Beloit board declines immediate takeover of Fresh Start program; agrees to revisit by Aug. 19

The Beloit School District Board of Education voted down a proposal to transfer the Fresh Start alternative education program from Community Action to district operation on Aug. 5, rejecting the move 4-2 after a lengthy hearing that included presentations from district staff, program leaders and former Fresh Start staff.

The proposal, presented by Superintendent Dr. Daryl Garrison and Jeff Stenruss, director of CTE and alternative education, would have housed Fresh Start at the Cunningham Building under Beloit Learning Academy oversight and staffed it with five new positions funded principally by state per-pupil revenue and a local HOME grant. Dr. Garrison told the board the district had modeled costs at a target enrollment of 28 students and estimated recurring staffing costs of about $326,000 covered by per-pupil revenue plus $50,000 in community development dollars; he said other grant support (for incentives and student pay) was uncertain and therefore not included in the core…