The Murray County Central School Board covered a full slate of business during its Monday, June 12 meeting at the MCC School Library.
After approving the agenda, minutes and claims, the Business Director Lisa Rademacher shared that the preliminary expense and revenue budget for Fiscal Year 24 was challenging to project since there were so many moving parts.
Regarding personnel, MCC Superintendent Joe Meyer shared that two certified staff members — Colleen Freeman and Jason Wischnak — requested lane changes after earning college credits and having that verified. Meyer also recommended the hiring of Erin Scandrett as a third party billing specialist. “She is interested in subbing as well,” Meyer said. The board approved a motion to accept the recommendations.
Elementary Principal Patrick Freeman updated the board regarding summer enrichment activities, most of which are at full capacity numbers of students, in addition to sharing an update for reading/ math corps. Freeman added that they are currently seeking a second-grade teacher after Kati Bobeldyk agreed to join the elementary special education team. There are also three open paraprofessional positions due to resignations and retirements. “We’ll begin the interview process this week and continue to do so until those are filled,” Freeman said.
There are currently 23 staff members signed up for LETRS training, eight staff members for early childhood LETRS and three staff members for LETRS ASPIRE. In regard to a concern about the early outs affecting faith formation students, Freeman said they were working to coordinate a suitable plan.
A Little Rebels report revealed that there were 15 students enrolled two days a week, 15 enrolled three days a week and 16 enrolled four days a week as well as 13 students in junior kindergarten. Other than the Shetek Lutheran Ministries maple syrup trip that was canceled due to weather, all the ECFE activities were extremely well attended.
Principal Jake Scandrett said a phenomenal amount of dollars — more than $50,000 in scholarships — were given out at the senior awards ceremony thanks to generous community members and donors. Scandrett also shared a breakdown of where the MCC Class of 2023 graduates were heading. Of the 55 students, 47% have plans to attend a four-year university, while 42% were headed to two-year colleges, 9% planned to work and 2% joined the military.
Nine students are taking advantage of the credit recovery summer school option, while five students are taking a summer college class in Marshall. Two MCC students will be taking part in the second CEO class, starting in the fall.
At this point, 19 students are signed up for the intro to medical health career class. The district is also looking at the possibility of partnering with the sheriff’s office to offer a law enforcement class in spring 2025.
Scandrett also shared an activities report prepared by James Wajer, who was unable to attend the meeting. A postseason recap was given for each spring sport, with Wajer thanking everyone, especially all the officials, for a successful spring season.
In a legislative update to the board, Meyer highlighted three major areas that will have a financial impact on the budget. Unemployment benefits are now available to all nonlicensed hourly employees who work less than 12 months — para, cooks, bus drivers and secretarial staff. The newly approved benefit started May 28 and will come out of the district’s general education fund in the future. “They feel they’ll have enough money in the state to pay for that this year or until the $135 million is spent,” Meyer said. “We’re anticipating that money to be gone after this first year, then we’ll be responsible for covering the cost moving forward.”
Secondly, there will be a 4% formula increase for Fiscal Year 24 and 2% increase for FY25. Meyer said the formula increase will be tied to inflation starting in FY26 based on CPI, not to be less than 2% but not to exceed 3%. The third major funding area is the SPED cross-subsidy, which is going to be paid at 44% for fiscal years 2024-2026. “Starting in Fiscal Year 27, they’re going to bump that up to 50%,” Meyer said. “That’ll be a good chunk of dollars that will help pay off our special ed costs that we have been taking out of our general ed.”
Juneteenth is now a state holiday, so the school will be closed and there can be no activities or meetings on June 19. Meyer said an attempt was made to salvage as much of the old floor as possible but that removing larger chunks of the floor proved to be nearly impossible. There are still boards available to purchase as memorabilia. The current donation amount is now more than $17,000.
In old business, the board approved the 23-24 school calendar with the addition of four inservice dates — Oct. 11, Dec. 13, Mar. 13 and May 15 — for LETRS training included.
In new business, the board voted to renew its property and liability insurance with KDL Insurance, with an increase of the commercial property deductible from $2,500 to $5,000. Carisa Clarke was in attendance and shared that, like everything else, the overall premium went up, roughly $20,000.
District site leader Sharon Johnson shared a Q-Comp budget and report with the board, noting that the teachers feel that Q-Comp is really valuable. “They love having the ability to collaborate, and the peer observation process, they really enjoy that,” she said. “That helps them the most. They’re willing to take risks as far as having a peer observer come in and try something new with their lesson.”
The board approved renewals with the Minnesota State High School League, Minnesota School Board Association and Minnesota Rural Education Association.
“The biggest piece with MSBA is the advocacy they provide at the legislature and then also our board policy,” Meyer said. “There are 28 policies affected this year, so they have attorneys working on getting those updated. Hopefully we’ll have those available for the July meeting.”
Two girls basketball trips for this summer were also approved, with the only thing being asked of the district is for the use of a van or two.
Just prior to making a motion to go into closed session to discuss developing or considering offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of real property, the board approved a resolution accepting donations: Fireman’s Relief $1,000 Gym Floor, Dorothy Blegen $100 Gym Floor, Boxtops for Education $23.50 HS General, Boxtops for Education $6.20 Elementary Student Activity, DHS $300 Lifeskills Grant, SB Boosters $1,088 Pitching Mats, American Legion Post 64 $500 Legion Baseball, Roger Short $75 Scholarship, Slayton Kiwanis $1,000 Scholarship, Murray Lodge #199 $412 Elementary General and MASSP – Silver Star Award $100 HS General Student Activity.
There is a change in date and time for the July meeting. The next meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 17.
