Flandreau School District teachers will get a 1.5 percent raise for the 2018-19 school year and a $300 bonus for returning to their classrooms.

The wage agreement between the teachers and district is based in part on the 1 percent increase the state gave school districts for the coming year and 0.7 percent in one-time money. The raise goes to a staff of 64 full-time equivalent teachers.

“The board could give about as much as the state gave the school,” said Superintendent Rick Weber. Because of the uncertainty each year of how much the state will give toward teacher pay, the district and its teachers negotiate annually, he said. The raise compares to a 2 percent increase in pay for this school year.

Classified staff, made up of 28 non-teachers, will receive a 25-cent-per-hour increase in pay.

In Colman-Egan, the district’s 23 teachers each will receive a $900 raise compared with $500 last year. Non-teaching staff of 17 people will get raises that vary from no increase to $1 an hour.

Flandreau will add one additional teacher next year, taking a job that is half special education and half English-language-learners and splitting it into two positions. In addition, the school district will spend $50,000 on its school resource officer. The school board approved the pay increases and the additional positions at its May 14 meeting.

A preliminary look at next year’s budget shows that the district will need to spend an estimated $125,000 from its reserves and $285,000 from capital outlay money for the $5.12 million proposed general fund budget. The district’s overall budget, which includes capital outlay expenses and special education, will be about $9.34 million.

The district’s special education expenses will increase next year because there is more need, Weber said. The district has been going over its special education budget the last few years and will ask for money from the state extraordinary cost fund to help cover the expenses.

The school board will adopt a final budget in July.

The school district’s student numbers are expected to dip next year, which will mean less money from the state in per student funding.

Weber said he expects an enrollment of about 668 students district wide, compared to 684 at the beginning of the current school year.

Next year’s kindergarten class is projected to be 46 students. That compares to about 55 students entering school in the past, Weber said. This year’s senior class was 41, but there is movement in and out during the year, as well, he said.

A preliminary look at the capital outlay budget includes $195,000 in technology and $71,000 in textbooks. Students in high school have laptops, and those in grades 3-8 have chromebooks. The district has decided to buy half on a rotating basis so that the expenses are not all taken in one year.

Athletes also will get $52,500 in new uniform and equipment, purchases that are made for specific sports every six years. This coming year, the football team will get new home uniforms and a handful of helmets, while volleyball players will get new uniforms and high school and junior high girls’ basketball players will get either warmups or uniforms.

The school also plans to buy a baritone saxophone, a saxophone, two clarinets, eight keyboards and sound equipment, along with 25 choir desks for a budget of $36,400.

In other school board business:

• The board approved the hire of Derek Genzlinger as head football and head wrestling coach, replacing Travis Ahrens. Genzlinger teaches physical education.

The board also approved hiring Laura Drietz for elementary art and library, Alycia Rose for middle school special education and Adriane Voisin for 0.6 time for speech therapy.

• The board accepted resignations of Spencer Yackley as fourth grade teacher and junior high football, basketball and golf coach; Rachel Jung as elementary special education and English language learner teacher; Winona Tahdooahnippah as a middle school paraprofessional; Sarah Zach as middle school volleyball coach if a replacement can be found, and Jeremy Haugen as high school science teacher. The board had previously not renewed Haugen’s contract but later rescinded that motion.
• Parent Sadie Haugen told board members about her interest in starting a Junior Achievement program in one grade next year at Flandreau Elementary. Junior Achievement and its volunteers do all of the work to teach the curriculum in five to six sessions that are 45 minutes each. The material ties in with the social studies curriculum.

But the program would need to know whether the district is interested before going forward to organize volunteers and raise money, she said. “I’m really a big proponent of the program,” she said.

Board President Darren Hamilton asked board members if they favored allowing Junior Achievement to go forward and approval was given.