The Mabel-Canton School Board met in regular session on May 21. Members present were Mark Weidemann, Jason Marquardt, Chris Miller, Principal Michelle Weidemann, Board Chair Cristal Adkins, high school Secretary Lynette Donald, Diane Wilder, Traci Livingood, Superintendent Gary Kuphal, and Business Manager Aimee Lake. No student representative was in attendance.
The board heard from Brok Johnson, representing Novel Energy Solutions. He spoke about the option of having an array of solar panels installed on the school roof to generate electricity for the schools. He summarized that Mabel-Canton would see a 25% savings in electricity costs, and he estimated a savings of $143,000 over the 20-year lifespan of the array.
Johnson summarized the option available to Mabel-Canton as, “We’re owning the system, putting it up, you guys are just agreeing to buy the power from it, at an agreed upon rate, that’s discounted from what you’re currently paying. So you can put up solar, don’t have to pay anything, don’t have to take any risks, and you can immediately start saving about 25% on your electricity costs.”
Kuphal asked about other schools that have done this through Novel, and Johnson named a few, so Kuphal said he will contact them to get their feedback. Johnson stressed that the array would continue to be the property of Novel until the end of the 20 years, so any repairs needed during the span of the contract would be at Novel’s cost. No action was taken by the board at this time.
The board revisited the issue of how to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Lizzie Hershberger from the board. The board had asked for applicants, and only one voiced an interest, but later withdrew from consideration. Superintendent Kuphal said one option could be to appoint someone to fill the position until the November election, and he said he’d spoken with former board member Chris Loppnow, who would be willing to rejoin the board for this interim. After discussion, the board voted to appoint Loppnow.
Principal Michelle Wiedemann showed a pair of short videos that could be used to promote Mabel-Canton Schools to the community and prospective students/families. The videos were produced by Mr. Tollefsrud’s Digital Design class. Kuphal stressed, “They are close to, but not completely finished… He honestly and sincerely says, please critique it.” One video is about the high school, while the other is about the elementary. After viewing the videos, board members were asked to give feedback on any suggested changes to the videos. Several ideas were shared.
Kuphal led a discussion about the Taher food contract, which is up for renewal (a one-year renewal, with a second year option). For years, Taher has contracted to handle Mabel-Canton’s food service program, including staffing. Taher’s proposed new contract includes an increased cost of about $7,500, or 4.46%. Kuphal explained that smaller schools naturally have a smaller “margin for profit” for any contractor such as Taher, and he has heard of one example in which the contractor dropped a school due to no longer being able to make a profit, because of the declining enrollment size. The board asked Kuphal to discuss with Taher to see if the cost increase could be negotiated down. The issue was tabled until the June meeting.
Principal Wiedemann informed the board that only two students had been preregistered for the summer SACC program, so she recommended that Mabel-Canton not offer SACC this summer. The board agreed.
The board acknowledged, with appreciation, the recent donations from the Mabel-Canton Booster Club, family and friends of Mel Reuhmann, Mabel Sportsmen’s Club, and the Mabel Fire Department. The next regular board meeting will be Tuesday, June 18 at 6 p.m. in the media center. The public is welcome at all meetings except special closed meetings.
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