At the January 23 Lanesboro School Board meeting, Sarah Peterson was sworn in as the newest member of the board. Peterson will fill the empty seat until the next election.
Dave Lawstuen was elected as the board chair, Steve Snyder as the vice chair, Chris Troendle as the clerk, and Steve Storhoff as the treasurer. The board meetings will continue to be held on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Lanesboro Elementary Library. The Merchants Bank of Lanesboro was approved as the district depository. Nethercut Schieber Attorneys, PLLP was approved as the district’s legal counsel for general business and Rupp, Anderson, Squires & Waldsburger, PA for school law. The school’s official newspaper was set as the News Leader.
The proposed board member compensation amounts were reviewed. Snyder noted that they took a small jump in 2018, but had been static for at least 12 years before that. Compensation for the chairperson was $1,500 in 2019, $1,200 for the clerk and treasurer, $1,000 for the directors, $500 for the chief negotiator and chair of the finance committee, $400 for the second negotiator and the second member of the finance committee, and $300 for the education district representative. “It seems fair,” Snyder commented. The board approved the compensation with no change from 2019.
Christine Troendle and Sarah Peterson were appointed to the policy committee, Steve Storhoff and Steve Snyder to the finance, facilities and long-range planning committee, Troendle to the advisory committee, and Dave Lawstuen and Snyder to the personnel committee. Mike Willford was appointed as the board representative for MSHSL, Troendle for the Edcuation District with HVED, Peterson with Economic Development, and Lawstuen for Legislative Liaison.
Superintendent Matt Schultz gave his report and noted that an in-house training will be held towards the end of the school year so that all staff can complete the Cultural Competency Training as required by the state of Minnesota. Schultz recently met with the Fillmore Central superintendent to make plans for spring sports bus transportation. A town hall meeting was held in Lanesboro on January 22 to discuss the shortage of EMTs. Schultz was able to attend the meeting and encouraged all school board members to consider joining the ambulance crew. “It’s an important service,” he said. He noted that the school is still looking for a bus driver, which would involve working for about two hours in the morning and two more in the afternoon.
A FMLA request for Brooke Lea was approved. The board reviewed the 2020-2021 school calendar with Principal James Semmen and approved it with one minor change. School board policies 419 regarding a tobacco-free environment and 427 regarding workload limits for certain special education teachers were reviewed and approved.
A resolution was passed approving a donation to the scholarship fund in the amount of $130.50 and another to the milk fund in the amount of $159.00
A request was received asking permission from the school for an independent group to organize a Lanesboro High School fishing team. The council was not required to pass a motion allowing the group to form, but noted that they were in favor of it.
The next Lanesboro school board meeting will be held on February 20 at 7 p.m.
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