On December 2, all Kingsland School Board members (Board Chair Jackie Horsman, Maranda Emig, Natasha Howard, Tiffany Mundfrom, Leah Stier, Kyle Rader and Superintendent James Hecimovich) were present at the board’s monthly “work session” meeting. Athletic Director Reid Olson, Business Manager Amber Uhlenhake, and Community Education Director Becky Bicknese also attended.
Superintendent Hecimovich said for a long time, parents have voiced concerns about the speed limit on County Highway 1, which runs past Kingsland school. He said in the past, the county was not willing to make a change, but he added, “I talked to Mitch Lentz regarding this,” and said the county is now open to the idea of installing signs indicating a reduced speed limit “when kids are present.” This would include higher fines for drivers ticketed for exceeding the limit. The board’s consensus was for Hecimovich to follow up with Lentz to pursue the idea further.
Another main topic of discussion was the possibility of allowing Junior Olympics (JO) volleyball to be brought in under the “umbrella” of Kingsland’s Community Education program. Bicknese explained that she’d been approached about this idea by a member of the JO board. The board discussed pros and cons of this idea, including possible fees, regulations, and insurance concerns. Olson said his main concern is keeping school and non-school programs separated appropriately, especially regarding use of facilities and/or accounts.
Horsman stated that she didn’t feel this issue was necessary for the board to vote or decide on, adding, “We don’t need board micro-management.” She said that if it would be a vendor program under Community Education, that is not a matter the board should have to spend time on. Superintendent Hecimovich explained that he simply wanted all relevant staff and the board to be fully aware of the matter and the issues involved. Bicknese said the JO board has not yet reached a final decision on whether they wish to request coming in as a vendor program under Community Education.
There was discussion about the need to strip and sand the gym floor at some point. Hecimovich said it would be costly, but it’s something that needs to be done periodically, and no one present was sure how many years it’s been since it was last stripped and sanded down. Olson said how the process is done can have an impact on how often it needs to be redone. Hecimovich said that the gym floor eventually will need to be replaced after a number of sandings, adding, “We’ll do some research and find out, because we’ll want to get that on a schedule.”
Horsman informed the board that she has requested some financial information from Mike Hoheisel, saying, “I requested a breakdown similar to what Amber gives us, but I wanted to know, like for a $100,000 homeowner, what are their combined taxes with everything we’ve got going on, and then for a $150,000 homeowner… I feel that we need to know that information, because we’re certainly going to be approached.”
Kyle Rader brought up the idea of “morphing” Kingsland’s Levy referendum website into some type of community outreach tool website. He explained that within about the month, the useful life of the website will be exhausted, so he suggested changing it then into something that could be user-friendly and provide various links and further information on Kingsland programs, events, and other information. The board discussed the possibility of having a class (such as computer science) take on this project, as a real-life way to teach website management skills to students.
The next board meeting will be a regular meeting on Monday, December 16 in the Kingsland choir room. The annual Truth in Taxation meeting will be at 6:15 p.m. on that evening, immediately followed by the board meeting. As always, the public is welcome at all open meetings.
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