At the Jan. 15 Kimball school board meeting, a resolution was presented to remove head football coach, Dave Traurig, from that position and seek a replacement. The issue was tabled until the next regular meeting which was Feb. 19. Eight members of the current football team came to speak on Traurig’s behalf, as did a parent and an assistant coach. Finally, Traurig read a document summarizing his successes and qualifications. “Removing me leaves the program with no direction, not a different direction,” Traurig said. The board voted in favor of the resolution to look for a new head football coach. Voting for the resolution were Dave VanVleet, Doug Stenger, Marguerite Laabs, Dorothy Kersten and Jerome Kuechle. Voting against was Matt Serbus. There were no abstentions. Teacher negotiations Contract negotiations with Kimball teachers is on-going. Joe Stangle read a statement on behalf of Education Minnesota-Kimball. As of the Feb. 19 meeting, there was about a $60,000 difference in offers by the school district and the teacher’s union. Both parties are still in mediation. FY04 budget Superintendent Thielman reported that the district is currently on target financially. It faced a large deficit last year and is working to resolve that. The district anticipates another large deficit with declining enrollment and funding. Special education The board approved three individuals as paraprofessionals at the elementary school in special education and ECSE programs. This was needed at this time to meet students’ needs. At one time Kimball had 97 elementary students in the special ed. programs. Because of early intervention, 50 of those children are now in regular programs. Kimball remains, however, number 1 in special education enrollment among schools in the Benton-Stearns Education District. Property sale The house nearest the high school, briefly used by Community Education, has been sold. Before the sale is final, however, the true property line must be determined. The district may need to deed over some of their adjoining land so that the house meets setback requirements.
