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 Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Richard H. Bauscher
Once again the patrons of Middleton School District have shown their support of the Middleton students, by the passage of the $670,000 Supplemental Levy on May 19, 2009 with a 62% approval rating. In these hard economic times, we can all be very proud of the fact that we still put the educational needs of our students first. Thank you on behalf of our students, staff, administration and school board members, as we appreciate your continued support.
The funds generated by this $670,000 one-year supplemental levy will be utilized to purchase textbooks, workbooks, classroom equipment, paper, supplies, utilities as well as the maintenance of our Heights, Mill Creek, Middle and High Schools’ (12) portable classroom buildings. Our School District is one of the few that continues to grow in the State of Idaho. We are working hard to meet the academic needs of our current students and preparing to meet those of our new projected enrollees.
As you have read about in the press, the State reduced education funding by 3.2% for the 2009-10 school year. For our School District, this translates to a budget shortfall of approximately $700,000. The School Board members and Administrative staff are taking a pro-active stance on how to balance our School District budget with less funding. Our goals are to continue providing a quality education for our students and to provide continued employment for our current staff.
Many areas are being reviewed and several have already been put in place, for helping to balance the budget with lesser funds:
1) Cutting some staff in-service / work days next year.
2) Increasing our electronic record keeping (saving on printing costs).
3) Increasing the use of electronic distribution of District communications (saving on printing costs).
4) Seeking alternative methods of funding field trip transportation.
5) Kindergarten schedule change (see the article below).
6) Other items, as they are identified.
We held our new high school groundbreaking ceremony on May 11th. We were honored to have Governor Otter, State School Superintendent Luna, Lieutenant Governor Brad Little, Mayor Thurber, previous land owners Don & Doug Burton and Larry Green as participants in this ceremony. The event was attended by more than 100+ people. Photos from the groundbreaking can be found on the left sidebar of this web page.
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Good Attendance - A Key to Your Students' Academic Success
The Middleton School District strongly encourages students to be in attendance each day. We believe that student absences do have a negative impact on student learning. High student absenteeism is the factor most associated with high dropout rates. Student absences also affect the state financial support received by each Idaho School District to educate your child(ren).
Excessive student absenteeism is often a result of one or more of the following six factors:
1. Students who have excessive student absenteeism often have a less favorable impression of school. These students may need to be reassured that they are respected for who they are, be required to do their best and be provided the help to achieve their best.
2. Students who have excessive student absenteeism often perceive parental discipline as being lax or inconsistent. The need for daily attendance at school and the impact it has on the student’s overall education may not have been reinforced.
3. Students who have excessive student absenteeism often believe parents are attempting to exert more control over them.
4. Students who have excessive student absenteeism feel academically inferior to others. These students often cannot keep up with the schoolwork or are failing and may need additional assistance with their schoolwork.
5. Students who have excessive student absenteeism experience more than the normal family conflicts at home.
6. Students who have excessive student absenteeism may feel less socially competent in class. These students may not have experienced positive relationships with other students and may not feel safe at school.
All of these variables are interrelated and therefore, success in increasing student attendance is more probable if community members, organizations, parents, students and school staff share in the tasks of identifying solutions to all these concerns.
The School District supports “quality learning and superior performance for all.” To achieve these goals -- parents and students must form a working partnership with our schools and their staff. One important aspect of this partnership is good school attendance, which helps fund our schools. Our average daily attendance (ADA) is computed to determine how many dollars we get and each child present (every day) allows us to collect about $1,300 per student annually. When students are present for critical academic instruction, they are able to master academic material and life skills knowledge. This knowledge will enable them to achieve success in higher education and the future world of work. Good daily attendance correlates directly with success in school. Punctuality and good attendance are life skills modeled by parents, which will carry over into adulthood. Parental attitude sets and example, which has a great impact on children. Parents need to let their children know how important school is to their future success. The School District will continue striving to provide a quality and meaningful education that will prepare all Middleton students for the future. Parents in partnership with the school and community can make sure their students attend school daily; complete the academic requirements, graduate from high school, and learn the values and skills needed so they can be successful in the world of work. Through this partnership, the goal of “quality learning and superior performance for all” will be attained.
Here are some suggestions as to how parents can assist us in improving your child’s school attendance:
Talk with your child about the importance of attending school regularly and determine if there are specific reasons your child does not want to attend school. If the reasons given are specific to school, talk with the child’s respective teacher about his/her concerns.
Avoid scheduling family trips or doctor appointments during school hours.
Make sure your child stays healthy by eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep and exercise.
Do not accept excuses for why your child ‘must’ miss or be late for school.
Discuss with your child what happens each day at school. Support school rules and consequences for skipping class and being tardy.
Lead by example. Parents, who regularly attend work, set a good example for consistent school attendance by their child.
Show your child why education is important. Give specific examples of how education helps people succeed.
2009-10 Kindergarten Schedule Change
At their May 12, 2009 regular School Board meeting the School Board members unanimously approved a change in our kindergarten schedule for the 2009-10 (one-year only) school year. This change in schedule was approve only for the 2009-10 school year and the School Board Members will determine whether to continue this schedule change for another year, prior to the start of the 2010-11 school year. This letter is to notify you (our parents) of the new schedule and to allow you ample time to prepare for any affect these changes might have on your family’s daycare and personal daytime scheduling needs for next school year.
Kindergarten students (at each of our elementary schools) will be scheduled by us and the respective staff members, using the following guidelines:
1) Group #A will attend school on Monday and Thursdays (all day).
2) Group #B will attend school on Tuesday and Fridays (all day).
3) Kindergarten Group #A and Group #B will alternate school attendance (all day) every other Wednesday.
4) Noon time bussing to and from each of the three Elementary Schools for all kindergarten
students will be eliminated.
The School Board Members took many factors into consideration before approving this change in kindergarten scheduling for the 2009-10 school year and we concluded that our kindergarten students would not be negatively impacted by this change:
1) Impact upon kindergarten students – Experience with our all-day kindergarten program this year at Heights indicates that there was little if any additional adjustment for kindergarten age students in the all-day classroom versus those in the half-day kindergarten class. Many other Districts throughout our valley (New Plymouth, Emmett, Mountain Home) have already implemented all-day kindergarten and confirm that their kindergarten students have adjusted well into the all-day kindergarten schedule.
2) Daycare – Based upon conversations with local daycare providers, this change might even have a positive impact upon daycare for your child, as there will be no need for noon time pick-up or drop-off for the all-day kindergarten schedule as there was for half-day kindergarten schedule.
3) Financial/childcare numbers impact on our local daycares – Our information indicates that there will be very little if any impact on our daycare centers. The number of children in daycare should remain approximately the same, the time /days each week that the kindergarten age children are in the daycare is the only change.
4) Costs savings to the District – The District will save approximately $90,000 in transportation costs. With the state cutbacks (our State funding decreased approximately $700,000) this is an important means of helping to lessen the State reductions to our School District budget.
We encourage you to call your child’s respective School Principal (Heights 585-3021 / Mill Creek 585-3065 / Purple Sage 455-1148) if you would like additional information on this change in the kindergarten class schedule for the 2009-10 school year.
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7/04 Fourth of July Holiday 7/07 Regular School Board Meeting8/04 Building Principals and Secretaries 1st Day
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