School Board Minutes Red Rock Central District No. 2884 Monday, June 19, 2000 The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, District No. 2884, was held in the Board Room in Lamberton on Monday, June 19, 2000. Members present were: Gransee, Imker, Johnson, Mattison, Porter and Therkilsen. Clarke was tardy. Superintendent John Brennan, Principal Benz, Principal Johnson, Joe Dietl, Arlyce Anderson, Jan Benedict, Winifred Churchill, Roger Hoehne, Marlene Jackels, Lynn Keck, Vicky Missling, Bruce Olson, Jeff Shaner and Lucille Hagert were also in attendance. Chairman Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:31p.m. Upon motion of Mattison, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to appoint David Moldan to the vacancy on the Board of Education until the end of the calendar year. Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Imker 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 May 15, 2000 meeting and the amended minutes of the special meeting of May 30, 2000. Upon motion of Moldan, seconded by Mattison and unanimously carried, to approve the treasurer's report. Principal Benz reported Commencement went well and the school year ended positively. He recommended four Student Handbook changes for next year. Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Gransee and unanimously carried, to approve the Student Handbook changes for the 2000-01 school year as follows: (1) Increasing the minimum requirement for Honor Society selection from 3.0 to 3.3 on a 4.0 scale; (2) A teacher, school employee, school bus driver or other agents of the district may use reasonable force in compliance with Minnesota Statute 121A.582 and other laws; (3) Students will not possess, use or be under the influence of alcohol, narcotics or tobacco on the school premises, at school activities or on school vehicles. Under-age violations will be referred to law enforcement officials when in violation of state statute. Students will be suspended up to five days for violations of possession and use of the above; (4) All detention time will be made up no longer than two weeks from its assignment date, if numerically possible. Failure to do so will cause more time to be added and/or a parental conference with the principal and may lead to an in-school suspension. Detention will be served in the classroom of the supervisor in charge from 3:15-4:15 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. Students listed for detention are ineligible for participation in extra curricular activities, study hall privileges and passes, etc. Principal Johnson's report is as follows: A Scholastic representative had gone through the new reading series with the elementary staff and will make another visit in November. Some minor changes are being made in the Elementary Student Handbook. A donation of $400 to the playground fund had been received and he suggested installing corn cribbing as a pop can drop off site to raise money for the playground fund. There will be a Community Education committee meeting July 31 at Jeffers. The committee would like to develop a newsletter with a list of planned activities. Computer classes have been going extremely well. Arlyce Anderson reported on the third and fifth grade Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Results. All 25 third graders were tested in reading and math and all 34 fifth graders were tested in reading, math and writing. RRC's third graders are above the state average in both math and reading. RRC's fifth graders are above the state average in math but below the state average in reading and writing. Ms. Anderson suggested the faculty study the results to see where positive changes can be made. Page 2 - June 19, 2000 Gransee reported there will be a non-certified staff mediation meeting on July 7. Therkilsen gave the CRTC reported the house was sold for $78,500. A $3,000 loss on materials was incurred. Johnson reported that the Education District has dissolved because of lack of funding. Bruce Olson presented a request for funding a 30' x 60' structure to be used as a weight room which he estimated would cost $13,600 excluding labor. He is of the opinion a weight room is needed to give RRC's athletes the opportunity to lift weights and condition themselves enabling them to become stronger and less prone to injury. The Board directed Dr. Brennan to explore the possibilities of utilizing space in the present facility for this purpose and address the issue at next month's meeting. Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Moldan and unanimously carried, to pay claims in the amount of $85,943.04. Receipts were $1,036,134.70. Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Gransee and unanimously carried, to amend the budget for the 1999-2000 school year to reflect total revenues of $7,450,730 with expenditures of $5,084,210. Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Mattison and unanimously carried, to adopt the Preliminary Budget for the 2000-01 school year with revenues of $4,600,000 and expenditures of $4,550,000. Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried to approve the revised 2000-01 school calendar with school beginning September 5 and ending June 5 and adding January 2 as a school day. Upon motion of Gransee, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to accept the resignation of Lisa Arnoldi, Elementary Special Education Teacher, effective June 30, 2000 and thank her for her years of service to the District. Dr. Brennan recommended a change in the Title I Program at the Junior High level next school year by providing funds for a professional educator to teach two periods per day to develop a concentrated one-to-one reading program for the most needy students. This program would operate year-to-year based on the federal funding. Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Therkilsen and unanimously carried, to approve a one year pilot project in the Junior High Title I Program for the 2000-01 school year by employing a professional educator for two periods per day. The Board recessed at 9:01 p.m. at which time the negotiations committee and the principals discussed the principals' contract. The meeting reconvened at 9:07 p.m. Motion by Therkilsen and second by Imkerž to approve one year contracts for High School Principal Forrest Benz for $63,529 and for Elementary Principal Norman Johnson for $59,137 and will clarify the language of the remaining part of the three year contract after consulting with the school's attorney, with the compensation remaining the same. Voting yes: Therkilsen, Mattison, Imker, Moldan, Johnson. Voting no: Gransee. Motion carried 5-1. Page 3 - June 19, 2000 Upon motion of Therkilsen, seconded by Moldan and unanimously carried, to approve wage increases for the Superintendent's secretary to $10.30 per hour and the District's bookkeeper to $12.15 per hour. Dr. Brennan recommended increases in hot lunch and breakfast prices as they haven't changed since the 1996-97 school year. The State Department has given its approval for the setting of preliminary lunch/breakfast prices for next year with the idea of reducing the price, if need be, at any time during the school year. Lunch participation was down 2,117 meals last year but breakfast participation nearly doubled. Upon motion of Mattison, seconded by Imker and unanimously carried, to set preliminary hot lunch prices for next year at $1.45 for elementary students for lunch and $.95 for breakfast and $1.60 for lunch for students in grades 7-12. Discussion was held on the Elementary Title I Program. Jan Benedict will be the academic advisor next year. The program will be changing with the implementation of a "pull-out" system for students which will result in more efficient use of the non-teaching staff. The Ford FFA Scholarship was discussed. No one applied for the scholarship this year even though it was offered. Mr. Benz stated there was a reluctancy on the part of one person to apply for it as they hadn't done business with that particular dealer. The Board directed Dr. Brennan write a letter to the Ford dealership explaining the situation. A Graduation Standards meeting is scheduled for June 22. The State's new Profile of Learning law requires teachers, administrators and school boards to vote before August 15 on the number of graduation standards students would be required to complete in order to graduate. Under the law, these decisions must be made by a majority of the faculty and administration at a site - not just a majority of those voting. Mr. Benz would like to see it left exactly as it is now. Chairman Johnson appointed Gransee, Moldan and Mattison to serve on the committee. Dr. Brennan recommended reducing the number of bus routes for the 2000-01 school year as they have not changed for several years. Action will be taken at the next meeting. Upon motion of Imker, seconded by Mattison and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m. ___________________________________________________________ Alan J. Clarke, Clerk Lucille Hagert, Recorder