MCC SCHOOL BOARD WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

MCC School Board held their first meeting of the new year. They started with the reorganizational meeting. The newly elected members included Heather Hoekman, Brent Miller and Tony Clarke were sworn in and the agenda was approved. The election of officers started with the election of Tony Clarke as Chairperson, Lauren Biegler as Clerk, Sue Streff as Treasurer and Robin Gilbertson as Vice Chair. Meetings will continue to be on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6pm at the school library. They discussed the meeting in April, as it was right after Easter Weekend. No change was made. They approved the current board rate of $70 per meeting and mileage rate of .655 cents per mile. They also approved the additional compensation for the Board Chair of $500 and Board Clerk of $250. They designated Lisa Rademacher and Deb Bleyenberg to perform the duties of treasurer and clerk. Legal counsel was again designated as Rupp, Anderson, Squires and Waldspurger, P.A.. The Board also reviewed the sub-committees that everyone is on. They were adjusted to incorporate the new board members. This meeting was then adjourned, and they moved into the regular January Board meeting for the MCC School Board.

The minutes from the December 12th meeting were reviewed and approved. They also reviewed the financials for the month. There was no one present for public forum and the Board moved on to principal reports.

Patrick Freeman provided the elementary update. December was a busy month with events and weather closings. 5th & 6th grade held their Band Concert in December. They played an assortment of holiday music. 2nd and 3rd grade also had a music concert which had been rescheduled multiple times. Great turn out. Thank you, parents, family and staff for your flexibility! They are planning a PBIS all-district winter staff event for fun and socializing on February 18th at Key Largo – Dueling Pianos. The 2nd quarter will end on January 20th. There will be a teacher in-service on January 23rd (no school for students). The preschool screening will be on the 24th and report cards will go out on the 27th.

Jacob Scandrett gave his update for the high school level. They are starting to prep for the MCA testing coming up in April. Class registration for next fall will start in February, they will be holding informational class meetings soon for students. Snow week is the week of January 16th there are many fun events planned, including dress up days, royalty contest and activities. One change is the snow dance will be a formal dance this year and will be on Saturday night, January 21st 8-11:30pm.

Joe Meyer presented the district update. The district has used all of its 5 e-learning days already for the 2022/2023 school year. December 13th was the first snow day and doesn’t have to be made up. The Board did discuss that there may be a need to adjust the school day minutes if the winter continues with this trend. But at this point no changes need to be made. We go out for health insurance bids again this year, 2023. The process will start soon with advertising and getting bids. The month of February is Board Recognition Month.

James Wajer, Athletic Director updated the Board on his creativity of scheduling with all of the snow events that have been happening. So far, they have not lost any events. Changes in events can be found on the website.

The Board moved on to old business. Meyer presented the 2023 Capital Project Levy to the Board who needs to approve it for submission to the Commissioner of Education - Minnesota Department of Education. This is the paperwork and collection of information that the Department of Ed can review and comment on – if it’s a favorable review then the school needs a 50% plus one in order for the levy to pass. The Board approved the report so it can be sent off. They next reviewed a letter Mr. Meyer and the Board received from Becky Halbur regarding her status as a retired substitute teacher. In the eyes of the State of MN, she is considered and recognized as a retired teacher. Halbur has been a substitute teacher and coach for the school district since 1981. The question that arose with the Board is the precedent that is set with this situation. They don’t want to discredit FTE teachers or the hard work and dedication that Halbur and other subs have given to the district. At this time no action was taken the Board agreed that the language needs to be cleaned up to reflect what they feel “retired mcc teacher” means. They next had the third and final reading of policy 722 Public Data Subject Requests, this was then approved by the Board.

Moving on to new business the first item was to approve the resolution calling for the special election on May 9th, 2023 for the Capital Project Levy. Roll Call Vote had all in favor. They also approved the resolution that directs administration to make the recommendations in reductions in programs and staffing if needed (this is a routine item each year).

Thank you to those who donated this past month: Slayton Building Materials 41.32 Kindergarten Class, Slayton Building Materials 1000.00 Scholarship, Blackbaud Giving Fund 50.00 Secondary, MSHSL Foundation 1051.00 Athletic fee Scholarships, 13th District Bar Association 150.00 Mock Trial, SWHHS 20.00 Winter Cheer Clinic Donation, US Bank (Employee match) 70.00 Elementary Activity, Murray County 50.00 HS Choir Activity, Murray County 50.00 HS Band Activity, Minnwest Bank 50.00 HS Choir Activity, Minnwest Bank 50.00 HS Band Activity, Kent Johansen 300.00 materials for HS Tech monitor stands.

The next school board meeting is February, 13, 2023. Meeting adjourned.