Belle Plaine CSD Sharing Agreements that Benefit Students, Staff, and the Community
Chad Straight
One important consideration when running a small school district budget is the need to find ways to save money in areas that do not affect programming for students. The Belle Plaine CSD administration and school board have done this in a variety of ways that have led to a positive school budget and increased programming for students. The BP CSD currently has multiple sharing arrangements that include agreements with the Tri-County CSD, Grant Wood AEA, Compass Memorial, the City of Belle Plaine Parks and Rec. Department, as well as many specific use agreements with local businesses and vendors.
A few years ago, the BP CSD agreed to share a superintendent position, business manager position, maintenance director position, and a counselor with the Tri-County CSD. The TC district agreed to pay between 20% to 30% of the salary and benefits for those positions in order to share those positions with Belle Plaine. The counselor position was the reverse as Belle Plaine took 20% of that contract. The Belle Plaine and TC districts receive additional state funding for sharing these positions. Each position has a different weighting. Sharing a superintendent provides an additional $66,717 minimum for each school district per year. Sharing a business manager and maintenance director provides an additional minimum of $29,652 per position per year per district. The huge financial benefits of this sharing allows the district to hire more teachers and support staff to support the education of students.
Compass Memorial has also been instrumental in supporting the school district in this way. Compass Memorial has hired both a school nurse and athletic trainer in order to support the needs of our students in Belle Plaine. Chance Baburek and Taryn Colburn currently fill those roles, and we couldn’t be more appreciative of the support Compass Memorial has given the school district in these areas. Compass Memorial has also worked with the district to provide physicals for our students as well as other fundraising initiatives to support the district.
In addition to the agreements with Tri-County and Compass Memorial, the school district also works closely with the City of Belle Plaine to share facilities and services, such as the high school baseball field, the pool, transportation, youth sports, the gym, and school fields. This provides students and community members with opportunities that they would not have otherwise. The school and city both recognize that helping each other benefits everyone. The school district also has many other agreements with local businesses and surrounding schools that enhance what we can offer our students and community. Thank you to all those businesses for working with the school to make these opportunities available.
As a small school district or any rural entity, finding ways to work with other businesses to support each of our communities benefits everyone. We look forward to continuing that sharing as well as looking for other ways to support each other. By working together, schools and businesses can create stronger and more vibrant communities.