• With the new year, the Groton School Board evaluated the school's financial report for the last six months. Overall, the Groton School District's accounts are in better than average shape.
• "I give us a financial grade of A-," Business Manager Mike Weber said. "The accounts are healthy and in good shape."
• One area of concern for the board, and one that will be watched in the coming months, is the school lunch accounts. Over the last four months, 5,000 less lunches were served then for the same period last year. Meanwhile the cost of the lunches continues to increase and the school is receiving less revenue.
• "One of the reasons for the decline in the number of lunches being served is the Federal restrictions put in place this year," Groton Superintendent Laura Schuster said. "The bottom line here is that kids are not eating."
• If changes in the number of lunches being served doesn't increase, the school may be forced to look at other ways to reduce costs such as increasing the price of the lunches or cutting staff.
• "There's not a whole lot of fat in the lunch program," Weber said. "There's not much staff to cut from."
• As part of the financial report, the board also reviewed the 2012 district audit. The Groton School District only received on "ding". It's a ding the district gets every year as the district routinely has the company doing the audit assist with the reporting. Without the assistance of the audit company the district would be forced to hire additional personal that are qualified CPAs. This is a common practice among schools the size of Groton.
• Show Choir director Malerie Yeaton spoke to the board members about the upcoming show choir trip to Orlando, Florida. The trip is scheduled for the spring of 2014. Two different destinations were being explored. The first on is to return to Orlando and the second one is to go to Chicago. The choir would perform at either location and the possibility of participating in some workshops also exists. The board gave the go ahead to continue planning the trip with more information to come later in the spring.
• Approval was given following the second reading of a new policy regarding the use of private passenger vehicles in transporting students. Along with the new policy, a new form was approved for volunteer drivers. The policy is the result of budget cuts from a couple of years ago which resulted in cutting transportation costs in some programs.
• A recommendation from high school principal Joe Schwan also received ap