At the October 22 Fillmore Central School Board meeting, it was noted that the winter sports season is starting up soon. Only four students have signed up for the dance class which requires a minimum of five participants to compete. The hope is that once it gets started, it may attract more interest. Fifty-four students have registered for boys basketball and 39 for girls basketball. Thirty-one students are signed up for wrestling, six of whom are girls. The ninth grade sports will now be under MSHSL governance, which will set restrictions and rules for how games can be played.
The Defensive Driver class, Mini Falcons Cheer camp, Flag Football, and Cookie Decorating with Annika were all well attended. There have been no applicants for the open ECFE positions so far. Several positions with the child care center are also available.
Conferences for the elementary and high school took place on October 14. The elementary conferences were in-person, and the high school conferences were held virtually. Veterans Day programs will be held on November 11 at both the elementary and high school. Scholar Club will be at the high school on November 14.
Jeremy Plowman, Andy Todd, Will Nolan, Aaron Janssen and Quincy Burland were hired as the boys basketball coaches. Levi Olstad, Jason Schwarz, Pat Severson, Chad Finseth, Kenzie Ristau, Kerry Rindels and Nate Rindels were approved as the girls basketball coaches. Blaise Sass, Phil LaFleur, Joe Cullen, Joel Pfeffer, Erik Bengston, William Ferrie, Holly Knutson and Walker Ward were approved as the wrestling coaches. Jackie Whitacre was hired as the drama and speech coach, Derek Ihrke as the head softball coach, and Kaelyn McCaleb as a SPED para. A resignation from Brenda Links was accepted, and a maternity leave was approved for Shelby Ristau.
The third quarter donations were accepted in the amount of $20,020.53. “Thank you for the generosity,” board member Craig Britton said.
The annual Minnesota State High School League resolution was accepted. An open enrollment request was approved. The November school board meeting was moved to 7 a.m. at the high school on November 13 to canvass the election results.
Superintendent Olstad commented that Kayla Koch, Brady Ristau and Kelsey Biel are doing an amazing job with FFA. He also extended compliments to the local farmers who support the corn drive each year. Koch and Biel are taking a group of students to the FFA National Convention this week.
Informational meetings regarding the proposed referendum were held at three locations; one in Preston, one in Harmony, and one in Fountain. The dates and times for the meetings were staggered to try to assure that everyone would have a chance to attend if they wanted. It was noted that a lot of good information was shared at the meetings. Superintendent Olstad thanked Aaron Janssen for putting the information for the meetings on the school’s website.