The Fillmore Central School Board reviewed the 2021-2023 transportation contract with Harmony Transit at their June 22 meeting. Harmony Transit Inc. has been sold to Faribault Transportation. The name will remain the same except that Inc. will change to LLC. Superintendent Heath Olstad, Principal Jim Peters, and school board member Jim Love met with representatives of Faribault Transportation to go over the proposed contract with them. Mark Scheevel, longtime owner of Harmony Transit, will stay with the company for a while to help with the transition. “It seems like a really good fit,” Love said. “They’ve been in the transportation business for a long time.” Olstad reached out to the La Crescent school district as they have used Faribault Transportation for four or five years now and was happy to tell the board that La Crescent reported 100% satisfaction with the company. Although Harmony Transit is now owned by Faribault Transportation, they plan to hire a local manager to run the bus shed and continue to employ local bus drivers. The only thing that will be outsourced will be the mechanic work. “I don’t think you’ll see much difference,” Love said. “We want to thank Mark for all the years of great transportation,” board member Craig Britton said. “We wish him well as he moves onto his retirement.”
Superintendent Olstad reported that the scheduling for high school classes during the 2021-2022 school year has begun. Grades 9-12 credit recovery is in its first session with the second one taking place in July. The summer school program for 7-8 grades has wrapped up. The computer room in the elementary school is being repurposed into a reading/meeting room. The renovations should be complete the next time that the board meets in Preston for a meeting.
Congratulations were extended to the girls golf team as they placed fifth at the state tournament and were section champions. The boys golf team also did well, coming in ninth overall at state.
Angie Kaase applied for and received a grant in the amount of $81,600 to offer an expanded summer preschool program. She has already lined up staff willing to cover it. “We’re excited about that, and job well done on writing that grant,” Olstad said.
Kaase has posted job listings for a 4/5 lead teacher, a float lead teacher, and a float aide, all for the One Block at a Time Childcare Center, as well as a SAC Coordinator and 2022 summer rec coordinator. Despite all jobs being posted across multiple avenues, no applications have been received.
A resignation from Devan Iddings was approved as well as the hiring of Kari Schroeder for the ALP summer program. Daron Omar and Andrew Todd’s tenure was approved along with a maternity leave for Omar. Amanda Thomas, Connie Berg, Kelsey Woellert, and Heather Shupe were hired for the Extended School Year program. Jessica Bradt, Shelby Ebner, Connie Berg, Cari Ledin, Jessica Bredburg, and Natasha Ryan were hired for the summer pre-K program.
A special education contract with ProCare Therapy was approved. The company will contract with Vocovision for telepractice services. The proposed food service budget with Taher for the 2021-2022 school year was approved with no changes to pricing from last year. A two year membership with Southeast Service Cooperative was renewed as well as the district’s membership with the Minnesota School Board Association. The district’s property and liability insurance with Minnesota Insurance Scholastic Trust for 2021-2022 was approved at a cost of $64,673.63.
The board reviewed the operating budget for 2021-2022. It was noted that the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER III, funds were not included in the budget yet so there will be some changes to it. The board also reviewed and approved the in-person safe learning plan for the upcoming school year. Having that plan in place is a requirement to receive the ESSER III funds.
A resolution renewing membership in the MSHSL for the 2021-2022 school year was passed. The student activity fees, admission fees, and sport season passes were approved with no changes from last year.
The school’s policy is to close student activity accounts if there were no transactions in the last year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the NHS account had no activity. Superintendent Olstad asked the board to waive the policy and keep the account open. The board approved the waiver. He also asked permission to transfer $691.75 in fundraising money from the choir account to a scholarship fund. The money will be used to award college scholarships to students in proportion with their fundraising efforts.
The board approved the first reading of the K-6, 7-12, faculty, paraprofessionals, and coaches handbooks. Due to the recent change to a four-period day, high school students now have the ability to obtain more credits. Credits required to graduate will be changed from 26 to 28 for incoming seniors and to 30 for incoming juniors. Board member Aaron Bishop noted that there was a statement on tobacco use in the paraprofessional handbook and asked if there was also one for alcohol use. Superintendent Olstad will look into it.
The substitute teacher pay as well as the number of days a substitute can work before being moved to salary were approved with no changes from last year. The pay for substitute secretaries, paraprofessionals, and custodians was increased $1 an hour.
Nine open enrollment requests for the preschool and elementary school were approved, as well as one interstate open enrollment request.
The next Fillmore Central School Board meeting will be held on July 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the high school cafeteria.
Leave a Reply