School mill levy override extension on 2019 ballot

    An extension of the current mill levy override of 7 mills will be on the Nov. 5 ballot for Holyoke School District Re-1J voters.
    Approval to begin the process of putting the mill levy override extension on the ballot this year was made at the June 18 school board meeting.
    Certification of the specific ballot content, including timelines for length of the extension, must be submitted to the county clerks by Sept. 6.
    In November of 2010, a mill levy override election for 7.5 mills was passed by the school district voters. This included 3 mills for five years and another 4.5 mills for 10 years.
    Later, a 2.5-mill override extension was approved in November of 2014, to extend through collection year 2020, replacing the 3-mill override that expired in 2015.
    As a result, the combined 7-mill override from those two elections has been approved through tax year 2020, to be collected in 2021.
    The mill levy question that the board looks to put on the ballot will extend that MLO that is currently being collected.
    While they have until July 26 to inform the counties about their plan to place a ballot question, Superintendent Kyle Stumpf said they will begin immediately to notify election officials in Phillips, Yuma and Sedgwick counties, where school district residents reside.
    “We will work out legal details with the three governmental agencies to make sure all deadlines are met,” Stumpf said.
    
Ginapp hired as HS English/language arts teacher
    Former HHS English teacher Clark Ginapp has returned to the community after his retirement and was hired to teach English/language arts at the high school for the 2019-20 school year.
    Ginapp has 34 years of teaching experience, with 31 of those in Holyoke before he retired several years ago. Steps are being taken to successfully move him from retirement to full-time teaching status.
    Additionally, Kody Timm was hired as library media specialist at the high school and Elaina Nygaard as a paraprofessional at the JR/SR high for the upcoming school year.
    
Budget approved
    After a budget hearing at last week’s board meeting, the 2019-20 budget was adopted with the following appropriations:
    General Fund    $8,014,721
    Food Service    $262,402
    Bond Redemption    $528,012
    Trust and Agency    $33,933
    Pupil Activity    $398,325
    Total Approp.    $9,237,393
    No citizens attended the budget hearing, and minimal budget discussion was held prior to the approval.
    
Second-semester random drug testing reported
    Reporting on the second-semester random drug testing program, JR/SR High Principal Shane Walkinshaw noted that 99 tests were given, resulting in one positive test for alcohol. When a more specific retest was done, the result indicated the student tested positive for over-the-counter cough medicine that was taken the day before the test.
    A total of 190 students were enrolled in RDT as of May 13. Enrollment is required for participating in extracurricular activities in grades 7-12. Out-of-district students participating on Holyoke sports teams, as well as sixth graders playing on junior high teams, are required to enroll, as well.
    Walkinshaw noted that the league allowed sixth graders to participate in team sports but not individual sports such as track or wrestling.
    Walkinshaw pointed out that 71% of the local junior high students and 64% of the high school students are enrolled in RDT.
    An average of 4.95 RDT samples were taken per week during the second semester. Cost estimate for the semester is $3,855.
    
Other business
    In other business at the June 18 meeting, the school board:
    — Approved a $10,000 bid for the greenhouse construction from Tony’s Construction LLC in Wray.
    — Noted there will be no regular meetings in July. A board retreat will be conducted Tuesday, July 16, from 5-10 p.m. at the Paoli Community Center.
    — Clarified that the contract term for Stumpf that was approved in March will extend through the 2021 school year.
    — Increased K-12 lunch meal prices for 2019-20 by 10 cents to $2.45 for grades K-6 and to $2.70 for 7-12, by 25 cents to $3.60 for adult lunches and by 5 cents to 40 cents for extra milk.
    — Renewed Colorado School Districts Self Insurance Pool as the property insurance for the district for 2019-20.
    — Gave first-reading approval to Colorado Association of School Boards policies that were presented June 4. Topics include student absences and excuses, student discipline, use of physical intervention and restraint, grading/assessment systems, and discipline, suspension and dismissal of professional staff.