Charles City School District prepares for new year under new laws

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Community School District is getting ready for a new school year under a string of new laws and programs passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor during this past year.

Earlier this year a new state law went into effect mandating that school library programs contain only “age-appropriate” material and that detailed information relating to the district’s policies, curriculum and library catalogue be made publicly available.

“It wasn’t a huge deal for us, to be honest,” said Superintendent Anne Lundquist, who explained that the district already offers web-based services, which are currently in the process of being updating for the upcoming school year, that satisfy the new laws. “We’re confident that we can move forward with the new school year in compliance with Iowa law.”

Similarly, the state codified other policies that had already been long-standing in the Charles City district, such as the ability for parents to review and object to instructional materials.

“That has always been the case,” said Lundquist. “That’s not new.”

Along with updating the school’s website, the district is also in the process of switching over to a new service to better serve as public access to its board minutes and policies.

Simbli, a board management software, is a popular web-service among school districts, allowing the public to search district policies and read detailed school board agendas and minutes, including any relevant attachments that may be included in the board discussion.

Of greater potential impact to the district, the Iowa Department of Education recently released a report detailing the number of applicants applying for the first wave of Education Savings Accounts (ESA) under a new program designed to allow parents to redirect a school district’s general fund allotment for a student toward alternative educational uses.

Parents of qualifying students, currently limited to households with an income of 300% or below the poverty level (roughly $90,000 for a family of four), can apply for $7,600 to be placed in a dedicated education savings account, which can then be used to pay for private school tuition and other expenses.

As of August 4, the state has approved 18,627 ESA applications for the upcoming school year. Of those, 113 have been approved for Floyd County students, according to state reports.

Facilitating students to enroll outside of the public school system will have an impact on public school budgets, as each fewer student represents a loss of about $7,600 to the district.

To mitigate this impact, the state has increased categorical funding for schools, offering about $1,200 in funding to districts for each student that utilizes the ESA program.

As things currently stand, with roughly 250 private school students in the area spread between Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Charles City and Gospel Lighthouse Academy in Floyd, the impact that the ESA system will have on the Charles City Community School District will depend on how many additional families elect to move their students from public to private schools.

Lundquist says the district won’t know until October, when enrollment is certified, what kind of impact the ESA program will have on the district’s enrollment numbers or budget. She estimates that the district can lose between 20 and 30 students to the ESA program before the boost in categorical funds is no longer enough to make up for the loss in general funds.

“Anything beyond that will probably result in significant budget adjustments,” said Lundquist. “This will be an interesting time for public schools in Iowa.”