Vote

Is anyone else getting a bit worn out with all the campaign commercials? I know I am! Luckily they'll all be over a week from now. Election Day is next Tuesday, November 8th. As annoying as these commercials all, hopefully they serve as a reminder to everyone how important it is that you vote. Exercising your right to vote is among the most fundamental rights you have as a citizen. This is the one opportunity to make your voice heard where it can actually make a difference. 

For many there is no ideal candidate. Perhaps you like the policy position of one candidate over another, only to find you disagree with them on a different. That is certainly the case for me. There is no one candidate or elected official that I agree with 100% of the time. It becomes a matter of choices and priorities. Can I live with this one disagreement if another issue is incredibly important? Most of the time I can, and I suspect many of you approach the ballot box with the same logic. 

While this isn't a general election where we will be voting for the president, I believe the mid-term election is equally important. In fact, it could probably be argued that it is more important. In Iowa, the mid-term election is where we elect the governor, members of Congress, and where our state legislative race are determined. While federally elected offices are important, I tend to believe the down-ballot races are much more likely to have an impact on your day to day life than the federal government. (But let's make sure we fill out the entire ballot.)

Each July the school board identifies legislative priorities that will become the focus of our discussion with elected members of the Iowa General Assembly. Now, I wouldn't say these issues are a 'litmus test' of sorts for the candidates that will receive my vote, but it is a safe bet that I am in favor of candidates that are strong supporters of our public school system in Iowa. What does that look like?

Adequate Supplemental State Aid or the percentage by which the state cost per pupil grows annually would be a good place to start. For more than a decade, the state cost per pupil has grown by less than 2%. When compared to inflationary growth of more than 8%, this isn't sustainable for the long term. Furthermore, calls for Educational Savings Accounts (or vouchers) will only make the low supplemental state aid problem worse. This is because of a direct shift in those funds from the public school to the non-public school. In a small rural school district that is barely making ends meet due to low per pupil growth, the loss of a few students (and the per pupil funding that goes along with them) would be incredibly destructive to the economies of scale under which a school district operates. It could mean the difference between maintaining the staffing necessary to operate the school with class sizes that are either too small to be economically feasible or too large to attract talent. 

These are just a couple of the priorities that have been outlined by our school board for the next legislative session. For more details about these priorities or to see others as outlined by the board, please check here. Make certain you are well educated about all the issues that are important to you and get out and vote!

Hudson Schools Excel on Iowa Performance Profile

The Iowa School Performance Profile for the 2021-22 school year was released on Friday, October 21. According to the profile, 19 schools (or 1.47%) statewide were identified as “Exceptional.” Of those, Hudson Elementary was ranked second in the state.

In fact, our elementary school improved its position from last year by 5.65 points. To reach “Exceptional” status, schools must hit the cut score of 66.31. With a raw score of 71.96, this no doubt puts our elementary school in the top category.

Federal legislation known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires all states to publish report cards that reflect the performance of public schools. In Iowa, this takes the form of the Iowa Performance Profile. The report card is designed to provide an overall view of school performance across several metrics, providing detailed information that makes it easier to see how well our schools are serving students.

With an overall score of 58.97, the Hudson 7-12 grade building solidly scored in the “Commendable” category, missing out on the “High Performing” designation by just 1.82 points. Hudson ranks fifth in the North Iowa Cedar League, but the difference between us and the No. 2 spot is a mere .28 points.

The rankings are calculated based on a number of core measures that are tied back to the ISASP statewide assessment that is administered each spring. Each of those measures is weighted to calculate the raw score. Those core measures are:

Student Participation on State Assessments: This requires that a minimum of 95% of a school’s enrollment participate in the annual state assessment. The 95% rule also applies to a school’s student subgroups. In Hudson Schools, our participation rate for English/Language Arts was 99.63% and was 88.82% for math.

Proficiency: This measure examines the percentage of students in a school who are proficient in math and reading, based on assessment results.

Average Scale Score: This measure provides information about the average performance of students in reading and mathematics in a school. It is a broader look at the overall achievement of all students.

Student Growth: This examines student growth by looking at assessment scores over time to determine whether a student performed better or worse than their academic peers (students at the same grade level with similar scores).

Graduation Rate (High Schools): This measurement determines the percentage of students who graduate from high school in four or five years.

