Malta School Board approves building reserve for May election ballot

At Tuesday night's Malta School Board meeting, the board passed a resolution to ask voters to approve a building reserve, which would raise $100,000 a year for each of five years.

"I'm not a huge fan of going to voters and asking them for more, more, more," said Malta Schools Superintendent Kris Kuehn. "But on the other hand, we are not running a General Fund Levy."

During the unfinished business portion of the meeting, Kuehn reminded the School Board that the boiler in the Elementary School, which has been running since the early 1950's, is in dire need of replacement. At a School Board Meeting in March, Kuehn had raised the possibility of asking voters to approve the building reserve instead of a mill levy.

Kuehn said that besides the boiler needing to be replaced that the school also has other projects that will need to be addressed in the near future. He said that roughly 40-percent of the budget for the first year would go to replacing the boiler. Other things that have been talked about replacing include classroom door handles in the Middle/High School, concrete around the high school which needs to be replaced, an on-going carpet repair project and the elementary school gym roof leaks every time it rains.

"We have run General Fund Mill Levies for more than that in the past," said Kuehn. "I believe that it is sufficient to get us through these projects."

In Malta Elementary School news, state testing for reading and math started last week.

"Our kids are trying hard on the test because they are all tired after getting done," said Principal Theodore Schye. He added that the tests take place an hour a day for 10 days. Some of the test is taken on computers and are multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank. The students are also taking part in-class activities during testing.

Schye said that at a recent Partners in Education meeting one of the items discussed was purchasing Google Chromebooks (low-cost, Windows laptop alternative) for students of the elementary. There have already been some Chrome Books purchased, but according to Schye, the school has had some issues running the web-based computers.

"In my office and that area they work fine," he said. "Took them down to room 115 and none of them could get onto the internet."

Schye said that he is currently in talks with the school's Internet Service Provider to remedy the problem, but until the snafu is fixed, Partners in Education will hold off, for now, on buying more Chromebooks.

Schye said that many elementary students have submitted their Phillips County Fair entries, that midterm grades will be sent out on the 16th of April and that Spring Break starts this Thursday for the staff and students.

The school board approved two new hires for the 2014-15 school year, but are still seeking to fill eight more positions. Shayla Smith hiring was confirmed as she will teach English at the school.

During the new business segment of Tuesday's meeting, Supt. Kuehn said that Whitewater Schools have again agreed to co-op with Malta in the sports of volleyball and wrestling. Last season, students from Whitewater played on the volleyball team, eight total, but no male athletes competed for the Mustangs Wrestling team. Next season, according to Kuehn, at least one boy has shown interest in joining the team. The board approved the cooperative agreements.

The topic of delinquent lunch bills for students was also discussed at the meeting. Supt. Kuehn said that the answer is not to stop allowing children to eat, but added that the deficit has grown to over $5000. He said that some students have signed up for the free or reduced lunch program, but added that many others haven't and many families refuse to. Kuehn said that he just wanted to make the school board aware of the problem and that the schools will send out another letter letting families know of their remaining balance.

Supt. Kuehn also mentioned the bomb threat that closed the Malta schools down two weeks ago.

"I don't have much to share with other than to say I feel that our investigation is going in a positive direction," he said. "We are still working in conjunction with the Sheriff's Department. We have not stagnated and are still moving forward ... nothing harmful was found in the building so it appears to be another empty threat. It's a highly unfortunate occurrence and I am just thankful that nobody followed through with the threat."

Following the school board meeting, Supt. Kuehn spoke about the staff members who are retiring from Malta Schools after this school year.

"These are bittersweet times at the Malta Schools," he said. "The knowledge, dedication and professionalism of the retiring staff members will be greatly missed by those of us not retiring.  On the other hand I am personally excited for our retirees in that they have reached a place that they can pursue their own interests and enjoy themselves and their families; a rite that they have most definitely earned in a career of service to the students they have taught."