Northeast Dubois schools: Student enrollment drops
Northeast Dubois joined every school in the county in reporting student enrollment is down this year.
Superintendent Bill Hochgesang reported to the Northeast Dubois School Board of Trustees Tuesday night the number dropped by 17 since February’s report and is down 30 students from last September’s report. The drop is not unexpected as this year’s senior class is the smallest it has had in several years.
With the dollars following the student, the loss equates to about $118,840.00 from last school year – a hefty sum for a school district already in the throes of financial difficulties.
In spite of that, the board passed the contract with their teachers. Hochgesang said that if the referendum passes in November they will be able to give out raises to the staff once again.
As the school corporation continues to deal with budget shortfalls, teachers will forgo raises this year but health care costs are expected to increase.
Hochgesang distributed a spreadsheet with the increases in health care premiums between last year and this year. Those amounts ranged from a $24 increase on the low end up to $159.00 increase per paycheck depending on the plan chosen.
Hochgesang also announced in a special statement that the school corporation has paid teachers incorrectly. According to a statement provided, the 2011 contract called for $300 increase in compensation to go towards teacher insurance. Hochgesang admitted this was done with the prior superintendent but it had been implemented incorrectly and the teachers’ union had not caught the mistake at the time the contract was renegotiated.
“With the change in school administration and the unfamiliarity with all of the provisions of said schedule, the school corporation failed to pay the full amount of increases required by that 2010 agreement,” Hochgesang read from a statement. “Also, the teachers association, in preparation for the contract for the 2013-14 school year, failed to include any of the price increases in the schedule of school corporation contributions towards medical premiums.”
To rectify the oversight that had occurred over five years, every teacher receiving insurance from the corporation will be given $100 for each year he or she received insurance during that span. The payment will be a one-time payment in either a stipend or deposit into their health care savings accounts.
He also announced that another provision in the new teaching contract incorporates the use of a grandparent illness as an eligible sick day.
The school board also:
- Approved the Capital Projects and Bus Replacement budgets for 2017. The Dubois County Council passes the General Fund budget for the school district since the school corporation board is appointed.
- Approved the annual contract with Southern Hills Counseling Center for $2,800.00 for clinical and other counseling for students in the school corporation. Hochgesang reported that the high quality and quantity of services rendered by Southern Hills far outweighs the cost.
- Heard that an effort is on-going among the four county school districts to come up with one unified calendar that includes the same starting date for school, the same number of built-in snow days and the same ending date for classes. Hochgesang said that the effort is being embraced due to the interaction of teachers and students in the county to take part in specialty education offerings that requires travel between schools.
- Heard that a public meeting will be held on Monday, October 24th at 7 p.m. at the Dubois Middle School multi-purpose room to answer questions on the referendum.
