By Emily Kram
ekram@superiortelegram.com
The Superior school district is going paper-free next year for at least one of its high school classes.
On Monday, the Superior School Board moved forward a plan to purchase electronic textbooks for a U.S. history class. Textbooks are replaced on a seven-year cycle, but the new online textbook subscription will run for six years. The subscription will cost $20,304.
Crystal Hintzman, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said the textbooks purchased for the class six years ago cost $82,000.
“I think this will, in the long run, leave us with more flexibility,” Hintzman said.
Money saved by switching to the less costly online option could go toward purchasing supplies for art classes or improving music programs, Hintzman said.
The School Board also voted to replace elementary literacy materials ahead of schedule to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards. The elementary materials cost approximately $30,000.
Snow days
Superior students won’t miss as much of their summer vacation as first thought.
Earlier this week, Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill eliminating the 180-day school year requirement. Schools must still meet the requirement for total instructional hours, however.
Superintendent Janna Stevens said the Superior school district will meet the requirement “by the skin of our teeth” with make-up classes on April 21, June 12 and a half day on June 13. Additional time does not need to be added to the current school day.
Had the 180-day requirement remained in effect, students would have been attending classes until June 18.
Sports complex
Donations continue to pour in for the National Bank of Commerce Spartan Sports Complex.
At Monday’s committee of the whole meeting, the school district accepted a $25,000 donation from Holden Insurance. Representatives from the company said the new sports complex is a great thing for the community, and they thanked the School Board for supporting its construction.
The district also received 17 donations from individuals, totaling $5,385. Individual donations from the month prior totaled $3,200.
Proceeds from the Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour in Superior on April 17 will also go toward the new sports complex. Alcohol will not be served at the event, and Stevens addressed that decision at Monday’s meeting.
She said the change came after the Packers organization received multiple complaints from Superior residents. The Board was unanimous in its decision to prohibit alcohol after hearing of the concerns, Stevens said.
“We were under the impression that the Packers organization felt very strongly that we needed to have alcohol,” said Board member Mary Klun.
Once the Board learned otherwise, it was an easy decision not to serve alcohol, Klun said.
