NEW BREMEN — Perhaps to the dismay of some school children, the New Bremen Board of Education met at their regular meeting Wednesday, July 20, to prepare for the upcoming school year.
The board approved the 2022-2023 student fees. The fees largely remained the same as the year before. The fees for school lunches have resumed with the expiration of government support but the prices remain the same as the 2021-2022 school year, at $2.90 per day for K-6 students and $2.95 for 7-12 students.
Elementary school principal Diane Kramer shared the dates for student orientation. Fifth grade student-parent orientation will be Sunday, Aug. 7 at 5 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Kindergarten orientation is Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the junior high gym.
Kramer also said the current K-6 enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year was K — 61 students; grade one — 64; grade two — 63; grade three — 57; grade four — 64; grade five — 56; and grade six — 62.
Junior-Senior high principal Marcus Overman said seventh grade orientation was set for Sunday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m. in the James F. Dicke auditorium and ninth grade orientation is Sunday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m., also in the Dicke auditorium. Meet The Teacher night will be Tuesday, Aug. 23.
On Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the junior high gym, speaker Rob Hackenson will present a program to parents about the dangers of social media. He urged parents to attend. On the following three days, he will present the program to students in three different grade levels.
The first day of school is Tuesday, Aug. 23.
The board also approved allowing school treasurer Jill Ahlers to apply or participate in a number of federal and state grants for the upcoming school year. They included $31,050.53 in Title 1 funds and $10,702.75 in Title IIA funds. The IDEA grant for special ed was $155,835.25 and Title IV was $10,000. Also applied for was $312,716.77 in ESSER III fund, which was the balance of the fiscal year 2022. A new ESSER state activity award for $292,577.85 was also applied for.
The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund) is intended to address the impact that Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had, and continues to have, on public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools.
Another action was to set substitute hourly wages for the 2022-2023 school year. With slight changes, the wages remained the same except for the substitute school nurse, who will be paid the same rate as the substitute teachers, which is $100 per day.
Two employees were approved for a change in salary placement due to additional coursework. Amy Burnett, who was promoted from intervention specialist to BS-150 and Heather Moeller was promoted from 7-12 art teacher to MA+15.
The board also approved the school treasurer to establish a Student Wellness and Success fund within the general fund. The amount to be transferred is $171,547 and was received in fiscal year 2022. They also approved transferring $15,000 from the Athletic Tournament Fund to the Track Set Aside Fund and transferring $487.90 from the Class of 2022 to the Student Leaders 7-12 Student Activity fund.
