Greetings from Raider World and welcome to the 2019 school year! I shared with the employees that this is my 25th anniversary of being a school administrator and it NEVER has been the same year twice! I am excited to kick off the year and it will be wonderful having the students back.
• Our enrollments are up in both buildings by a few students and I have shared with many that it’s no surprise with this crazy world out there and more and more alumni choosing to raise a family in a little more sane environment than the world the news tells us about. I also think that we are continuing on a good path of continued improvements inside and outside our school.
• Whether you attend events at the school or not, swing by either building to see how great they look inside. At the September board meeting we are moving forward with a facility bond that gives us 60% of our next 10 years of facility payments up front in order to replace boilers at the high school, replace and improve the northwest doorway at the elementary and to replace a bunch of windows and sidewalks at the elementary. Not only will this be a great step forward for the schools but it will also kick in a 50% tax credit for all farmland next year which, over a couple more years will be a 70% credit. This project WILL NOT raise any of our non-farm taxes because it is simply borrowing against a portion of our future payments. We hope to have all the work done next summer.
• We lost some wonderful veterans but had a great “draft” and acquired great folks from 5 area districts! The comments from new employees are all about a great group of folks that work in the buildings, friendly community members and about having everything you need in a small town. We have so much to be proud of here and the Fulda school is committed to doing our part to be a part of the community and to do our best for the kids intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically.
• The district acquired a minibus to compliment our friends at Witzels ability to get students to various activities. It is not for a route but simply to get kids from this building to another district and back. It will be handy for coaches and advisors to take a group of 14 or less to a field trip or to practice in HLO or a game. Anyone out there interested in driving a van or minibus please contact me at the school. And we also need drivers at Witzels! At any given day we also have a car and maybe a Suburban transporting a student(s) to specialized schools in Windom and/or Pipestone.
• We have a much drier football field once we got to the bottom of our tile issues. After the beans are out we will put in a new tile to the northwest and hopefully take care of it once and for all. It’s a great piece of property and I hope we can make even better use of it in the future.
• Please take time to follow the kids with the many activities that are happening in the fall and make the trip to HLO when our Coyotes are in action and to MCC when the cross country athletes are performing. The more support, the more our younger kids see that and want to be a part of it! Thank you for your support of our schools.
