New Chair for Lanesboro School Board

Steve Snyder took on the position of Lanesboro School Board chairman at their January 8 organizational meeting. New school board member Lucas Bergo as well as returning members Sarah Peterson and Mark Holmen were seated to begin the meeting. The following positions were filled with no discussion and unanimous votes: Steve Snyder, chairman; Mark Holmen, vice-chair; Sarah Peterson, clerk; and Steve Storhoff, treasurer.

Meetings will continue to be the second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. Merchants Bank was named the district depository; legal counsel for general business will be Nethercut Schieber PA and for school law will be Rupp, Anderson, Squires & Waldspurger, PA. The Fillmore County Journal was chosen again as the official newspaper.

The compensation for school board members was tabled until Superintendent Matt Schultz can research the rates that area schools are using. Lanesboro has not raised the compensation for seven years. The board’s goal is to have their compensations somewhat in the middle of what schools locally are offering. Snyder commented that while none of the board are doing it for the money, they should also have a fair compensation for their time.

The committee members for this year will be Kevin Horihan and Mark Holmen on policy; Steve Storhoff and Lucas Bergo on finances, facilities and long-range planning; Sarah Peterson on advisory; and Steve Snyder and Steve Storhoff on personnel.

Board representatives are: Steve Storhoff to MSHSL, Kevin Horihan to HVED, Sarah Peterson to economic development, and Mark Holmen as legislative liaison.

Regular Meeting

In their regular meeting, there were few reports due to the holiday season. Superintendent Schultz continued to tie in the district goals as he gave his report. Schultz informed the board that the elementary teachers were in the process of reviewing math curriculums.

Schultz pointed out that PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports) under Rochelle Gathje’s leadership was doing some great things such as making homecoming cupcakes with the elementary and decorating the park in cooperation with the Legion for the ,holidays.

The SPED qualification procedure is now MTSS (Multi-Tiered Sysems of Supports) which is much more comprehensive and thorough than the previous process.

A community education flyer will go out soon with offerings for both youth and adults. Community education has not offered many classes since the pandemic, but now is returning. The youth offerings, intended for grades 3-5, will include science based explorations and a three day workshop on coping. The information will also be posted on the school website. Youth class costs will be set at $5.00; adult classes will be around $20.00.

Superintendent Schultz continues to explore AI and its use in schools. He has been looking at a program called Magic School as well as Khanmigo. Schultz intends to present information to the staff at their upcoming workshop on January 20.

Schultz reported that since the Lion Electric Bus Company went “belly-up,” he’s checking into other manufacturers. Originally, the board had chosen to purchase from Lion because it was the only company supplying an auxiliary heater. Now other companies also provide such heaters. All the companies now build buses with a range of up to 130 miles. Replacement of the old buses is supposed to occur in January 2026.

Chair Steve Snyder suggested reinstating the senior awards meal for the school; this tradition had been eliminated during COVID. Snyder saw great value in bringing in alumni speakers to encourage the students. No decision was made on this yet.

Other business

In other business, the board:

• Heard Tamara DeGarmo during the public comment period advocate once again for some form of viewing school board meetings through Zoom, YouTube or Meetings;

• Approved the hiring of Jane Holien as a paraprofessional;

• Accepted the resignation of paraprofessional Frankie Kohn-Nelson;

• Approved the direction of the superintendent to make recommendations for adjustments to curriculum and staffing (this is a yearly, boiler-plate item);

• Gratefully accepted donations of $750 for the senior class trip and $100 for the childcare center.