At the March 26 Fillmore Central School Board meeting, Principal Heath Olstad extended thanks to band teacher Duane Ledin and choir teacher Sarah Holten for their hard work and dedication to their students. Both the band and choir received superior ratings at the sub-section large-group music contest which was held at Fillmore Central on March 12.
Dean of Students Chris Mensink reported that the spring conferences on March 7 were well attended with almost 92% of students represented at the elementary level. For parents who are unable to make it to the conferences, teachers often conduct email conferences with them instead.
The Action 100 reading award this year will be a trip to see the movie Ferdinand at the JEM Theatre in Harmony and will be sponsored by F&M Community Bank and the JEM Theatre.
A resignation from head boys basketball coach Aaron Mensink was approved by the board. Tris Tollefson was hired as the junior high softball coach and Dan Boeson as a van driver for the school. Paula Birch was approved to provide up to five hours a week of homebound instruction to an elementary aged student.
The board named Superintendent Richard Keith as the identified official with authority to authorize user access to Minnesota Department of Education, or MDE, secure websites for Fillmore Central.
The calendar committee met again on March 25 after approval of the 2019-2020 school calendar was tabled at the February school board meeting. The committee decided to set an early dismissal on Friday, December 20 before the Christmas break. They had previously discussed having students return on the Monday after that, but when asking various teachers how they felt about that, it was determined that students probably would not be able to concentrate enough on Monday to make it a productive school day. The final student day will be on Friday, May 29, 2020, and the final staff work day will be on Monday, June 1, 2020. The board approved the revised calendar.
An interstate enrollment agreement with the Decorah Community Schools district was approved.
The next Fillmore Central School Board meeting will be held on April 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary meeting room.
After the meeting was adjourned, volunteer coach Kasie Roenfanz spoke to the board about FIRST Lego League. She proposed that the board consider moving Lego League from Community Ed to be under the umbrella of the district due to the popularity of the program and the restrictions they face on how many students can join with Community Ed as well as the timing of how early in the season the club can meet. They would also like to restructure the program so they could create more teams and allow more students to participate. Another concern that the League has is that once students age out of it, there is nothing similar offered at the high school level. “As a parent, I am concerned for the lack of education, the extracurriculars that are offered at this school,” Roenfanz said. She pointed out that FIRST Lego League is actually an education based STEM program that would be an asset to high school as well as elementary aged students. “It’s not just playing with Legos,” Roenfanz said. “It’s math and it’s science.”
Roenfanz noted that the League is not interested in using any of the school budget at this time, but would like to conduct fundraisers. However, they’re not sure how they can do that if Lego League is a community ed activity. After doing some research, Roenfanz realized that most Lego Leagues run through the school district where they’re located.
Superintendent Keith asked Roenfanz and the other volunteer coach, Stuart Weist, to set up a meeting with him and Community Ed Director Angie Kaase to discuss the future of Lego League. “I think the board is very supportive of what you’re doing,” he said.
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