriculum coordinator Missy Stubenhofer presented board members with copies of the fine arts and social studies curriculum updates.
Stubenhofer asked board members to review the curriculum and let her know if they have any suggestions prior to the April meeting. At that time, the committees will be asking for board approval of the curriculum.
She noted that actually social studies is not called that anymore. State standards now call the content area "History and government, economics and geography."
"Apparently, 'social studies' was too simple," she said.
Stubenhofer noted the social science committee decided to adopt the state standards "and use it for ours."
As for fine arts, Stubenhofer said the committee had attempted to condense the information down "to what's actually being done" in the district.
Collett, the board's DSIT (District School Improvement Team) representative, said he had real concerns with the music portion of the fine arts curriculum because a number of national content standards were being abandoned.
"They are all important. We need to incorporate more national high school standards," Collett said.
"The question is 'Are we strictly a performance focus or an academic focus?'" Stubenhofer said.
"We've been told the community demands good bands and good music," she added. "I guess we look toward you (the board) to see what is our community standard."
"It's not an 'either/or' sort of thing and it doesn't have to be," Collett replied. "You just have to be a little more creative and a little more careful in choosing your music."
Musical selections need to include more than just those dated since the 1950s.
"You have to adopt music from other eras and other cultures," Collett said. "If something is worth doing, it may be worth doing badly,"
He further noted that was not an original quote.
Vice-president Gene Bowers, conducting the meeting in the absence of president Rex Savage, asked board members to examine the two curriculums and notify Stubenhofer of any concerns before the April meeting.
State of the co-op
Fred Miller, director of the Marion County Special Education Cooperative, presented his annual state of the cooperative report.
Initially when he wrote the report Jan. 10, student numbers were down — for the first time in years, Miller said.
Since then, however, that has changed.
"When we did our official count we found the numbers were up considerably," he said. "We've seen a 10 percent increase in disabled. We were at 416 last year. Our latest count is 456."
In terms of funding, Miller noted special ed cooperatives are funded significantly different than regular education.
"In categorical aid from the state we're expecting to receive funding based on 85 full-time units, receiving $18,500 per unit," Miller noted.
One unit is equal to one full-time staff member.
"In Kansas, special ed funding is based entirely on the number of staff, not the number of students." Miller explained. "A para is reimbursed at 4/10 or $7,500."
The co-op also receives transportation reimbursement at 80 percent, federal grant funding, and Medicaid reimbursements.
Miller noted 90 percent of the co-op's budget is devoted to staff salaries and benefits.
In answer to a question posed by Bowers, Miller said the number of students the Marion County co-op serves is high compared to nearby cooperatives.
"We serve 22 percent of our total student population," Miller explained. The national average is 15 percent while the state average is between 16 and 17 percent. "It's always been that way in Marion County for some reason."
He further noted that Marion County doesn't really expend extra funds transporting students.
"We try to keep our kids and teachers in neighborhood schools," he said. "Very few students are transported to other schools."
Miller also noted the district has more paras and teachers per student than other co-ops.
"But we have a lot of kids with more severe needs that need the support," he said.
