The budget for the next school year for the Sioux City School District is nearing completion, so a public hearing on the financial plan will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at the downtown headquarters.
The Sioux City School Board has set the public hearing for a budget that will be roughly $203 million for 2025-26. Anyone can speak about the budget, and the board members plan to vote on the plan after the public hearing.
The budget proposal contains a projected continuation of the current school district property tax levy. As in this current budget year, the levy would be $12.38 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The projected budget would increase the state income surtax paid by people from 3 percent to 4 percent.
*Additionally, the Nebraska Board of Regents voted 6-2 to approve language in their policies to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion.
The federal government sent a “Dear Colleague” letter on February 15 to “cease using race preferences and stereotypes.”
The board reviewed the policies in February and cut a lot of language surrounding diversity and specifying certain groups. The policies approved at the Friday meeting added language back that provides protections for race, sex, disability and veteran status.
The Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action guidelines were cut to stay in compliance with the executive order.
Regent Elizabeth O’Connor voted no on the policy that cut guidelines for equal opportunity and Affirmative Action within the university, such as putting up posters that inform students and faculty about them.
O’Connor said she voted no, because she saw this as the first step to unraveling support for students.
“I want NU to be a true marketplace of ideas. DEI initiatives help colleges and universities recruit more diverse students. There is strong empirical evidence to suggest that students learn better when they have diverse peers,” O’Connor said.
Regent Jim Scheer, who voted yes, said he didn’t disagree with O’Connor, but he wanted to make sure that students did not lose such funding as Pell grants.
*In other news, South Dakota says it is “Open for Business,” but recent developments in the state Legislature have some worried its business-friendly model may be changing.
That includes businesses with financial stakes in the state like Gevo, the company behind a proposed billion-dollar corn-based jet fuel plant near Lake Preston.
Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber told South Dakota Public Broadcasting that, “The black eye that South Dakota has right now on Wall Street is immense.” Gruber pointed to the new law that prohibits use of eminent domain specifically for carbon dioxide pipelines.
Gruber said if the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline doesn’t go through South Dakota, the company will move its plant to another state. He claims the way the state Legislature handled the pipeline was a “travesty” that sent ripples far beyond Pierre.
The prime sponsor of the bill was Republican state Representative Karla Lems. She said nothing in the law stops Summit Carbon Solutions from moving forward with its project, they just can’t use eminent domain to carry it out.
Gov. Larry Rhoden said he recently spoke with officials from POET, whose ethanol facilities stand to benefit from the pipeline. Rhoden said POET expressed disappointment in the bill, and he told them the ball is in Summit’s court.
*The number of Iowans giving birth at home has almost doubled in ten years. Nationally, the number of home births is also increasing.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services says in 2015, around 450 Iowans gave birth outside of a hospital or certified birthing center. Now, that number’s almost 850.
Caitlin Hainley, a licensed midwife with the Des Moines Midwife Collective, shared why she thinks women are choosing home births.
“I think the number one thing is because they want to feel like they have autonomy and control during their prenatal care and birth,” Hainley said.
In spite of the trend, HHS agency officials say home births are still just a small fraction of the roughly 40,000 babies born annually in Iowa.
