Greetings from your District Administrator, Jim Brewer
Strong Schools, Strong Community
Dr. Jim Brewer
District Administrator
Dear Members of the Cougar Family,
As a school district, we are dedicated to building upon the successes we saw from last year by continuing to establish a collaborative school culture of academic optimism that places the needs of students first. We began the school year by partnering with the staff from Beloit Turner to learn from high quality educational professionals such as Jimmy Casas. As a staff, we have adopted Jimmy Casas’s concept of Culturize and our culture/climate survey results presented at the Board of Education meeting in November indicated our staff have never felt better working at CCSD. We are truly blessed to have such outstanding educators and staff that care deeply for each and every student that attends our school district.
Academically, our staff continues to work diligently at improving the educational outcomes of our students. According to the Beloit Daily News, Clinton was the only school district in the area that has seen three straight years of academic growth on the State Accountability Report Card. While we are meeting state expectations on that report, we take great pride in our Redefining Ready scorecard where our students are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments in Work Based Learning and Service Learning which are not part of the tabulation on the state report card, yet are so vital to our students and community.
Achieving educational excellence, and exercising responsible financial stewardship is a priority. I’m extremely proud to have overseen a budget operating in the black for the past seven years. The vast majority of the budgetary savings has been placed into Fund 46 which is geared towards capital improvements to ensure that our buildings and grounds get the priority needed to remain viable for generations to come. Recently, the Board of Education approved funding for our last major big ticket item in need of repair by committing to redoing the track this upcoming summer.
A huge thank you goes out to all of our constituents as the 2020 bond referendum allowed us to modernize our facilities creating a safe, warm and welcoming environment for all to enjoy. We have been able to do all of this while also reducing taxes for our constituents. Over the past few years, we have reduced our mil rate from $12.50 down to $10.61 and lowered the overall tax levy by 4% over the past two years. As a District, we have worked vigorously to be as fiscally prudent as possible, while continuing to provide an enriching educational experience for our students.
CCSD’s latest endeavor is the startup of our Community Activities Program. Back in 2017-2018 we dabbled in creating a community activities program where we offered community opportunities such as yoga, knitting, and various recreational sporting activities. While that early attempt fizzled out due to staffing and funding, we have now fully committed to providing a wide range of activities for residents and non-residents alike. Since September, we have had 560 participants engaged in over 40 activities for individuals of all ages. Please visit our website at ClintonActivities.com to learn more about how we are striving to cultivate a thriving and connected community through the provision of high-quality, inclusive programs and events for all ages and interests.
To all constituents, I want to thank you for your continued support of the Clinton Community School District. All of us at CCSD hope you are Cougar Proud as we have accomplished a great deal over the years from raising our academic test scores, modernizing our facilities, lowering our taxes, and enhancing our culture. Strong schools equals strong community and I thank you for being part of the Cougar family.
