District enrollment down
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
The number of students enrolled in USD 410 schools has dropped significantly from last year's totals.
As of Monday, 54 fewer students had enrolled for classes — down to 658. In September of 2002, that number was at 712.
These figures were presented to the Durham-Hillsboro-Lehigh board of education during its regular monthly meeting Monday night.
Seventy-one seniors graduated from Hillsboro High School last May, but so far just 27 new kindergarten students have enrolled to counteract the loss. And according to district numbers, three-fourths of all grade levels lost students.
The exceptions to that are first and third grades, which stayed the same, fifth grade, which gained one, and second grade, which gained eight.
The largest class is ninth grade, with 69 students, and the smallest is kindergarten, with 27. Right now, this year's senior class has 50 students.
Not including last year's seniors, 52 students left the district, while 42 new students came in. Twenty-six new students will join the elementary school.
Also at Monday's board meeting, members agreed to hire Becky Lindsay as a Title I aide for the elementary and middle schools. She'll work just over six hours a day at the rate of $12 an hour, said Superintendent Gordon Mohn.
Mary Clay was hired as the new Head Start bus driver. She'll work four hours a day for $7.50 an hour, with a yearly contract of 136 days. Clay replaces former driver Ruby Metcalf, who has resigned.
Four coaching positions in the district still need to be filled: assistant high school volleyball coach, assistant middle school football coach, assistant middle school boys' basketball coach, and head high school baseball coach.
Mohn thinks that district teachers will take up these roles.
"We'll fill those in a few days," he said.
In other school board business:
The board approved the 2003-04 budget. No members of the public attended the meeting to voice concerns, and it passed with little discussion.
The budget raises the local option budget mill levy and lowers the bond and interest mill levy at the same amount, keeping the overall mill levy the same as last year: 48.899.
USD 410 was able to keep the levy steady because of extra money set to arrive next June. That money will come from property tax payments due in June instead of July, which Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ordered this year.
Although the budget woes have been solved for this year, they're sure to hit again next year, Mohn said.
"Really the challenge comes next year," he said. Declining enrollment will compound that challenge.
The board approved new handbooks for each school.
In some of the changes made to this year's handbooks, athletes must now pass six classes instead of five to be eligible to compete in sports.
"I don't think we're asking too much from our students," said athletic director Max Heinrichs. "They'll meet the challenge."
Also in sports, the middle school handbook clarifies the school's policy on playing time. It requires coaches to give "fair and equal playing time" for middle school athletes.
There are some exceptions to that rule, however — such as, if a player's small size in a sport like football could cause him to get hurt.
At the high school level, principal Dale Honeck said that new students must complete 20 credits at HHS to be eligible for valedictorian or salutatorian.
The board also discussed several new district policies.
One policy, recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards, allows the district to buy items under $20,000 without bidding them out first.
Board members discussed whether or not this amount was too high. It could choose to set the total lower.
Eventually, the policy was approved.
