D93 Family Update

It's with a heavy heart that I have to share the news that D93 teacher Marianne Virgin passed away last Friday, June 9th. Marianne began teaching elementary school 10 years ago at Tiebreaker Elementary. Last year, she transferred to teach 3rd grade at Bridgewater Elementary with her close friend, Kathy Isom. Marianne was an exceptional teacher who every day lived up to our commitment to make sure every student in her class felt safe, connected, and cared for her in her classroom. Her joy of teaching and learning was contagious. At her funeral, Marianne was celebrated for her passion for teaching, her loyalty and devotion as a friend, her devotion to her family, and her love of life, including Disneyland and Dodgers games. Marianne will be deeply missed by everyone who had the blessing of knowing her.

Please join us at facebook.com/bjsd93 on Monday evening at 8:30 for important updates from our School Board meeting and to share your questions and concerns with us.

Thank you to everyone who took time to share your thoughts following the May bond election. Your thoughts and suggestions have been very helpful. The key takeaways from those survey are:

• There is strong support to run the election again this year.
• We need to work to increase community awareness and engagement in levy elections.
• Impact on property taxes is a significant concern for many patrons
• We need to advocate for changes in state laws to decrease the tax impact on property owners
• Some people believe that we need to be more transparent and responsible with our budget

You can view the full report from the questions by clicking the button below.

In response to the suggestions from the survey, we have proposed implementing the following 5-step plan to address our growing student population. We would appreciate hearing your thoughts about this plan by going to d93.org/5-step_plan_survey

After hearing the report on the feedback from our patrons on the May election, the School Board voted to hold an election on Tuesday, August 29th to seek a $34.5 million bondy levy to build an elementary school and repair school roofs. The ballot language will be nearly identical to the bond that was proposed in May with only slight changes to the estimated interest rate and current debt of the District.

The interest rate anticipated on the proposed bond issue is 3.55% per annum.

The total amount estimated to be repaid over the life of the bonds, based on the anticipated interest rate, is $37,479,392, consisting of $34,500,000 in principal and $11,896,871 of interest, less 8,917,479 in estimated bond levy equalization payments.

The term of the bonds will not exceed seventeen (17) years from the date of issuance.

The estimated average annual cost to the taxpayer on the proposed bond levy is a tax of $35 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current conditions.

As of August 29, 2023, the total existing bonded indebtedness of the District, including interest accrued, is $100,034,384.

Ken Marlowe presented reports of bullying, harassment, and suicidal / self-harm tendencies. These reports come from self-reports through our D93 Get Help app (d93.org/GetHelp), formal reports of bullying and harassment, and software that monitors students' activity in Google for Education apps. These tools provide our administrators and counselors with timely notices of concerns about students' well-being so that they can promptly notify families and ensure the safety of every student. Click on the image below or the following link to view this report: d93.org/bullying_report

Guy Wangsgard, Executive Director of Finance and Operations, presented our annual budget for the 2023-2024 school year. Some important things to know about this year's budget:

• Increases in state funding for salaries provided pay raises for all D93 employees,
• We will also lose funding for about 30 teaching positions next year due to state funding reverting to an attendance-based formula. We will use ESSER dollars for one year to makeup this cut in state funding.
• We have not included an emergency levy in our budget planning.

• 5% from beginning balance
• 89% from state funds
• 5% from local property taxes
• 1% from other revenue

• 90% to salaries & benefits
  
• 5% to purchased services
  
• 4% to supplies & materials

Click on the above for a summer reading BINGO card. When your child gets a BINGO or a blackout, you may come to the District Office, your school library when it is open, or at one of our summer Words on Wheels stops to pick up their prize. With your children 5 and under, you may help them with the reading out loud tasks.

Please click the button above to see if your school library is open this summer. This is our initial list so please check back if your school is not included or watch for updates from your children's schools. If your school library is not open this summer, keep reading for more options for summer reading.

D93's online library/eBook service will be available all summer. The SORA app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Please click here for more information: . Make sure when you add a library you add Bonneville in Idaho Falls, not Ogden. If you have questions or need help, please contact Julie Briggs at briggsju@d93mail.com

Book Vending Machines are being installed at Fairview, Ucon, and Cloverdale. These will work like a neighborhood library except that we are requesting that you please return the books to the vending machines when you finish reading them.

Thank you to everyone who shared your thoughts with us on what we should do after the bond did not pass last week. If you haven't taken the time yet, will you please take a moment to share your thoughts by clicking the Family Survey button below? You can also click the second button to rate the thoughts that have been shared in our Thought Exchange on our next steps.

Students, parents, and employees can reach out for help with bullying, harassment, suicidal tendencies, self-harm, threats, or to report weapons at school by going to d93.org/gethelp or sending the text @gethelp to 855-528-0074.

Thank you to our community partners at EIRMC for supporting our D93 Family Update.