Postsecondary Readiness (High Schools): This measure includes multiple pathways for students to demonstrate postsecondary readiness, including participation and success on a college entrance exam, college-level and postsecondary course work, and career and technical education.

Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency: For students whose first language is not English, this measures a student’s progress in obtaining English language proficiency across the domains of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This measure is based on Iowa’s English language proficiency assessment, called ELPA21.

Conditions for Learning: This measures school safety, engagement, and the learning environment based on a survey of students in grades 5-12.

You can view a snapshot of our data and how we compare to statewide averages at this link. The quick takeaway here is that Hudson beats the statewide average in almost every category—often by a wide margin. Even when comparing to other schools in our Area Education Agency service area, which one could argue is a more appropriate comparability group due to geography and school makeup, Hudson Schools are performing at very high levels. 

Our success can be attributed to a talented and high-performing faculty and staff who have an unrelenting focus on ensuring their core instruction is properly aligned both horizontally and vertically. Doing so guarantees a viable curriculum for all students. 

Furthermore, our focus on early intervention and progress monitoring that capitalizes on high-quality interventions makes sure certain gaps in instruction are both mitigated and minimized. Our teachers and staff work hard to motivate students and provide instruction that is engaging and rigorous. The students in our district are hard working and have parents and families who understand and value the importance of a high-quality education.

Congratulations to the Hudson Community School District and our faculty, staff, students, and families on a great report card!

Hudson Schools SRO Program Will Begin on November 1

At the board meeting held on October 19th, the school board took final action on the joint hiring and assignment of a school resource officer (SRO) with the City of Hudson. That means beginning November 1, the school district will have a full time, uniformed police officer in the school district. When looking across the landscape of schools in Iowa, it is somewhat unique for a school district the size of Hudson to have a full time police officer. Do we make this decision because we see a crime problem in our school district? Not even close. We do this to add to our layers of safety and school security. We do this to add one more 'tool' in our toolbox of continued efforts to maintain a safe learning environment. 

The board was clear in their deliberations that our SRO will primarily be focused on relationship building and being a physical presence in our buildings. You will see him at recess, in the lunchroom, and roaming the hallways. You will see him helping with classroom instruction and reading with and to students. What you will not see him doing is acting as a disciplinarian. Of this the school board was very clear: school discipline will continue to be the responsibility of building principals. 

The origins of this program began last spring. It was on May 25th when a parent emailed me to inquire whether or not the district would be installing metal detectors at the entrances to Hudson Schools. Why the question, you may ask? May 24th was the date of the Uvalde mass shooting. As it was, school in Hudson had been dismissed for exactly one day and our teachers were finishing their end of year checkout with building principals. It was to be a day of celebration, joy, and anticipation. The warm days of summer beckoned and our teachers were very much looking forward to the days ahead. Yet it was difficult for us all to come to grips, once again, with another school shooting. But our feelings of sadness certainly paled in comparison to our colleagues in Texas. 

From a practical standpoint, installing metal detectors is unlikely to assuage concerns of most people, and may in fact prove to be counterproductive. However, I understand the genesis of this inquiry. We too have the same concerns. The fact is, we are committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for all our students and the employees who work here. It was only a few days following that Chief Banks and I sat down for our first of many conversations about the utility of an SRO. We discussed personnel, the job description, and specific work activities. Over the course of those summer and fall months, the city and the school district fine tuned the agreement and hammered out the financial obligations of each entity. It was a good discussion, the fruits of which will make both our school and community stronger. 

But it is important to note the implementation of the SRO program is but one component in our arsenal of school safety and building security.

First and foremost, it is important for you all to know that we have a plan. But the contents, procedures, and protocols included in that plan are mostly confidential. Students are aware of the plan and age appropriate exercises are conducted across the district annually. At the same time, portions of these plans are closely held by a core group that would be responsible for logistics and execution. We have, and continue to conduct 'table top' drills with those who have expertise outside our internal sphere of ability. For obvious reasons, disclosing those plans, particularly on a forum such as this would be irresponsible. This spring we have scheduled vulnerability assessment through the Iowa Department of Homeland Security. The results of which will be used to improve on the security measures of the district.

