Being Fiscal Stewards

Public Schools are an essential part of our country. School boards throughout the United States have a great responsibility to be excellent stewards of the taxpayer dollar and to provide an excellent education to students. The New London-Spicer School Board takes that job very seriously and they reaffirm their commitment to fiscal accountability and excellent education formally every year.

Every January, by formal resolution, the school board directs school district administration to provide them with a list of options for reductions in programs and positions along with explanations of why the cuts should be made. In pursuit of an effective, efficient, and meaningful budget, the administration meets and solicits feedback from staff to identify areas in which expenditures could be reduced while minimizing the impact on educational opportunities.

Those areas are identified through the review of programming, enrollment, class sizes, interest in course offerings, efficiency in operations, and all other expenditure areas. This process is followed annually regardless of the financial situation of a school district and is an important step in addressing the overall state of the district while managing taxpayer dollars wisely. In simple terms, the district is not going to spend money if the spending isn’t necessary for the improvement of educational outcomes for our learners. We want as much of our budget as possible to directly impact our students.

Since the 2005-2006 school year, the New London-Spicer School District has made more than $3.5 million in expenditure reductions. These reductions were made out of necessity due to past declining enrollment, the financial condition of the school district, and several other factors. Of the $3.5 million, more than a half-million dollars in budget reductions were made over the last two years, and nearly $1 million in reductions were made for the upcoming school year in order to maintain a balanced budget. These reductions were made even with increasing enrollment over the past five years.  In essence, the school board has worked diligently to run the district efficiently with the overall goal of keeping our taxes low. 

Just like with personal, family, or business budgets, the School District is constantly looking into our financial situation and finding ways to make adjustments as needed. We adjust when necessary to avoid spending on programs and other things that are no longer part of our plans and keep the focus on our students by providing meaningful educational opportunities for them. While the latest round of cuts will increase class sizes, reduce programming, and lengthen bus times, our school board, district administration, and the entire staff take the mandate given to efficiently utilize tax dollars very seriously. 

For a list of budget reductions for our school district, please visit the following link: https://bit.ly/nlsreductionshistory

What is ALICE?

What is ALICE?

The safety of our students and staff at New London-Spicer Community Schools is our number one priority. Since 2010 there have been numerous school shootings across our country. Research of these events has assisted in developing a more tactical approach to ensuring our students are safe. This research has led to the development of the ALICE Training Institute, which New London-Spicer has pursued to improve our safety efforts.

The ALICE Training Institute recognized that in 98% of school shootings, there is a single perpetrator. The research also indicated that a one-size-fits-all approach to facing this tragedy of locking down was ineffective. Therefore, the following practices are endorsed through the ALICE Training Institute for maximum safety.

Alert - Get the word out! An armed intruder is in the building as opposed to the use of code words. Use clear, concise language to convey the type and specific location of the event.

Lockdown - Good starting point. We will continue to lock down students in secure areas when appropriate and use an enhanced version of our existing lockdown process, which will call for additional steps to secure and protect.

Inform - Continuation of using clear, concise language to convey the type and specific location of the event. Communication keeps the perpetrator off balance and allows for sound decision-making.

Counter - Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control. (Only used at the Middle/High School level.)

Evacuate - Leaving the area to reduce the number of potential victims.

The philosophy of ALICE is to use technology and information so that staff and students can make informed decisions in a crisis, remove as many people as possible from the danger zone, and provide realistic training so that those involved have a better chance of survival.

Mr. Juhl, Mrs. Akerson, Mrs. Illies, and Deputy Holmquist, School Resource Officer, have recently been certified as ALICE Trainers. Many of our staff have received initial training on ALICE. Over the next year, our students will receive age-appropriate training to utilize ALICE should a crisis arise here at New London-Spicer. Each year, we work to train our students on responding in case of a fire, severe weather, or emergency situations. ALICE is a way to be better prepared in an active shooter situation. If you have any specific questions regarding ALICE, please contact Deputy Holmquist at 320.354.2252 ext 2613.