The Murray County Central School Board met on Monday, May 9th. The agenda was approved as were the consent agenda items. Those included the meeting minutes from April 11th, the financials for the month, as well as, the personnel changes presented by Superintendent Joe Meyer. He first reported that Dee Regan will be taking a leave of absence, as well as, Bridget Kluis should the Board approve the request. They have hired Mandy Berglund and Mike Oliver as food service and custodial to fill Bev Johnson’s position. Tammi Paulzine was reassigned as the Elementary Math Masters Coordinator. Resignations were accepted from Sue Bau as Knowledge Bowl Head Coach, Kate DeLong as Head Volleyball Coach, Karen Hildebrandt – Secondary English Teacher, and Adam Neubarth – Elementary Teacher and Assistant Football Coach. Patrick Freeman was hired as the Elementary Principal and resigned his Social Science position, assistant track coach position, National Honor Society and junior/ senior advisor positions. Meyer did comment that with the resignations, they were able to make the Elementary position full time and will now look for a school counselor. Meyer also reported that they have come to agreement for the MCC EA 2021 – 2023 contracts and the MCC Paraprofessional 2021- 2023 contracts. Meyer were set as the designated IOwA for the MDE websites this is a required item each year.
Elementary Principal, Todd Burlingame presented the Board with an update. They have completed MCA testing and the numbers so far look good and show growth. The Book Fair and Kindergarten Roundup were this last week and both went over well. They will see 48 current incoming kindergartners and 10 jr. kindergartners this coming fall. It’s that time of year that classes are taking their end of year field trips with lots of fun things planned.
Jacob Scandrett provided the Board with an update on the Secondary level. They will complete the MCA testing this week and will get official numbers later in the summer. The last week of school for students is the week of May 23rd. Twentyfour students signed up for the summer enrichment program and have a lot of exciting things planned. They will be following the book Hatchet and Mrs. Ethridge has projects and events planned around that.
Meyer presented his Superintendent update. The state legislative session doesn’t end until the 23rd of May and there is a very wide gap still between the house and senate. The Cooks/ Custodian group has taken a tentative contract agreement to their group to vote on and Meyer hopes to bring that back to the June meeting. The district health insurance rates are in and they did increase 12%. Open enrollment for staff to sign up for their insurance will be from May 17th to the 31st.
Old Business included the policy revision to Policy 412 and 412A which is regarding expense reimbursement. This was approved.
New business included an ‘after the fact’ request from the Softball Team for a fundraiser for Cameron Boerboom. Meyer explained to the Board that he continues to remind the staff the proper process for these items. He also presented the first readings for Policy 614 – School District Testing Plan and Procedure and 761 – Meal Charge Policy.
The Board accepted the following donations for the month: Boerboom Seed 1,333.00 Advertising, MDH 1,786.83 Hydration Station, Monica & Jason Miller 100.00 Grade 5, Anonymous 100.00 HS Art, MCC Sports Boosters 26,905.00 Athletics, Slayton American Legion Auxiliary 500.00 Scholarship, FFA-AET 243.10 Mini Grant FFA. Thank you to everyone who supports our school and students. The next school board meeting will be Monday, June 13th.
