Winter Speeds Along at the February School Board Meeting
The February School Board Meeting began with several positive comments by board members. These included recognition of the wrestling program for their great effort as a young team, praise to the FCCLA team for having all their members move on to State competition with a Gold award, and appreciation for all the work that went into SnowBall this year.
The reports found that the financial aspect of the school is good. Due to various interruptions, the report has not been updated recently, but shows signs of maintaining a strong balance. During the winter months, a big expense is fuel, and right now there are still two tankers reserved if needed.
Also, some fuel for 2020-2021 has been reserved at good rates. Mrs. Mahan-Deitte gave the elementary report. The big news for February is always “I Love to Read” month. They used a football theme this year and had several “tailgating” parties where all students used the time to read. Nancy Nordquist and Renae Hanson organized the month’s activities. In January, the kids celebrated Viking Valor week.
The highlight of that week was an activities day where everyone got to play on a life-size Candy Land game thanks to Scott Hanson and the art department. Mrs. Mahan-Deitte also proctored a para-pro assessment, which ensures that highly qualified paras are employed at MPS.
Positive thoughts from Mr. Frie during the high school report – there are only two weeks left in quarter three! That means that the high school is looking towards the next school year. More college classes, including chemistry, will be offered to MHS students. As a parent and administrator, Mr. Frie believes the virtual learning days are effective.
Four of the five possible virtual learning days have been used.
The administrators have traveled out into the country on some of those questionable weather days. The decision to close or start late is never easy. SnowBall Week was definitely that – a snowy week! Activities were squeezed in between late starts, early outs, and closings.
The SnowBall Dance was poorly attended. The Community Ed program will be offering a Junk Drawer Robotics class offered in conjunction with Lyon County 4-H.
There will be several Community Ed classes offered this summer for elementary students. Keep an eye out for more information. School Board Recognition was the first point brought out by Superintendent Deitte in his report. He maintains that without the strong board support he receives, it would be difficult to continue moving forward as Minneota Public School does. Thank you, Minneota School Board! Also, there are still doors that need to be updated and made more secure in the building – that will be taken care of this spring and summer.
Many thanks to the bus drivers, especially during these winter weather days. In the personnel arena, Emily Hennen has been hired as the full-time elementary physical education/DAPE instructor. Aaron Koep has been hired to teach 2 hours of high school math.
Jennifer Mahan-Deitte has had her contract renewed for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. She is contracted to work for 235 days per year. Her salary will be $94,770.008 and $97,148.55. Jeremy Frie’s contract was also renewed for the next two years. He is contracted to work 230 days per year.
His salary will be $94,120.42 and $96,443.03. The 2020-2021 school calendar was approved. It will be posted on the school website soon. The first day of classes for the students next fall will be Tuesday, August 25, 2020. After conducting a survey, it was decided to have the graduation ceremony in 2021 on Friday, May 21, at 7 p.m. As a reminder, graduation this spring will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2020. School Readiness fees were increased by 2.5% for next school year.
For more information, contact the School Readiness instructors or the District Office. An interesting discussion took place regarding the 2003 practice facility.
Due to assistance from Gary Dahms and Chris Swedzinski, the Minneota School District will be receiving a sales tax rebate of approximately $107,000. It has been decided that with this money seating, scoreboards, and a speaker system will be added to that gym. This will allow for the possibility of hosting section tournaments, double A games, etc. It was approved to add seating for approximately 750.
The flooring will also be re-finished. In an attempt to assist bus drivers, three cameras will be placed on each bus. These cameras will have video and audio capabilities. In the future if there is a question about behavior on the bus, the tape will be reviewed.
As always, if there are any questions or comments for the school administrators, please contact them at the school or via email.