The Murray County Central School Board met in regular session on July 15, 2024. All members were present, along with Superintendent Joe Meyer and Elementary Principal Patrick Freeman. They approved the agenda without any additions, as well as the Consent Agenda. Meyer reported that PSA Wendy Hartle is retiring after many years of service to our school, effective Sept. 13, 2024. Next, the Board approved the Annual Official Depositories: Minnwest Bank, State Bank of Chandler and First National Bank of Slayton. The Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund will again be the Official Investment Depository.
Elementary Principal Patrick Freeman gave his report next. The projected enrollment of 376 students next year has not changed, although he stated that some of the younger students enroll later. MCC has 1-2 spots available for 4 yr. olds still avaibable. Secondary Principal Jake Scandrett and he are working on the schedule for the back to school workshop and finalizing the topics to be covered. Early Childhood training has been completed and will continue toward implementation. The Elementary school will NOT have a fundraiser this year. The last two years have met our goal and he feels we have enough in our fund balance to pay for field trips and other programming needs. He has received some quotes on playground equipment that were quite expensive. Freeman is looking to do some brainstorming and look at some additions to the playground without redoing the whole thing. The plan is to resume fundraising in the fall of 2025. With the departmentalization of 5th and 6th grades, he is busy rearranging schedules for the coming year. Three of our Reading & Math Corps instructors will be returning this year, but there is still an opening for a 4th-6th grade Math Corps person. Finally, Principal Freeman thanked Mr. Meyer and the School Board for giving him the opportunity to participate in the Minnesota Elementary School Principal’s Association Mentorship program this year. He will be attending the Managing to Lead Conference at the end of July where they will have a legislative recap and explore strategies to streamline workflow.
Mr. Meyer read the Secondary Principal’s report. Mr. Scandrett has been wrapping up the 23/24 school year and preparing for the upcoming year. We are still in need of a HS SpEd Teacher and a Junior High Volleyball coach. Principal Scandrett has been busy determining if we can stay on our current block schedule AND support the necessary adjustments to our budget. It does appear that we CAN keep our current block schedule while maintaining strong elective offerings for our students and allowing for a 90 minute prep for high school teachers. “As we reduce sections of classes as required, some of our classes will see higher numbers than what we have generally been accustomed to at MCC in the past. This impact will be minimized, however, as lower numbers from the elementary continue to work up to the high school.” He attended a principal conference and came away with some good ideas on our cell phone plan implementation, as many districts are tightening their policies. There was also a conversation on Work Based Learning, expanding options for students to work in the community while receiving high school credit. A common theme of discussion was dealing with budget reductions. We are not the only district having those conversations. Summer school wrapped up June 28th, with students being able to earn credits needed toward graduation. “A big shout-out to Kari Mathiowetz, who stepped up to help drive students to summer school this year.
Meyer gave his report next. Summer cleaning and waxing of floors continues. The Central building is almost complete. Custodial staff moved to West Elementary the week of July 8. “We are on track, maybe slightly ahead of schedule compared to previous years.” The competition gym has been finished with another layer of oil finish and is open for use. Shampooing of carpets starts July 15. The new intercom/bell system installation began July 8th. It should take about 2 weeks. Phase One of the new parking lot on King Ave and the roof replacement above the band room area and above the girl’s locker room also started on July 8. All projects are progressing nicely. The new fire panel at West was installed last week. It still needs to be commissioned and they are waiting for a computer chip. The old panel was no longer compliant and was a Fire Marshal requirement. The new phone system and conversion from Frontier will be happening August 5-6. Our annual audit will be scheduled for some time toward the beginning or middle of September. REMINDER: The filing period for school board positions is July 30-Aug. 13. This is for the three positions currently held by Lauren Biegler, Robin Gilbertson and Sue Streff. Meyer will be out of the office on vacation the week of July 29th and will be back in the office Aug. 5th.
The first bit of new business was to discuss, move and approve an increase in the substitute teacher/para/kitchen pay. Substitute teacher pay was increased by $5.00, Kitchen pay was increased by $.50/hour and Para pay begins at the new step one, which is approximately $.50 more per hour. Next the board reviewed, moved and approved the changes in the Activities Handbook which included some wording in the absent/participation in an event later in the day area, as well as a new schedule for purchasing uniforms. 24-25 Baseball, 2526 Softball, 26-27 Boys Basketball, 27-28 Track boys/Girls and Cross County Girls/Boys, 28-29 Volleyball, 29-30 Football, Gold Boys/Girls, 30-31 Basketball Girls. School Nurse was replaced with Health Office/ Health Services Coordinator. Next, they reviewed and approved the proposed changes to the elementary and high school handbooks. While they both included minor changes in language throughout, and should be reread each year in their entirety, the areas with the most changes are: High School - Cell phone policy and school lunch program. Elementary Teacher Requests and Health Service Information. The board next approved the annual Football Team Campout to Lost Timber Camp and an optional trip to DSU for the Football team, 33 team members have signed up. Schools need a 10 year Facility Maintenance Plan Resolution that needs to be approved each year. This was read, discussed and approved. According to our plan, it appears as if we will be “out-ofdeficit” by fiscal year 2027.The first reading of two new policies: General Record Retention and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Drone Policy were done.
Finally, the board thankfully accepted the following donations: Rich Morin 20.00 Food Service, Murray County Foundation 1,800.00 Community Ed – 4‐9 Golf, SMOC 3,360.00 Early Learning Scholarship, Jeff Doose 500.00 Mather Scholarship, Avoca American Legion Auxiliary 1,000.00 Scholarships, Sportscope 2,499.00 EDGE Instant Replay.
Looking ahead, The Nov. meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 12, due to Veteran’s Day. The next meeting will be Monday August 12,2024, followed by board retreat.
