CL Hawk Update
August 14, 2018
Financial Literacy - Graduation Requirement
Central Lee Parents & Community,
The school district is exploring a new avenue of communication this year. A few times per month, we are releasing a newsletter from the district office. Most editions will only feature a single topic but sometimes there may be multiple items. We hope you like this feature as it will be texted directly to your phone, emailed to you, and posted on social media outlets.
Financial Literacy Graduation Requirement
This past summer, the Central Lee administration and board of education reviewed and modified the graduation policy for Central Lee students. We removed the “Foundations of Technology” class and replaced it with a “Financial Literacy” class. The content from the technology class will be weaved into exploratories at the middle school level. For the past several months, the board and administration had been exploring whether to make financial literacy a graduation requirement for our students. This past spring the Iowa Legislature made financial literacy a graduation requirement for Iowa public schools. This legislative change provided the district with the sense of urgency to move in this direction immediately. The financial literacy requirement will go into effect with the class of 2020. This year’s senior class will not be required to take the course.
This past Spring the district implemented our first community survey. When asking the question “What skills should a Central Lee graduate possess?”, numerous individuals responding with comments (paraphrased) such as:
“Life skills (balancing check registers, etc.)”
“Financial preparedness. Learn money management.”
“Create and follow a budget. Be financially literate.”
It was evident to the board and administration that this change would be well received from community members. We all want to see future members of our community who are fiscally responsible.
Central Lee has offered a financial literacy course for many years. Mr. Kyle Van Ausdall has successfully taught many students using a few programs from Dave Ramsey and Adam Carroll. Many people are familiar with Dave Ramsey’s content. His curriculum focuses on basic money management skills that specifically revolve around the concept of being “debt free”. Dave is famous for saying “you must live like no one else so one day you can live like no one else”. Adam Carroll’s program is titled “Winning the Money Game”. Carroll’s focus is on the choices consumers have with money and how these decisions impact your overall financial success.
I have always been a big fan of Dave Ramsey by listening to his podcasts. I have listened to a few others over the years as well. I have learned it is not so much about the person behind the mic as it is being focused on learning better money management tools. I relate this to our new requirement. There are numerous curriculums available, while the curriculum is important most will be pretty similar. Ensuring that all of our students are leaving Central Lee with a basic background in financial literacy is a big step forward for our community just like when an individual gets solely focused on teaching themselves better money skills by listening to a radio personality or reading a book.
We are excited to make this change and think it will be a welcomed addition to our graduation requirements by our community members.
First Day of School Stuff
We are hosting our back to school night on August 21 at the K-8 from 4pm-6pm. Families are welcome to drop off school supplies and meet their child’s teacher from this school year. The first day of school will be August 23. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so in the high school or elementary office at any time from 8am-4pm.
We can’t wait to see everyone’s smiling faces for the 2018-2019 school year!
Sincerely,
Dr. Andy Crozier
Central Lee CSD
Email: acrozier@centrallee.org
Website: www.centrallee.org
Location: 2642 U.S. 218, Donnellson, IA, USA
Phone: 3198359510
Facebook: facebook.com/CentralLeeCSD
Twitter: @CentralLeeCSD