October 2005, Volume 12, Issue 2

Special Message to the Patrons of the Kellogg School District 

Our board is made up of five businessmen.  Our role in monitoring the budget for the school district is to approach it much the same as we do our individual businesses.

We are concerned with the increase in energy costs.  We see checks being written every month for high energy costs due to old boilers and outdated windows, insulation, lighting, inadequate mechanical systems, etc.

We studied this thoroughly for over a year, held public input meetings, and came up with what we believe is an excellent business decision for the school district.  We chose to run a bond for energy conservation and facility upgrades in each of the buildings in the school district.  By utilizing the State’s Performance Contracting process, we are able to obtain at least $3.3M in guaranteed cost-avoided energy savings plus an estimated $360K in utility incentive payments.  In addition, Kellogg was selected as the northern Idaho showcase site for the Fuel for Schools biomass program, receiving a $381,000 grant.  

Kellogg qualifies for the State’s bond equalization subsidy, whereby the state will pay 25-30% of the school bond’s principal and interest.  The result is that for this $9.2M project, the taxpayers will only be obligated for approximately $5.3M or about $7.9M (or less) over 21 years. 

Keep in mind that a standard $9.2M school bond would cost the taxpayers about $16M over 21 years.  This project represents a savings of at least $8 million over the term of this bond.

The bottom line is that we firmly believe we are making a good decision. We are urging you to study the issue and help us implement what we think is a step toward making the school district a leader in effective use of taxpayer money.

Please call any of us if you have a question regarding the bond election.

Bryon Morgan 783.1136

Thad Samuelson 682.3201

Bob Stovern  682.4259

George Blickenstaff 783.0209

Brad Corkill 682.3253

K.E.Y. Before/After School Program By Jane Hadley, Instructor 

Kellogg Empowered Youth (K.E.Y.) has expanded and is now being offered at Kellogg Middle School four days a week, both before and after school. The program is set up for students that need academic help, a supportive environment, and to attend enrichment activities that are fun and age appropriate.

The current enrollment numbers are more than 150 students with academic sections averaging 50+ students per day. The students are able to complete their homework and receive

help from certified teachers. The academic sections take place in the middle school library where students can check out library books and take Accelerated Reading tests for language arts/reading classes.

The enrichment sections that are currently being offered are tennis, basketball and the KMS newsletter. The week of October 17^th, we will be starting a large section on substance abuse and prevention, bicycling, and arts/crafts. The substance abuse section will be coordinated with Red Ribbon Week that KMS will be celebrating the week of October 24^th. The focus of the curriculum will be on the prevention of inhalant abuse which is prominent in the 11-14 year old age bracket.

The Fall Kick-Off is scheduled for November 3^rd. The kick-off will be an invitation for all enrolled students and their families to come and enjoy a drama skit, dinner and view the computer lab where students can show their parents how they build the newsletter for KMS. The PLATO computer program is also available for parents to browse through and see how students receive remediation to improve their academic knowledge.

Transportation is also an important addition to the program. Each day a bus transports students to outlying district areas from Big Creek to Rose Lake. This addition of busing for the after school segment has given students increased access to educational support regardless of their home location.

We are in need of more volunteer support from community members and parents. If you could help support the K.E.Y. program by becoming a volunteer, please call Jane Hadley or Pat Specht at KMS, 784-1311.

KSD Information Technology Department by Gwen Johnson, Systems Analyst 

With the demise of the ISIMS project, Kellogg School District chose to return to the SASIxp student information system (SIS). This successful software package was one of three programs chosen by the state to replace the eSIS program. Since the Kellogg School District had used SASI previously, it was decided the transition back would be easier and more efficient than trying to learn a third SIS in as many years. The implementation of SASI has been the main focus of the IT Department during the first weeks of the school year.

A robust SIS is essential to a school district for NCLB and various state reporting requirements throughout the year. The ability to quickly retrieve information from the SIS saves numerous man hours that would otherwise be used for tedious data gathering. Thus, the SIS improves the efficient operation of the district.

The Albertson’s Foundation granted the district approximately $182,000 to help with the transition from eSIS to SASI. This allowed the IT Department to purchase the SASI software licenses, 11 new servers, an upgrade to the current network and  new additions to the standard SIS, including electronic grading for the elementary schools. This had previously only been available at the secondary level.

The network upgrade has also improved the efficiency of the Information Technology Department by allowing us to assist teachers and staff remotely with simple software and/or hardware issues. This saves time that had previously been spent traveling and gets users up and running in a matter of minutes, rather than hours or days.

Kellogg School District has also invested a significant amount of money to provide training for faculty and staff as well as assistance with implementing the software from the program specialists. There have been a few bumps in the road, but for the most part, the transition was smooth and the SIS is functioning, providing data to teachers, staff and administrators. Later this month, a representative will arrive to help implement a new addition to the SIS called ParentConnect. This program will allow parents to monitor children’s grades, attendance, and discipline via the Internet, using encryption similar to online banking programs. More information will be available  as we get this new and exciting service running and tested.

