REGULAR MEETING, Unofficial Minutes, Board of Education
December 19, 2018
Ind. School District 739, Kimball, MN
Superintendent Widvey opened the Truth In Taxation Hearing at 6:00 p.m. The proposed 2018 Payable 2019 levy was reviewed, including the district’s audited revenues and expenditures from 2017-2018. Steps in the levy process and the levy calendar were explained, followed by a detailed breakout of the proposed levy. There were no questions by those in attendance at the hearing.
Chair Schreiner opened the meeting at 6:11 p.m. with all members present. The Pledge of Allegiance was said by all.
Motion by Zipoy, seconded by Becker to approve the agenda as amended. Member Zipoy asked to add a brief PIE meeting report; Schreiner moved the closed session to follow personnel items.
Jesse Lesnau was present to share discussion being held between the Arts Club and Spanish Club with regards to a trip to France and Spain to replace the trip historically taken to Mexico or Costa Rica. A number of the Arts Club students are also in Spanish Club. Combining the two groups will hopefully increase the number of students taking the trip. They feel this trip will provide a better art experience than Costa Rica would for the Art students, but will allow the Spanish Club students the Spanish culture they are expecting as well. Motion by Davis, seconded by Becker, to approve changing the usual Costa Rica trip to France and Spain. MC
Mr. Westrich presented results of the MSHSL student survey recently given to students in grades 7-11. Archery, bowling, and boys’/girls’ hockey were the top three activities students would be interested in if the sports were available at Kimball. Hats off to Kenzie and Emma for the fall musical. The interest is there to continue this moving forward. Winter sports are under way with 12 participants in One-Act, 14 in Speech as of now, 46 in girls’ basketball, 46 in boys’ basketball, 26 in wrestling, 3 in skiing, and 19 in robotics.
Celebrations and success of students and staff included kudos to the fall musical and a total attendance of 512. The performance was great, and folks really enjoyed themselves. The Elementary and High School Christmas programs were all very well attended. Emma Hohulin and Tim Rahkola and the students did a great job.
Motion by Davis, seconded by Meyer, to approve the consent agenda. Motion carried. The consent agenda included:
• Approve minutes from the Nov. 14, 2018, Regular meeting;
• Approval of Bills;
• Treasurer’s Report;
• Approve hiring Ian Thomason, Secondary Special Education Instructor, at BA, Step 1 of the Master Agreement, beginning January 10, 2019;
• Approve hiring Kathleen Massmann, District Secretary, at Category VII, Step 9 of the Non-
Licensed Agreement, beginning January 7, 2019;
• Approve Alicia Fenske, Elementary Paraprofessional, at Category II, step 3 of the Non-
Licensed Agreement, beginning January 2, 2019;
• Approve Jennifer Schiefelbein, Amelia Burg, and Kenzie Traurig shared Head Speech Coaches;
• Approve leave of absence request for Brianna Arns beginning on or about March 11, 2019, through the end of the school year;
• Acknowledge donation of October 12th Fire Hall trip for Kindergarten students, by Hendricks Bus Service;
• Accept donation of $174.09 from Tri-State Manufacturers’ Association, to cover transportation costs for welding class to attend Forecast Your Future event at SCTCC;
• Accept donation of $500 from Central Counties Cooperative toward the FFA Program;
• Accept donation of $500 from Dreams to Reality Childcare, toward the Scholarship fund;
• Accept donation of $250 from A.M. Maus & Son toward the Scholarship fund;
• Accept donation of $500 from Fair Haven Lions toward the Scholarship fund;
• Accept anonymous donation of $260 toward the purchase of an adapted life jacket for elementary DAPE program;
• Accept anonymous donation of $60 toward the needs of secondary student(s).
Ms. Johnson reported on the awesome elementary Christmas program on Monday; thank you teachers and paras for their help supervising, and to Jesse, Nancy and Byron for all jumping in and helping to get the risers and sound shell set up with the custodial staff being short-handed. PIE held their raffle – they had many gift baskets this year, and they were able to far exceed other years in raising about $6,600. This will be a great help in providing supplies and equipment at the elementary building. Thank you to that group for all of their work. Morning recess started in November and is amazing. Students who used to be tardy consistently are now getting to school on time so they can get to recess. There is a lot of high energy and a lot of Christmas at the Elementary this week. Thank you to Mr. Rahkola and some of his band students for coming to the elementary during grades 4-6 lunches and playing a mini concert for the kids.
