Jason Marshall Jason Marshall will be the new head coach for varsity boys basketball at LaSalle High School this fall, Ona Lee Gibson has been hired to teach at the Tribal Youth Facility and LaSalle High School. The St. Ignace Board of Education approved the hiring at its Monday, August 11, meeting.

Board members also raised the price of school meals by 25¢ after facing a $16,000 loss in the food service program during the last school year and a projected $29,000 deficit for the 2008/2009 school year. Superintendent Mike Springsteen attributes the loss to higher food prices. The 25¢ increase, he said, will come close to eliminating the deficit this year.

Last year's loss, he said, was covered by a surplus in the budget.

Families that qualify for free or reduced price meals, said Mr. Springsteen, will not be affected by the price increase. Those families account for about 50% of the students.

Breakfast, which was free, now will cost 25¢, elementary school lunch will be $2.05, high school lunch will increase to $2.25, and adult lunches will cost $3.

Ona Lee Gibson Mr. Marshall, the new coach, is a 2001 LaSalle graduate and attended Grand Valley State University. He coached junior varsity last year and is a law enforcement officer for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

An improvement was seen on the junior varsity team last year under his coaching, said board members.

He replaces Doug Ingalls, who resigned in June after 16 years in the position.

"I have big shoes to fill," Mr. Marshall said. "We take pride in our sports around here. I'm ready for it. Bring it on and we'll have a good year."

Ms. Gibson will teach social studies at LaSalle High School and social studies and language arts at the Tribal Youth Facility with 2/7 time at the high school and 5/7 time at the youth facility.

She is a recent graduate from Michigan State University (MSU), said Mr. Springsteen, and came with high recommendations. She replaces Beth Hinkson, who resigned last month.

More than 50 applications were received for the position.

"She is really creative, really positive, and really energetic," said Mr. Springsteen. She has three years of teaching experience as part of her MSU curriculum, although this is her first paid teaching position, he noted.

She has moved to the area with her fiancé, who works for the National Forest Service.

Mr. Springsteen and the school board will focus their annual goals on curriculum, finance, and communications. Mr. Springsteen's goals for the year includes providing leadership to manage financial and staff resources, strengthening the school improvement process for all grades, and providing communications throughout the district to foster positive relationships. His vision is to make St. Ignace Area Schools the school of choice in the region.

The board's goals focus on curriculum alignment with state requirements for grades 9 through 12 and managing district resources to maintain and develop best education opportunities for students. The board also will work to strengthen the lines of communication between staff, students, and communities, and to provide professional opportunities for the board.

The school will receive $112 per-pupil increase to $7,316 from the state, up from $7,204 last year, but Mr. Springsteen noted the Consumer Price Index is growing at 5.5%, so expenses are increasing at a faster pace than the 1.5% increase in student funding.

The declining enrollment trend, he said, continues at the school. The school now predicts 40 fewer students or 667 pupils will enroll than last year. Classes began last fall with 707 students.

Elementary Principal Kari Visnaw told the board that developmental kindergarten will be led by Laura Janeczek, who will have eight students. Sherrie Gustafson and Marci Bishop will teach two first grade classes with 24 students in each class. Amy Metz will have 24 students in her second grade classroom and Helena Shepard will have 25 students. Third grade will be taught by Pat Shiemke and Holly Brown, with 22 students in each room. Three fourth grade classes will be taught by Jean Chargo and Patrice Mackin, with 17 students in each room, and Jason Latz with 18 students.

Mrs. Visnaw will teach the reading program to first and second grade students and Laura Janeczek will teach it to third and fourth grade students.

Other classes include Leon Ruder teaching art, Stephanie Terpening teaching music, Emily Fullerton teaching physical education, and Phyllis Chan teaching special education.

A copy of the elementary school parent and student handbook was given to board members.

To help eighth grade students better prepare for the rigorous mathematics requirements in high school, said Gregg Fettig, half of the class will be taking Algebra I this year and half of the class will take pre-algebra. The state requires all freshman to take Algebra I. The eighth grade students will be able to use the class as part of their high school credit.

Students who are taking the Algebra one were those who receive an A or B in both semesters of 7th grade math and earned a 1 or 2 on the mathematics portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test. Both classes will be taught by Andrew Long. A letter, said Mr. Fettig, will be sent to parents regarding the program.

Laptops are ready for all seventh and eighth grade students. Textbooks used in the grades also have been loaded onto the computers and Internet access is not needed at home for the students do use the computers for homework. By the end of September, said Mr. Fettig, students will be allowed to bring the computer home. A carrying case will be provided with each computer.

A handbook for parents and students, along with an agreement, will be sent to parents. Parents will be required to sign the agreement before the computer can be taken home. If parents do not want the students to take the computers home, said Mr. Fettig, they will be kept in lockers for use at school.

Students will be encouraged to save their work on a disks or a flash drive, which can be purchased at retail stores.

"I know this is uncharted territory. I know there are going to be things that come up," said Mr. Fettig. "I think the big thing on this is going to be communication from the middle school to parents and communication between the administration, myself, and the teachers."

Spearheaded by a group of residents, plans for the construction of a wrestling and weight room are moving forward. The group met with the board at its last meeting.

The school board supports the concept, although members are waiting for more information before acting on their request. The amount of money the board is willing to contribute to the project and how much it would expect in repayment has not been determined. The money could come from the building and site funds.

A rough cost of materials for the 50-foot by 120-foot multipurpose building is $100,000.

Students in the school's construction class, said Mr. Springsteen, would be able to build the building.

The group is applying for a permit from the state for construction and have informal commitments of support from the wrestling club and sports boosters. They also are seeking a grant from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and financial support from school alumni.

The board went into closed session to discuss teacher negotiations. A school year calendar will not be set until a contract is ratified.

The next regular school board meeting is Monday, September 8, at 7 p.m. in the middle school library.