When we finished the renovation of the K-8 attendance center, we planned for that construction to include the secure entrance that is the centerpiece of the building. During that same project, all the exterior doors were replaced throughout the district. These doors are all locked during the day and we have the ability to monitor their status remotely. If a door is propped open, it alerts district officials who are able to address the situation. Planning for the high school renovation is now well underway. As you are aware, a secured entrance similar to that at the K-8 attendance center will be a design feature for this building. 

Long before I arrived, we held the belief, or Core Purpose that 'We Create Effective Learning Environments that Result in Success of All Students'. Indeed, an effective learning environment and safe learning environment are synonymous with one another. 

Official Enrollment Numbers Show Substantive Gains

Our enrollment was officially certified with the state on October 11. Certifying enrollment is an important event that occurs annually each October, with that number being the base variable in the calculation of the regular program district cost for the coming fiscal year. In other words, our certified enrollment will form the 'base' budget number for the fiscal year set to begin on July 1, 2023 (FY2024). It is calculated like this: certified enrollment X district cost per pupil = regular program district cost. This is the largest revenue number in our budget. The official enrollment numbers this year track relatively close to our opening day numbers. 

To read the full report that includes trendlines and projections, please visit the 'About Us' page of the school website. You will note the numbers included in the official certification vary slightly from the report that is published on our school website. For the sake of simplicity, I use fewer categories of enrollment and discount fractional students. Fractional numbers are used to add weighting for students who are dual enrolled from another district, students who are weighted for special programming, and preschool students which are counted at .5FTE. The table depicted above is official pending an external audit that will occur later in the month. Nevertheless, the news for our district is good, showing a strong gain in enrollment across all measures.

Certified enrollment is up approximately 36.49 students. At the same time, our BEDS count is up by 55.59, from 767.-822.89. This represents a net increase in enrollment of almost 7% in one year. It is also noteworthy that last year enrollment grew by 5%. Again, our official numbers track very closely to opening day numbers, which was 821 (K-12). 

The number of students open enrolling out of Hudson has also increased, with 60 open enrolling out of the district. While open enrollees ‘destination of choice’ is Cedar Falls (34), it also appears a number of students are taking advantage of online schools. We have 172 open enrolling into Hudson, compared to 136 last year. With a net positive of 112 students, this is a good sign for the district. The large increase in open enrollment to Hudson is attributable to a change in law that eliminated school districts’ voluntary desegregation plans absent a court order. It is also important to note that the open enrollment deadline of March 1 for applying under this law was eliminated during the last legislative session. The impact of this legislative change is yet to be determined, but with students being able to change schools at any time during the school year, I anticipate greater transiency in enrollment. 

We had 28 students who were enrolled last year but have subsequently transferred out or moved to another school district. This compares to 68 students who moved out last year and would suggest a more transient population of learners. Of these 28 students, some have elected to homeschool, which obviously has a negative impact on our enrollment. 

At the same time though, we have a much larger kindergarten class this year compared to what we had anticipated. This larger class can be attributed to open enrollment, with 25 kindergarten students open enrolling into the district. 

Of the 60 students who are open enrolled out, 34 of them are open enrolled to Cedar Falls while 2 are open enrolled to Waterloo and one to Union. The balance of our open enrollees [largely] are participating in online school programs at Clayton Ridge, CAM, and Iowa City. 24% of those open enrolled to Cedar Falls have an address of 700 W. Ridgeway at the time of original application. This address, while in the Hudson Community School District is on the northern border of the district and actually within the city limits of Cedar Falls.

The largest number of students open enrolling into Hudson comes from Waterloo: 111 students. This is followed by Gladbrook-Reinbeck at 20, Cedar Falls at 15 and Union at 12. The remaining students are attending from North Tama (10), Dike-New Hartford (3), and Waverly (1).

Enrollment projections are calculated based on a cohort methodology that uses a five year rolling average to determine kindergarten size. Over the last 5 years, the kindergarten has averaged 64 students; while in the last 10 years it has averaged 59. Based on both residential enrollment growth coupled with open enrollment, a projection of 64 seems to be right particularly since open enrollment from Waterloo is due to the aforementioned change in state law. With this methodology, estimates from prior years are left static since there is no algorithm to accurately predict transfers in or out of the district. If these projections were come to fruition, we will reach our high-water mark of 839 in 2023-2024. Previous attempts have been made to account for residential growth, and assuming 1.9 children per household evenly distributed could push K-12 enrollment into the mid 950 range by 2028-2029. However, I would exercise extreme caution when making this assumption and at the same time we must understand potential growth could be significant.

