It has been a great start to the 2022-23 school year and I am grateful for the support our community continues to offer our school district.

USD 327 conducted three Public Listening Sessions in the past three weeks. We focused on the following five questions: What are the characteristics of a successful high school graduate?

What is USD 327 doing really well?

What are some areas where USD 327 can continue to grow?

What do we want to be known FOR?

What is the best way to communicate with you?

The purpose of the sessions was to forge a collaborative relationship with the community as we listen, learn and engage with the goal of creating a new strategic plan in the future. The Board of Education, administrators, school staff and I would like to thank you for your input, allowing us to learn about our school system through you. We will be forming a district site council and engaging in conversations in the coming months. If you have an interest in being considered for this council, please call Kim Whetzel at (785) 472-5561.

In the coming months, I will be sharing USD 327 information through the Independent-Reporter as a way to communicate information I feel is important for you to be aware of. This month my focus is on special education funding.

Every school year, we use funds from our general budget to pay for special education services that are required by state and federal law, but aren’t being fully-funded. Last year alone, we paid $505,653 in special education assessments. USD 327 should have been responsible to pay 8 percent of that, or $40,452.

By spending our general dollars on special education, it makes it harder to keep and hire the best teachers and staff we need for all students. For example, we could have used part, or all, of that money to employ eight more teachers, purchase curriculum materials or increase salaries and wages for those we employ to remain competitive within the Ellsworth/Rice County area.

Fully-funded special education is good for all students. A dedicated special education budget funded by the state and federal government would allow us to fund full-time counselors in each of our school buildings as well as a full-time social worker for our school district. We could hire additional staff to support students who would benefit from strategic instruction to help them be academically successful, and we could offer additional courses, expanding our career and technical education options at the high school level.

We appreciate the state’s ongoing commitment to general education funding to support our students. With full special education funding, we will be able to make sure those general fund dollars are available for the people and programs that our community expects and deserves. Full funding is essential to our work to support and inspire learning for every USD 327 student, every day.

Let’s grow! Deena Hilbig is the superintendent of USD 327. She can be reached at (785) 4725561.