The Kingsland school board met for a regular meeting on the evening of March 20 at 6 p.m. In attendance was Superintendent Scott Klavetter, board members Carmen Anderson, Gary Broadwater, Pam Freet, Kyle Rader, Cindy Seabright and Steve Tammel. After the pledge of allegiance, the board took time to give thanks for several recent donations. The VFW Auxillary Post #4114 donated $165 to the Washington, D.C. trip. Multiple donations were made to the school’s robotics team: Southland Auto gave $200, Home Federal Savings Bank gave $150, BTR Construction gave $250, and Mark Biermann Insurance gave $250. KABC donated $700 to Community Education. Two donations were made to the school’s trap team: Spring Valley Sportsman Club gave $6,000 and Zumbro Valley Arms Collectors gave $2,000. Mike and Cheryl Holzer donated several items to Community Education, including coloring books, drawing paper and legos. Finally, McConnell Electric donated $700 to Kingsland’s soccer program.
The school board approved the meeting minutes from February 13 and March 6. Next, the board went over first readings for scheduled policy adoption. This included workload limits for special education teachers, school weapon policy and student attendance. These items will be voted on at the next regular school board meeting.
Moving on to staff updates, Superintendent Klavetter reported that Peggi Berhow was hired as an elementary special ed paraprofessional, Jaide Lieffort was hired as a high school general education paraprofessional, and Paul Wilson as an assistant golf coach. Nichole Tarrence resigned from her position as a cook and van driver, Jill Mullenbach resigned from her position as a cook. Senior class co-advisors Aaron Thauwald and Morgan Jacobson resigned. Stephanie Derby will be resigning from her position as a high school English teacher, Kaylynn Stark resigned from her position as a high school special education paraprofessional and ECFE student aide Katie Hershberger resigned. It was also noted that Terry Allard will be taking a leave of absence.
Report updates
Student council – Student council representatives Josh Meskill and KD Reiland presented their report to the school board. Meskill relayed that the school’s Sadie Hawkins dance went well. One hundred ten students attended the dance. Reiland went over a proposed reward activity for the eighth graders; an overnight stay at Whitewater State Park. The suggested trip will be a reward to students for good behavior. The board thanked the students for the updates.
Activities director – Superintendent Klavetter reported that the school’s spring sports program have all started up and are going well.
Superintendent Report – Several staff members recently underwent ALICE training. They also went through mental health and suicide prevention training. Superintendent Klavetter also shared that they’re looking at training teachers in trauma informed care in order to help meet the mental health needs of students.
SMEC – SMEC executive director, Dan Armagost, and John-Marc Dundas, SMEC business manager, were present at the meeting. They took time to go over ongoing projects. SMEC (Southern Minnesota Education Consortium) helps put together a cooperative of schools in Southern Minnesota to help meet the needs of students. John-Marc Dundas relayed that SMEC has added 10 new staff members since this time last year, mostly people to assist with student mental health. John-Marc and Dan also discussed how SMEC helps paraprofessionals become teachers and teachers become specialists. They also went over the summer programs that SMEC offers including reading, math and STEM classes. SMEC also offers an outdoor survival class, robotics program, and even a program where students milk goats and make soap from the goat milk. Superintendent Klavetter added that Kingsland offers transportation for students attending these programs. Surveys given to attendants of these programs have shown phenomenal feedback.
The board voted and unanimously approved the revised budget as presented. Revenue and expenses are slightly higher than last year’s budget. Next, the school board reviewed the strategic plan. One of the goals highlighted was to raise math scores from the 62.3% average in 2019 to 70% by June 1, 2025. Board member Seabright expressed concern that goals were being set too low. The board took time to review Kingsland’s test scores to state averages and concluded that setting realistic goals is important. Next, the board covered changes to the 2022/2023 school year calendar. There will not be a makeup day for the snow day on December 22. Kingsland still has five snow days available (which will hopefully not need to be used).
Kingsland School Board work session meeting is scheduled for April 3 at 6 p.m. in the elementary conference room. The next regular board meeting will be April 17 at 6 p.m. in the same location.
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