Minutes 6-25-2007

 

The Minnewaska Community School Board met on June 25th, 2007 at 7:00 pm at Glacial Hills Elementary.

President Lara Amundson called the meeting to order at 7:05.  Board members present were Lara Amundson, Nancy Rapp, Steve Dinsmore, Ernie Watson, Darin Peterson, Vanessa Larson, and Kurt Amundson.  Board members absent were ValRae Boe, Mike Scott, and Kurt Swensrud.  Dyanne Parsons, Jayne Schwalbach, and Jackie Ranuum were also present.

The agenda was discussed.  A motion was made by Ernie and second by Vanessa to remove the 506 policy from the agenda, add the approval of the 07-08 calendar under new business, and add the approval of the budget under the treasurer’s report.  The motion carried.

The June 11th meeting minutes were discussed.  A motion was made by Ernie and second by Steve to accept the minutes with the following corrections and clarifications: the bid from Ness Waller was for 3,200 dollars not 5,200 dollars and the addition that Lara will talk to Attorney Doebert and will also check with Steve Dess and Mike Link about legal representation.  The motion carried.

The treasurer’s report was given at the June 11th meeting for the end of month balance for May.  The budget was discussed.  A motion was made by Darin and second by Kurt to accept the budget.  The motion carried.  Dyanne and Steve will continue looking at this and make adjustments as necessary.

Dyanne gave her report:

-          Dyanne along with some board members attended the Director’ Summit at MDE at Roseville some points and items needing to be addressed were:

o        Reduce board to 5 or 7 and introduce a teacher onto the board

o        Within 3 years there will need to be board member elections

o        Address policies

o        Need an evaluation policy for Dyanne’s position

o        Spending policy

o        Petty cash policy

o        Need to find a lawyer for advice, not on retainer

o        If Steve receives compensation for his services, he will need to resign from the board

o        Establish a committee for teacher compensation and salary increases

o        Need a contingency budget for 55 students

o        Steve needs to check on 990 form

o        Finalize teacher agreements

o        Contingency for staff reduction

o        Form professional development plan for special education

o        Record requests for student files

o        Policy on 20 maximum student- is this per class or per grade, the charter currently states per classroom

o        Suggestion of having teachers employed and paid starting August 1st

o        Develop media communication policy

o        Establish school calendar

o        Handbooks need to be ready

-          A motion was made by Steve and second by Ernie that the teachers start in August and work 15 extra days contingent on money coming from the Federal Grant for staff development.  The motion carried.

-          Committees were discussed and addressed.

o        Curriculum committee: Vanessa and the staff

o        Policy: Ernie, Darin, a teacher, and a parent

o        Budget: Darin and Steve

o        Facility: Kurt S., Kurt A., and Darin

-          The school has been asked to participate in the Taste of Heritage during the Heritage Days celebration.  Everyone felt that because we are already helping with the carnival and doing the food during coronation, that we couldn’t participate this year in another event.

-          We have received a letter of resignation from the Special Ed Director, Cori Wahl.  MNSEP is filling her position and we will be assigned a new director within the next two weeks.

-          Strawberries are ready to pick at the Wilson’s Organic Farms.

-          Lara and Dyanne will meet with Jessica Jesse from KXRA on Wednesday regarding radio advertising.

 

Old Business:

-          Angie Scott has ordered food for the food booth during Heritage Days and she will call for workers to help serve during the coronation.  Teachers and Dyanne will set up before.

-          No bids have been received for health insurance yet.

-          We do not need a surety bond unless we are building a new building.  We do however need a fidelity bond which would cover whoever handles money.  Walley is checking to see if it is already in our existing policy.

-          LeRoy McCove is working on the line of credit.

-          We will try to get a business administration policy and  procedure manual from the School Board Association.

-          The Implementation Grant is due July 15th.  The Continuation Grant is due 30 days prior us needing it with justification of the need.

New Business:

-          Dyanne will appoint a parent committee.

-          A motion was made by Darin and second by Ernie to accept employment agreement from Steve Dess with changing the TRA employee deduction from 5 to 5.5%, 100% single health insurance coverage, and remove the dental insurance option.  The motion carried.

-          A motion was made by Ernie and second by Steve to order 5,000 brochures at a cost of 600 dollars.  The motion carried.

-          The facility committee met with Bill Schluter.  Bill and the school will get separate bids for repair of the roof, adding sprinklers to OR, maintenance of the toilets, and the air conditioning system.

-          Mackin Media has given a bid of 23,626.45 to set up our library which would be a total of 1,776 books.  It was discussed that the library was deemed a community library and this bid was for elementary books only.  Ernie suggested contacting St. Cloud State for student help and to check with Viking Library on what system they use.  This was tabled until other options could be looked into.

-          A motion was made by Ernie and second by Steve to hire Shari Opdahl at half time at 17,000 with no health insurance.  The motion carried.

-          A motion was made by Darin and second by Ernie to hire Chris Schaeffer at half time at 14,000 with paying half of his health insurance.  The motion carried.

-          A business manager position for half time will be advertised

-          Dyanne presented the school calendar.  We will follow the Minnewaska District because we will be using their busing system.  A motion was made by Kurt and second by Steve to approve the calendar.  The motion carried.

Policies:

-          The board did a second reading of policies 413, 417, 418, 419, and 420.  A motion was made by Steve and second by Vanessa to accept these policies with the changes suggested.  The motion carried.

-          A first reading was done for policies 501, 502, 514, 515, 516, and 521.  There was some discussion and suggestions given on some areas.  We will address these again at the second reading.

The next meeting date will be July 9th at 7:00 at Glacial Hills Elementary.

A motion was made by Steve and second by Ernie to adjourn the meeting.  The motion carried and the meeting concluded at 9:25.