Murray County Central School Board held their monthly meeting on April 8th at 6pm. The agenda was approved. The financials for the month were also reviewed and approved. They accepted the personnel changes presented by Superintendent Joe Meyer. These include the resignation of Brittany Berndt (Junior High Math Teacher) and Taitum Timm (ECSE Teacher) both at the end of the year, as well as the hiring of Payton Braun (ECSE Teacher) and Erin Scandrett (4th Grade Teacher). There was no one present for public forum.
Patrick Freeman, Elementary Principal, gave the Board his update. MCA testing began on the 10th. A reminder letter was sent to parents for testing strategies. Freeman and Nancy Boerboom are working to update the literacy plan. Boerboom is also taking the Literacy Facilitator training which will be beneficial to the district. For the next school year, 5th and 6th grades will go to 2 sections and K-4 will each have 3 sections. Freeman applied for a TC Energy Build Strong Education Grant for $10,000. He recently found out that the application has been approved and the funds can be used for the Amplify STEM Curriculum. Kindergarten Round Up will be May 3rd. It will be a busy couple of months with all the end of year field trips.
Jacob Scandrett, High School Principal, gave his update. MCA testing has started and there were 38 juniors who partook in the ACT testing held at MCC. There are currently two open positions at the high school level: Counseling Position and JH Math Position. FFA week is April 15th. They have a lengthy list of events planned including Truck Judging, Ag Olympics, and Drive Your Tractor To School Day. Prom planning is underway and set for April 27th. The Dress Code Committee had a good final meeting and the final changes will come to the Board when handbook revisions are done. The Graduation Rate for 2023 was released at 93.2%.
Meyer provided the Board his update. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any new money coming our way. We’ve used two additional e-learning days. The last day with students is Friday, May 24th. Two companies have looked at the parking lot project and will be providing bids. The advice is to place a base down this year and then surface it next year. This will qualify as a Capital Project. The new phone system quotes will be available for the next board meeting and this will also qualify as a Capital Project. There are two sections of the roof being replaced this summer – above the girls locker room and also above the band room. These are part of the LTFM 10-year plan and have already been approved. Employee benefits open enrollment will open April 24th through May 10th.
James Wajer, Athletic Director provided an update. Spring sports are going , with the nice weather allowing teams to get outside. Thank you to all the winter coaches and staff for making things go so smoothly.
The third and final reading of policy 606.5 Library Materials was approved and adopted. They next discussed a bid for the new paging system at Central. This is the same company that did the elementary school. The bid amount is $70,432.98, which includes the system and set up/integration. This was also approved.
The health insurance bid recommendations are in. Good News: if they stay with Blue Cross Blue Shield and package with BCBS dental and vision, there would be no increase in rates 0%. If they go with Health Partners and EyeMed for dental and vision, then the BCBS health coverage rates would go up 3.7%. The Board approved going with BCBS for health coverage, as well as, dental and vision, which results in 0% increase for employees. The Board next approved the resolution non-renewing probationary teaching contract for Kari Carlson effective June 30, 2024.
Next on the agenda was to review and approve the bids for Bakery Products - Pan O Gold, Publications/Legal Bid – Murray County Editorial Group, Spraying/Fertilizer – Boerboom Seed, and Dairy Products (no bid). They also approve the out of state trips requests for 3rd and 5th grades and extended trip for Speech to state speech.
Moving on to other business; the Board accepted the donations from: $25 Anonymous, $3,000 Dennis & Julie Beers, $10,985.32 Viola C Larson, $5,000 Margaret & Tom Holbrook, $1,600 Currie Town & Country, and $50 Jill Edmundson. They also approved having Heather Hoekman and Lauren Biegler hand out diplomas at graduation.
With no other business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting is May 13th 6pm.
