FREDERICKTOWN — Fredericktown voters will no longer need to decide whether or not to vote for the proposed 4.8-mill levy issue as the board of education agreed to withdraw the issue from the November ballot.
Board member Betty Weller told the News the board just recently learned the district would receive $232,000 from the Federal Education Jobs Grant. She said the levy committee talked about the current economic situation with a lot of people out of work and recommended the levy be pulled at this time.
“Although that grant is a one-year-only thing,” she said, “it kept us from being in a deficit this year. Maybe we won’t need to go on the ballot next year. We hope the economy will improve, or maybe we will get some additional money. That would be nice.”
“We were just made aware of the federal grant within the last week or two, way after the board had to file with the board of elections,” said Superintendent Jim Peterson. “With the federal grant money — which is a one-year shot — and the cuts we have made over the last six years, along with the board understanding the state of the economy and the financial hardships that our community is facing, we believe that we pulled the levy for the right reasons. We believe that if we continue to monitor our spending this year, we will be able to finish this school year with current funds. We will monitor the financial situation very closely and watch every dime that we spend this year.
“This is a temporary fix for our fiscal situation,” Peterson said. “We will at some point have to come to our community to ask for additional funds.”
The board announced its decision during Tuesday’s board of education meeting.
Regarding personnel, the board employed Tom Hall as school psychologist for grades kindergarten through 12, three days per week at a salary of $30,414.35. It also advanced Stacey Bellman on the salary schedule due to verification of experience, added to the classified substitute list, hired Matt Moore and Bob Streby for the latchkey program and issued a handful of extra service/supplemental contracts. Colleen Zabudski, Allison Ziegelhofer and Jenessa Lowen were approved as student teachers in the elementary school.
Besides approving routine fiscal actions, the board accepted the following donations: Three backpacks from Pauline Branham; a 24-foot trailer from the Fredericktown Music Boosters to be used to haul music equipment to different events; and $50 from Kate Brown and Eleanor Bowlus in memory of Nevadel Young, money to be used for the purchase of books.