Superintendent’s Corner
October 8, 2004
The beginning of this school year has gone very smoothly. The staff and I are excited and looking forward to a very promising year. There have been some changes this year in the administration make-up , improvements to the facilities, and added exciting opportunities for our students, that I would like to share with you.
The enrollment at Kiowa County School Dist. RE-1 will be 185 students K-12th grades, which is down from 210 students in 2003-2004. The enrollment has steadily dropped from a high of 320 students in 1996. The fund balance was very stable in 1996 with $630,000, but quickly deteriorated to a low of $110,000 in 2001. The District has taken proactive steps to compensate for the dropping enrollments and revenues and has rebuilt the fund balance to $603,000 for 2004. These steps included realigning teaching and administrative positions, and reducing the number of staff members over the past four years.
One of the steps taken this year, to compensate for the dropping enrollment and revenues, was to hire administrative assistants to assist in administrative duties. I will still continue as Superintendent and be responsible for administrative decisions and evaluations at the high school and elementary school. The following administrative assistant positions have be implemented: Mrs. Stoker- Kindergarten-4th grade discipline and elementary teacher liaison, Mr. Gooden- 5th- 8th grade discipline, Mrs. Barnett- Career Counselor and H.S. liaison, Mr. Randel- H.S. discipline, and Mr. Gifford- Athletic Director and discipline.
The Eads Elementary Plumbing Project was completed right before the start of school. The contractors, Dave Murdock and Charlie Taylor, should be commended for their willingness to work around the school’s schedule and for their quality of work. This project was greatly needed and has been a great improvement to the elementary building. As many of you know this project was funded primarily by a Capitol Construction Grant of $115,940.
Barnett Construction completed the tennis court/basketball facility this summer as well. Marty Barnett and his workers should also be commended for an outstanding facility and their donations of time and extras to the project. This facility has been used literally every day since its completion. There will be signs posted prohibiting skateboards on these courts as they mark up the surface and tear up the lines. This project was funded by a $150,000 Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Grant.
The new lighting system on the football/baseball facility is also a part of the GOCO Grant. Rich’s Electric, from Cheyenne Wells, was the contractor that completed this project. We are very pleased with how this project enhanced the lighting of the fields. I would like to thank Southeast Colorado Power Association (SECPA) for their donated time and assistance. I would also like to thank Dave Murdock for donating the use of his bucket-truck for this project. Peterson’s High Reach also participated in this project by cutting the old poles in half so that SECPA could pull them.
The District has purchased computers for both the elementary and high school computer labs. There were also new computers purchased for teacher stations. It is our plan to connect every teacher and computer to a network that will greatly improve interoffice communication and capabilities.
We are excited to offer five dual-credit courses taught by our high school staff. When our teachers offer dual-credit classes, neither the student nor District incurs costs in obtaining college credit for the student. Our students can also take college courses online and via the Distance Learning System (DL), but charges do incur to the students and/or District.
At this time, we are asking for volunteers for the School Accountability Committee. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please let me know. This committee is responsible for prioritizing funding areas as well as making recommendations on policies.
Please feel free to make arrangements with me to visit our campus and look at our new improvements and witness the opportunities for our students. If you ever have any questions or ideas on how to improve our systems, feel free to contact me at 719-438-2218. It is my goal to keep the community informed monthly with this column. I would like to thank the community for its continued support of our system.