Friday Update, Oct. 7, 2022

EV-W High School Principal

Congratulations to our high school principal Mr. Kiehn for his 38 years of service to education. Bruce has served the Eden Valley-
Watkins school district, communities, students, staff, and parents with exceptionally high standards of character, integrity, and honor. Be sure to congratulate Mr. Kiehn and wish him well as he pursues retirement following the 2022-23 school year.

I’d like to invite our community to participate in the search for the individual who will serve as the next EV-W High School Principal. One of the first steps in the process will be creating a profile of the ideal candidate for the position based on feedback from the school’s students, staff, and parents/guardians. To assist in gathering this information, we’ve created a brief High School Principal – Survey that the EV-W community can use to share their thoughts about the leadership qualities and characteristics they believe the next principal should possess. The survey can also be found on the district’s webpage under the News tab, and will remain open until Friday, Oct. 21. Thank you for participating in this important district function.

Operating Referendum – Q & A

We’ve spent the last eight weeks providing you with information on the upcoming operating referendum, and a variety of resources can be accessed on the district’s webpage at www.evw.k12.mn.us/ under the News tab.

I’ve had a few requests to summarize the basics and to simplify our school district’s message, here we go:

• We have an existing operating referendum that needs to be increased to keep up with inflation, inadequate funding from the state, and fill the financial gap created by unfunded state mandates.

• Education funding from the state is inequitable, and there is a revenue gap per school district that exceeds $8,000 per pupil. Currently, EV-W ranks in the bottom tier of school district funding and is $1,372 per pupil below the state average.

• More than 78% of school districts have voter-approved operating referendums, and most exceed the EV-W proposed increase.

• We need your support and, if you vote YES, we’ll be able to maintain our academic programs, class sizes, technology, staffing, and extracurricular programs.

• We understand these are difficult times, but if you vote NO, we’ll have to increase class sizes, work with outdated tools and technology, reduce staff, and offer fewer student opportunities and experiences in order to operate within the smaller budget imposed by state underfunding.

• The proposed increase will have no impact on agricuture land or seasonal properties, and is not related to the fundraising campaign for a future sports complex.

* The monthly tax impact on an average EV-W residential property ($186,649) will be less than 12 dollars. When we put that into perspective, it’s about the same cost as an adult ticket to a movie theatre, case of Diet Coke, monthly Netflix subscription, or a 12-pack of your favorite adult beverage.

The following public meetings have been scheduled to provide you with detailed information and assist in answering any questions you may still have. Please consider joining me at one of the following locations:

• Eden Valley, District Office – Door #13 at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18.

• Watkins Elementary School – Door #1 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Are you concerned about teen vaping and cannabis?

If so, check out the following links to see details on two free webinars offered this fall.

• Teen Vaping & Cannabis: Oct. 11, 8:30-10 a.m. This free webinar will provide prevention education, strategies, and awareness to parents, educators, and community members on Vaping, Delta 8, 9, 10, THC, and Edible Cannabis Products.

• High In Plain Sight: Nov. 1, 10-11:30 a.m. This free webinar will provide parents, educators, and community members with knowledge and confidence to prevent and identify alcohol and drug abuse, indicators of at-risk individuals, products, brands, logos, and lingo.

You can also find these links at www.evw.k12.mn.us on the district’s front page under the News tab. Each poster has the registration link and QR code for easy pre-registration.