Board of Education, Regular Meeting October 23, 2003 Independent School District 739 o Kimball, MN

The meeting was called to order by chair Kersten at 6:34 p.m. with the Superintendent, elementary and high school principals, and all board members except VanVleet present. The Pledge of Allegiance was said by all in attendance. Motion by Gillman, seconded by Laabs, to approve the agenda as amended. An item to cancel the Dec. 11 Truth In Taxation Hearing was added to the agenda. Motion carried (MC). Motion by Gillman, seconded by Laabs, to approve payment of the listed bills, with the exception of check #48960 in the amount of $191,839.71, of which $20,664.34 was construction related costs. MC. Motion by Laabs, seconded by Stenger, to approve the consent agenda. MC. The consent agenda included: a. Approve minutes of Sept. 18, 2003, board meeting. b. Accept donation received from Fair Haven Lions for $600 for Community Education special events. c. Accept donation received from Kimball Firemen’s Relief Assn. for $650 for Kimball FFA for attendance at the National FFA Convention. d. Acknowledge donation from Wat-Kim-Valley V.F.W. for $650 for the Kimball FFA Chapter. e. Acknowledge donation from Kimball American Legion for $1,000 for the Kimball FFA Chapter. f. Approve reinvestment of $97,000 at Bank of Commerce, Nev., at 1.75 percent, for one year, maturing Sept. 16, 2004. g. Approve reinvestment of $97,000 at National Republic Bank, Ill., at 1.8 percent for one year, maturing Sept. 23, 2004. h. Approve increase of 0.5 hour only on ECSE days for Lorraine Rose. i. Approve additional Student Activity Account #63 for Elementary Knowledge Bowl. The treasurer’s report and quarterly reports were reviewed and discussed. Lori Bartlett, Senior Auditor with Kern, DeWenter, Viere, Ltd., presented the fiscal year 2003 audit report. Ms. Bartlett complemented the district on its efforts to end the year very close to the proposed budget expenditures. Motion by Stenger, seconded by Kuechle, to approve the audit as reported. MC. Superintendent Thielman reviewed a contract already approved by the City of Kimball to provide two hours of Liaison Officer time by the city to the district at a rate of $27 per hour to be paid monthly. Motion by Kuechle, seconded by Stenger, to approve said contract. MC. Motion by Gillman, seconded by Laabs, to approve payment of check #48960 to the City of Kimball for the first monthly payment for Liaison Officer time. MC. Motion by Gillman, seconded by Laabs to approve a long-term substitute contract with Stacy Helgeson for Steve Palm from Oct. 20 through Nov. 14, 2003. MC. In the absence of Cubby Land parents, Superintendent Thielman presented a request by Cubby Land to have a two-year commitment from the board for the daycare program. The intent is that the Community Education Director write a grant which would potentially fund additional playground equipment for the fenced daycare area, and would also be available to the Early Childhood programs. Motion by Laabs, seconded by Kuechle, to provide the two-year commitment. MC. Dr. Thielman reviewed the proposed second reading of the Fixed Asset Policy. Motion by Gillman, seconded by Laabs, to approve said policy. The Student Lunch Account policy was reviewed. A model policy from the state was followed noting adjusted meal account procedures, procedures when accounts are low, teachers being notified for some grade levels, K-6 receiving ink stamp along with written notice when account is low, and grades 7-12 receiving verbal and written notice when account is low. Motion by Gillman, seconded by Laabs, to approve proposed policy with correction to item 5c. MC. Because the portion of the property taxes affected by the district levy process has a reduction over last year, the district is not required to hold the annual Truth In Taxation Hearing that had been scheduled for Dec. 11, 2003. Motion by Laabs, seconded by Stenger, to eliminate this meeting. MC. Celebration of success of students and staff included the students of the month at the elementary, information provided by Nancy Bonnifield indicating the school’s Web site is receiving an average of 300 hits per day – more than 50 percent from outside of the school building. The majority of these hits are during the daytime hours; however there are some hits at 2 or 3 a.m. A reminder that the Web address is . Resource Training and Solutions will be holding their annual Teacher of the Year banquet. This year Deb Bertram and Nancy Bonnifield are being honored. Thank you to the principals for organizing this each year. Brianna Libbesmeier was featured in the St. Cloud Times as Student of the Week. Homecoming queen and king were Holly Froehling and Luke Deutsch. Dave Traurig organized Elementary Readers – high school athletes reading to elementary students – during Homecoming Week. An honors breakfast was held Oct. 2, for last spring’s “A” honor roll students. The Fruth family was featured in the St. Cloud Times. Two local daycare providers were present questioning the revisions to the transportation policy involving the transportation of early childhood and pre-school children. They requested transportation of children at their daycare locations. Dr. Thielman apologized for the misunderstanding of the policy revision. When a non-special education student lives within the Highway 15/Highway 55 area they will not be transported because they do not cross the specified hazard. The intent of the policy was to provide transportation, when possible, to children outside of the hazard area. Superintendent Thielman presented the first reading of revisions to the Emergency Plan policy. Mr. Clark reported on mid-quarter conferences being held and the P.I.E.-sponsored book fair held raising over $1,400. Conferences were very well-att-ended. The elementary food service committee met with the Food Service Director. They are looking at the possibility of an  a la carte option for fifth- and sixth-graders. The quarterly report cards will have a slightly different look than in the past. Math curriculum is up for review this year and is currently making progress in this process. A donation of $500 from the Lions has been received to support the “Girls in Non-Traditional Programs” day at St. Cloud Technical College. The sixth-grade boys have a day similar to this held at the elementary school. A Code Red drill was held the previous week giving staff the opportunity to find areas they need to improve in and give some thought to response in the case of a real emergency. Ms. Imholte reported on parent-teacher conferences; the seventh-grade Courage Retreat; a workshop regarding the process of student activity accounting was attended by Imholte, Kathy Wohlman and Joan Schmidt. The National Honor Society Induction will be held Nov. 10. The Curriculum Advisory Committee met and is making the suggestion that a group be put together to make decisions related to requests for independent study classes or waivers. Superintendent Thielman reported on the School for Equity in Education (SEE) meeting he attended, the process for the Initiative Grant Application, and the United Way campaign. The district had a goal of $950 and has raised over $1,000 to-date. Committee reports included Benton-Stearns Education District – Thielman, Curriculum Advisory – Kersten. Member Kuechle brought up for discussion the question on mid-quarter grades impacting students participating in athletics. It was suggested that the athletics committee discuss this issue further. Motion by Stenger, seconded by Gillman, to adjourn the meeting at 10:04 p.m. UC. Marguerite Laabs, Clerk  Published in the Tri-County News Nov. 13, 2003.