Eagle Valley School District is not dissolving
Chairman Notch refutes claim made in report 

by Karin L. Nauber
karin@inhnews.com

According to Eagle Valley School Board Chairperson Sharon Notch, a statement made in the Browerville Blade in their  March 14 issue which says “Nevertheless, it seems likely that this fall, another bond referendum will be put before voters. If voters will not provide additional money for the district to maintain the school facilities, then there may be no choice but to dissolve the school district and send students to other towns for their education,” is “inaccurate and does not reflect what was said” at a retreat of the board held on March 5.

Notch said “All of us present know we talked very openly. At no time do I remember us bringing up the word ‘dissolving.’ We talked about possibly sending students to other districts for additional academic offerings and vice versa. (Cooperative sharing with other districts versus hiring full-time teachers, traveling teachers  vs. traveling students, etc.) We also discussed the costs of running two facilities, as well as needed roof repair (bond) trying to balance financially the needs of the district.

“It is unfortunate that information is printed that is not completely accurate, and causes speculation, as well as general public conversations stating these types of things no matter how much we promote the positive successes happening at Eagle Valley.

"My opinion is to continue moving forward and do what we need to do as a  district, do what is right and in the best interest of our students! Let’s continue making smart decisions!” said Notch.

She also gave an update of the information shared at the board retreat. This information will also be available on the school website and in an upcoming newsletter.

Update from Eagle Valley School Board 3/14/13

Recently we held a retreat to revisit our goals, evaluate future administrative structure, academic sharing with neighboring districts, facility usage and needs, marketing and projected growth of our district.

The board is very pleased with the forward movement the Eagle Valley District is making. Currently Eagle Valley has small class size in two grades in the secondary level (high school). This makes for challenging scheduling, wise use of space in both the Eagle Bend and Clarissa facilities.  (Currently Industrial Arts, Small Engines, Ag, Art, Phy-ed, Nighthawk wrestling, weight room and business offices are all housed within Eagle Bend). Luckily, we have taken steps to vision and increase marketing to primary levels (PreK-6) to promote small class size offerings, including after school programming.  This has caused large enrollments in primary grades, leading to future growth in the secondary level.

We are engaged in discussions with our neighboring districts to seek possible curriculum or instructional sharing to continue to offer creative, challenging and advanced course offerings for all students, whether it is to sustain or start a program or hire a full-time teacher when they would only be needed for a minimal number of classes or for a very small class size.

In discussing administration, we need to be wise about our structure and have the right people in positions to bring about stability and consistency to the district, while at the same time reduce administrative costs. [This is something we have not had for the past eight years in the key administrative role.]  The opinion of the board is to have a PreK-12 superintendent/principal. We will be finalizing the remaining administrative structure needed and approving an entire administrative package at our April Board meeting.

Our superintendent shared the continued high costs of running two facilities. Surely this is of no surprise to anyone as we knew the added costs would be there!  We do have needed roof repair for both buildings which we are currently working on with our facilities committee,  administration and custodial team in evaluating what exactly is needed as well as costs of projected essential facilities improvements.  For decades we have put off inevitable repairs by patching piece by piece. This is not an efficient way to streamline maintenance of buildings/equipment. 

We are using much of the lower levels of the Eagle Bend facility with several projects in the works for possible development, including the Todd County Senior Citizen Healthy Community. The board strongly supports this venture, and knows often these types of projects take time to get off the ground.  The possibility of this endeavor moving forward continues to be in the long range planning of the Eagle Valley District.  

To accommodate current costs, we have adjusted/moved around in Clarissa to make appropriate learning space available, including teachers sharing space based on creative scheduling, utilizing the space efficiently to minimize time  and costs of busing to Eagle Bend.  

Recently there have been private parties interested in leasing specific spaces of the Eagle Bend building. We are in the process of researching “fair” lease options [which in the future could possibly include option to purchase], securing those agreements while at the same time ensuring we have adequate/appropriate classroom space for students learning.  We see this as a win-win for the Eagle Valley district as a whole as well as the Eagle Bend/Clarissa communities using all portions possible!

As a district we are proud of the accomplishments that happen every day within our school! Staff, students and administration have worked hard for years and never really tooted our own horn. It is time—time to celebrate our successes, creatively and  enthusiastically move forward and plan future educational opportunities for the children of the Eagle Valley School District. 

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