Even though he has only been on the job for about three months, the Manitowoc Public School District’s Superintendent Jim Feil is looking to make a big impact.
The District recently released some statistics regarding their financials, enrollment, and the results of an employee survey.
Some of the numbers were rather concerning, so we will be spending this week breaking them all down.
Today we are going to start with the financials, specifically the revelation that the Manitowoc Public School District makes the least amount of revenue per student in the County.
Reedsville makes the most at $17,500 per student, with Manitowoc coming in at $14,000 (You can see the full breakdown in the photo below).
We asked Superintendent Feil what is contributing to that.
“I believe that there are a couple of component parts,” he explained. “I’m digging deep to try to digest this. This is kind of what I walked into.”
Feil may be new to Manitowoc, but he has a lot of experience in running school districts.
He told us that he has been in districts that were low funded, and those that are well funded.
“When I’m looking at here, I am recognizing that this is what the state has structured, where I believe we are disadvantaged and I have to learn more about that in terms of how to advocate for a better system,” Feil said. “Some of that is how much we ask the community. But, anytime I make an ask for the community, I obviously would want to be able to demonstrate what we are doing and why that’s important.”
As for how the MPSD can move forward, Feil said it will have to be a collaborative effort with the community.
“I’m obviously immediately picking up where are we at, and how do we compare, and help the community understand that,” Feil said.
He then explained that the next part will be “working together in terms of what does this mean to us.”
Feil told us that he is a firm believer that “strong schools build strong communities, and strong communities build strong schools”, and that he is looking forward to helping Manitowoc become a destination not only for the beauty of the area, but also for having a strong school system.
Tomorrow we will take a look at how the MPSD fared on the District Accountability Report Card, and how that can improve.
Revenue Per Student in Manitowoc County
