Aberdeen Public Schools Foundation assets have nearly reached $2 million with the establishment of three new endowments and a restricted fund.
Gretchen Sharp, foundation executive director, provided an update to the Aberdeen School Board on Monday, Sept. 25 during its regular meeting at the District Service Center.
Sharp said the new endowments were established in the past year in memory of David Lust, Beth Rietz-Walth and Bill Martens. The Central High School class of 1972 also set up a restricted fund for scholarships.
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Those endowments are included in the $1.5 million raised since 2004, Sharp said.
Student and staff support hit $58,000 this year, she said, which includes 71 students who received book scholarships for dual-credit classes.
In addition to the Hall of Fame banquet on Sept. 23, which had 10 new inductees, the foundation also saw 10 class reunions this year, she said.
Central social studies teacher and speech and debate coach Kerry Konda told school board members he was surprised to be a 4 under 40 honoree this year.
The Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce program recognizes people between 21 and 39 who are community leaders. He was one of 26 nominations. Now in his 16th year at Central, Konda said all he’s helped accomplish couldn’t have been possible without the district’s support.
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Konda’s speech and debate teams have won state championships in 11 of the last 12 years.
In other action, the school board approved the roughly $62 million 2023-24 budget with some final adjustments. They included eliminating the deputy finance officer position and adjusting capital outlay expenses to account for project payments that have already been made.
Finance Officer Makayla Rogers noted a projected food service deficit of $110,000, which can be covered with the fund equity account. The food service budget is roughly $2 million.
