A REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY

RED LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT

APRIL 2004

**The Board of Education monthly meeting for May is scheduled for Tuesday, May 18, 5 PM, Red Lake School District Administrative office.

**The school district has received the Basic Skills Test scores in Reading and Math. Once again our scores have not improved. The superintendent has addressed this issue with the Board of Education and has presented a plan to help the students in the district improve their reading and math scores in the future. This plan will be on the agenda for the April 21 board meeting. Red Lake School District is the highest funded district in the state. We receive approximately $16,000 per student. The board of education is very concerned about the low-test scores of students in the district. We need to look at Success For All and the other reading and math programs we have in the district and find out why these programs are not working.

**On April 21 the House Capital Investment Committee failed to approve funding for the bonding bill that we submitted. It is hard to understand why this committee can choose hockey rinks, riding trails, and DNR project over new building projects for students. It shows that political favors do play a part in handling out money for projects. However, the Senate has recommended 33.1 million, the Governor 22.1 for the bonding bill. The Senate and House will now get together and recommend to the governor a final amount. We are not done yet with this issue. As soon as the Ways & Means Committee scheduled their meetings to address bonding issues, we will be back at the capital seeking this committee’s support.

**May 29 has been scheduled as graduation date for the class of 2004. Graduation exercises will be held at the Red Lake Middle School and will start at 1 PM. The Board of Education sends their congratulations to all of the students graduating this year.

**On April 19 the middle and high school received threats of a drive by shooting on Tuesday, April 20. The district worked with the local law enforcement in insuring the safety of the students on that date. Due to the threat, all after school activities were cancelled for April 20. Law enforcement personnel were available in and around the buildings at the middle and high school. Whenever the district receives threats of this nature, the law enforcement will be immediately contacted for assistance. Parents having any questions concerning the events of April 20 are encouraged to contact the building principals at the middle and high school.