The Kingsland School Board met November 21 in regular session, with all members present: Doug Plaehn, Deb Larson, Kristin Beck, Troy Asher, Gwen Howard and Ann Oeltjen, along with Superintendent John McDonald. The board unanimously approved the consent agenda items, including first and second readings of a number of policies, and several staff resignations and hirings, as well as the winter coaching assignments.
Principal James Hecimovich gave a report of the “trial run” of the new Flexible Learning Day. This is the plan Kingsland put in place to allow education to continue on “snow days” and other such days when school is canceled. He summarized that overall, Kingsland had “mixed results” because of the widely varying participation numbers from various classrooms, which he said ranged from around 25% to 100%. But he stated, “I think it was a fairly successful dry run,” and he added that in this area, teachers usually know of predicted major snowstorms a few days ahead, so teachers will be able to plan ahead for Flexible Learning days, in most cases. Hecimovich also updated the board on the Targeted Services Memorandum of Understanding, and the board then voted to approve it.
Business Manager Amber Uhlenhake gave a budgetary update, and showed the current year-to-date revenues and expenses, stating, “There’s basically nothing outstanding to report.” The board heard a summary of the recent audit performed by the firm of Clifton Larson Allen. The representative said Kingsland received a “clean audit report,” with only two minor deficiencies. In discussing the General Fund Revenues, he pointed out that almost 83% of Kingsland’s funding comes from state sources, “So you see how dependent on the state of Minnesota you are, and how volatile those numbers are.” The board voted unanimously to accept the audit as presented.
The board heard public thanks given by Superintendent McDonald. He acknowledged Cheyanne Kolling, Ashlee Falk, and Anna Krahn for helping at the vision and hearing screening and Cheyanne Kolling for helping at the re-screening. McDonald also thanked Watchdog Launch volunteers Judy Rose, Jodi Miller, Kelly Opseth, Emily Leonard, and Jackie and Jacelyn Horsman. Thanks also went to the Kingsland School Parents group for providing meals during conferences, and to Randi Kallas of the Post-Bulletin for honoring Laurie Applen as September’s Teacher of the Month. McDonald gave thanks to the Wykoff Lions for donating a hard copy dictionary to each third grade student, and he thanked Book Fair volunteers Ann Priebe, Ann Brink, Trisha Montgomery, Becky Bicknese, Jackie Horsman, and Judy Rose. Finally, he thanked the veterans who participated in the Veterans Day program and Harvey Schmidt and Dawn Becker of Hormel for presenting prizes to three Veterans Day essay winners.
Doug Plaehn gave an update on the Finance/Facilities/Personnel committee, and Kristin Beck gave a recap of the Policy/PR/Curriculum committee. Superintendent McDonald then informed the board that the Alternative Learning Center is expected to start November 28, with four students, and another four will join in January, with a total of sixteen expected by the end of the school year. He also stated, “The watchdog program got off to a good start,” and he said Kingsland held a successful blood drive on October 25. Two students gave an update on recent and upcoming happenings in the FFA club.
The public meeting ended around 7:30, and the board then went into closed meeting to discuss labor negotiations and the superintendent evaluation. The next regular meeting of the board will be December 19, with a Truth in Taxation meeting at 6:01 p.m., followed by the board meeting at 6:30 p.m. The initial reorganizational meeting with new board members was set for January 3 at 5:45 p.m.