District 88 OKs stop-arm policy, budget

Clarifies

in-town busing

reductions

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- In the interest of safety for students, the District 88 School Board approved the change to an eight light, stop-arm flashing system for buses.

The vote was 6-1, with Chairman Mark Wiger casting the dissenting vote.

Effective when school starts in the fall, loading sites will be moved from corners to the center of the block to make drivers more aware of stopped buses.

The driver will then stay in place with the lights on until all students needing to cross the street have crossed safely before proceeding. After the lights and the stop arm are engaged, all drivers are required to stop when approaching from either direction.

"We will be looking for other areas, so we can move the loading areas away from intersections," Superintendent Harold Remme said. "This is the law in rural areas, and this will put us more in line with other communities."

The district's goal is to make drivers aware of the law through public awareness campaigns throughout the summer.

Motorists violating the ordinance by passing a bus with the stop arm extended can be fined from $300 to $3,000, and can serve up to one year in jail, depending on whether it is classified as a misdemeanor or a gross misdemeanor.

District officials have met with the police department and the bus company to explain the policy.

"The Police Department said this is a safer system than the one currently used, but have stated no specific problems in the past with the current system," Remme said. "It is not necessarily unsafe the way we've been doing it, but there have been some near misses."

Under the new system, drivers will receive a clear signal that children will be crossing the road, and they will be protected by the stop arm until they are safely on the other side. Students will be instructed to cross the street while the arm is out if they need to.

"Well, I always believe that if it's not broken we shouldn't fix it," Board Chair Mark Wiger said. He voted against the change. "The goal is to have less government. By passing this, we are infringing more government."

In-town busing

Remme stressed that there will be some clarification regarding what students are affected by busing cuts.

"We have said there will be no in-town busing, but that will not necessarily be the case," Remme said. "The law states that we provide busing outside a two-mile radius of the schools."

There may be residents living outside the two-mile radius of Washington, but not Jefferson, meaning their child may be bused to Washington, but will not be bused to Jefferson.

"We are in the process of building maps for each site that will indicate the boundaries," Remme said. "Once the maps are completed, they will be posted at each building site."

Budget

The board also approved the 2000-2001 budget, which includes $35,000 for lane changes of teachers, and $15,000 in expenses for fuel surcharges in light of increasing fuel costs.

Revenues for 2000-2001 total, $19,175,248, with expenses totalling $19,959,857, a difference of $784,609.

Of the total budget, the general fund accounts for 90 percent, of which salaries and benefits total 73 percent.

The budget also includes $253,666 worth of one-time funding from the Legislature for teaching and experience; secondary vocational; deferred maintenance; and special education cross-subsidy funding.

The district approved a policy change stating an emergency situation to permit less than $600 per pupil unit available in the fund balance.The emergency was declared because of the failure of the excess levy referendum.

The board also:

* Renewed the contract for Remme for a three-year period, with a 2 percent wage increase per year.

* Scheduled a retreat 7 p.m. July 25 to discuss further budget reductions.