Murray County Central School Board met on Monday, August 8th. The Board approved the agenda with additions and consent agenda items. These included the minutes from the July 11th meeting, the financials for the month, and personnel items. The personnel items included the coaching, advisor and extra assignments to teaching staff as well as those who are outside of the district. The resignation of Andy Berndt, Director of Technology was also accepted and they will post to hire for this position. There was no one present for open forum.
Moving on to principal reports; Jacob Scandrett went first, as Patrick Freeman was in the sports meeting at the time. Scandrett updated the Board on the high school level. They have not had any interest in the SpEd position so they will be filling this from within. 7th grade orientation will be August 31st. The student numbers for the start of the school year are at 330.
Superintendent Joe Meyer gave the Board his update. The auditors will be onsite the end of the month for the FY22 audit. School Board filing will close August 16th and there have been two individuals who have filed so far. The annual staff picnic will be September 1st from 11:30-12:30. The gym floor has been finished and ready for the first day of practice on August 15th. Meyer is having multiple companies come and look at the gym floor to see about replacement options. The facilities committee along with some coaches will be involved in the process to replace the floor. The gym is 10,000 square feet and costs are up currently. The buildings will be ready to go for the new school year this fall.
One item of old business to discuss was sub pay for teachers. Area districts around MCC have approved some higher pay rates and Meyer wanted to bring those numbers to the Board. It was agreed to amend the current sub pay rates for teachers and adjust them to the following: $140 daily rate/$170 daily rate for retired MCC teachers, $220 per day long term sub/$250 long term sub retired MCC teachers.
The first item of new business was for the annual review of the following policies: 410 Family Medical Leave, 413 Harassment and Violence / Form, 414 Mandated Reporting of Child Neglect or Physical or Sexual Abuse / Form, 415 Mandated Reporting of Maltreatment of Vulnerable Adults, 506 Student Discipline / Form, 511 Fundraising Policy, 514 Bullying Prohibition Policy, 522 Student Sex Nondiscrimination / Form, 616 School District System Accountability, and 806 Crisis Management Policy. Policy 524- Internet Acceptable Use and Safety is the new policy that requires the district to report to the parents where their child’s information will be held within the district. Meyer talked about this one last month and would like it included in polices for approval this month so it’s in place with the start of the school year.
Meyer discussed the 2022-2023 Preparedness Plan; this needs to be kept updated because the school still gets ESSER funds. The school still asks students to stay home if they are ill and follow proper health etiquette. The online schooling option through the co-op is still available, but the virtual learning classroom will not be a requirement moving forward. Many items are transitioning back to pre-Covid times. Facecoverings are not required but will be supported if anyone (staff or student) chooses to wear one. This will continue to be updated as the year progresses. The Board approved this plan.
The Board next approved the resolution to call for the general election for the open positions on the school board.
Patrick Freeman, Elementary Principal gave his update. Student numbers sit at 371 for the start of fall at this time. The extended school year will be ending this week, 8 students completed this. There is still an open Enrichment Coordinator position and a Reading Math Corps position. Freeman met with the PBIS committee and they discussed goals for the future.
Moving on to new business, Freeman presented an option for fundraising this year with a company called Boosterthon. He would like to do a fun run where the students will seek out pledges from the donors for how much they run (weather permitting) or dance. If the weather doesn’t work, they can transition to dancing minutes. These funds help cover the cost of field trips and activities for students.
The handbooks for the 2022-2023 school year were reviewed and approved. This includes High School Activities, Secondary Parent Student, Elementary Parent Student, Classroom Procedure of Operation and MCC Employee. One main item in the High Schools Activities handbook was the streamlined processes for when teams come back into town after winning a title. It will be champions only and the athletic director will be the one contact. This will help respect the time of all those involved in the process. In the Elementary Parent Student guide the drop off at the high school will be changed to help make it a smoother and safer process.
The last item was the annual membership for the MN High School League. Meyer did not have the actual amounts yet for the next year. This resolution simply states that they are going to be members and he anticipates the dues to come in the next month. This was approved.
The last item was to approve the donations from American Legion Auxiliary Unit 576 for $300 to Legions Softball/Baseball and Murray Masonic Lodge #199 for $1000 to the scholarship fund.
The next meeting is September 12th at 6pm.
