Murray County Central School Board met on Monday, March 14th. The minutes from the February 14th meeting were approved as were the financials for the month. The Board looked at projected enrollment numbers and discussed how the decline in the number of students enrolled effects the fund balance for the district.
Personnel changes include the spring sports coaches: T. Bobeldyk – Track, T. Cariveau – Asst Baseball Coach, D. Damm – Track, K. DeLong – Golf, Kim DeLong – Golf, P. Freeman – Track, N. Wieneke – Baseball, Leisa Isder – SLP, B. Christiansen – Track, P. Counter – Baseball, M. DeLong – Softball, C. Gass – Softball, J. Herrig – Softball, S. Mansch – Baseball, E. Wieneke – Softball. They also accepted the resignation of Ryann Beukema – EC Special Education Teacher and Tyson Crosby – Secondary Health/Phy. Ed Teacher. The Board approved one post reflection. No one was present for Public Forum.
Elementary Principal Todd Burlingame reported on the success of the 5th/6th grade Activity Night, as well as upcoming events. Mr. Freeman and National Honor Society students providing training in 6th Grade Leadership. ECI is hosting the Family Fair at the same time as the Chamber of Commerce will host their annual event. 5th/6th and 7th/8th grade choirs will participate in a Choral Music Festival on Friday, March 25, which includes a Community Concert at 12:30 in the MCC Auditorium. Students and teachers are busy preparing for the MCAs. The third quarter is coming to an end. Report cards will be emailed April 1.
Secondary Principal Jake Scandrett next gave his report. High School conferences have been completed. The Coaches vs. Cancer basketball game was a huge success. The TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More- our anti-bullying group) is planning various activities for Kindness Week: March 28th-April 1st, encouraging everyone to make an extra effort to extend kindness to one another each day. Internet Safety/ Social Media Awareness Training will be taking place for all students in grades 7-12 during AP. Students in grades 7,8,9 and 11 will be participating in the MN Student Survey. The MSS is conducted in schools across our state every three years. Questions on the survey are about many topics relating to young people’s lives. This useful information helps communities and schools develop effective programs and provide better services. The CEO Program has conducted the final round of interviews for the facilitator position and have settled on a candidate. They are awaiting licensing and certification processing before releasing more information.
Mr. Meyer began his report by stating there are 3 bills in Congress right now that he is watching. “Parents Bill of Rights” SF2575, Short-call substitute bill SF2861 and House bill to tie the per-pupil formula to inflation - HF 2949. The Board Finance Committee met on March 8 to discuss current budget/projections, enrollment loss/projections, fund balance/ projections, and potential reductions in staff/programs. An estimated $300,000 needs to be cut for the FY23 budget with all areas to be considered. The mental health/self-care in-service was held on March 10th. A feedback survey has been sent out to all staff for the Board to gauge effectiveness.
Activities Director James Wajer reported next. Wrestling ended their year 13/13 and made it to the semi-finals hosted at MCC. 6th-8th grade Youth Wrestling Team qualified for the Youth State Tournament. Boys Basketball ended their year 14/12 with a loss to Westbrook/ Walnut Grove in a 4/5 game. The Girls Basketball team ended their year when they lost a pigtail game to Adrian. Knowledge Bowl had a good year. Two teams competed in Regionals with the team of Dawson Blankenship, Logan Steinle, Rylan Engelkes, Brailynn Breberg and Dayton Johnson qualifying for the State Knowledge Bowl Meet. The Speech team have been doing well also and is building toward sections having placed first and second in recent meets. Spring sports numbers include 25 in 7-12 Girls Track, 25 in 7-12 Boys Track, 24 in 7-8 Baseball, 24 in 9-12 Baseball, 14 in 7-8 Softball, 29 in 9-12 Softball, 10 in Girls Golf and 14 in Boys Golf. There are 4 students doing dual sports this spring. Lastly, there is a Band and Choir Contest on March 15th.
Negotiation Update: EA: A mediation meeting has been set up by the state Board of Mediation Services for Monday, April 4th. Paras: have asked for some clarifications and the Board is waiting to hear back from the latest counter proposal. Cooks/Custodians: No update. Supt. Meyer’s final report is that our COVID numbers are currently at zero and have been at zero and/or one case for the past several weeks. The mask mandate on school buses and vans was lifted on Feb. 28th. They will continue to post on the MCC COVID Dashboard.
As part of new business the Board approved: The Band’s Disney trip, the 2nd grade Circus trip, the K-Kids Fundraising request, FY 2023 Achievement & Integration Budget, SW/WC Service Cooperative contracts for 2022-2023, Declared Tech Surplus: 20 - 32GB, 6th Generation iPads, Declared Food Service Surplus: Commercial Electric Stove, Authorized calling for bids for dairy, bakery, publication, legal, spraying, fertilizer and did the first reading of Policy 412, 412A .
Next, the Board declared a Resolution Authorizing Cooperative Sponsorship Application and approved the overnight trip for the Knowledge Bowl to attend the State Meet. Lastly, the Board accepted donations from Dareth Ross, $30, Band and Choir Trip, Marlene Erickson, Thrifty White, $63.70.
Next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 11, 2022 @ 6:00 PM in the High School Library.