Hudson Schools Financially Solid

The fiscal year for public school districts in Iowa runs from July 1 to June 30. When we close our books for the school year, the months of August and September are considered 'hold open' months. This is to ensure all the revenue and expenditures are accounted for in the appropriate fiscal year. By September 15th, we are required to submit our (CAR) certified annual report, which details our financial position. To view a summary of our CAR, you can find it on our website. The Executive Summary is included below, and if you are interested in reading any of our most recent audit reports they can be found on the 'About Us' page of our website. 

Overall, the District’s financial position is excellent. Financial metrics remained stable from FY 2021 to FY 2022. There are no significant areas of concern with regard to district finances. 

Some general observations include first and foremost the fact our general fund revenue increased by $467,805 or 5.2% from FY 2021 to FY 2022. Most notably, this increase came in the local sources object code and can be attributed to growth in open enrollment. It is also worthy to note a significant increase in federal funds due to COVID relief was also a major contributor. At the same time, the district’s cash reserves are full and it remains unnecessary to levy for cash reserves. Finally, our general fund expenditures increased by $499,131 or a rate of 5.7%. This due to both ESSER funding expenditures and increases in FTE due to enrollment increases.

The total general fund balance increased from $2,393,171 in FY 2021 to $2,517,362 in FY 2022. At the same time, the restricted fund balance increased from $236,633 to $288,159. The district was able to clear some of these restricted funds due to changes in legislation that permitted the creation of a ‘flex’ account. The district is encouraged to continue to utilize this tool in order to keep these balances as low as possible. It is worth noting that dropout prevention, talented and gifted; and early literacy are reserve funds excluded from consideration for flex fund spending. The district may wish to closely examine these programs against the fund balance to ensure maximum leverage is applied against these expenditures. As a reminder, these funds are reserved because they can only be used for specified purposes under Iowa Law. Reserve funds for Talented and Gifted make up the bulk of these restricted funds at $207,419 and as you can see from the table to the left, this fund continues to grow. (Important note: the district is currently in the process of examining specialized programs such as talented and gifted to determine how best to utilize these resources for maximum student benefit.)

The solvency ratio decreased slightly to 23.69% in FY 2022. This continues to be a positive metric for the district, insofar as our cash reserves continue to be full.  This is great news because the unknown variable in our district continues to be costs associated with our special education program, which continues to be unpredictable. 

Tax rates for the FY 2022 budget year were 14.09778, up slightly from 14.04151 in FY 2021. Overall taxes were down for the district as well, in spite of the continued increase in the residential rollback and natural increases to taxable valuation district wide. 

The district currently carries a long term debt note of $5,140,000 when it sold revenue bonds during the winter of 2019. At the same time, the district carries short term debt primarily for the lease of computer devices that support the district’s connected learning initiative. Both of these notes are paid through the capital funds improvement funding stream and are not therefore general fund expenditures. It is also important to note the district is currently not utilizing any general obligation funding mechanisms, however a bond referendum was adopted by the voters in September of 2022. 

Enrollment projections appear to be solid in both the short and long term. The increase in 34 pupils during the year can largely be attributed to open enrollment. These trends are likely to continue in light of a recent change in open enrollment laws in the State of Iowa. Further, the City of Hudson continues to grow at a steady pace with multiple housing additions currently in development. Barring any unforeseen changes, the District will need to plan for rapid enrollment growth in the next half decade. (Important note: These enrollment numbers do not reflect the total picture, and as such there are two important caveats. First, preschool numbers are not included here due to the lack of historical analysis. Second, these numbers do not include the most recent enrollment figures, which will be available later in October.)

Finally, we should take special note of the district’s unspent balance ratio. This is perhaps the most important of all the financial health indicators and one that should be closely monitored and watched. The news here is good, with an increase in this ratio every year since 2011 when the district completed major budget cuts and ended with a balance of $90,971 or 1.29%. In the prevailing years it has grown steadily to $4,109,767 or 30.68% in fiscal year 2022. Like the financial solvency ratio, this puts the district in a good position in light of unpredictable funding from the state.