Tom Pelligrino, Superintendent for the Alpine School Board gave a lengthy report at last weeks board meeting.
Tom Pelligrino, Superintendent for the Alpine School Board gave a lengthy report at last weeks board meeting.
There wasn’t much good news for the district. Enrollment is down and that includes at least 65 of a total of 159 students who have transferred into the Lakeside area. The Superintendent said that he believes that many of these students were lost to the Charter School in Lakeside that provides foreign language training in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. All Alpine schools showed a drop in enrollment with the exception of Alpine Elementary School who reports increased enrollment.
On another note, it was reported that in 1999, healthcare costs for district employees was about $4,400 per year. In 2011 those costs have risen to $11,800 per year. While the Alpine School Districts health care costs are up around 260%, the state wide increase percentages were only up about 160%. The district is asking it’s insurance provider, “Barney and Barney” to investigate alternatives.
On a positive note, Superintendent Pelligrino delivered compliments and praise to the staff at Creekside Early Learning Center for the innovative reading programs. This program was introduced to staff and students by Al Haven, a former Superintendent here in Alpine.
The Alpine Schools Foundation provided a check in the amount of $15,000 to the district with distribution to each of our schools. Each principal will receive a portion of the funds depending on their enrollment. The board thanked the foundation for their hard work in raising much needed funds for the Alpine Schools. All board members were present with the rare exception of Mark Price who was with his daughter who was previously injured and was receiving testing at the hospital.
The next board meeting in October will include the seating of 3 student board members selected from Joan Mac Queen Middle school.
