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Over the past three years, the Clinton Community School District has initiated positive academic and structural changes designed to enhance the educational experiences for all students. Initiatives such as:
- Offering 1:1 with technology so every student has access to a computer on a daily basis,
- Expanding work-based learning, offering apprentice and job opportunities for juniors and seniors while they are still attending CHS,
- Creating a school-based mental health framework and working with Stateline Mental Health to meet the emotional needs of our students and community,
- Creating a Laude system to reward students who take rigorous classes in elective as well as core areas,
- Implementing standards-based grading to ensure students are learning important skills in elective and core areas,
- Utilizing a modified block to allow for larger periods of time with students,
- Creating a breakfast program to give every student access to a nutritional breakfast,
- Adding a community service graduation requirement,
- Teaching a GED Option 2 for students who need an alternative way to work toward graduation,
- Implementing a pay for performance compensation model for teachers, and many other alterations have all contributed to making CCSD a destination district for families.
During this time, CCSD earned the highest state accountability report card in its history, had students achieve the best overall ACT score in Rock County, and both the high school and elementary school earned the prestigious PBIS school of distinction award multiple times. As I've stated before, the progressive mindset of those affiliated with the schools has begun to transform teaching and learning to where academic peers and families across the region are taking notice of the wonderful things happening in Clinton.
As a district, we continue to see a significant increase in our open enrollment numbers. Since the 2015-2016 school year, CCSD has experienced a 23.9% increase in open enrolled students attending CCSD. The district has also seen a decline in students choosing to enroll out of the district by 17.9%. The positive gains we are seeing in open enrollment is a direct reflection upon the teaching and learning that is taking place at Clinton Community School District.
While CCSD is programmatically excelling, we as a school community have some considerable hurdles to overcome. Resident enrollment continues to decline as our community struggles with stagnant population growth. The decline in resident enrollment negatively impacts state funding and hampers our ability to maintain high-quality programming.
Despite the hindrance to state funding, I am proud to report that for two years in a row, the district has achieved a balanced budget by staying true to our continued focus of exercising responsible financial stewardship. However, future budget projections do not look so bright as CCSD will be facing significant budgetary challenges as our resident enrollment further declines, and to compound, the fiscal concern is the need to address the aging infrastructure throughout the district.
Last April, the Board of Education established a long term plan to address the aging infrastructure across the district which would have also provided fiscal relief to the budget by streamlining operations and maximizing efficiencies as the district would have had two buildings to operate versus the current three-building configuration. Unfortunately, that plan was rejected by the voters, and it is my concern that clintinites will repeat the history of the 90s when multiple referendum attempts to build a new school failed. Those failures continued to negatively impact residents on a multitude of ways.
As a community, difficult financial decisions will need to be made in the near future to ensure that our students continue to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally in a safe, healthy, and supportive learning environment. I highly encourage everyone to tour our facilities and inquire about the financial and structural issues facing the district. District residents know - and numerous studies demonstrate - that quality public schools have a positive impact on our community. It is apparent that strong schools equal a strong community, and your support is needed to ensure that our community thrives.
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