Few changes slated for Fruitland schools

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Sunday, April 27, 2008 6:09 AM PDT

FRUITLAND - Other than new faces and a brand new year to contend with, the 2008 to 2009 school year will greatly resemble the current one as maintaining services in an unsteady economy is key, Fruitland School District Superintendent Alan Felgenhauer said recently.

Unlike previous years, the district will not hire any additional teachers because student enrollment numbers do not demand it, Felgenhauer said.

“We want to make sure we’ve got the students before we commit,” he said.

The school district did not experience the significant growth it had in previous years, and enrollment increased approximately 1 percent as opposed to the 3 or 4 percent in the past.

As a result, Felgenhauer said, the district should receive approximately the same amount of funding from the state for student enrollment. He also projects another 1 percent increase or so in the next school year. Felgenhauer said he thought the stabilization of student numbers may reflect the current housing market, adding other school districts in the valley are losing students.

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He also said the district is not expecting much additional funding for teachers from the state, adding districts receive 3 percent for noncertified employees, 21⁄2  percent for certified employees and 2 percent for administrative staff, which comes from the state-wide salary schedule.  

The district will receive a 1 percent increase in discretionary funds, or about $25,000 to $30,000, for inflationary costs.

“But I don’t see us needing to make any cuts,” Felgenhauer said. The focus of the district has been improving test scores in the past few years, he said, through curriculum and studies.

“We’ve just really been concentrating on meeting AYP (adequate yearly progress) through our test scores,” Felgenhauer said. One program instituted at Fruitland Elementary School this year, which will be continued, provides additional training for 4-year-old, prekindergarten English language learning students.

The district also provides all-day kindergarten to those ELL students and pre-first grade for 6-year-olds.  

Rather than a half year of consumer economics, Fruitland High School students will receive a full year, as the district Board of Trustees recently approved a recommendation to extend the class to a full year of consumer economics/financial preparedness, with a focus on managing credit and credit cards responsibly.

Other than final touches to the new elementary school, such as landscaping this summer, no capital projects are planned for next year either, Felgenhauer said.

One administrative technology expenditure will be for $53,000 to upgrade and install a new administrative program.

Felgenhauer said the main reason the district is changing the administrative program, which keeps track of everything from attendance, to grades, to scheduling, to transcripts, is because the current program the district uses is being phased out of service.

In addition, Felgenhauer said, the program “has not been a very user-friendly program to begin with” for staff and administrators, and the information it contains is too vital in importance to maintain.