Minutes Board Meeting Nov. 16, 2016

REGULAR MEETING Unofficial Minutes Board of Education November 16, 2016 Ind. School District 739 Kimball, MN

The meeting was called to order by chair Schreiner at 6:00 with all board members present except Becker and Zipoy. The Pledge of Allegiance was said by all.

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Hooper to approve the agenda as presented. MC

Sarah Markwardt and Trinity Erickson, Student Government officers, updated the school board on the Jr. High Halloween Dance. They reiterated to the board the concern of only one meeting day/time each week. Some organizations do not get a good turnout when students are involved in multiple activities. Student Government is holding a blanket drop in December.

Celebrations and success of students and staff included the Cross Country team making a good show at state tournament. Volleyball also participated in the state tournament placing 6th. This was the first time in history the team advanced to state competition. Knowledge Bowl teams competed against 44 other teams on the 14th, placing 4th overall. This week is National Education Week; recognition goes to all education staff. Kimball has two students participating in swimming in a co-op agreement with Tech; 9th grade student Emi Wagner, along with her team mates, qualified for state competition in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Hooper, to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion Carried. The Consent Agenda included:

?Ä¢ Approve minutes from the October 12, 2016 Regular meeting

?Ä¢ Approval of Bills

?Ä¢ Treasurer?Äôs Report

?Ä¢ Approve hiring Kevin Zheng, high school custodian, at Category II, Step 2 of the Non-Licensed Agreement, beginning October 26, 2016

?Ä¢ Approve hiring of Brook Merten ?Äì 9th Grade Girls?Äô Basketball (replacing Brianna Barrett)

?Ä¢ Approve moving Neil Helgeson to Assistant Boys?Äô Basketball (from 9th)

?Ä¢ Approve moving Jordan Schleper to ?Äì 9th Grade Boys?Äô Basketball (from 8th)

?Ä¢ Approve Jake Gagne ?Äì 8th Grade Boys?Äô Basketball

?Ä¢ Approve Devon Kelly, volunteer wrestling coach

?Ä¢ Accept retirement of Lois VanNurden, Elementary Media Assistant, effective October 31, 2016

?Ä¢ Accept resignation received from Diana Hentges, High School Paraprofessional, effective November 15, 2016

?Ä¢ Approve final reading of Policy 613 ?Äì KAHS Graduation Credit Requirements

?Ä¢ Accept donation of $500 from the Kimball Sports Boosters toward the purchase of the ice machine

?Ä¢ Accept donation of $300 from Kathleen and Randal Albers, towards the Kimball Senior Scholarship fund

Ms. Johnson reported on participation at elementary parent teacher conferences very good at 97%. Grandparent?Äôs Day was held on October 28th; the building was packed with grandparents for the afternoon. The 5th grade Kindness Retreat was held today; DARE graduation will be held on Friday. The K-3 choir program will be held on December 19th at 2:00 in the afternoon and 7:00 in the evening. The program will be held in the North Gym at the high school. This change in location will provide more parking and better seating for guests. Everyone is gearing up for the colder weather.

Mr. Widvey reported on parent teacher conferences being held with very good attendance for the 6th grade. The percentage for the 7-12 conferences has not been calculated, but appears to be quite high. The testing calendar is on the website as required by the Department of Education. Enrollment is holding steady with about 403 students 6-12.

Mr. Wagner gave a fall sports update for the activities director ?Äì fall sports were outstanding. Swimming has two participants who co-op with St. Cloud Tech. Emi Wagner is competing at the state swim meet on Thursday, November 17, in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. Volleyball competed in the state tournament for the first time in Kimball?Äôs history. Kimball volleyball started in 1975. This same year they won district, now called sub-section. Coach Tabitha Mortenson was selected Section 5A Coach of the Year. Girls Cross Country had another outstanding year. Paired with EVW, they have gone to state two years in a row. They finished 8th at the state tournament. They had a great season winning the conference, section, and placing at state. Congratulations to Emi, the girls volleyball, and the girls cross country teams, for making it to state competition. Football numbers have taken a dramatic increase this season. There were 86 boys out for football; 53 in grades 9-12. Kimball had 31 fall athletes who made Academic All-Conference with a gpa of 3.7 or higher. Volleyball had six seniors out for volleyball, each holding a gpa of 3.95 or higher. The Triple A and Excel candidates are currently turning in their information so winners can be selected on November 23.

The track project is 99.9% complete. There is some landscaping needed and one seal needing touch up. The Section is on board for Kimball to host the 2018 Section Track and Field event. Currently we have 6 home events scheduled for next spring. Members Stein and Hooper were able to visit the Z-Space trailer when it was here. While the product is quite expensive, there is certainly benefit to the system. The Strategic Plan is ready for approval and is later in the agenda. The recent calendar survey closed on the 15th. The results were: 54% preferred school starting before Labor Day; 32% preferred after Labor Day; 14% had no preference. One interesting comment was that starting before Labor Day would provide transportation for fall activities one week earlier. Lastly, the MSBA Winter Conference is January 12 & 13. Mr. Wagner encourages as many board members to attend as possible. Member Hooper added that she was impressed with the variety of sessions available last year, but with only one member there, she couldn?Äôt get to nearly all of them.

Chair Schreiner reported on Benton-Stearns Education District.

Motion by Hooper, seconded by Meyer to approve the Technology Director contract with Barb Froehling, effective December 1, 2016. MC

Motion by Stein, seconded by Meyer to canvass the school board election results. Tim Zipoy received 1,409 votes, Karla Davis received 1,360 votes, Heather Hooper received 1,275 votes, and Jeffrey Lerum received 869 votes. Therefore, Zipoy, Davis, and Hooper received the highest, second-highest, and third-highest number of votes and are elected for four-year terms beginning January 3, 2017. MC

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Hooper to approve the Second reading of Policy 513 ?Äì Student Promotion, Retention, and Program Design. MC

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Hooper to approve the Second reading of Policy 513.1 ?Äì Early Entrance. MC

Motion by Hooper, seconded by Stein to approve the Second reading of Policy 607 ?Äì Organization of Grade Levels. MC

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Hooper to approve the Second reading of Policy 721 ?Äì Uniform Grant Guidance Policy Regarding Federal Revenue Sources. MC

Motion by Hooper, seconded by Meyer to approve, with changes, the Second reading of Policies 490-490.22 – Non-Licensed Policies. Chair Schreiner asked to have Policy 490, 490.7, and 490.8 brought back with changes, to the December Meeting. MC

Motion by Hooper, seconded by Stein, to approve the World?Äôs Best Workforce Summary as presented. MC

Motion by Hooper, seconded by Meyer, to approve the World?Äôs Best Workforce Plan as presented. MC

Mr. Widvey asked to give special thanks to Nancy Bonnifield for all of her work on the World?Äôs Best Workforce documents. A lot of time and effort was put into them.

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Stein, to approve the Strategic Plan document as presented. MC

Motion by Meyer, seconded by Hooper, with an added ?Äúthank you?Äù to accept the donation from Hendricks Bus of a trip for the Kindergarten classes to the Fire Hall, and a trip for the Kimball Cleaning Crew to a worksite. MC

Motion by Stein, seconded by Hooper, to accept a donation of $250 from Whirltronics, Inc., towards the Robotics program. MC

Motion by Hooper, seconded by Meyer, to accept a donation of $100 from the Luxemburg Lions, towards the Robotics program. MC

Motion by Stein, seconded by Meyer to adjourn at 6:51 p.m.

Brian Becker, Clerk

Published in the Tri-County News Thursday, Nov.24, 2016.