318 Staff News
November 30, 2021
School Board Plans to Reduce Levy Impact
At a School Board workshop on November 8, the ISD 318 School Board discussed options for reducing the levy and the tax impact on ISD 318 residents. In September, the Board approved levying the max, which allows a school district flexibility in planning for its coming budget before the state finalizes levy amounts and allows the School Board time to make the most informed decision with the most accurate information. 

The reduction does not change the amount of revenue the district receives, but the adjusted structure will lessen taxpayer impact.

“After reviewing the debt structures and the rest of our levy, the Board felt that reducing the levy from the preliminary amounts made the most sense for the district and its constituents at this time,” said ISD 318 Superintendent Matt Grose. The final levy certification will take place on December 20, after the public has a chance to share their input at the annual Truth in Taxation Meeting on December 6. 
Educational Benefits Forms are Due December 15
Starting tomorrow, December 1, families will start to see messaging regarding their last chance to receive educational benefits. The educational benefits forms are due December 15. However, if a family's income changes, they can apply at any time throughout the year.

This is the last opportunity for our schools to receive additional funding in the form of compensatory aid. We appreciate the effort you have made in helping us to ensure families complete their forms, but we are still lower than where we would be.

Compensatory aid can be used for staffing that supports students, interventions, technology, and more! Please encourage your families to learn more and complete their forms at www.isd318.org/edbenefits.
Federal Emergency Temporary Standard for Vaccines
While there is still much that is unknown about the Federal Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for vaccine requirements, we are working to provide information about what is known to our staff.

We do not know if the current court challenges to ETS will delay implementation and are proceeding with what we can. We have created an FAQ for staff on our website under Staff> Employee Information> COVID-19 Information for Staff.
318Pride Stories
This time of year, we start to focus on gratitude. Please take a few moments to share gratitude for your coworkers. If you have a story you'd like to share about your peers, drop it into our new 318Pride form!

Here's what you're saying about our staff:
Andrea Hovila goes above and beyond for students and staff every year, but this year especially stands out. She's adjusted to a new way of doing interventions, the FastBridge system, and is extremely flexible in student pull out times. She is an active part of student learning and in communicating with families through Seesaw. Andrea truly listens and responds not only to student needs, but to classroom teacher needs as well. Our elementary team would not be the same without Andrea's efforts. Thank you for all you do.

We're grateful for all you do. And we are grateful for the support you show each other.