Kingsland School District Business Manager Julie Schrieber gave the new school board a rundown of the district’s finances thus far at their meeting on January 18.
The presentation showed a rundown of the past three years in comparison with this year. “So right now, we’re about 50% through the year… We’ve spent out about 40%, so that’s great, so for the revenue we’re at about 44%. It could be just some dollars that aren’t getting to us as quickly as we thought,” Schrieber said. “But again, when we do the revised budget, those numbers could be adjusted when we see where we’re at and the monies we’re bringing in and carrying out.
There were some discontinuities noticed by new board members, especially in the areas of expenses in previous years purchased through COVID funds. “Yes, our expenditures were higher the previous years, but that’s because we had to spend that money,” explained school district Administrator Scott Klavetter. He reported a new bus has also been recently approved by the state, using the remaining COVID funds.
School board chair
The board selected a chairperson for the year after having failed to break a tie vote between Kyle Rader and Cindy Seabright at their workshop meeting earlier this month. Both were once again nominated for the position.
“In looking at the chair position, I don’t see it as a position where anyone can just ‘jump into it.’ Cindy, I would happily support you for the chair position – but not quite yet. I want to see you ease into it a bit more, but I support you as vice chair,” said board member Pam Freet, who supported Kyle Rader for the chair position.
“I nominated Cindy, and the reason I nominated Cindy is I want a businessperson here. Now, Kyle has done a great job of anything he does. The thing I hear from the people who voted for us is a change so we can strive and be better than any other school in our area. And I think Cindy has a different outlook,” countered board member Steve Tammel.
The board voted 5-1 for Kyle Rader, replacing the 3-3 vote at the last meeting. Cindy Seabright was nominated unopposed as the vice chair.
MSBA Leadership Conference
The board discussed briefly their experiences at the recent Minnesota School Board Association’s Leadership Conference and about a way to share their experiences with each other and the community.
“I think it would be great to share the different workshops and classes that we took, and for the community to hear on the work that we did and what we learned while we were at the conference, and how we can serve the school,” said board member Carmen Anderson.
The board agreed that what they are looking for is a “community forum” approach to the meeting. The special meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, February 6 before the board’s regular monthly workshop. The public is welcome to attend.
Enrolment projections
The conversation on enrolment projections picked up upon where it left off in the district’s workshop meeting earlier this month. Klavetter said that there have been seven students no longer attending the Kingsland that still live within the district’s boundaries. This has brought a new trend in open enrolment:
“Half of them have enrolled not to a physical school, but to a virtual school. That is still an open enrollment. We are definitely seeing more movement… in a student will try a new school district and a month later be back here or will try staying home and doing school online…”
The other students open enrolled to other schools in the area. School board members were interested in Klavetter providing regular reports with details regarding trends in enrolment.
The Kingsland School Board will meet next on Monday, February 6 at 5 p.m. in the Kingsland Elementary Boardroom for a discussion of the MSBA Conference events, and at 6 p.m. for their regular monthly workshop.
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