Murray County Central School Board met on January 10, 2022. They began with the Re-organizational Meeting, where they voted on the officer positions, which remained the same as last year. Meetings will continue to be held at 6pm on the second Monday each month in the Murray County Central High School Library. Board members’ compensation also remains the same. The IRS rate is 58.5. Lisa Rademacher and Deb Bleyenberg were designated to perform duties of treasurer and clerk. The board’s legal counsel will continue to be Rupp, Anderson, Squires and Waldspurger, P.A. and Supt. Meyer, as well as the board members, are authorized to contact legal counsel when necessary. Lastly, the Board agreed to keep their assignments to the different committees.
The Board next moved on to the Regular Meeting. There were no corrections or additions to the minutes or agenda items. The Financials were discussed, reviewed and approved by the Board. No one was present for open forum.
Elementary Principal Todd Burlingame gave the elementary report. Enrollment is up by one. Lauren Gillette has had a very busy first week as the new elementary secretary. Things are going well. West Elementary has reached 3% covid numbers, so they began a 2 week mask mandate and will continue to monitor the numbers. The 5th/6th grade Activity Night had to be postponed due to Covid and is rescheduled for Feb. 25. All are working toward their grade level goals in preparation for the MCA testing this spring. The Local Spelling Bee will be January 18. Thirty-six students attended the Young Artists Conference at SMSU last Friday.
High School Principal Jake Scandrett gave his report. Enrollment is at 320, 4 less than last year. Mrs. Beech will soon be taking the Security Testing Training for administrators of the spring tests. Registration for fall classes will be held in February. They are holding class meetings to go over the offerings. Summer College Course opportunities will again be available this summer. This is made possible by the Achievement Integration Collaborative. Current Sophomores and Juniors from MCC and surrounding schools may take 2 free summer school classes offered in conjunction with Minnesota West and taught at Marshall High School. The students are presently being surveyed to see what they are most interested in. Some possibilities include Education, Social Work, Medical Topics, Computer Science, Industrial Technology and Environmental Science. The CEO program Board Training has been completed. They have met with students to explain their opportunities and get them signed up. Mr. Scandrett met with the Corn and Soybean Growers and is hoping to get more Ag businesses on board since we have so much interest in this area. “It is a key component of our economy.” he said, “and it is not yet proportional.”
Superintendent Joe Meyer next gave his report. He will be attending the MSBA Conference in person this year, Jan. 13-14. The current Covid numbers are available on the dashboard and are updated daily. We continue to follow our preparedness plan. The newest CDC guidelines have shortened quarantine isolation to 5 days and come back to school wearing a mask days 6 thru 10. He also gave an update on negotiations. Teachers, Paras and Cooks/Custodians are all at different stages in their negotiations but he has met or has dates to meet with each of these groups.
Activities Director James Wajer also gave a summary of what has been going on at MCC. Senior High Knowledge Bowl held their first meet this week. There were 9 schools and 28 teams in attendance. Junior High Knowledge Bowl is winding down their season. They sent 3 teams to the Regionals, our top team taking 12th out of 36 teams. Boys Basketball is 5/6 on their season. Girls Basketball has played some tough teams and is 1/8 as they start conference play. Wrestling last wrestled in the Redwood Riot before Christmas. We have been selected to host the Final Four Section 3A Teams on Feb. 19. The Drama Department are practicing for One-acts. The community performance will be Feb. 4 at 7:00pm with a couple of different one-act plays to see. They will compete on Feb. 5. Speech is up and running as well.
There was no old business. New business began with the approval of Policy 491 - Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccination or Testing and Face Covering plan. While the hope is that the Supreme Court will overrule this, we have no control over it and the district felt it was better to have a plan ready and not need it, than to be caught unprepared. This plan is based off of the MSBA/MASA Model Policy 491 plan and allows for staff to either provide proof of vaccination or be tested weekly and wear an approved face covering.
The 2022-2023 calendar was approved. MCC students will start after Labor Day and be finished by Memorial Day. There will be 175 student contact days and 182 teacher contract days. While the school board makes the final decision, the committee also had input from teachers and parents. One of the questions that often arises is, “Why are other schools able to take off two weeks at Christmas and still fit their school year between Labor Day and Memorial Day?” Mr. Meyer did the research and found that those schools have a longer school day, so when you add up the actual time students are in school they all come very close to being exactly the same. Some of you may remember how, the year we had a lot of snow, we were able to make up for a significant number of snow days by extending our school day for a while in the spring.
Paul Haberman was present with requests for field trips to FFA Judging events which will hopefully be in person this year. All were approved.
The next item was the annual resolution directing the administration to make recommendations and reductions in programs and positions to the board. This is something that is done each year so it is there if they need it.
The Board declared 600 food trays as surplus. The Food Service budget had some Federal reimbursement money that needed to be spent or lost and must be spent on things that only the Food Service would use. When asked, Head Cook, Kerry Peterson said that what they needed most was new trays. It is guessed that the present ones are 25-30 years old.
Lastly, the Board approved and gratefully accepted the donations for this month. Thank you to: Minnesota Vikings 1,000.00 Coach of the Week, Lake Wilson Lodge #262 2,000.00 Scholarship, MCC Ag Boosters 750.00 Scholarship, MCC EA 750.00 Scholarship, Holbrooks 5,000.00 Judy Grinde Scholarship, Lange Gang Foundation 300.00 Scholarship, Timothy Lange 200.00 Scholarship, Hadley Farmers Elevator 1,000.00 Scholarship, Slayton Building Materials 1,000.00 Scholarship, Murray Lodge #199 1,000.00 Scholarship, Jeffrey Doose 300.00 Mather Scholarship, American Legion Riders #64 500.00 Culture Club, Kiwanis Club 100.00 Culture Club.
The next meeting will be Feb. 14, 2022 at 6:00pm.
