Superintendent's Page

Summer is winding down and
its end will soon bring us all to
the beginning of another new
and exciting school year at
South Bend.
The district has been buzzing
all summer long with the over
$5 million modernization
of the high school and the
building of the new play shed
behind the elementary school.
The project is moving along
wonderfully and we are still
on schedule to be completed
by August 25th.
We are also in the
process going to bid on the
modernization of the school
library. A 77 percent match
(gift) of state funds is too great
to pass up! That work should
be completed sometime in late
October or early November so
there will be some disruption
to the day to day operations,
but it will certainly be worth
the trouble when everything is
complete.
As we began to work on this
modernization, it became even
more evident how vital this
project was to avoiding major
costs down the road without
the help of the state. Many
areas of the school including
roof, electrical, plumbing and
heating were in even worse
shape than we imagined and
forty two years of wear and
tear was evident everywhere.
When these projects are
completed this fall, the South
Bend community will have,
for all intents and purposes,
a new high school with over
three quarters of the cost paid
for by the state.
While those projects are
certainly a positive for the
district, we too have been hit
by the economic downturn just
as all of you in the community
have been. Enrollment is
down a bit with many families
having to leave the area
to find other employment.
Enrollment drops, coupled
with the deep cuts the state
had to make to school districts,
has certainly made budgeting
a more difficult proposition for
us than in years past.
The school board and district
have worked hard to save
jobs and programs by taking
a conservative approach
to our spending beginning
early last year. While we are
making some tough decisions
and tightening our belts, we
believe that we have done a
good job of meeting the needs
of kids and programs with
this year’s budget under the
circumstances. From a school
perspective, we anticipate and
are planning for at least two
-three more years of budgetary
concerns as we all wait for the
economy to turn around.
While we need to be
conservative in our spending,
we still need to provide the
necessary skills and programs
for our kids to be successful
in life. Some key additions to our
P–12 programs for
the 2009-10 year are:
1. Expansion of our Laptop
Computer Initiative down
through the first grade. We
now have laptops available
to students in classrooms