State of the schools in Pocatello
Mary Vagner, superintendent of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 spoke Thursday about the state of schools in the district at the Gate City Rotary Club’s weekly meeting at the Red Lion Hotel.
While there is an extreme lack of funding, Vagner focused on the positive, stating the district is meeting its goals and state requirements. She said that boils down to the values teachers have.
“Generally speaking, our students place at or above state averages on state exams,” she said during her presentation. Vagner said perseverance was a major theme of her presentation.
“Most of it focused on our meeting our vision and mission in difficult economic times,” she said.
Vagner said lack of funding is always an issue, which is why the district is holding a levy vote in March. The levy is for $9.25 million.
Vagner said over 80 percent of districts in the state have supplemental levies now, and 13 percent of District 25’s budget is made up of levy money. She said there is one root cause of supplemental levies.
“And that root cause is a lack of resources from the state legislature,” Vagner said.
Despite the struggles, the superintendent said she’s looking to the positive as she ends her 45 year education career with mixed feelings.
“I love this district. I love our kids our staff and our community,” she said. “It’s very mixed for me to give it up.”
She said while she’s learned much, she’s also had one core value reinforced during her entire career.
“Every kid is worth it every minute of every day,” she said. “I want to see our staff have that same value and they do.”
The vote for the supplemental levy is on March 10 and early voting opens up Feb. 23. Vagner said for the owner of a $100,000 home, the amount on property taxes works out to be $21 per year.
As for a search for a new superintendent, the school board’s efforts are ongoing, and they have met twice to review applications. They could announce a new superintendent as early as the end of this month.
