Photo by Charlene Corson Selbee
On December 17, 2024, Mabel-Canton School Board Chair Cristal Adkins presided over her final meeting after 20 years of service, including the last 10 years as board chair and was board chair twice before for two years. Reflecting on her tenure, Adkins said that she worked with 20 different board members and collaborated with five superintendents during her time on the board.
Chairman Adkins called to order her last school board meeting followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members present were Cristal Adkins, Diane Wilder, Chris Miller, Traci Livingood, Dustin Tollesfsrud and Jason Marquardt. Mark Weidemann was absent.
Amber Tripp, elected in November, will step into Adkins’ role starting in January. During the meeting, Tripp was humorously reminded that she has 20 years of service ahead of her.
The meeting began with the school’s annual Truth and Taxation public hearing at 6:01 p.m., presented by Business Manager Aimee Lake. Required by Minnesota Statute 275.065, the presentation covered the process, the 2024-2025 budget, how general fund dollars are spent, and the proposed property tax levy for taxes payable in 2025. There was no public comment during the hearing.
The board unanimously certified the levy totaling $1,194,411.78, a 7.74% increase over last year. The amount includes:
• $770,997.98 for the general fund (includes the referendum), which is a 15.29% increase over 2023, and payable in 2024,
• $29,906.78 for community service, which is an 8.06% increase over 2023, payable in 2024,
• $393,507.02 for debt service, which is a decrease of 4.53% decrease over 2023, payable in 2024.
Lake went on to explain how the 2025 school taxes will be spent. 65.2% for the general fund, 2.5% for the community education fund, and 32.3% for debt service.
The board approved the minutes from the regular meeting on November 13 and the December 4 joint board meeting with the cities of Mabel and Canton.
The consent agenda included approval of the 2024-25 budget, claims report, accepted the resignation from Ben Mohs as the school’s social worker and Rosey Florian as the special education paraprofessional, and hired Jordan Larson as junior high basketball coach and varsity baseball assistant.
Student Representative Rachelle Tollefsrud reported on the basketball season, FFA camp, Christmas concert, junior tests, and early dismissal for winter break and will return to school on January 2, 2025, and dress-up days this week for Christmas, and two fundraisers – hat day and candy gram. Other reports were from Hiawatha Valley Educational District representative Diane Wilder and Southeast Service Cooperative representative Jason Marquardt.
In other business, the board took the following actions:
• Approved the updated bid from Solar Connections for the solar array project. The total is $60,578.00. Kuphahl informed the board that work on the array is scheduled to take place next summer.
• Voted for Mark Swenson, Houston School Board, to represent the southern region on the MREA (Minnesota Rural Education Association Board of Directors).
• Approved payment of the girls basketball invoice from Spring Grove Public School for the 2023-24 season totaling $5339.80. Superintendent Gary Kuphal explained that the costs align with the school’s other co-op programs.
Leave a Reply