Kingsland talks facilities, funding and football

At the Kingsland School Board’s monthly “work session” meeting on December 3, with all members present (Doug Plaehn, Ann Oeltjen, Leah Stier, Jackie Horsman, Tiffany Mundfrom, and Superintendent James Hecimovich), the board discussed the long term facilities maintenance (LTFM) plan, and the Indoor Air Quality project being planned.

Regarding the IAQ project at the Spring Valley school, Hecimovich informed the board, “John (Dols) and I walked through with the structural, electrical, and mechanical engineers and an architect last week, looking at that column and beam system and where it’s going to go through.”  He explained that the process will be complicated because the hallways don’t match up on the different levels of the building, so the engineers will have to determine the best places to bring the columns through.  He added, “I did send a letter off to Representative Davids office, asking for some help with MDE (Minnesota Department of Education) to see about getting the column and beam system through MDE so we don’t have to pull it out of our own funds.”  He plans to stress that this project is safety-related, not for asthetics.

Hecimovich also informed the board, “John and I did a walk-through last week on the Wykoff abatement project, and that’s all done.  The mold and fungus has been removed, the asbestos is done.”  But then he went on, “Believe it or not, the property isn’t quite figured out yet.  As a matter of fact, when you walk into the building, everything to the left, Lot 20, is still owned under the Bartlett family that Bartlett Street is named after, from the 1800s.  It was never deeded to the school.  So we’re working with the attorney right now to get that figured out.  For some reason when he donated it, he did not transfer the title.”

The board reported on the closed session held during the most recent meeting.  Plaehn reported, “The school board met in closed session on November 19 to discuss the performance evaluation of the varsity football coach… The evaluation indicated an overall performance of Satisfactory, which is a recommendation for continued assignment.  A plan of action for growth: establish a conditioning program for the season, establish weekly coaches meetings, implement Saturday practice for game reviews, establish a communication plan for players and parents, and hold athletes accountable as students first, athletes second.”

There was significant discussion regarding the Operating Levy Referendum Update.  Hecimovich said there’s a group that’s building some momentum and, “They would like to have the board pursue an operating levy (referendum vote) next November… But in taking with Doug (Plaehn), we might be better off waiting for the new board to take a seat and make a decision on how we go forward.”

Plaehn asked, “But how can we levy for something we haven’t done yet?  For example, we haven’t issued any bonds, we don’t have any final project plan approved, we haven’t went out for any bids… so how do you levy for something that’s really gone from a known to an unknown?”  Amber Herbrand will check to see if there are problems with setting a levy before all of the financial numbers are known.  Plaehn added, “There’s hard work to do, but the sky isn’t falling.”

The next regular board meeting will be December 17 in choir room (starting with the annual Truth in Taxation hearing at 6:01 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 6:30).  As always, the public is welcome.  The newly elected board members will begin serving in January.