Dale School Supt. Will Jones reviewed current financial information with Board of Education members during their October meeting and they also heard reports from principals.
The board members approved several new polices, agreed to create an Activity Account for the Special Ed RISE program and gave the OK for a middle school fundraiser.
Jones also emphasized, “We are short bus drivers. We have buses, we need drivers.”
He pointed out, “We purchased a 14seat passenger bus for $7,500. That will give us some relief,” he added, “because that doesn’t require all the certification to have someone drive it.”
Jones announced that with the high school softball and baseball teams in the state tournament, there will be no classes at Dale on Thursday (Oct. 5). A decision on Friday is pending, he said, depending on how the teams fare on Thursday.
Elementary Principal Tamee Daniel reported there are 339 students in Pre-K through fourth grade. She advised the board the RISE class will participate in bowling on Monday.
High School Principal Erick Muncy provided reports for both the middle school and high school. Middle School Principal Kim Powell was handling other duties Monday evening, Jones stated.
Muncy said that middle school enrollment is 76 fifth graders, 70 in the sixth grade, 71 seventh graders and 56 in the eighth grade for a total 273 students.
High school numbers are 72 freshmen, 61 sophomores, 49 juniors and 39 seniors for a total of 221.
“We’ve started a Student of the Month program and we had an Ag Grand Champion ribbon at the state fair,” he informed board members.
“Ten cheerleaders have been selected,” he noted.
He also reiterated the softball and baseball teams are in the state tournaments beginning today.
Muncy pointed to a zero dropout rate last year for Dale and the College Remediation report was one in Science, two in math, three in Reading and zero in English.
During his superintendent’s report, Jones reviewed financial information showing that the warrants as of September of 2023 were $1,262,640, and in September of 2022 were $1,157,528. That’s an increase of $105,112 over the same month a year ago, he noted.
Building Fund cash balance in September of this year was $184,803 compared to $112,412 in September of 2022. That’s an increase of $72,391, Jones said.
The General Fund cash balance in September of this year stood at $242,013, about $44,834 less than the $286,847 balance in September 2022, he said.
State Aid received as of September 2023 was $633,312 and that is $91,865 up from the 541,447 of a year ago.