Mabel-Canton School Board member Jeff Rein resigned his position effective immediately. A reason for his resignation was not given. Rein had been serving on the board since January 2015, with his term to expire in January 2019. The board added his resignation to its July 18 meeting agenda. A motion was made and approved to accept his resignation and thanked Rein for his service.
The board opening will be posted on the district’s website, mabelcanton.org. Anyone interested in serving out Rein’s term should submit a letter of interest and resume by Friday, August 11 to Principal Michelle Weidemann at mweidemann@mabelcanton.org or mail it to Mabel-Canton School District #238, 316 W. Fillmore St., Mabel. Minn. 55954. Interviews will be held at the August 15 school board meeting.
Aimee Lake from School Management Services gave her budget report. She anticipates an increase in the fund balance of about $150,000. These funds could be used for negotiating the new superintendent’s contract, the transportation contract, salary increases for non-certified staff and purchasing school vans. A special open public meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. to address these items.
The approval of hiring the finalist candidate for the superintendent’s position was postponed. The contract is still being negotiated. The board hopes to have negotiations finalized and a contract to approve by next week.
Bernard Bus Services, a Chatfield-based company, submitted a bid last month for the district’s transportation contract. Representatives from Bernard met with the school board prior to their regular meeting to answer questions. The contract should be finalized by next week. Bernard would replace Schmitz Busing Company.
Final payment to Schmitz for this past school year was discussed. Schmidt’s failure to submit regular invoices for their services resulted in additional time and work for the district. Lake said she discussed the final payment with the district’s attorney.
It was suggested to send Schmitz the checks that have already been written and held pending invoices. These checks were based on the amount agreed upon in their contract for regular route busing services. Lake plans to estimate the extra-curricular activity busing amount based on records the school has for activities that required busing this past year. It was by Chris Miller, School Board Treasurer, that the amount to be paid should be reduced to offset the time and extra work that has been done by district because of Schmitz failure to provide invoices for their services.
A motion was made and approved to send the regular route checks to Schmitz. Another motion was made to address the extra-curricular activities payment and that this amount would not exceed $25,000. That was also approved. Last year’s busing for extra-curricular was about $42,000. A letter will be sent to the company with the final checks indicating that this would conclude the contract with them.
Discussion continued from last meeting about purchasing a new van for athletics and preschool. The current van was purchased almost 12 years ago, which is nearly “aged out,” meaning it can’t be used to transport students. Bids had been submitted from several Ford dealerships for eight and 10-passenger vans, along with a State contract bid for an eight-passenger van.
After discussion, a motion was made and seconded to purchase a 10-passenger van, but Board Member Bobbie Vickerman urged the board to wait until a bid could be obtained from the State for a 10-passenger van. “We need to be comparing apples to apples and do our due diligence,” Vickerman said. “We also should find out if there would be a discount if the school bought two vans.” The van purchase was tabled until the special meeting.
Discussion continued on the proposed salary schedule and benefit language changes for non-certified staff for the 2017-18 school year. Vickerman stressed the need for non-certified staff to have job descriptions and a step pay scale chart in place. Vickerman asked if this was something that could be done in-house and Weidemann said it was.
Vickerman had met with non-union employees last month and had outlined a suggested proposal for pay increases, longevity bonuses and other concerns. “We have to recognize these professionals who are with our kids every day doing good work,” Vickerman said. “Some of these people have been working with us for over 20 years and are making less than new hires.” A motion made to table until July 25 meeting.
The M-C cheerleading advisor, Heather Kleiboer, asked the board to approve a new fundraising initiative. If the school gave the cheerleading group a $150 donation, they would clean all the elementary and high school lockers. The board approved this expenditure unanimously!
Thank you to the Mabel Telephone Company for their generous $4,000 donation. The money will be used by the school for technology improvements.
A special open public school board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25 in the M-C school library. The regular board meeting will be on Tuesday, August 15, at 7 p.m.