The following board members were present at the January 8, 2020, meeting: Amy Jeffers, Lanny Isensee, Scott Backer, Katie Priebe, Matt McMahon and Rick Lowrey. Also present were Superintendent Ed Harris, Principals Shane McBroom and Randy Paulson and Community Education Director LuAnn Kleven. Krista O’Connor, business manager; Lorri Lowrey, administrative assistant; and Student Senate representatives, Stephanie Bradt and Katie Ihrke were also present.
Superintendent Harris opened the meeting so that the nominations for officers could be made as this was also an organizational meeting. He welcomed new board member Rick Lowrey. Nominations were made and voted on and the same board members were re-elected for another term. Continuing on will be Amy Jeffers, chair; Lanny Isensee, vice-chair; Scott Backer, clerk; and Katie Priebe, treasurer. Board committee assignments remain much the same with Rick Lowrey joining the negotiations and community education committees.
Under board reports, Matt McMahon stated that the negotiations committee will meet again on Friday and is optimistic that things will go well. Scott Backer reported that the finance committee had met and discussed the final dollars needed for construction of a shed and parking lot updating which will use designated construction monies.
Student representatives Stephanie Bradt and Katie Ihrke reported that they are planning for the 2020 Snow Week on February 10-14 with the Snow Ball Dance on February 15.
Community Education Director, LuAnne Klevan reported that in the next few weeks they will be determining which preschool classes will be offered for the 2020-21 school year. She does not anticipate any changes at this time and information will be distributed at the beginning of March. Adding the Tuesday evening ECFE class has been a good addition and helped increase numbers without over-filling the Thursday evening class, which would decrease the quality of the class. One of the areas of community education is adult enrichment and for this she will be contacting local businesses regarding a collaborative effort to “Showcase Chatfield” by offering classes on site in the business – to bring people through their doors, learn more about their business, and an opportunity for a fun hands-on or informative class.
Elementary Principal Shane McBroom thanked the Masons for providing bikes for the Books for Bikes program and the People’s Energy Coop for providing the opportunity for fifth graders to design Christmas cards. One winner was chosen from each class. Grades 2-6 were able to test their skills in physical education with free throw shooting in the Elks’ sponsored Hoop Shoot. This week students began their NWEA Winter Benchmark assessments that will help identify areas of improvement for the students.
Randy Paulson, high school principal, thanked the Delta group for holding a school-wide assembly on the last day of school before Christmas break. They kicked off the assembly by showing a video of Chatfield’s graduates in the military who were unable to come home for Christmas. High-light of the assembly was the staff Lip Sync Battle. Other Christmas events were the Holiday Concert featuring two choirs and the jazz band and a group of students visiting the Chosen Valley Care Center to hand out treats and cards while practicing their public speaking and conversation skills.
Superintendent Harris briefly discussed the special meeting held in December and set a date for another special meeting to continue the discussion of looking at the big picture in planning the budget for the next year. Under facilities, he reported that the new lockers have been installed in the girls’ locker room and the front wall skirting has been completed. The last final expenditure related to the high school construction project will be the rebuilding of the outside storage shed that was taken down during the pool construction. This project should be completed this summer and the construction fund will be closed out.
Under the First Reading of District Policies, Harris explained that a new policy will be added, which is Policy798- Donations for Negative Student Food Service Accounts. The development of this policy was inspired by a generous donation of $1,600 by the Chatfield Pioneer Presbyterian Church. Since it is wise to have a policy or process to determine student need, they based this policy on an example from another Minnesota school district since the MSBA (Minnesota School Board Association) does not have a policy of this nature.
Under consent items, the meeting minutes for December 4, 2019, and the special meeting minutes for December11, 2019, were approved. Other approvals were DJ Tony Lee for the Snowball Dance, resignation of Sara Sturgis, seventh grade softball coach and the posting for junior high softball coach. The following spring coaches for baseball were approved: Tom Bance, B squad; Zach Slowiak, eighth grade and Jason Voeltz, seventh grade. Softball coaches approved were Kirk Affeldt, B squad and Brianna Harmening, eighth grade. Lastly, the following track and field assistants were approved: Damien Nickelsen, Scott Schmaltz, Barb Storsveen, Niki DeBuhr, Brian Nolan, and Jennifer Bradt. For fall sports, Tom Moody was approved to coach junior high football.
Under action items, the board approved the annual $15,000 payment to CCTV and the updated Resolution Directing the Superintendent to Recommend Budget Reductions.
The meeting was adjourned and the next board meeting will be on February 5, 2020, in the forum room of the high school.
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