Lanesboro School Sets Daycare Rates

The Lanesboro School Board set the daycare rates for the 2025-2026 school year at their regular monthly meeting July 9. For a 40 hour week, the hourly rate for infants will be $4.25, toddler and preschool rates will be $4.00 and the school age (Kids’ Corner) rate will be $3.85. Daycare parents will receive a mailing detailing minimum weekly charges and flexible leave (sick days) Rate plans are also available for fewer than 40 hour weeks.

The board accepted the resignation of Rochelle Gathje from her teaching assignment and hired her as the new dean of students. Gathje comes to her new position well-qualified; she has a principal’s license and is respected for her previous work at Lanesboro School.

Morgan Knutson was hired to replace Gathje as the 7-12 life science teacher. This will be the eighth year of teaching for Knutson; she taught at Fillmore Central prior to coming to Lanesboro. Knutson has a background in veterinary science.

In other personnel action, the board accepted the resignation of Bailee Erdmann from daycare. Lanesboro School is looking for bus and van drivers, daycare workers and a SPED classroom teacher to complete staffing for the 2025-2026 school year.

LTFM Plan

The board approved the LTFM (Long-term Facilities Maintenance) Plan. The plan outlines anticipated facilities maintenance needs for the next 10 years; the school is required to create such a plan annually. The state sets a maximum total for the levy for each school. This

funding is used to maintain property already owned by the school and cannot be used for new construction.

A recent legislative change will allow schools to bond for roofing that costs over $100,000. This year’s LTFM does not refer to roof repair. Repair to the 1959 ag shop/music area roof will be added in future LTFM plans. The intent is to repair the roof in 2028.

Superintendent Matt Schultz shared that he had reached out to some roofing companies for some quotes on the project. He also met with the school’s new representative from Baker Tilly to look at different possible bond options and operating referendums for the future.

Highway 250 Project

Schultz recently met with engineers of the upcoming Highway 250 road repair project to discuss how it affects the school and look at the project timeline. Most concerning to Schultz was the work to be done at the intersection of State Highway 250 and County Road 8. That intersection is projected to be closed for six to eight weeks and would add time to bus routes if done when school is in session. The project is scheduled for the summer of 2027.

Schultz feels a crosswalk needs to be added from the school to the football field. He informed the board that the engineers are looking at doing bump outs on street corners similar to the ones done near the school.

Business Conducted

In routine business, the school board:

• Approved the contract with Taher for food service; this year the school will be billed based on meals used rather than by a monthly preset fee;

• Approved the employee handbook; clarification was added on the procedure to notify the office about employee absences;

• Approved the state mandated $4,146 membership in MSBA (Minnesota School Board Association;

• Approved the $1,565 membership in MREA (Minnesota Rural Education Association); MREA lobbies for rural schools and provides discounts for EmpowerU and other items;

• Learned that Lanesboro has applied for Title 1 funding; Lanesboro will be losing between $15,000 and $20,000 in Title 1 funding for this school year;

• Heard that HVED is in the process of adding fire walls between the school and other building occupants in their new location;

• Accepted donations of $516 for the graduation fund, $2,000 for summer rec and $800 from the booster club;

• Heard from Tamara DeGarmo during the public input section of the meeting; DeGarmo thanked the board for discussing exit interviews for staff and encouraged the board to use information garnered from the interviews to help retain staff at the school. DeGarmo advocated for some kind of virtual availability for school board meetings such as Zoom; she felt this would help with community engagement.