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MCC Rebels
By Jenny Kirk Murray County Central school board members and administrators addressed a multitude of items and issues at the February school board meeting on Monday, Feb. 13.
Superintendent Joe Meyer shared grim news regarding the ongoing teacher shortage facing MCC as well as the majority of districts throughout Minnesota. “The teacher workforce shortage is a big, heavy topic,” Meyer said. “There’s going to be, in my opinion, some really tough things coming up in the next few months, on how we handle this.”
While a staff shortage is cause for concern, there appears to be a lot to celebrate throughout the school district as well. Elementary Principal Patrick Freeman said enrollment was up eight students from a year ago, for a current enrollment of 372 at the elementary school, and that the K-6 students recently participated in a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) activity.
“We had a PBIS sledding day January 24 (grades 2-6) and January 26 (grades K-1) at the golf course,” Freeman said.
“We have these big bins where kids put in their Rebel bucks.
If we fill up that bin, then we do a school-wide celebration.
Overall, it was a really fun and that there are several other events coming up in the next few weeks. “We have our winter staff event on Saturday,” he said. “The fifth and sixth grade activity night is on March 3. That’s sponsored by our student council. It’s a good thing for students. There will be a DJ, photo booth, popcorn and hot dogs.”
At the high school, MCC Principal Jacob Scandrett gave an enrollment update, noting that there were currently 327 students, down five from Semester 1, but up nine students from a year ago at the high school. He also shared that parent/teacher conferences were coming up on March 6.
“It’s a good time for families to connect on how your student is doing in school, in general,” Scandrett said. “We encourage everyone to come out.” According to Scandrett, class registration will be happening next week for Fall 2023. “One of the highlights is our equine science class, to be taught by our ag department,” he said. “The course will feature a study of horses and their care, focusing on nutrition, handling and anatomy/ physiology.” The junior high world cultures class, taught by the foreign language department, is being offered again in the fall but will include a new list of countries. “Students who enjoyed taking that this year can take it next year as well, with a new list of countries,” Scandrett said. “We’re currently recruiting students to apply for the CEO program, and we’re going to be running our popular introduction to medical careers class that is held at Murray County Medical Center.” “Thank you to all the businesses who are working to support our students and students of Greater Southwest Minnesota,” he said. “The Lyon/Murray program is compiled of students from Murray County Central, Tracy and Marshall. We’re really happy to continue that collaboration with our district as well, to bring this opportunity to our students.” Scandrett added that the current CEO students are planning to split the profits from their class business, Minnesotafied, and look to jumpstart their own personal businesses. “We have ‘Pitch Day’ coming up in a few weeks, where our students will be pitching their personal businesses to the CEO board and requesting funds for how much they need to get their business started,” he said.
In his report, Meyer noted that the 2023 Legislative Session was on a “torrid pace” and that there’d been a record-number of bills introduced — roughly three-fold compared to other years.
“I checked this morning and there are over 1,500 bills that have been introduced,” Meyer said. “It’s a little bit concerning when there’s that many to get through and wondering what’s going to be the focus. Much work is yet to be done.” Meyer said he’d love to see special education funded at 100%, though that has never happened in the past. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz currently has a 50% funding proposal. “All the shortfall comes out of our general fund,” Meyer said. “Our cross-subsidy is over $500,000, but the bill that is being introduced is fully funding special ed. If that will be fully funded, or even 50%, you could see what that would do to our general fund.”
Board members also learned that the district received a federal ECF grant in the amount of $24,000. “It’s to help fund connectivity and technology for our district,” Meyer said. “This is the third award we’ve received through the ECF grant, and that totals about $91,000. This has been used to help replace laptops or iPad devices that are outdated and meet the qualifications of the grant.”
Athletic/Activities Director James Wajer gave updates on student activities, adding that the Triple “A” Award winners for the district were Tanner Graphenteen and Amanda Overgaauw.
“We’re proud to say that Amanda Overgaauw was also chosen for our Subsection 10, Section 3A female Triple ‘A’ Award winner and will represent us at the state level in March.”
At the beginning of the meeting, board members discussed the financials and personnel topics as part of the consent agenda. Business Manager Lisa Rademacher gave an update on the cash flow situation and also clarified the increase in bills. “We did have a bond payment, so the weekly bills were higher,” she said. “That was $29,000 to Bond Trust Services. That’s for the new gym.”
Regarding personnel, Meyer reported two resignations and one retirement. “Kaitlin Cole resigned from elementary music,” he said. “Bridget Kluis was on a leave this entire year and has decided to resign her position. And Brenda Loosbrock will be retiring at the end of this year. She does meet, and I believe she’s the last of the employees that qualifies for the Rule of 90.” Loosbrock, a fifth-grade teacher, has been part of the district for 35 years.
Meyer also noted that the district received a letter today from the paraprofessional union, for a desire to negotiate. “Their contract ends June 30.
This is a contract year for all of our union employees and also our non-union employees as well.” Personnel items also included approval of spring co-curricular assignments. After the hearty discussion, the consent agenda was accepted and the meeting continued on. With no old business to discuss, the board moved on to new business.
Slayton American Legion Commander Brad Pagel shared news about the Vietnam Traveling Wall they are bringing in during fair week in August. Specifically, Pagel wanted to get board approval for the use of the parking lots at the elementary school, to be utilized for overflow traffic. A motion also carried regarding a first-grade field trip to the zoo and museum in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as a bonding trip to Okoboji (Iowa) for the softball team. The board also approved the posting of surplus softball items in addition to a resolution accepting donations.
More discussion took place regarding the 2023-24 school year calendar. “I met with Mr. (Isaac) Harms and he has reached out to the Education Association and received feedback,” Meyer said. “In a general sense, they are in favor of adding minutes onto the day, to try to gain five additional days into the calendar.” Meyer said the negotiation needs to take place prior to the March board meeting as the calendar has to be approved by April 1. “Even though the calendar is not a negotiated item, there are items like the length of the school day and how many school days that are in the contract, so we’ll have to work out those details,” Meyer said.
The Board accepted the following donations and thanked those individuals for their generosity. Apex Clean Energy $3,000.00 Grant, First National Bank Bowling Team 440.49 Food Service Accounts, Box Tops for Education 51.80 Elementary, Slayton Women of Today 100.00 Healthy Snack, Tarry & Sally Boelter 250.00 Backpack Program, Compeer Financial 750.00 Backpack Program, Farmers Agency of Avoca 1,500.00 Scholarship, MCC EA 750.00 Scholarships, Donna & Kent Johansen 500.00 Scholarship, Minnwest Bank 500.00 Scholarship, Currie State Bank 250.00 Scholarship, Hadley Lions Club 1,000.00 Scholarships, Slayton Women of Today 500.00 Scholarship, Lake Wilson Masonic Lodge 2,000.00 Scholarships, Tom & Margaret Holbrook 5,000.00 Scholarship, Chandler Coop 1,500.00 Scholarships
The next school board meeting is slated for 6 p.m. on Monday, March 13.
