“It was very successful,” chaperone and planner of the trip, Dave Rogers said. “We really have an amazing group of kids, and they represented our town well.”
Rogers had a slideshow of pictures from the trip that he presented to the Lanesboro school board at their January 19 meeting.
The group ran into a lot of construction as they proceeded down south, but they made all of their stops on time. Due to the restricted bus hours for the driver, the class ended up celebrating New Year’s Eve in the fifth floor of the parking ramp of the hotel they were staying at rather than attending a celebration elsewhere. They were able to watch the fireworks from their location and had a good time despite the change in plans.
The students also visited the exact spot where President John F. Kennedy was shot and toured the sixth floor museum. They returned to Lanesboro on January 2.
In the election of officers, Dave Ruen was elected as chair of the board, Dave Lawstuen as vice chair, Steve Snyder as clerk, and Lolly Melander as treasurer.
Chris Troendle, Terri Scott, and Lawstuen were appointed to the Policy committee which will also include two members of the teaching staff. Melander, Snyder, and Lawstuen were appointed to the Finance, Facilities, and Long-Range Planning committee, Troendle to the Advisory committee and Lawstuen, Melander, and Snyder to the Personnel committee.
Lawstuen will serve as the MSHSL board representative, Ruen as the Education District representative, Scott as the Economic Development representative, and Ruen as the Legislative liaison.
Troendle and Ruen were able to attend the MSBA conference. “It was mazing,” Troendle said about her first year at the conference. “I learned a lot.”
Ruen agreed with the value of the conference as a school board member. He mentioned that with the many seminars available at the event, it would be beneficial to have more board members there so they could attend a greater number of seminars and garner more information to be shared with the rest of the board.
“The weather’s been nearly impossible over the last week,” Superintendent Matt Schultz noted. “The counties and townships have done a nice job getting the roads ready. Thanks to them and to our bus drivers.”
Schultz has been reviewing website companies and the possibility of changing platforms. He would like to find something that’s easy for parents to navigate and to sync various school calendars. “I’ve found some with a lot more features that what we have now,” he said. He’ll have more information for the board at a future meeting.
A school employee requested the addition of Aspire as an approved 403(b) vendor on the school’s retirement plan.
“I feel that it should be discussed by the personnel committee before approving,” said Snyder. A motion was made to table the matter to allow the committee time to review the material and make a recommendation to the board.
A three-year contract with Smith-Schafer for auditing services was approved.
The next Lanesboro school board meeting will be held on February 16 at 7 p.m.