DAHS seniors Hannah Aime, Danielle Wegmann, and Darcy Schlub at Reality Day
For friends of the DeForest Area School District
June 2011
Greetings!
As another successful school year comes to a close, we want to personally thank our DASD families and community for their support of our school district.
This Saturday, 244 seniors graduated from DeForest Area High School, eager for the next phase of their lives. The class is taking with it many honors and awards and collecting more than $200,000 in college scholarships. This is made possible by the generosity of organizations and businesses in our community.
Please join us in celebrating the careers of our retiring staff from our District (see below). Their dedication and service is most appreciated.
Developing the 2011-12 school budget presents many challenges for the DeForest Area School District Board of Education. The Governor's proposed biennium budget calls for approximately $1.7 million less in revenue for the DASD for each of the next two years. While the District has been in static enrollment the last few years and declining in the revenue it is allowed by the state, the level of these proposed cuts is beyond what the District has experienced previously. The Board is charged with finding a way to cut expenses, preserve highly qualified staff, change programs and delivery of programs while providing the same quality for less money, and sustain the effectiveness of the system as resources diminish.
At the beginning of the process this spring, the Board and staff established a set of guiding principles to shape the budget development process. Using these guidelines, there are several major areas being examined to help reduce the budget. These areas for consideration are posted on the DASD website and News Blog. Other budget-related information is also available, plus an opportunity for residents to provide thoughts and ideas for the board and staff to consider.
Read more . . . 2011-12 Budget Development Information
After spending eleven months teaching English in Kunming, China for First Decision Elementary School, Roy and Julie Bernards and their two daughters will be returning to DeForest at the end of June. After a year leave of absence from DASD, Roy will return as an elementary principal, taking over at Windsor Elementary School for retired prinicipal Mike Finke. Julie will return to her position as an 8th grade language arts teacher at DAMS.
The DeForest Area School District is one of two schools in the Midwest chosen as a test site for the new Google Chrome OS (CR-48) laptops through Verizon Wireless. Twenty-five of the new cloud-based laptops arrived in DeForest last month and were tested by individuals and groups through the next few months. Students in the high school Business & Marketing Management class received 12 of them on May 11.
High school seniors in DeForest learned a little more about the realities of life after high school or college on Wednesday, May 25 at the school's 5th annual "Reality Day". Over 80 volunteers from local businesses, the community, and school district helped students during a simulation where they managed their personal financial resources to pay for one month of life's necessities while making choices about what additional products and services to purchase.
Things have changed since 2000, but plans made 11 years ago in our District still support our work. That year, the DeForest community passed a "recurring" referendum in support of technology projects. This wise decision means that we have had consistent budgetary support for technology projects.