School Board Minutes
Red Rock Central District No. 2884
Monday, May 15, 2000
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, District No. 2884, was held
in the Board Room in Lamberton on Monday, May 15, 2000. Members present were:
Clarke, Gransee, Imker, Johnson, Porter and Therkilsen. Mattison was absent.
Superintendent John Brennan, Principal Benz, Principal Johnson, Joe Dietl, Arlyce Anderson,
Winifred Churchill, Julie Erickson, Chris Johnson, Vicky Missling, Dave Moldan, Bonnie
Nielsen, Jill Pederson, Leonard Runck, Sharon Schultz, John Stenzel, Shirley Wolf
and Lucille Hagert were also in attendance.
Chairman Johnson called the meeting to order at 8:20 p.m.
Upon motion of Porter, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to approve
the agenda as amended.
Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Clarke and unanimously carried, to approve the
minutes of the special meeting of March 6, 2000.
Upon motion of Porter, seconded by Gransee and unanimously carried, to approve the
minutes of the April 17,2000 meeting.
Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Gransee and unanimously carried, to approve
the treasurer's report.
Principal Benz reported the following: The 9th grade visit to Minnesota State University
and South Central Technical College in Mankato on May 3 went well and was funded
with School to Work money. The class was accompanied by Arlyce Anderson and Bruce
Olson. On May 17 they will be job shadowing in our communities. The 7th grade River
Project was postponed to May 17. The System Accountability Meeting was held May
10 in Jeffers. New members are being sought for this committee. Dolores Berg was
selected as Education Association's "Friend of Education" as she has chaired the System Accountability
Committee for several years and has been active in organizing Promfest. The Spring
Play, "Onions in the Stew", will be presented May 19 and 22. The 6th grade toured the building on May 10. 52 Seniors are scheduled to graduate on May 28. Dr.
Paul Porter will be the Commencement speaker. He recommended some Handbook changes
for next year; moving the GPA for National Honor Society students from 3.0 to 3.3.
The fee system may also be revised with the addition of a Speech fee. A new Policy Committee
has been formed and staff will be supervising detention next school year. Rodney
Yarger, World War II Veteran, will be receiving a high school diploma through the
Storden Legion. There will be a Spanish I class and a combination Spanish II/III
class taught in-house next year; there will be 44 students in Agriculture classes;
44 students at CRTC; 90 in Choir and 70 in Band.
Principal Johnson's report is as follows:
He requested and received a written waiver to carry over all of the 1999-00 school
year unspent Title I funds. RRC can expect to receive $148,601 for Title I, $3,844.90
for Title II and $4,434.64 in Title VI funds for the 2000-01 school year. Approximately 30 students attended Kindergarten Roundup on May 3. Next year's schedules have
been completed; class assignments will be handed out the week of May 22; requisitions
have been handed out.
Page 2 - May 15, 2000
Arlyce Anderson reported on the 8th grade Minnesota Basic Standards Test test results.
Of the 56 students tested, 82% of the class passed the math test compared with 74%
last year; 84% of the class passed the reading test compared with 78% last year.
Scores in both reading and math were well above the state averages of 71% for math and
80% for reading. Students who did not pass the test will be given the opportunity
to attend summer school. Classes will begin Monday, June 26, and end Monday, July
17, and will consist of two hours for math and two hours for reading. A total of 30 students
in grades 8 thru 12 have not passed one or both of the tests. RRC has one student
in grade 8 and one student in grade 10 who are exempt from testing.
Gransee reported on non-certified staff negotiations.
Therkilsen gave the CRTC report: The Aviation class may not be offered next year
due to lack of interest.
Principals' mediation meeting was held May 15 with another meeting set up for June.
The Education District and Telemedia meeting will be on May 22.
Bonnie Nielsen presented the preschool budget for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. The
District is projected to receive $13,900 in funds each year to finance the program.
Paul Mattison was appointed as the Board representative on the ECFE Advisory Council.
Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 17, at 3:15 p.m.
John Stenzel and Leonard Runck of the Technology Committee gave their report. Five
persons have been hired for summer work and they would like to have some younger
students do job shadowing this summer. They will be working on upgrading eq uip-
ment in both buildings. A new Internet filtering system is needed for the high school
which will cost from $4,500-$7,500.
Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Clarke and unanimously carried, to pay claims
in the amount of $180,365.10. Receipts were $690,018.17.
Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Gransee and unanimously carried, to renew membership
in the Minnesota State High School League for the 2000-01 school year.
Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Porter and unanimously carried, to hire the auditing
firm of Nester and Nester of Wabasso to perform the school district audit this year
for a cost of $4,900-$5,600.
Upon motion of Porter, seconded by Clarke and unanimously carried, to set the 2000
pool prices at last year's level, and to increase all wages at the same percentage
as last year.
Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to accept
the resignation of Paul Porter as a member of the Board of Education effective June
2, 2000, and thank him for his years of service to the District.
Recent State legislation has mandated school cannot start prior to Labor Day; therefore,
the school calendar will have to be revised with the start date being September 5
instead of September 1. Action will be taken at the June meeting.
Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to approve
holding classes for Summer School from June 26-July 17 for students who have not
passed the Basic Standards Test in Reading and/or Math.
Page 3 - May 15, 2000
Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Porter and unanimously carried, to certify 52 members
of the Senior Class for graduation.
Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Clarke and unanimously carried, to appoint Norman
Johnson as LEA representative for Title I, II and VI.
Discussion was held concerning the process the Board will follow to select a replacement
for Paul Porter on the Board of Education. An appointment will be made at the June
meeting.
Ecowater Systems of Marshall has submitted a bid of $5,900 for a water softener system
in the high school. Dr. Brennan is expecting to receive additional bids.
The Board gave approval for Dr. Brennan to obtain quotes from painting firms to paint
the auditorium since the District is in the process of fixing up the auditorium with
a new heating and cooling system.
The Legislature changed the bleacher law after one year. After spending $1800 of
tax payer's dollars for the mandated bleacher inspection process, everything has
changed. Side railings may have to be installed on the bleachers in the Jeffers
gym.
Many school districts around the state are either receiving referendum dollars or
are contemplating running a referendum this coming election in November. RRC's enrollment
has continued to decline each year and additional monies will be needed to keep
the programs we now have intact. Discussion was held as to whether time lines could
be met to place an excess levy referendum on the ballot for the November election.
There will be a Special Board Meeting on May 30, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the
Superintendent's evaluation, painting bids, and to meet with Johnson Controls.
Upon motion of Porter, seconded by Imker and unanimously carried, to adjourn the meeting
at 10:10 p.m.
Alan J. Clarke, Clerk Lucille Hagert, Recorder