Cumberland Kiwanis
Minutes of March 8, 2010
Anthony DaBruzzi/Barry Rose
Speakers: Anthony DaBruzzi, 11th grade
student and Cumberland Superintendent Barry Rose
Topic: Senior Speech/Update on Cumberland
School District Finances
Anthony presented his senior
speech based on his recent experiences as a 2010 Wisconsin State Senate
Scholar. He joined 32 other
awardees for a week of up close observation of the legislative process. During the week, the Senate Scholars
crafted a mock bill relating to blood donation. They went through the whole process, including holding
committee meetings and hearings with expert testimony. At the end of the week, there was a
reception and award ceremony for the participants. Anthony is very active in athletics and student groups. He is looking forward to attending
Badger Boys State soon. At the end
of the meeting, Kiwanis President Deb Kunferman presented Anthony with his
Senior Speech completion certificate.
Following the senior speech,
Superintendent Rose gave a PowerPoint illustrated talk on the current financial
state of the local school district.
With a three million dollar reserve fund, the district is solvent, but with
declines in enrollment and decreased state aid, the district has to rely more
and more on local taxpayers. He
sees enrollments starting to level off, and the district is helped by small net
gains in open enrollment. With 68%
of costs due to salaries and benefits, flexibility is limited. Required programs, such as special
education, raise costs with only 40% covered by the State. However, the local programs continue to
be strong academically, with increased attention to assessment, and very good
technical support facilities. In
response to a concern about the future viability of the schools, Mr. Rose noted
that there could be problems in the future, but that Òis a long way off.Ó