WHITEHALL — Whitehall superintendent CJ Van Wieren said during Monday's school board meeting that in conversations with people at the state level, he does not expect resolution on the state education budget before Oct. 1, the deadline for a state budget to be passed to avoid a government shutdown.
Tim Cross, Chris Mahoney and Melissa Moore were absent, but the four members of the board present were enough to be considered a quorum.
Whitehall and Montague's boards both passed budgets prior to their July 1 starts to the fiscal year despite not knowing for sure how much money per pupil the state will distribute to the districts. The state legislature, of which the House is controlled by Republicans and the Senate by Democrats, has not yet been able to come to an agreement on the budget, including per-pupil contributions to school districts.
In good news for the district, Van Wieren said the district will greet and distribute t-shirts to incoming kindergarteners next week for the second year in a row. Van Wieren launched the tradition last year to build connection between the district and the incoming students.
The board also welcomed student rep Emily VanDam to the board. VanDam and classmate Kate Beda are the new reps after Tyler Van Antwerp filled the role last school year. Beda had a soccer scrimmage Monday and was unable to attend. VanDam shared that she participates in many student activities and hopes to become a teacher. She said she is interning two hours per day in a second-grade classroom in pursuit of that goal.
