NEW ULM - The District 88 Board of Education on Thursday passed a resolution establishing the dates for filing affidavits of candidacy for the office of school board member.
The filing period runs from Aug. 3 through Aug. 17. The $2 filing fee should be paid before 5 p.m. Aug. 17.
The last day for candidates to withdraw is Aug. 19.
The current board positions expiring as of Jan. 1, 2011 are those of Bill Day, Sue Ullery and Duane Winter.
The positions are for four years.
Candidates for school board must be 21 at the time the office begins; must have resided in the district 30 days prior to the election; qualify to be an eligible voter and be a U.S. citizen; and not be a person required to register as a predatory sex offender.
Family facilitator contract
The board also renewed a family facilitator contract.
Brown County Family Services and District 88 partner to provide family facilitator services for eligible students and families.
The contract provides two family facilitators to District 88.
The estimated cost school district portion is $30,216.
The estimated yearly total for the two workers (including salary, benefits, taxes, mileage, etc.) is $125,899.
The program is paid for by a combination of county, special education and district resources.
Family Services Director Tom Henderson, who was present at the meeting, told the board that, down the line, the program is largely funded with non-local money, such as federal Medical Assistance and special education dollars.
Henderson also praised the longevity of the two facilitators, which has accounted for a consistent, successful program.
The facilitators fill a special niche, officials explain.
They serve children who come to school not ready to learn because of a specific family situation.
The program is pre-emptive and pro-active, aimed at diffusing situations and eliminating a need for further interventions.
It is an year-round program, in existence since 1994.
Detention
Center closure
impacts district
Superintendent Harold Remme informed the board that the decision to close the Juvenile Detention Center as of July 15 has an impact on the school district.
The JDC was started as a private non-profit group of representatives from surrounding counties.
The district has provided a teacher at the JDC since 1995.
The district must now re-assign the employee, who is tenured, to an area for which he is licensed.
Other teachers are already under contract in those licensure areas and cannot be displaced due to his return to the K-12 operation because the deadline has passed.
Various assignment options are being considered at this time, some of which may necessitate appealing to the Department of Education for a waiver for the teacher, reported Remme.
In addition to the personnel issue, the program qualified for about $50,000 in federal funding for materials and equipment in 2010-11. Those materials must be transferred to another federal program or returned, reported Remme.