Exeter-Milligan School Board Discuss Fillmore Central Feasibility Study

 

The Exeter-Milligan school board met on Wednesday, August  12^th in the Milligan gymnasium. After Exeter-Milligan school board president Adam Erdkamp welcomed the three guests to the meeting, board member Kendra Jansky read the treasurer’s report.

The board approved the consensus agenda.

Erdkamp explained that a new item, a public comment period, was added to the agenda for each meeting. 

He noted that the board had received a letter from Friend Public Schools that reviewed all the current activites the two districts are combined on including FFA, football, and a science teacher.  Erdkamp added that the schools have aligned their calendars, they have been doing drivers ed together for 15 years along with community activities like trap shooting and elementary football.

The next agenda item was a review of the summer projects.  Sheffield reported that the plumbers were close to finishing the bathrooms.  “It doesn’t matter if it’s a large project or a small project.  They know when we start and they push to get it done.”

The board discussed the feasibility study with Fillmore Central.  Erdkamp noted that the he felt they should “make some priorities for what should be in the initial study.”

Although he noted that the team at Wayne State that completed the feasibility study with Friend are available the board would be “Ok to use the group Fillmore Central preferred as long as they can structure it so it’s a usable document for us.”

Sheffield spoke to the company (First National Capitol Markets) and they are willing to do some extras comparisons that the Exeter-Milligan board might be interested in.

Board member Kendra Oldenoeft added, “I think if we went back to Wayne State and wanted to compare something I am sure they would be willing to do that as well.”

The board decided to move forward with the study with Fillmore Central.

New business included a discussion on 2020-21 budget, approval of a transfer of funds to the depreciation fund which was included in the consensus section.

Sheffield explained that the transfer to replace the iPads and Laptops next year.  After financing through Apple the first time purchasing technology, Sheffield learned to put the unspent technology funds into the depreciation to finance the repurchase.

The 2020-21 budget will be posted on the school website when it is ready. Sheffield reported that tax asking has gone down by $200,000 in the general fund the last few years.  In the building fund the asking is down $675,000.

The board approved Tara Milton as a local substitute (Eric Milton abstained).

Next regular meeting will be September 9th in Exeter and will also be the budget hearing. Paul noted that next year the budget hearing will have to be a separate night from a regular board meeting due to a change in the law.

 

Exeter-Milligan welcomes two new teachers

Haley Johnson, a Wilber native, will teach first grade in Exeter. 

After teaching sixth grade special education in North Platte, Neb. she and her husband Kolby decided to move back to Wilber to be close to family.  She graduated from Doane and is now pursuing a master’s degree from Donae. She has two toy Australian shepherds that she enjoys taking walks with.  Her hobbies include camping, playing tennis, reading and spending summers at the lake.

 

Noah Temme is a Fairmont native and is student teaching at Exeter-Milligan this fall.  He graduated from Fillmore Central and is currently a student at Peru State College with a 7-12 Social Sciences Education major.  Temme hopes to teach in a smaller school district.  His hobbies include fitness/exercise, sand volleyball, reading and playing video games.

 

EMF Softball Members

Exeter-Milligan-Friend members of the Fillmore Central/Exeter-Milligan-Friend softball team are pictured L-R- Shelby Lawver, LillyAnn Ellison, Megan Rumery, Georgia Meyer and Olivea Swanson.  

Georgia Meyer is the lone senior from Exeter-Milligan

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday

Week of August 17

Exeter-Milligan prepared to launch their one-to-one laptop in the 7^th-12^th grades at the beginning of the school year.

Most of the cost of the new program has been financed through a grant from the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP). About $30,000 came from the REAP program that “was earmarked toward technology,” according to Sheffield.

The total cost of the program was around $45,000 and there will be “some stimulus money that carries over for special ed and that will come out of there,” said Sheffield. The rest of the funding will come from the school budget.

The Exeter-Milligan school district welcomes two new educators to the community. Casey Pohl joins the district in the third grade position at the Milligan campus and Jamie Ellis will be teaching High School English and Speech at the Exeter site.

The Exeter-Milligan school district is once again looking at a levy override on the November ballot.

The last levy override was on the February 2005 ballot and covered the years through 2011-12. The new ballot issue will start the same .30 per $100 override in the fiscal 2012-2013 year and will be for five years, in effect through the 2016-2017 school year.

Exeter-Milligan Superintendent Paul Sheffield states, “Our goal in renewing it (the levy override) is to maintain the quality of education and opportunities for our students.”

Although the district has the ability to go up to $1.35 currently they are using a levy of $1.22. Sheffield expects that number to go down next year as it has every year.

Milligan held a dedication ceremony for three Nebraska State Historical Markers for the family of 32 airmen involved in three midair collisions near Milligan, Neb.

Exeter-Milligan graduate Jenna Rhodes recently spent part of her junior year in college living in Heredia, Costa Rica. She lived with a Costa Rican family or tico’s as they’re called and totally immersed herself in the culture and language of the country.