One month to go and the 2022-2023 school year will be completed. It is crazy how fast a school year can go by, even with a long winter. These next four weeks will be full of field trips, baseball games, track meets, and music events. We want to wish our students luck as they participate in their many activities throughout the rest of the school year.
Graduation ceremonies will be held on August 28 at 4:00 PM. We are excited for our 8 graduates in the Class of 2023. These seniors have dedicated countless hours to their education, and this will just be a start to a new chapter in their lives. We will also recognize our Class of 1973 during the ceremony. This class will be celebrating 50 years since their graduation ceremony at Scranton Public School. The short biographies of those planning to attend have been arriving and it is so interesting to see the paths these grads have taken since they roamed these halls.
Projects for the summer are being planned and one we are excited about is an update to our park up at the baseball complex. Scranton Public School is excited to partner with the Scranton Friends of Fireman and Scranton Lions’ Club to make this project a reality. Friends of Fireman have donated $10,000 to the project and we are pleased to announce that the Scranton Lions’ Club has been awarded the 2023 Bowman County Community Challenge Grant. This grant will be used for this project as well. Scranton Public School will take the lead on this project and coordinate its completion. According to the contractors, it looks like this project will be completed in the fall of 2023 as they are backed up due to supply chain issues.
Teacher Appreciation Week is a national holiday that is celebrated each May and this year it will be celebrated May 8 through May 12. Scranton Public School has a wonderful teaching staff, and we try to celebrate their successes all year long, not just for one week. I want to personally ask all community members as they run into our teachers to thank them for dedication to our students and their never-ending quest to provide the best experiences possible for our student body. Thank you, Scranton Staff, for providing a wonderful learning environment.
The 2023 North Dakota Legislative Session is winding down. It was an interesting session with many bills that would have a direct impact on Scranton Public School. We are always tracking bills and trying to stay on top of what is happening in Bismarck. As a small school, we are always eager to see the funding plan for the biennium and this year, the main funding bill was Senate Bill 2284. Some highlights from this bill are a 4% increase in per pupil payment in both years of the biennium and an increase to the special education weighting factor in our funding formula. Inflation has hit all of us hard, and hopefully this funding increase can assist Scranton School in meeting the rising costs of providing a strong education. A majority of our general fund revenue comes from the per-pupil funding provided by the state. Scranton Public School has asked for the same dollar amount from our local taxpayers since 2017. This increase from the state should allow us to continue our desire to keep our local property taxes stagnant while still providing a great education. If anyone ever has questions regarding our finances and how the state funding formula works, please do not hesitate to give the school a call and we can answer the questions as best we can.
We have a ton of activities taking place this next month and beyond into the summer months. Please download our Scranton School App for your phones and stay connected. You can track the activity schedule, menu, and much more. We would like to make the Scranton School App a one stop shop for all your information of what is taking place at Scranton School.
Good luck to our students as they tackle the end of the school year and the busy month ahead. We also want to wish our teachers and staff good luck as they continue the march to the finish line. As always, thank you everyone for supporting Scranton School. We will continue to focus on improvements we can make to keep Scranton Public School at the forefront of teaching and learning. Keep Soaring Night Hawks!
Kelly Pierce
Superintendent