School Board Regular Meeting Minutes

September 17th, 2024

The Board of Education of Independent School District #238 met on Tuesday, September 17th, 2024 at 6:01 pm in Science Room #50 at the Mabel-Canton School, Mabel, MN. 

Members present in person: Cristal Adkins, Diane Wilder, Chris Miller, Mark Weidemann, Traci Livingood, Superintendent Gary Kuphal, Student Representative Rachelle Tollefsrud.

Also present in person: Principal Weidemann, District Secretary Heather Kleiboer, Charlene Selbee (Fillmore County Journal), and Lana Hollar.

Members Absent: Dustin Tollefsrud and Jason Marquardt. No one was present via technology.

The meeting was called to order by Cristal Adkins at 6:01 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Motion by Chris Miller, second by Diane Wilder  and carried unanimously, to approve the revised agenda for tonight’s meeting, adding the following:

• IX. Items for Action and/or Discussion
  • H. Bond Referendum Survey - DISCUSSION and/or ACTION
  • I.   COVID Policy Update - ACTION

Motion by Diane Wilder, second by Traci Livingood and carried unanimously, to approve the August 20th, 2024 minutes. 

Mr. Kuphal took a moment to recognize the dedication of our School Board Members and handed out certificates in thanks for all that they do for our school district. 

Motion by Mark Weidemann, second by Traci Livingood and carried unanimously to approve the Consent Agenda with many thanks for the donations:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

A.  2023-24 Budget

B.  Claims Report

C.  Donations:

• School Supplies from Collins Aerospace employees
• School Supplies from Waterloo Ridge Lutheran Church
• $500 to be used for Elementary Milk Break from Scheie WELCA
• $1,650 to the following sports: VB, FB, Cheer, Girls BKB, Boys BKB, BB, SB from MC Booster Club
• School Supplies from Mabel United Methodist Church

D.  Approve Daniel Dawley as Paraprofessional for 17.5 Hrs/Wk

E.  Approve Kylie Kraus as Paraprofessional for 32.5 Hrs/Wk

Reports:

Student Representatives gave updates on the following topics:

• Rachelle Tollefsrud spoke about the great start of the school year, updates to upcoming Homecoming week events, and commented on how well the Miller Invitational turned out again this year. 

Committees:

• Curriculum Review-No report
  • Facilities and Capital Outlay -There will be a meeting in October to discuss the referendum survey    results.
• Policy Committee - policy 524, second reading-approved.
  • Hiawatha Valley Education District -Diane Wilder announced that they are finalizing building plans and that they hired a highly qualified full time maintenance person that they are lucky to have. 
• Southeast Service Cooperative - No report

PreK-12 Principal

- Big Thank you to the Millers for hosting another great invitational last week. Thank you to the Adviser Mrs. Gallagher and the FFA students for working hard to make it a great event. 

- HVED/Mental Health- Mrs. Weidemann and our counseling staff met with the in person therapists that will be scheduled to be on site. They are working on creating a consistent schedule. 

- Homecoming is next week. The pep fest will start at 12:35 pm in the HS Gym for the whole school, parade line up will be at 2 pm, parade will start at approx. 2:15 pm and end up at the Community Center for a tailgate party.

- This Thursday, our 9th and 10th graders will be going to Caledonia for a Career Exploration Day. 

- During our Inservice week, our staff attended AI training and had great discussions about how to use AI in the classroom, and how to help students use it effectively. We also invited local law enforcement to our inservice to train staff on the “I Love You Guys” program, which is similar to the previous “ALICE” program. 

Superintendent

• Mr. Kuphal expanded on the “I Love You Guys” program, and why it was named that way. 
• Read Act MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Mr. Kuphal explained that this must be in place to get funding, and he will draft it for approval. 
• Audit Results will come in October.
• MREA Board Vacancy-he explained information about this elected position and said if anyone was interested to let him know. 
• Recording Meetings - Mr. Kuphal reported that while every district does this a little bit differently, he wanted to start a discussion about this. Most board members had no opinion yet at this point and wondered about legal requirements of posting these recordings. Mr. Kuphal will look into that and report back. 

 Items for Action and/or Discussion:

A.  Levy Limit and Proposed Levy Certification-approval to set at the max amount:

- Motion by Diane Wilder, seconded by Chris Miller, and carried unanimously.

B.  Set date for Truth-in-Taxation Hearing and Final Levy Certification- set for December 17th, 2024 at 6:01 pm:

• Motion by Diane Wilder, seconded by Mark Weidemann, and carried unanimously.

C.  Joint City Council/School Board Meeting-Date set for December 4th to meet with both city council members and the school board. 

- Motion by Diane Wilder, seconded by Traci Livingood, and carried unanimously.

D.  Policy 524 - Internet, Technology, and Cell Phone Acceptable Use and Safety Policy, 2nd Reading

- Motion by Diane Wilder, seconded by Mark Weidemann, and carried unanimously.

E.  Health Insurance Renewal

- Motion by Chris Miller, seconded by Diane Wilder, and carried unanimously.

F.  Approval to seek quotes for snow removal for 2024-25 & 2025-26

- Motion by Chris Miller, seconded by Traci Livingood, and carried unanimously to allow the search for bids with     notice that Karl Vang is no longer providing this service.

G.  Substitute Teacher Pay-it was recommended to increase the pay from $125 per day to $140  per day with an increase of $10 per day on the 15+ days subbed in our district. 

- Motion by Traci Livingood, seconded by Mark Weidemann, and carried unanimously.

H. Bond Referendum Survey- After extensive discussion, some suggestions were made to improve the survey before sending it out to the public. 

- Motion by Traci Livingood, seconded by Diane Wilder to make changes to the survey, and carried unanimously. 

I. COVID Policy Update - it was suggested to update our policy to follow the Minnesota Public Health guidelines. 

- Motion by Chris Miller, seconded by Diane Wilder, and carried unanimously

Adjournment: Motion by Diane Wilder, second by Traci Livingood, and carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 7:27 pm. 

Future Meeting and Calendar Updates

1. October 15, 2024; School Board Meeting, 6:00pm
2. November 19, 2024; School Board Meeting, 6:00pm
3. December 4, 2024; Joint City Council/School Board Meeting, 6:00pm
4. December 17, 2024; School Board Meeting, 6:00pm

Jason Marquardt, Clerk ________________________________________________________