River Falls School District Superintendent Jamie Benson spoke to our club about the referendum, with voting to occur on February 20th -- less than one month  He started by introducing school board member Alan Tuchtenhagen and David Bell, Jamie’s successor as superintendent.  Benson noted that citizens have been informed of the referendum details by mail, and there have been and continue to be community forums for those who want to hear more detail and/or ask questions.  For details beyond what is summarized below, you can go to http://www.rfsd.k12.wi.us/referendum2024.

 

Jamie started with good news about our school district.  RFSD has a 4-star rating – above expectations -- on the state ‘Academic Performance Report Card’.  He emphasized that, beyond academics as the core, RFSD provides a variety of enrichment and service opportunities.   Jamie also noted that City survey questions about schools received high marks.  Ratings were also high when parents were asked for feedback about their schools.  Click Read More for the rest of the summary.

Greg Peters, president of the River Falls Baseball Council, presented the organization's proposal for using Rotary funds provided from our community grant to improve their organization and to benefit the River Falls community.  Greg told the club that Rotary's grant could supplement other funds, both already committed and yet to be raised, to create a practice infield in a location near the current baseball complex around the FNBRF ballpark.  Greg said that the funds needed to create the field itself have been raised and that work will be done this spring.  Additional funds will be needed for fencing and a backstop.  He also noted that there will be an opportunity to acknowledge Rotary's financial contributions to the overall project.  

 

Tonya Schmitt, with help from Lisa Barbian, spoke to Rotary about how Grow to Share would use Rotary’s grant to benefit the community through their work in growing food, producing and distributing food, and educating the community about food.  She started by emphasizing the benefits on a personal and professional level from association with GTS.   Click Read More for details if you didn't read them in a previous Tidings.

NOTE:  The slides and the proposed equipment purchase list are appended and can be accessed by clicking the link near the bottom of the Tidings main page.

Long-Range Planning:  Relay for Life is planned for Friday April 12th at River Falls High School, and we'll again be serving spaghetti dinners.  Earthfest 2024 will be held on Saturday April 20th at the UWRF Falcon Center.  Our club is again planning to participate by grilling and serving food items.  This year will feature slider-size burgers made from locally grown and processed beef.