Academic—Our goal is continuous improvement. We have made improvements each year in each academic area that is tested. We cannot be content with the status quo on the ISAT. I believe our reading scores will improve this year, and frankly, I am a bit surprised because they are currently so high. I believe math and language usage results will also climb. We will continue our push to raise standards and expectations because we want our students to be competitive in whatever arena they choose.

Economic—We anticipated the drop in revenue for 2010-2011 and have already started planning for 2011-2012. We are in a position that we can absorb a 5 percent legislative holdback should it occur. However, as noted above this also means that passing our supplemental levy is imperative. Working in the state of Idaho is a particular challenge around funding.

Competition—The competition for students continues as the Sandpoint Charter School and virtual schools continue to grow. However, I believe we can be more aggressive in our marketing. This part of our work has improved this year. However, I also will be asking the Board of Trustees to reconsider the transportation component of our support. We are one of only two public school districts transporting students to a charter in our state. I believe this needs to change.

For the rest of the article, go to Focus on Education