Red Wing School Board briefs

School tax levy set to decrease

The Red Wing School District’s 2013 property tax levy is set to be about $1.4 million lower than last year’s levy, Finance Director Brad Johnson said during Monday’s truth-in-taxation hearing. It’s “good news for the taxpayer,” Johnson said.

The Board stopped its regular meeting at 6 p.m. to hold the required annual meeting, which lasted about 15 minutes.

The proposed levy for 2013 is about $8.36 million; the levy for 2012 was about $9.7 million, Johnson said. The drop is due to some of the district’s debt service expiring.

No members of the public posed questions or responses to the presentation at the meeting. However, Johnson encouraged anyone with questions about the tax levy to call the district office at 651-385-4500.

AP test scores examined

Red Wing High School’s advanced placement scores aren’t quite where district officials would like them to be. Director of Teaching and Learning Joe Jezierski presented the board the average test scores for each of Red Wing High School’s advanced placement courses.

“It tells me that we have some work to do,” Jezierski said.

Average scores in many of the areas are below the state average. In addition, Jezierski said the number of students who score high enough to actually get college credit for the courses is low. Jezierski added that he wants to make sure that AP teachers see the results so they can work on their teaching strategies.

Board chairman Mitch Boldt added that the district needs to make sure that the school’s AP courses fulfill college credit requirements. He said that he’s heard about some students who have scored high enough to earn college credit, but that those credits were denied by their colleges.

“As the environment changes, we need to make sure our program is keeping pace with college environment,” Boldt said.

Personnel changes

New hires: Rachael Jensen, paraprofessional at Colvill Family Center, effective Nov. 14.

Medical leave: Terri Ludwig, educational assistant at Twin Bluff, effective Nov. 12 through TBD; Peg Harper, educational assistant at Burnside, effective Nov. 28 through TBD.

Meeting watch

Monday’s meeting lasted about two hours and 15 minutes. All Board members were present. Board members Heidi Jones and Steve Anderson left about 45 minutes before the end of the meeting.

— Compiled by Sarah Gorvin, staff writer

Tags: red wing, school board, government