Charlo BOE discusses phones and prices

CHARLO — Cell phones and athletic tickets were the hot topics at last Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting in Charlo.

High School Principal Steve Love brought the student handbook to the attention of the board, and with it, the school’s cell phone policy. The handbook’s official wording will be voted on during next month’s meeting.

Currently, the policy is to “not use it on campus during school hours,” Love said. However, students can still walk off campus to use their phone during lunch or in between class. He proposed adding, “at any time during the regular school day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.” to the policy and only giving kids two chances before the phone is confiscated.

“They know they’re not supposed to have it,” he said. “It helps take a little heat off us if an issue comes up.”

Issues with bullying are often tied to cell phone usage in schools, Love said, like the incident in Dillon last year where a student used his phone’s camera to photograph another student in the shower.

“Ninety-nine percent of the kids wouldn’t think about it, but all you need is one kid to act on it, and the school is liable,” Elementary Principal and Athletic Director Clair Rasmussen said.

Some schools, Love said, have invested in a jamming device that blocks all cell phone use.

“The cell phone issue is one that is going to evolve,” Superintendent Paul Jenkins said.

Board trustee Dave DeGrandpre said, as a parent, there may be a time when he wants to reach his child at school on their cell phone, but others pointed out that it is never a problem to locate a student by calling the school’s secretary.

“I say zero tolerance,” board member Shane Reum said. “None of it.”

While the board also tabled the vote for next month’s meeting, they discussed at length whether or not to raise ticket prices to the school’s athletic events. Adult season ticket prices could increase from $40 to $45, students from $25 to $30 and families from $130 to $140, a price that includes two adults and two children. The reason, administrators say, is to offset some of the expenses, particularly the cost of officials, which is required at even middle school and junior varsity games.

Rasmussen also proposed initiating a student activity fee of $30 for students grades six through 12 to participate in all school athletic and academic activities. Each participating student would be required to pay the fee one time for unlimited participation and it would also act as a season pass to all athletic games.

Love said athletic and academic activities cost the district a huge amount of money per year. The food and lodging travel cost of sending students to districts, divisionals and state last year amounted to about $78 per student.

According to clerk Sarah Vaughan, total athletic travel, food and lodging, was $13,250; academic travel was $5,186, a total that did not include current SkillsUSA trip; athletic bus and coaches salaries was about $75,000 and academic bus and coaches salaries total about $14,000. Most of the school’s revenue is generated during football, basketball and volleyball seasons.

“I’d rather have me have to pay $2 more to see the game than a kid have to pay to play,” Reum said.

Trustee Duane Weible added, “It’s the same price as the season ticket, so it’s a wash.”

Community member Melody Maughan pointed out that the student activity fee has been in effect at other local districts for years and it hasn’t seemed to discourage student participation.

“They always find a way to come up with it,” she said.

In other news, board member Shannon Murphy presented a report of the more than $90 million in proposed state funding cuts from the Delegate Assembly in Helena. According to Murphy, the presentation by Montana School Boards Association Executive Director Lance Melton was “not a lot of good news.”

“The Legislative Finance Committee is going to hit education and hit it hard this year,” she said. “We need to be aware of it. We need to start contacting them and talking to community members. Education can not withstand any more cuts.”

The Legislative Fiscal Division released 17 budget-cutting options for K-12 education, which can be found online at http://www.leg.mt.gov/content/Publications/fiscal/interim/financemty-june2010/sectionEpdf.pdf.

Of primary concern, eliminating full-time kindergarten and restoring half-day kindergarten is a real possibility. This would cut school districts general fund budgets by approximately $30 million per year and would directly backtrack on a key part of the state’s remedy to address inadequate funding of schools, Melton said in an e-mail.

Also on the chopping block is the elimination of HB 124 Block Grants, lowering direct state aid from 44.7 to 30 percent and reducing basic and per-ANB entitlements by 10 percent. With the elimination of most of the 17 options, Murphy said, the burden would be put back on the tax payer. Schools will still be required to meet standards, but they may have to do so with fewer staff, fewer books and less funding for extra-curricular activities.

“If these cuts go through,” she said. “Funding to schools will be the worst it ever has been since the 1990s. How can you keep educating these kids when they keep cutting and cutting and cutting?”