Deitte's last meeting as superintendent

Dan Deitte attended his last school board meeting in Minneota as superintendent. Deitte has accepted the superintendency at Hutchinson and will begin duties there on July 1, 2022.
During his report that evening he thanked the board for the past 14 years as superintendent here and he stated that he will be keeping an eye on happenings in Minneota from his new position.
The board thanked the city of Minneota for patching part of the parking lot. They also expressed thanks to Les and crew for their prompt clean-up after this summer’s storms. A special thank you was given to those leaving the district: Dan Deitte, Jeremy Frie, Cari Pohlen, and Renae Hanson for all they’ve done for the school over the years.
It was reported that the seniors were short dollars for their expenditures this year. A solution is being worked on by Tara Skorczewski and Allyson Breyfogle. FCCLA has one participant, Kate Hennen, and LeaAnne Bot attending the national convention in San Diego, CA in July.
The 2021-2022 financial report was covered. Last year’s lock-in for five loads of fuel at $1.89 proved to be extremely helpful to the fuel budget. Fortunately, the tank is 80 percent full to begin the next school year.
The gym floor is being repaired from the damage of the May storm. The roof leaked and the gym floor was soaked and starting to warp. Approximately 25 percent of the floor has been removed and the boards will be dried and then replaced. This was an additional cost of $111,000 but there will be insurance coverage for part of that.
Jeremy Frie was unable to attend the meeting so there wasn’t a high school principal’s report.
The elementary report was given by Jennifer Mahan-Deitte. The summer has already been busy for elementary teachers. A new reading program is being introduced this fall. This reading program is a more systematic and sequential process with much research proving that it will strongly benefit the students.
Mrs. Mahan-Deitte is also participating in a multi-system support program for students. This will help assist students in a variety of ways. There is presently a firm foundation for the student support, but tweaks are needed. The data mining of the testing process has also begun. This will also help students by letting their teachers know strengths and weaknesses of each child.
Mr. Deitte congratulated all the spring athletic and activity organizations for completing a successful season. Special congratulations to Lauren Bowyer, Jackson Esping, and Cole Myhre for participating in the state golf meet. The trap team also attended their state meet.
Projects around the school this summer include a sprinkler system at the football field and walls are being tiled to replace the tile from 1957. It was also noted that there is reimbursement pay for necessary workers during COVID but each person must apply for that on their own. The paras have unionized and will begin working on a para master agreement.
The consent agenda passed and that included approving the 12-month staff which includes the administrative assistants, the custodians, and the IT staff as well as the food service manager. Two school nurses were also approved.
During new business a lane change for Kent Williams was approved. Patty Myrvik was hired as the activities director with a salary of $48,000 and Amanda Crowley resigned as a first-grade teacher.
Business manager Tara Skorczewski went over the 2022-2023 budget. Without the $500,000 tech levy there would have been a projected $1.1 million deficit. The unreserved fund will be at $2,262,924 which is still following the board policy of maintaining a 25 percent unreserved fund. Funds will be coming out of the unreserved balance to prevent deficit spending.
The next meeting will be held on July 19, 2022, at 6:30 p.m.