Murray County Central School Board met twice in the last two weeks. They first held a special meeting on Monday, April 4th to discuss the budget and where cuts can be taken and also to accept the extended leave to then be a resignation of Todd Burlingame. The Board approved his request and discussed how they can look at filling that position.
April 4th Meeting
Many directions were discussed when it came to budget cuts. It was said best when Sue Streff, who is on the finance committee said, “We tried to keep students at the highest priority when we looked at how these changes would happen and worked to keep district impact at a minimum”. Superintendent Joe Meyer explained that the district finds itself in this position because of two things. One being the reduction in state funding and also the lower enrollment numbers that are a result of COVID and students transitioning to online learning.
There are a few positions where the individual is retiring or resigning. These have resulted in an open PE position, Math position, Counselor position and now Principal position. They looked at the impact of just absorbing these positions if possible. The upcoming 6th grade class is small so they could possibly reduce that to 2 sections and move that individual to the math position. They talked about how some of the elective classes would be lost if they absorbed the PE position. There was discussion about having principals and superintendent take on the counselor duties. It was decided to start the hiring process for a half elementary principal/ half counselor as that position is the highest priority to get filled.
The revenue the school is allocated from the state is heavily dependent on enrollment numbers and the district is down 5 kids since March of this year which is equal to $50,000. Robyn Gilbertson asked if the information is given to the community, so they understand how not sending your child to school affects the district as a whole. There are a number of items to consider for the future of the district and the Board will continue to work on options.
April 11th Meeting
The Board approved the minutes from the March 14th and April 4th meetings. The financials were reviewed and approved. Supt. Meyer presented the personnel changes for the month. Larisa Smith is resigning effective June 1st. She is the Parent Educator/Afterschool Care Director. They renewed the contract with Andy Berndt who is the Technology Coordinator and the retirement of Bev Johnson effective August 2022.
Elementary Principal Burlingame presented the Board with an update on the elementary events. MCA testing has started. End of year field trips are being planned. There are two new students, so the elementary number is now at 378. Kindergarten roundup is May 6th.
Jake Scandrett, High School Principal gave the Board an update on the high school events and end of year activities. MCA’s will start this week as well. ACT tests were April 5th. Prom will be April 30th with the schedule of events going back to pre-covid and include the Dinner, Grand March, Dance and After Prom party. The Senior trip is set for May 6th in the Twin Cities. Graduation information went out to Seniors. They will be offering the Medical Terminology Course again this next year. There are currently 12 students signed up. There are 2 MCC students taking advantage of this opportunity. There are 3 students who will be part of the CEO program that will be starting. The summer school programming is almost complete. There will be both the Enrichment side and Credit Recovery side to the summer classes. The graduation rate for the 2021 class was 94.1%.
Meyer started with an update from the legislative session. The House and Senate are very opposite in what they would like to invest in Education for FY2023. The House would like to invest $1.154 Billion and the Senate proposes $30.7 million. There is a lot that they need to work out before the session closes.
The mediation meeting took place between the district and EA on April 4th and a tentative agreement was presented for them to vote on. The para group will be voting on their proposal and are requesting another meeting with the negotiation group. Meyer will request more information as there is confusion on why to schedule a meeting. If they pass the proposal, there is no need to meet. Meyer will reach out to the Cooks/Custodian group after the EA has been settled. The health insurance meeting will be on May 2nd. Enrollment for the district will be May 10-24. The district has installed another hydration station in the buildings. These are possible thanks to the MN Department of Health and CDC. Meyer will be applying for the third round of Emergency Connectivity Fund Dollars. The district received $24,000 in round 1 and $43,000 in round 2.
The AD report was read by Scandrett. The Band & Choir competed in Pipestone at Large Group Contest. The music department and speech team put on a Night of Jazz. The State Knowledge Bowl team placed 14th at state. They won the Heritage Award. Spring sports have started slowly with the use of facilities before they can get outdoors.
Moving on to new business; the district had gone out for bids for some of the annual services. Bread Bid came in from Pan O Gold, Legal Publications Bid came in from the Murray County Editorial Group, Spraying and Fertilizer Bid came in from Boerboom Seed Ultimate Lawns, and no bid was provided for Milk. These were approved. They next discussed the West Elementary Boiler Bids that came in for the project. West has two boilers and the oldest one was put in in around 1995 and needs to be replaced. The backup one is from 2006 and runs as a backup to the system and when the system needs to function at a higher capacity. Johnson Controls provided the district with two options. The first was to replace just the one boiler and the second was to replace both. It was agreed and approved to replace the one and adjust the system so the new one is the backup one.
They next approved the out of state trip requests for 3rd grade (Sioux Falls-SkyZone) and 5th grade (Sioux Falls-Washington Pavilion). The next request was for the state speech event in the Cities which is an overnight trip. This was also approved. They also discussed the addition to the agenda: Parking tractors on the parking lot. Next week is FFA week and usually they hold a “Drive Your Tractor to School” day. The contract with the County is that the repair of damages on the parking lot is the district’s responsibility. Tractors on the lot can cause damage to the asphalt which can get expensive. They discussed alternative options for where the tractors can go next week. There are limitations to which roads can be driven on. It was decided by the Board to allow the students to park in the gravel parking lot on the south side of the football/track field. Meyer will check with the city to see about driving on the road out to the parking spot selected.
Moving on to old business, the Board had the 3rd reading of policy 731 Data Request Policy for Subjects Data, 790 Post-Issuance Debt Compliance, and 901 Community Education, 902 Use of School District Facilities and Equipment, 903 Visitors to School District Buildings and Sites, 904 Distribution of Materials on School District Property by Non-school Persons, 905 Advertising, 906 Community Notification of Predatory Offenders 907 Rewards. These were approved and then they also had the 2nd reading of Policy 412 and 412A.
They accepted the donations for the month. Thank you to all of those who donate. Julie & Denny Beers 2,000.00 Scholarship, Viola C Larson 10,667.11 Scholarship, Hadley Lions 1,000.00 Scholarship, Lisa Graphenteen 50.00 Baseball, Betty Palmer 50.00 Baseball, Anonymous 197.00 Baseball, Jennie Engelkes 80.00 Softball, Anonymous 683.50 Softball.
The next school board meeting will be May 9th at 6pm.
