At the January 25 Fillmore Central School Board meeting, the 2022 board committee assignments were approved with no changes from last year. Deb Ristau and Shelly Topness will continue to serve on Community Education, Jennifer Pickett on Continuing Education, Sue Sikkink and Topness on Meet and Confer, Craig Britton on MSHSL/Three Rivers Conference, Pickett on the Special Education Advisory Council, Britton, Topness, and Sikkink on Negotiations; Jim Love, Pickett, and Bishop on Policy; Sikkink on System Accountability, Ristau and Topness on the Extra-Curricular Advisory Council, Ristau on Staff Development, Britton, Pickett, and Love on Vendor Negotiations; Britton, Love, and Bishop on Facility Focus; Britton, Sikkink, and Ristau on Budget, Love on Technology, Pickett on Curriculum/Calendar, and Pickett, Love, and Bishop on Vocational Studies. Bishop will continue to serve as the MSBA Liaison. Ristau asked for clarification on the purpose of each of the committees and what responsibilities they entailed for the board members, adding that many of them don’t currently have regular meetings. Superintendent Heath Olstad will work on defining the roles for the committees and get back to the board with the information.
The First SE Bank of Harmony, First State Bank of Fountain, F&M Bank of Preston, and the MSDLAF (Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund) were approved as the official depositories for the district. The Fillmore County Journal was set as the official newspaper. KTTC and the Fillmore Central website and Facebook page were set as the official stations for school closings. The authority to transfer funds and purchase certificates of deposit was given to Darla Ebner, Heath Olstad and Dani Wilcox. Knutson, Flynn, & Deans was approved as the district’s official legal counsel. Official notices will be posted in the elementary office, the district office, and the high school office. The regular school board meetings will continue to be held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.
Superintendent Heath Olstad gave his report. The Math Wizards team recently had their first competition at Kingsland with many of the students receiving awards. One Act had a competition on January 22 and will also be competing at subsections on January 29. If they place first or second, they will move on to sectionals in February. February is I Love to Read month at the elementary school. “I can’t believe we’re already over half done with this school year,” Olstad commented.
Maternity leaves were approved for teachers Kelly Duff, Sheila Goetzke, and Maddie Gasca Hernandez. Makayla Braaten was hired to work in the SAC and Pre-K programs and Nicholas Woelfel was hired as a Pre-K 4/5 lead teacher. Kayla Biel was hired as an additional vocational teacher and will also serve as the assistant FFA advisor. A $0.50 per hour increase was approved for custodian Ryder Witte as he passed his boiler test and now has a boiler’s license.
The board reviewed a bid received for the roofing project at the elementary school. More work has been added to the project that was not included in the bid, but the contractor will add it. The bid was approved along with the additional work.
The Alternative Learning Program, or ALP, summer program was approved for one day a week for eight weeks during the months of June and July. Marsha Dowe-Indahl will be the teacher and a paraprofessional will be hired as well if more than five students sign up for the program. The courses offered are for every class except speech and are for high school students who either didn’t pass a class during the school year or who need more credits to graduate.
Two contracts with the Southern Minnesota Education Consortium, or SMEC, were approved for physical therapy services and a temporary school psychologist. The current psychologist through eLuma is on maternity leave until mid-March.
A stabilization grant plan for One Block at a Time and SAC was approved. The grant opportunity will allow the programs to continue to operate and provide enhanced pay to the staff. “I can’t compliment Angie (Kaase) and Darla (Ebner) enough for doing the work of creating this request,” Superintendent Olstad commented.
The donations from the fourth quarter were approved. “We’re always very appreciative to receive these,” Britton noted.
The district is required to file a Pay Equity Implementation Report every three years to the Minnesota Department of Education, or MDE. The report was reviewed and approved by the board.
The board approved the purchase of new blower and brush attachments from John Deere for the tractor at the elementary school as the current ones have stopped working properly.
The next school board meeting was moved to 7 a.m. on February 22 due to the potential for a playoff game that evening. The meeting will be held at the Preston building.
Leave a Reply