Corporation goals, school enrollment, the budget, and personnel were all addressed at the Carroll School Board meeting Sept. 16.

Superintendent John Sayers announced corporation goals for 2008-2009 as follows:

1. Improve facilities maintenance and appearance by developing a maintenance guide and schedule.

2. Improve graduation rate and standardized test scores through analysis and appropriate action.

3. Achieve grade level reading proficiency through analysis of reading abilities of students in grades K-12 and determine action needed.

4. Develop corporation position on defibrillators at school.

The goals were developed through a series of board work sessions.

Sayers reported that Carroll's student enrollment on the official count day was 1,088.5, compared with 1,113.5 last year. He said state reimbursement amounts to just over $4,000 per student, so 25 fewer students means $100,000 less funding to the corporation. He added that the majority of decrease in the student population is at the elementary school, particularly with a small first grade. He said last year the impact wasn't felt as much because as kindergartners each student in the class was counted as onehalf instead of one.

The board authorized the superintendent to advertise the corporation budget. Sayers said it will appear in the news- paper twice, followed by a public hearing at the Oct. 7 board meeting, and then the board will adopt the budget on Oct. 21.

The budget is advertised (in this week's Comet) at $10,590,908. Sayers said in an interview on Monday that the budget is based on an estimated assessed valuation of $198 million, compared to $331 million last year.

"Local taxpayers will pay less tax dollars (school tax) than they have in the past, but the tax rate will probably go up about 40 percent," he said. He further explained that some taxpayers in the school district could pay more if their own assessed valuation went up.

Sayers added that in addition to the reduction in assessed valuation, another impact on the budget is that the state is taking over the general fund. Carroll's general fund is advertised at $6,875,700.

Sayers pointed out that Carroll's debt service fund is up because of a bond issue on the piping project at the Jr.-Sr. high school, but to help compensate for that, the board decreased the amount for the capital projects fund.

The board approved recommendations of elementary principal Carolyn O'Connell concerning the elementary library position. The vote sanctioned discontinuing the employment of the librarian who started out the school year and approved the hiring of Tina Fewell to fill that position.

Sayers said later, in response to a question from the Comet, that there was a time lapse of about four weeks between the dismissal of the librarian and the matter coming before the board, but it required board approval to become official. He said Fewell was substitute librarian during that time.

Before becoming librarian, Fewell was a full-time remediation instructional assistant at the school. The board approved the hiring of Sara Thompson in that full-time position, and hired Kim Worl as a part-time remediation instructional assistant.

The following coaches were hired for the winter and spring seasons: Jeff Hodson, varsity basketball; Ryan Duff, eighth grade boys basketball; Katie Seward, JV girls basketball; Lance Spesard, eighth grade girls basketball; Roger Nelson, varsity swimming; Steve Keown, varsity baseball; Mike Miller and Rob Kauffman, varsity track; Tyler Sausaman, varsity track assistant; Matt Benner and Amy Cottrell, junior high track; and Katie Seward, JV softball. Mike Miller was hired as athletic supervisor, and Jeff Hodson and Mike McCroskey were hired for open gym.

Volunteer assistants approved were Michelle Strawcutter, junior high cross country, and Larry Henning, varsity track.

Cash tuition requests were approved for students Dakota Riley and Allison Nelson.

Facility use requests were approved for the Cub Scouts, who will have their meetings at the elementary school, and for the Old German Baptist youth group, who will have gatherings in the elementary gym once a month from October through April.

The next regular school board meeting will be Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.