Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
Hurley — Hurley School District administrator Chris Patritto said Monday the district will receive $85,000 more in state aid than he previously projected.
That means taxpayers may be getting a break on the levy for the 2018-’19 school year. It’s possible the levy could decrease from $9.35 to $8.96 per $1,000 of assessed value, he said.
The school board adopted a preliminary budget of about $7.2 million that includes around $2.5 million in state aid. The budget will be down by about $241,000.
Years ago, the district budget was financed almost two-thirds by state aid, but now it’s down to around one-third.
Patritto said student enrollment for next year will likely drop from seven to 17 students.
He noted that as the district’s enrollment continues to drop, it receives some money for the declining numbers, but it also negatively affects the funding formula for transportation and other aids.
Student enrollment won’t be determined until September and the final budget numbers will be approved in October.
Patritto had some good news in announcing details of a $41,240 safety grant the district will receive. The camera system will be improved so it can be linked with law enforcement vehicles. The officers can then monitor activities in the K-12 school from their squad cars.
The school district was successful in its application for the safety grant.
In other business Monday, Montreal resident Steve Schurtter criticized the board for conducting too much business in closed sessions. He said the board has “overused” the sessions, citing a previous principal controversy in which the public was excluded from the debate.
Patritto defended the closed sessions that are part of every meeting, saying personnel matters and contractual issues are best debated in executive sessions. He noted the board always announces its actions in open session when coming out of the closed meetings.
