School Board Minutes

Red Rock Central District No. 2884

Monday, September 17, 2012

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, District No. 2884, was held in the elementary library in Jeffers on Monday, September 17, 2012. Members present were: Bierl, Clarke, Erickson, Johnson, Kelsey, Rogotzke, and Stavnes. Superintendent Brennan, Principal Goetstouwers, John Hansen, Joe Dietl, and Denise Clarke were also in attendance.

After a brief walk-through of the Jeffers building, led by Head Custodian Tom Neperman, Chairman Rogotzke called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Johnson and unanimously carried, to approve the agenda as amended, the minutes of the August 20, 2012 meeting, and the treasurer’s report.

Lead Teacher Altermatt’s report was distributed to the Board and reads as follows: Our 2012-2013 school year began with an open house from 5:00 – 7:00 on August 30^th, for children and their parents to meet their new teacher and bring in their supplies. Cookies and juice were served. The open house went very well. The teachers were very pleased with the attendance. RRC Elementary did so well on their MCA scores last year; the State has identified us as a “Celebration School”. This is a wonderful award to receive. Way to go Students and Teachers! With the new year came the challenges of mastering the new SMART boards along with a new reading series for preschool through second grade. The staff is putting in many extra hours in preparation for their classes. They are doing a great job. The new reading series is called “Superkids”. The teachers are excited about it and all that it offers our children. We had our first fire drill on Friday the 14^th at 2:00. It went well. The elementary will continue to have a student council. It will be the 3^rd and 4^th grade classes. Mrs. Furth and Mrs. Flaig will lead this group. The student council has met and they have several items planned. They have dress up days organized for Homecoming, a fire safety poster contest, selling Weather Guide Calendars, and they are going to read a message pertaining to “Bullying” to our students over the intercom each morning. The council will also collect paper for recycling. They will continue to collect “Box Tops for Education”, and soup labels. We still have boxes for milk caps, plastic bottle caps, and can tabs. Our Elementary School earned $490.30 from the Take Charge of Education through Target’s credit cards. Thank you to those that participated with their Target points. We had picture day on the 13^th of September. It went well. The 4H program “Afterschool Adventures” is open to children Kindergarten through 6^th grade. They meet in the Jeffers school lunchroom on the 3^rd Tuesday of each month. There is a group of 24 children signed up. As an elementary school, we are going to work diligently this year on combating bullying. We have printed a Falcon Code that is posted in each of the classrooms and in various places in the building. As a staff we will be encouraging our students to follow this code. We had NWEA testing for grades K through 4^th grade this past week. Paula Paplow is hosting a student teacher from SWSM this fall term in her classroom. Her name is Terry Lang and she is from Springfield, MN. We had our 1^st Q Comp meeting. We are down to two cluster groups this year. We will be working on individual goals and building goals. Grandparents Day will be October 26^th, with a 1:45 program in the gym.

Principal Goetstouwers delivered the following report: We are again noted in US News and World Report as One of America’s Best Schools – Bronze. Having the 5^th grade in the Lamberton building is off to a great start. We had a great Open House turnout – at least 80% plus a few

September 17, 2012 – Page 2

that came a day or two earlier. We were awarded the ACT Red Quill Award. The FFA had a meeting and plan on having officer meetings the first Wednesday of every month at 2:50 p.m. Overall the FFA group will meet once per quarter and have emergency meetings as they come up. The FFA will develop an Advisory Committee which will meet once per semester and will include the FFA advisor, FFA President, FFA Officer, the Principal, a Board member, and a Community member. The FFA will use $100 per student from the FFA funds to assist in paying for the overall cost of the National Convention. The Corn Drive will possibly be next week. There will be a Greenhand workshop on September 26^th in Mountain Lake, where the FFA Greenhands will learn about FFA basic knowledge, SAEs/projects, leadership, CDEs, and an official dress and code of conduct. All 9^th grade FFA members and Officers are invited. We had one fire drill and one tornado drill already. New staff member, Kylie Dauer, is doing a fantastic job teaching math. We are proud of the new classes that are offered this year including: graphic art, independent journalism, British literature, theatre basics, film studies, college literature, auto I, and combined health/PE in grades 7, 8, and 10. Student Council had a meeting to prepare for Homecoming. It will be the first week of October, with coronation being on October 1^st at 7 p.m. and a parade on October 25^th at 1 p.m. Josten’s will be here on Wednesday so Sophomores can order their class rings. NRP was here for caps and gowns measurements last week and came back today to kick off magazine sales for the Juniors. We received a check from Target for $928.77. We receive 1% of all purchases made on the Target Visa card. It has always been used for Cap and Gowns cost. CPR/First Aid Training for the 10^th grade will be the first 2 weeks of October in their Wellness 10 class.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Erickson and unanimously carried, to pay claims in the amount of $72,365.66. Receipts were $796,708.40.

Upon motion of Johnson, seconded by Kelsey and unanimously carried, to approve the projected budget at this time at the maximum levy possible.

Upon motion of Kelsey, seconded by Bierl and unanimously carried, to approve the System Accountability Report and to publish it as in the past.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Bierl, and unanimously carried, to make a 1-year agreement with Redwood Valley Schools to join their gymnastics program.

Discussion was held regarding District land, Kindles in the classroom, the FFA account, and Cheerleading account.

Upon motion of Clarke, seconded by Stavnes and unanimously carried, to go into Closed Session at 8:44 p.m. to discuss a personnel issue.

Upon motion of Stavnes, seconded by Kelsey and unanimously carried, to come out of Closed Session at 8:55 p.m.

Upon motion of Stavnes, seconded by Kelsey and unanimously carried, to adjourn at 8:55 p.m.

_______________________________ ________________________________

Alan J. Clarke, Clerk Denise Clarke, Recorder