Mr. Widvey shared Ms. Bonnifield’s report. The high school is busy with several new students. Since summer 2018, KAHS has seen 41 students come in and 24 leaving. Of the 24 leaving, 10 of these students transferred to another school, 10 have moved away, and 4 left for medical reasons. We continue to have requests for tours for potential families. On the 17th, Ms. Bonnifield and Ms. Gallup hosted an informational meeting for business leaders regarding youth apprenticeships. Nine business were represented, and two other businesses would like more information but could not attend. Ms. Bonnifield and Ms. Gallup traveled to Big Lake High School to meet with their principal and received some great advice about apprenticeships, some of which we’ve already started to use. Luke Greiner from the Department of Employment and Economic Development will be at KAHS in February to speak to staff about the future employment of our students. Students will learn more about youth apprenticeships at pre-registration, and we are hopeful that we’ll be matching students with apprenticeships in the fall. Thank you to Mr. Klein, Mr. Widvey, and Ms. Gallup for helping to re-focus the youth apprenticeship program. The Minnesota Student Survey will be given to students in grades 8, 9 and 11 in January. The survey is given every three years and provides the state and school with data about a variety of topics including attitudes about school, personal habits, substance use, etc. Ms. Gallup recently received a grant from the FFA Legacy Foundation. She is using the money to purchase supplies for her Food Chemistry course. Health and Safety funds were used to purchase chemical-resistant gloves.
Mr. Widvey reminded the board of the upcoming MSBA Conference on January 17 and 18. The wood shop is coming along. The contractor was in this week placing the new dust collector and installing the new duct work in the shop. He has also removed the old system from the metals shop. This should be up and running ready for second semester in January. Mr. Widvey, along with Barb and Shelly, attended an ECMECC Safe School Seminar in Braham. We will be looking at our building security and making sure everything is in line if we are selected to receive any of the safety grant funds.
Thank you to staff who participated in the Kimball Sports Boosters Donkey Ball fundraiser. It was a fun night; very entertaining. Phase I Training for board members will be held on January 15th in Minneapolis. Phase II Training is on January 16th. There is an MSBA Negotiations Seminar scheduled for February 23rd in
St. Cloud. Mr. Widvey is looking for a date to have a planning meeting to work on updating the strategic plan, policy review, etc. In brief discussion, the board decided on 5:00 p.m. on January 9th prior to the next board meeting. Expecting a brief board meeting, they will continue the planning session after the meeting if needed.
Member Davis reported on Health and Safety, Waldorf reported on Benton-Stearns Education District, Zipoy reported on Activities Committee and the PIE meeting he recently attended.
Motion by Davis, seconded by Becker to Certify the 2018 payable 2019 levy. MC
Chair Schreiner reviewed the summary of changes made to the Master Agreement for contract years 2017-18 through 2018-19. Motion by Zipoy, with gratitude to those involved in the long process, seconded by Meyer to ratify the Master Agreement. MC
Following review of the changes, motion by Becker, seconded by Davis, to approve the revised budget for 2018-2019. MC
Motion by Zipoy, seconded by Becker, to move all remaining student activity accounts to under board control at such time as the current check stock runs out, or when the final determination is made by MDE how to code these accounts. MC
Motion by Davis, seconded by Meyer, to adopt the Cooperative Sports Policy No. 510.9 which details the financial and transportation responsibilities when cooperating with other school districts for an activity such as skiing, swimming, and gymnastics, etc. MC
Motion by Davis, seconded by Zipoy, to accept $1,000 donation from Kimball Wrestling Boosters towards the North Gym speaker system. MC.
Motion by Davis, seconded by Becker, to accept $6,500 donation from Kimball Wrestling Boosters towards the purchase of an additional wrestling mat needed for section tournament. MC
Motion by Davis, seconded by Waldorf, to accept resignation received from Julie Libby, elementary paraprofessional, effective November 28, 2018. MC
Motion by Meyer, seconded by Becker, to accept resignation received from Tom Kingery, elementary recess paraprofessional, effective December 14, 2018. MC
Motion by Meyer, seconded by Becker, to move to closed session regarding personnel issues at
6:59 p.m.
Motion from member Davis, seconded by member Zipoy to open closed session at 7:00 p.m.
Motion by member Becker, seconded by member Zipoy, to end closed session at 7:33 p.m.
Motion by member Becker, seconded by member Davis, to reopen regular board meeting at 7:34 pm.
The next regular school board meeting is at 6:00 p.m. on January 9, and the next Benton-Stearns Education District meeting is January 16 at 3:30.
Motion by Davis, seconded by Waldorf, to adjourn at 7:35 p.m.
Brian Becker, Clerk
Published in the Tri-County News Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018.