Princeton School Board meeting April 16

The Princeton School Board conducted the following business during the meeting on Tuesday, April 16. Written by Chloe Smith.

School board commendations

The Princeton School Board presented large groups of students with commendations in the form of certificates during the meeting to recognize them for their hard work representing the district in various activities and clubs at state tournaments. The main activities recognized were wrestling, robotics, the boys swim and dive team, and math league.

Superintendent report

Superintendent Ben Barton provided the Princeton School Board with an update on the district since the last meeting. Barton said that a small group of representatives from the Start Time Task Force met with Palmer Bus Services about potential short and long-term solutions to the district’s start times. Those suggestions will be brought to the task force as a whole for discussion and consideration. Barton then said administration has been working on the district’s budget, and he will be sending drafts of recommendations for ways the district can save money to the school board. He also said there is potential for a need for class size changes.

Student Services update

Director of Student Services Steve Milam gave a presentation to the school board about the district’s Student Services. Milam said that the Area Learning Center (ALC) was full to capacity all of 2022-2023 and had 22 students graduate. The ALC has been focusing on showing the students the importance of graduating high school. Milam then shared an update on the special education programs in the district. Milam said that the programs are focusing on student learning across categorical disabilities, and that the special education graduation rate increased from 60% to 63% in 2023. Special education in the district currently has 665 students enrolled. Lastly, Milam said the student homeless supports Student Services provides have continued to be part of a regional collaborative group.

High school ventilation project

The Princeton School Board reviewed options to pay for a project in the high school that would replace some of the ventilation in the music department, kitchen, and commons. The first option was a Paygo Levy and the second was to refund and restructure an existing bond. The school board came to the conclusion that refunding and restructuring an existing bond was the best course of action. This item will be discussed further when the board reviews its long-term facilities maintenance plan in June or July.

Accessible elementary playgrounds

The Princeton School Board was approached by an organization that offered to fundraise on behalf of the district to raise funds for accessible playgrounds for students with disabilities in the district elementary schools. The current playgrounds meet the state requirements in terms of accessibility, but those requirements only ask that students in wheelchairs have a paved path to the edge of the playground, not access to the equipment itself. The primary school currently has 30 students with special needs enrolled. The funds raised would go toward the construction of two playgrounds (one at the primary school and one at the intermediate school) accessible for those students. The organization would fundraise the money and then donate it to the school for the playgrounds, and the construction would be the responsibility of the district. It is expected that the fundraising will take a while before it would be ready to donate to the district. The school board offered its support for the fundraising.