The Marion Center School Board discussed changes in the way community service programs will be offered and will no longer supplement Driver’s Education costs.
Marion Center’s Community Service Program, described by President Gregg Sacco as ‘a conduit for the public’ to use the school’s facilities ‘in the off-hours of school,’ will see some changes in its guidelines. No longer will any individual program be offered on an ‘open basis,’ instead, as Superintendent Clint Weimer states, a program’s estimated cost will need to be ensured:
“The program will be there, but we have to have the minimum number of participants to cash-flow it.”
The changes will help save the District money by avoiding situations in which funds are being used for programs utilizing paid staff that have very little or no participation.
The Board will vote in August on a proposed list of program offerings with their cost and attendance requirements, with a final list targeted for the beginning of the school year.
Additionally, the Board voted to no longer supplement tuition for the Driver’s Education program offered by ARIN IU-28. The cost was $100 dollars per student as the District covered $195 dollars of the total tuition cost. Now, parents will pay the full tuition rate of $295 dollars per student.
In other news, the Board discussed the Pre-K structure. The structure of two PMs and two AMs should remain the same, though it may be reduced to three sections if there aren’t enough students. There are currently 48 of a potential 80 students enrolled in Pre-K.
