School Board Minutes
Red Rock Central District No. 2884
Monday, March 20, 2000
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, District No. 2884, was held
in the elementary school library in Jeffers on Monday, March 20, 2000. Members
present were: Clarke, Gransee, Imker, Johnson, Porter, and Therkilsen. Mattison
was tardy. Superintendent John Brennan, Principal Benz, Principal Johnson, Joe Dietl, Peggy
Hubley, David Johnson, Nancy Kissner, Dave Moldan, Leonard Runck, Rosie Vind, Judy
Westerman, Willis Booze, Winifred Churchill, John Croatt, Guy Dammann, Julie Erickson, Steve Grunewald, Vicky Missling, Sharon Musegades, Jill Pederson, Sara Schaffran,
Sharon Schultz, Giles Riley, and Lucille Hagert were also in attendance.
Chairman Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m.
Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Porter and unanimously carried, to approve the
agenda as amended.
Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to approve
the minutes of the February 22, 2000 meeting and the treasurer's report.
Deb Furth, FLA advisor, requested financial assistance from the Board to help defray
expenses for 35 students to participate in the Minnesota FLA/FCCLA Convention in
Bloomington April 27-29. Katie Furth, Kim Schroepfer, Amy Zimmermann and Mark Zimmermann
each gave brief reports on their individual projects to be presented in state competition.
Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Clarke and unanimously carried, to contribute
$2,176.27 to the FLA organization for costs associated with sending the 35 STAR event
winners and four supervisors to the FLA/FCCLA Convention April 27-29. This includes
registration fees, some motel costs, transportation, and salary for a substitute teacher.
Principal Benz reported the following: The FLA is one of the most vibrant organizations
in the school. The installation ceremony for the National Honor Society was held
on March 20. The Decathlon team won 7 medals at state on March 8. RRC recently
received five surplus computers from the Government. The Jazz Festival is scheduled
for March 28. Forty-two Seniors will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, for their
class trip March 30-April 3 at an approximate cost of $517 per student. Sub-section
Speech will be held on March 30 in St. James with 10-12 participants. Basic Standards
test results are expected to arrive in late April. There will be a School-to-Work
site apprenticeship program with Heartland State Bank. Mr. Olson's Social 9 Careers
class will be job shadowing and will also tour Minnesota State University and South Central
Technical College in Mankato. Pat Lytwyn is organizing a common inservice for February
26, 2001 through the Education District. Boy and Girl County will be held in Redwood Falls on April 4 with 10 boys and 10 girls from the Junior Class attending.
Final registration for the 2000-01 school year will be held on March 30. He has
received some applications for the Instrumental Music position. Report cards will
be handed out April 4. Auditions for the Spring Play will soon be held. The March 31 inservice
will cover curriculum and curriculum articulation.
Principal Johnson's report is as follows: The elementary staff has selected Scholastic
for the new reading series. He received final approval of $140,000 plus carry over
for next year's Title I project; $4,500 plus carry over for Title II (Science and
Math); and $8,000-$9,000 for Title VI (equipment). RRC qualifies for $17,000 in
small class size incentive money from the state. Community Education is sponsoring
computer classes. Thirty-seven have signed up for a trip to the Chanhassen Dinner
Theater to see "Can Can" on April 1st. A four hour Defensive Driving class is scheduled
for March 27 at Jeffers and an eight hour class is being offered on April 24 and
25 as well. A four hour class was held in Sanborn on March 16. Registrations for
swimming lessons will soon be held. The playground fund account balance has increased to $6,000
after $2,000 was raised by the recent sale of shirts.
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Leonard Runck reported on the recent failure of the modem server for the RRCNET.
A new one has been ordered at a cost of $10,000. Dr. Brennan suggested the District
pay one-half of the RRCNET expenses as the school receives benefits from it. Mr.
Runck will be taking applications for four temporary RRCNET summer positions.
Mr. Runck updated the Board on the extended area service among the towns of Jeffers,
Storden, Lamberton and Sanborn. The Minnesota Department of Commerce addressed the
issue in a recent letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission requesting
the P.U.C. take notice of its original ruling on the proposed long distance rate and referred
to a "notice of past precedence" response to Western Telephone Company's earlier
complaint. All four communities will now have to vote on the issue which will have
to pass by a majority of the voters.
Some progress has been made in the negotiations for non-certified personnel. Mediation
was held March 13 with another mediation session scheduled for April 7.
Gransee gave a report on the Redwood County Collaborative and Therkilsen reported
on the CRTC.
Upon motion of Porter, seconded by Clarke and unanimously carried, to pay claims in
the amount of $334,867.69. Receipts were $638,868.77.
Discussion was held regarding reducing the music position from 3.4 to 3.0. The student
population is projected to decrease by 600 students in Cottonwood and Redwood Counties
in the next five years which translates into less state aid for the district.
Motion by Therkilsen and seconded by Porter to reduce the music education position
from 3.4 to 3.0 for the 2000-01 school year. Voting yes: Mattison, Imker, Porter
and Therkilsen; voting no: Clarke and Gransee. Johnson abstained. Motion carried
4-2 with 1 abstention.
Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Porter and unanimously carried, to reduce one full
time physical education position for the 2000-01 school year.
Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to accept
the Superintendent's recommendation and approve contracts with the SW/WC Service
Cooperative in the amount of $59,674 for the 2000-01 school year.
Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Mattison and unanimously carried, to accept the
resignation of Jodene Reiner, instructional assistant, effective March 29, 2000
and thank her for her years of service to the district.
Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Porter and unanimously carried, to approve the
calendar for the 2000-01 school year.
Discussion was held on the bleacher situation for which $1600 had been expended for
a safety evaluation. There will be no further action on the issue at this time since
the State has altered some of its previous requirements.
Dr. Brennan recommended purchasing two new buses in Fiscal Year 2001 as three buses
in the fleet are at or nearing 180,000 miles. The Board had given earlier approval
for the District to participate in the bus bidding process through the Service Cooperative but that program has been dropped from lack of interest. He now plans to utilize
services provided by the State for this purpose for which there is a $350 annual
membership fee.
Page 3 - March 20, 2000
Upcoming meetings: March 30 - Agriculture Committee at Lamberton; April 5 - Board
workshop at St. Cloud; April 10 - Board workshop at St. Peter.
Upon motion of Porter, seconded by Gransee and unanimously carried, to adjourn the
meeting at 9:13 p.m.
Al Clarke, Clerk Lucille Hagert, Recorder