News : VS school board begins discussion of \'delicate\' issues; may appoint task force

The discussion among the Vinton-Shellsburg School Board this summer will focus on two words: "Resource utilization."

The board will be discussing the use of the Vinton-Shellsburg school building, and evaluating a variety of issues, including the busing of fifth grade students to Shellsburg.

During its May meeting, the board discussed appointing a task force to discuss a variety of issues. That discussion continued during a 45-minute work session before the board's meeting Monday night.

One of the issues is the long-standing practice of busing all fifth grade students to Shellsburg.

The board discussed two ways that impacts the district and its students. First, there is the $50,000 per year cost of transportation. Second, the Vinton students who ride the bus to Shellsburg leave 30 minutes or more before the rest of the students. That, said Board President Todd Wiley, represents a total of 90 hours of instruction time missed by those students each school year.

The board also discussed ways to address the number of families who choose to open-enroll their children in another district. The board reviewed a chart showing the total number of Open Enrollment numbers out, which includes:

Alburnett: 1

Benton Community: 32

Center Point-Urbana: 51

Cedar Rapids (including College Community): 28

Dunkerton: 1

Iowa Valley: 1

Independence: 2

Linn Mar: 4

Marion: 2

North Linn: 2

North Tama: 6

Union: 21

One of the numbers mentioned during the board's Open Enrollment discussion is the number of families in the Vinton ZIP code who take their children to other schools.

A total of 67 students who open enroll to other districts live in or near Vinton. There are 8 students who live in Vinton but go to Van Horne (Benton), 39 who go to Center Point or Urbana, and seven to Cedar Rapids.

Because of the way that the Iowa Department of Education counts students, the 152 actual students is only 115 in budget numbers (many of the open-enrolled students are in a home school assistance program, which counts as less in the state formula). In terms of the budget, VS has 76 students open enroll into the district, and 115 out.

"Theoretically, open enrollment could be 50% in and 50% out," said Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock. "Unfortunately, our numbers are much more lop-sided and we have about 115 OE out and 76 OE in. I would say that about half of the districts in the state have more OE in than out and about half the districts have more OE out than in (I know that CPU has more in than out)."

Many families choose open enrollment after moving to the VS districty from another district, for the purpose of keeping their children in the same school they had attended in previous years.

The board agreed that before appointing a task force, they need to agree on and put into writing a set of goals the task force should seek to accomplish.

Other issues the board has previous pondered include the possibility of considering a year-round schedule, and other ways to utilize the district's buildings when school is not in session. The location of the alternative high school (currently located in the ICAS building, which has been put up for sale) is another issue the board may ask the task force to consider.

"Some of these will be delicate subjects," said Wiley.

Board members will spend the next month individually thinking about these topics, and discuss the task fore during its July meeting.