The Pella School Board approved the School Budget Review Committee’s application for At-Risk funding at their last meeting. “At Risk” students are those for whom school is difficult and are statistically more likely to drop out and have trouble keeping up academically, but are not special education students. The request is a property tax levy, but Pella Schools Superintendent Mark Wittmer says the district’s budget was kept in mind when making decisions.

“The good news is that we’re asking for a little bit less money than we asked for last year, so we’re really trying to keep that budget tightened down as much as we can,” said Wittmer. “[We’re still] realizing full well, however, we have to invest in these kids, otherwise we’ll probably be paying for them in other ways once they enter the adult world.”

In the application to be submitted to the Iowa Department of Education, the Pella Community School District requested $237,415 for modified allowable growth.

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