The Mabel-Canton school board met in regular session on September 21. In attendance were Mark Wiedemann, Jason Marquardt, Traci Livingood, Cristal Adkins, Chris Miller, Superintendent Gary Kuphal, Diane Wilder, and Dustin Tollefsrud. Lisa Halverson, Aimee Lake, and Michelle Wiedemann also participated. Matt McClimon (student representative to the board) was unable to attend.
Superintendent Kuphal said the “COVID Committee” met earlier in the day for about two hours. He highlighted several items, including, “We discussed positive cases, and how long somebody would need to be isolated, which is 10 days.”
Principal Wiedemann summarized Mabel-Canton’s COVID data. She stated, “We have 12 students that are currently positive. Of those 12, only six have actually been in school when they’ve either had symptoms or tested positive… Of those six students that I contact traced, there’s 36 students that we have quarantined… If there’s no identified cases in the next week, actually by next week we’ll only have two kids in quarantine.” However, she cautioned, “It can change day by day.”
Kuphal informed the board that the COVID Committee (Incident Command Committee) had two main recommendations for the board to consider. First, Kuphal, stated, “That if our positive COVID cases, among students, reaches 7% of our student body, which if I remember correctly is 18 students, then the committee needs to get together and have a serious discussion… about what we can do to mitigate that. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to specifically recommend any change to the board, but it could.” Kuphal said the committee wanted to have some threshold at which to dig deeper, but didn’t want to have their hands tied to a specific response, since every situation is unique, and the pandemic is ever-changing.
The second recommendation, according to Kuphal, is that communications to families remain “as is.” He summarized that some parents have asked that Mabel-Canton inform parents when a student in a particular grade has tested positive. Kuphal said, “We are such a small school, If you have 10 or 12 students in a class, even if you don’t identify that student by name, guess what, everybody knows who they are.” He added that HIPAA confidentiality guidelines might be violated if the school informed parents of a positive case in a particular grade level. Therefore, the committee recommended that Mabel-Canton continue these communications as was done during the previous school year. The board voted to approve both recommendations from the committee.
Kuphal added that if/when the Incident Command Committee meets and recommends urgent changes, the school board would likely need to have a special meeting, which would require three days’ notice, so that interested persons could attend. Traci Livingood noted that, “If you have 18 kids out that are all testing positive, with contact tracing, that could be 130, or half the student body out. So, at that point, then, that’s when we meet…” to consider other options such as mask rules or distance learning, depending on the specific situation.
The board considered the list of fundraisers for the school year. Kuphal asked the board to consider whether to consider the list to be final (meaning no additional fundraisers would be considered) or if the board would consider additional fundraisers on a case-by-case basis. The board approved the list, but said others would be allowed to ask for approval throughout the year, by getting on the agenda to address the board.
Principal Michelle Wiedemann said that other than COVID issues, “It’s been a great start to the school year.” She said twelve schools participated in the recent Miller Invitational event, and she thanked Chris Miller and his family for continuing this tradition. Wiedemann also highlighted some upcoming Homecoming events. She said Homecoming will kick off with coronation on Sunday, October 3 in the gym.
Kuphal informed the board that, “Kraus-Anderson has indicated that it would be beneficial to have additional construction time for the Phase II projects next summer.” He said the suggestion is for school to end one week earlier next spring, and to start one week later next fall. No board action was requested at this time.
The board set the preliminary tax levy for the maximum amount allowed, as usual. Aimee Lake explained the board can always lower the final levy, which will be determined at the board’s annual Truth in Taxation hearing on December 21. The board’s next regular meeting will be October 19 at 6 p.m. The public is welcome.
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