School Board Minutes

Red Rock Central District No. 2884

Monday, April 10, 2006

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, District 2884, was held in the elementary school library in Jeffers on Monday, April 10, 2006. Members present were: Clarke, Derickson, Kelsey, Mattison, Moldan, Myers, and Westerman. Superintendent Brennan, Paula Paplow, Joe Dietl, and Denise Clarke were also in attendance.

Chairman Derickson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Myers and unanimously carried, to approve the agenda as amended, the minutes of the March 14, 2006 meeting, and the treasurer’s report.

Lead Teacher Riley’s report was distributed to the Board and reads as follows: Title 1 and Kids First, led by Jan Benedict and Stacy Warner, teamed up for a final parent/child activity night on March 30. Their goal was to promote reading and give ideas of what parents can do with their children when reading books. Toward the end of the evening, several students took their parents into the computer lab to demonstrate how testing works for Accelerated Reading. Mrs. Benedict and Mrs. Warner had sent out 100 invitations and had 10 families that participated. They plan on sending a survey home before the end of the year to get some feedback from the events they had this year and suggestions for what they can plan for the 2006-07 school year. Lisa Fest, who teaches nutrition to our students through a program sponsored by Cottonwood County, has been coming to our classrooms throughout the year. Just recently she completed the nutrition unit with our 2^nd graders by having them make a meal using all of the food groups. The children prepared all of the foods with close supervision given by the adults. Because of the nice weather last week, we had a fire drill. We have 3 more to complete the required 9 for the year. The teachers and I have also discussed the procedure we will use for the upcoming tornado drill later this month. We will be having “No TV Week” April 24-30. During this week, we give our students suggestions as to what games or other activities they could do with their family members or by themselves instead of watching television or using any type of video media. Our 2^nd-5^th grade students will be taking the NWEA Tests the first 2 weeks in May. Students are tested in the areas of reading, language, and mathematics.

Principal Olson’s report is as follows: Schedules for next year will come out this week. Then students will adjust as necessary. We began a discussion on weighting grades last fall. I will get input from the staff and either we will try this next fall or forget the idea altogether. My original thought was to weight only our 4-year college courses – Calculus and Composition. Lyceums and field trips this month were: Westbrook – media perils; SDSU – Junior class Cultural Field Trip day; Senior Class Trip was seemingly a great experience; Redwood Falls Court House – Freshmen boys and girls county; Large group music contests – both band and choir received superior ratings. Spring testing will begin soon. Faculty Workshop – Computer Writing Program – Teachers feed in the assignment and the specifications for the work and this program

April 10, 2006 – Page 2

helps the student more closely write to these specifications with the teaching of why the writing is incorrect, or could be better. We will more than likely pilot this program in the English department. Minnesota Career Information Service – On the front page of our web-site, Mr. Nordby walked the staff through information that is on this site. Looking for a school or a new career – look here! Web-page Reconstruction – Our staff pages were old, so many re-wrote them during this time. Would the Board want to have a plaque for contributors to the new building? It looks like the state may mandate lock down/bomb, intruder drills. If the state mandates this, I become a little more comfortable with it. They are looking at 5 per year with fire drills going from 9 to 5. We will have a tornado drill this spring. I have not been notified from the county as to a county-wide Drill Day. On their web-site it appears it is next Wednesday and we will try to coordinate with that. The Worthington Daily Globe had a news article that mentioned RRC as a top performing school in the state.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Westerman and unanimously carried, to pay claims in the amount of $64,292.36. Receipts were $575,226.10.

Upon motion of Kelsey, seconded by Moldan and unanimously carried, to accept the resignation, due to retirement, of Judy Dagner as Head Cook at the High School and to thank her for her 32 years of service to the students of the district.

Upon motion of Mattison, seconded by Myers and unanimously carried, to accept the resignation of Kathy Lofgren as Chemistry/Physics teacher and to thank her for her 2 years of teaching in the district.

Upon motion of Myers, seconded by Moldan and unanimously carried, to renew membership in the Minnesota State High School League for the 2006-2007 school year.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Westerman and unanimously carried, to set the Swimming Pool prices and salaries as follows:

Season Tickets: Family $100.00

Individual $ 50.00

Open Swimming: 0-17 $ 3.00

Adult $ 5.00

Red Cross Swimming Instruction:

Student Lessons: $30.00 (minus $5 for District residents because of contributions)

Private Lessons: $50.00

Baby Lessons: $25.00

Aerobics: $ 3.00 per session

Swimming Pool Salaries:

Manager - $9.35/hour; Assistant Manager - $8.35/hour; WSI 1^st year – $7.25/hour; WSI 2^nd year - $7.35/hour; WSI 3^rd year - $7.85/hour; WSI 4^th year - $8.10/hour; WSI 5^th year - $8.35/hour; Lifeguard 1^st year - $6.55/hour; Lifeguard 2^nd year - $6.80/hour; Lifeguard 3^rd year - $7.25/hour; Lifeguard 4^th year - $7.35/hour; Lifeguard 5^th year - $7.45/hour.

April 10, 2006 – Page 3

Superintendent Brennan discussed Compensatory Aid with the Board.

Upon motion of Myers, seconded by Moldan and unanimously carried, to instruct Superintendent Brennan to proceed with the paperwork for the Aid Anticipation Certificates.

Discussion was held on summer projects for the elementary and secondary schools, rescheduling of the custodians’ time, the mural that will be hung in the high school gymnasium, the future of the swimming pool, district goals, the Jazz Festival, and NWEA testing.

Upon motion of Westerman, seconded by Myers and unanimously carried, to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing staff negotiations.

Upon motion of Moldan, seconded by Westerman and unanimously carried, to return to the regular meeting at 9:05 p.m.

The meeting was declared adjourned by Chairman Derickson at 9:06 p.m.

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Alan J. Clarke, Clerk Denise Clarke, Recorder