Students Jump Start KHS’s Yearbook, the K-Log by Katherine Kilbourne, Student 

This summer, on August 3^rd, six of the eleven students in Rachael Krusemark’s yearbook class (Jesse Spencer 11th, Erica Binfield 12th, Jacqi Pickering 10th, Cory Allred 10th, Megan Garner 9th, Katie Kilbourne 9th), ventured out on the school district’s new “mini bus” to yearbook camp to immerse themselves in learning how to write and design a yearbook. Sponsored by Herff Jones, the camp was held at Gonzaga University and was filled with eager students from a variety of schools like Medical Lake, St. Maries, and the Tri-Cities.

 Pickering said, “I was nervous, I didn’t know anybody. But then I hung out with Megan and Katie. They really helped me feel more comfortable.”

Students attended different sessions on Theme, Concept, Page Design and Photography. These sessions helped jump-start the students’ creative juices needed to develop a theme for this year’s yearbook.

PageMaker is the program that the yearbook staff uses to design pages, and the rookie yearbook staffers, Pickering, Garner, and Kilbourne attended this class. These girls learned how to add photos, write copy, choose different backgrounds and more. Yearbook Basics was for those students who had never taken yearbook. It explained how a yearbook is put together, the amount it cost for use of color, plus other expenses that might occur.

It isn’t an easy process to create a good caption. You need at least two sentences, and you have to tell more than what is seen in the picture. The session on Caption Writing was designed to help the students learn and practice those skills. A yearbook adviser with 16 years of experience from the Tri-Cities taught this session.

 Kilbourne said, “Caption Writing and Story Angles, which were taught by the same person, were by far my favorite! Ms. Krusemark is always trying to get the staff to write better captions. I feel after going to this session the staff will be extremely successful at doing that.”

Binfield, this year’s editor, and Spencer attended Big Ideas for Small Budgets. During this class, the director of the yearbook camp met with every group and talked about their budget and troubling issues concerning cost.

Everyone attended Yearbook and Design Trends. The guest speaker informed the staff of the cutting-edge trends to put in the yearbook this year. The students learned that the circle is the shape that is really “in” and bright purple and lime green are the “hot” new colors.

 “Learning about photography—the different angles and shots that you can get with the camera—was my favorite part. The two men teaching this photography class let my group walk around the campus and take pictures, then we would bring them back and they would critique them,” said Garner.

“Everyone has been really excited about this year’s year book—more  so than I am, and I am always excited!” explained Krusemark, who has taught yearbook class for seven years. “This year was the first year that I had enough students interested in dedicating part of their summer to yearbook to go. I’m expecting a great year resulting in the best K-Log  yet, and last year’s was pretty amazing!”

KHS Students Meet a Literary Icon 

The KHS 9/10 Honors English class had a summer 2005 reading assignment:  This House of Sky, by Montana-born Ivan Doig.  The first two weeks of school were spent discussing and analyzing the book in class.  Then, on September 15, the class traveled to North Idaho College to hear Ivan Doig in person.  There, Doig read an excerpt from his newest work, and he answered various questions posed by area high school students.  The KHS students were part of a group of nearly 1,000 area high school students.  An interesting tidbit is that during Doig’s question –answer session, he specifically mentioned Kellogg and some of his knowledge of the Silver Valley because of the many trips he took on I-90 traveling between Western Washington and Montana.

ENERGY BOND ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 1

What will the bond do?

It will provide energy upgrades for each building in the school district.  This will include replacing the 50+ year old boilers at Pinehurst Elementary and Kellogg High School.  It will also include energy efficient windows and lights at KHS and other upgrades in every building.  Air conditioning and HVAC upgrades are included in most buildings.  A remodel of the band and choir room at KHS is included in the project.

How much will it cost?

The total cost is $9.2 M.  The district has received grants, incentives, and guaranteed savings to bring the obligation to taxpayers down to $5,310,000. 

What will it do to taxes?

As an example for property assessed at $150,000 in 2005, the estimated cost to the taxpayer is calculated below:

$120,000 House

    30,000  Land

$150,000 Assessed Market Value with Homeowners Exemption (First 50% or $50,000, whichever is less of the value of the residential building.)

$100,000   Assessed Taxable Market Value

Based on the home in this example and a 21 year bond for $8,610,000 the expected tax increase would apply as follows:

Increase:

100,000 x .00047 = $47/year or $3.92 per month.

What will happen if the bond doesn’t pass?

� The proposed facility improvements will have to be completed anyway – sooner rather than later.

� If the bond fails, Kellogg will lose all grants and incentives ($740K and the Idaho State Bond subsidy program may or may not exist at a later time).

� The same construction project would cost over $8M more in construction & financing costs.

�  A typical facility improvement project does NOT  guarantee energy savings, project costs or long-term performance – the District and community will bear the risk. 

� Energy costs will keep going up

As a voter, what are some things I can do?

You can go over our figures, ask any question possible, and then make up your mind if you think this is a good business decision for the school district.  You can attend one of the public meetings listed on page one of this publication.  Then you can talk to your friends, family, and neighbors and vote on November 1.