The Washington and Keota School Districts will be sharing a position during the upcoming school year.

At Wednesday’s meeting in Brighton, the Washington School Board approved a sharing agreement for the business manager. The arrangement would have the business manager spend 25% of time in Keota and 75% in Washington. The Keota School District would then reimburse Washington for 25% of the cost, which equals $37,770. Business Manager Jeff Dieleman explained all of the accounting information for both districts will be moved to the Cloud so he can work on either district from either location if necessary. Washington Superintendent Jeff Dicks explained there are operational sharing incentives from the state, which is something he believes districts need to advocate for with the legislature since it was not extended this session, “So overall when this is done, we will as a district, in total incentive, money we receive from the state and what we bill out is about $300,000. So this is substantial and I believe this is another critical reason we need to be lobbying for this extension.”

Also, speaking of the sharing agreement he said, “Like our other sharing, there’s a benefit to us. I think the bigger picture is, we can stretch ourselves a bit and help a district out that’s trying to do the right things as well.” Requirements for a business manager include at least a two-year accounting degree or valid experience. Keota’s current business manager is going to the Pekin School District. Dicks added Keota is moving to a joint superintendent and high school principal position.

The Keota School Board meets tonight at 6 p.m.