North Tama has a new superintendent this year. Well, 57 percent of one. For the first time, the district will be sharing administrative functions with someone else.<\/p>\n
David Hill, the principal of Dysart-Geneseo Elementary, will be splitting his duties between there and NT. Hill has introduced himself to North Tama via a blog<\/a> and a pair of columns that ran in the Traer Star-Clipper.<\/p>\n First, he looked at the financial state of the district<\/a>, and exactly how much Gov. Branstad’s line-item veto of money to augment an already-under-COLA state funding increase hurt. One sentiment could be used by many rural districts: “Your school board’s number one goal is to maintain the financial stability of the district and retain existing programs so that North Tama will remain a viable K-12 school.” Every district in the state has had to deal<\/a> with the legislative stalemate and subsequent line-item veto. The Iowa Department of Education accounts for about 45% of the state budget and the lion’s share of that is K-12 funding.<\/p>\n (It doesn’t help when two elementary teachers leave in the same year because their husbands got jobs in Minnesota, but that is a whole ‘nother piece.)<\/p>\n Hill’s second column was a more personal one,<\/a> mentioning his upbringing in Geneseo Township on a farm that’s been in his family for over 150 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" North Tama has a new superintendent this year. Well, 57 percent of one. For the first time, the district will be sharing administrative functions with someone else. David Hill, the principal of Dysart-Geneseo Elementary, will be splitting his duties between … Continue reading