Superintendent Jeff Lind reported that the Rugby Public School District is doing well. He spoke at the School District Demographics Report and Long Range Planning meeting on April 17.

Strategic planning involves a balanced scorecard method which has been in place for several years. The school improvement team and school board have used the balanced scorecard to identify three main focus areas and 14 objectives that guide continuous improvement efforts. The focus is on student achievement, organization effectiveness and school climate.

Lind talked about the reversal of the 15-year trend of dropping enrollment which plagued schools in North Dakota. The enrollment has stabilized for Rugby’s K-12 at 565 students, not including Little Flower School.

“I wouldn’t look for major growth in enrollment, but it has stabilized,” said Lind.

The school is adequately staffed with 51.5 certified staff, three full-time administrators and 35 support staff which includes all other staff (paras, cooks, maintenance, etc.) Future staffing may be affected as special education needs continue to grow in the school district and more teachers are needed. All staff are properly licensed and work with a state-approved curriculum.

The renovation project on the junior and senior high school is expected to be completed before the beginning of the next school year. The school will be totally upgraded with some new parts. Last year, a half million dollars was spent on Ely Elementary School, adding a new roof, interactive light boards for the classrooms and many updates and technologies. All buildings will be in great working order for the 2012-13 school year, leaving the school in pretty good shape as far as facilities are concerned.

“We are in a healthy position budget-wise and with (a stabilized) enrollment,” said Lind.

The school district was able to drop one bus route, from 10 routes to 9 for this school year. The cost of operating one bus route/year is $42,000 and as fuel prices increase the cost will also increase. Dropping one route has saved the district money while still providing the service to those who need it.

The school district continues to provide additional services through cooperative efforts with other schools in three organizations, North Central Distance Learning Consortium-ITV, North Central Education Cooperative and North Central Area Career and Technology Center. The organizations and member schools are able collectively to share resources and offer more to each school. Welding, building trades, marketing and electronics are now or will soon be offered at Rugby in addition to a full program schedule in core subjects.