Posted: 8/24/04
Late staff changes approved by school board
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
With the start of school approaching as fast as a flying soccer ball, the ISD #299 school board approved the hiring of more staff members at its August 16 meeting.
And soccer balls are flying, as the board found out later in the meeting.
Here are the hirings:
ď Dustin Moburg, middle school/high school band instructor at $30,216; and junior band advisor at $1,483.
ď Tina Beckman, part-time Title I instructor at $11,257.
ď Coaches Dan Reinhart, assistant volleyball, at $2,053; Susan King, junior high volleyball, $1,483 Sarah Fruechte, junior high volleyball, at $1,483; and Josh Diersen, halftime seventh grade football, at $741.50.
The following resignations were accepted: Curt Campbell, middle/high school band teacher, effective immediately; Bonnie Burroughs, middle/high school assistant head cook, effective October 1, 2004; Sharon Tweten, Title I teacher, effective immediately; Carl Fruechte, assistant boys basketball coach, effective immediately; and Lisa Buley, middle/high school counselor, effective immediately.
Buley, who attended the meeting, apologized to the board for the lateness of her resignation. She said she could recommend a couple people for the job.
She also asked for reimbursement on some extra work she had done. Buley noted that her pay was decreased by $1,000 due to the fact that her resignation came after August 1. This is part of the teachersí master agreement.
Superintendent Michael Moriarty told Buley she would be compensated if she filled out compensation forms.
Moriarty said he had received numerous applications for the .4 cook position and the .525 custodian position.
He said they were still looking for an elementary speech and language teacher to replace Michelle Roberts, who resigned.
Extra soccer coach
Moriarty then brought another last-minute request to the board, for a girls soccer coach for grades seven and eight at a cost of $1,820. He said he was reluctant to bring it up given the short notice. There is a person ready to take the job, he said.
The request was based on the fact that 17 more girls have come out for the program, probably as a result of the teamís trip to the state tournament last year and the upsurge in the sportís popularity in general, board members speculated.
But board member Chuck Schulte wondered if the numbers would hold firm. So the board agreed to give Moriarty the discretion to determine that fact in the coming days, and to make a decision on whether to hire a new coach.
Moriarty told The Argus on August 20 that the junior high girlsí soccer numbers had held firm, and that he was going ahead with hiring the new coach. He said he couldnít tell The Argus yet who that person was.
Short-term borrowing
The board awarded the bid of the sale of $2.1 million in bonds to Well Fargo Brokerage Service in Minneapolis at 1.85 percent interest. The cost to the district will be $42,087.50. The district will try to recoup that by investing the money at a higher interest rate.
Selling the bonds, which are known as General Obligation Aid Anticipation Certificates of Indebtedness, is a type of short-term borrowing that will help the district even out its cash flow. The district can pay bills when they come in now without having to worry about when aid payments from the state come in.
About half of the school districts in Minnesota do this, Melissa Stirn of Ehlers and Associates told the board. The funds will arrive in the first part of September, she said.
School-to-work discussed
Principals Brian Doty of the middle school and Ron Helmers of the high school discussed the school-to-work program at the school.
Board member Chuck Schulte said he disagreed with taking students out of classes that they had signed up for in order to work in the community.
Helmers said school officials needed to ask what is best for the kids. He plans to use a team approach on who gets into the program, and to monitor it closely.
Doty said that the work program was in its first year last year and hadnít been scheduled when school started. This year itís in the schedule, but there will probably be some conflicts with employers who need someone at a time not scheduled, Doty said. He said everyone needs to be flexible, and that Schulte had made ěan astute observation.î
Helmers added: ěItís a work in progress.î
Curriculum consistent
Elementary principal Connie Hesse said she was very pleased that the entire K-5 classes will be using the same series of books by Houghton Mifflin. ěSo we will have a consistent curriculum K through five,î she said.
The district spent $85,858 on new K-12 language arts and Spanish textbooks in 2004-05 as part of a curriculum improvement schedule that the board authorized. Hesse added that Spanish teacher Sharon Schulte was thrilled to have new Spanish 3 textbooks.
In 2003-04, the district spent $89,737 for new K-12 science/health textbooks. (The budget was decreased by $4,000 due to declining enrollment.
Hesse added that 20 new elementary students had enrolled, so the district had a net gain of 17 students. ěAt $6,000 per pupil units, thatís a shift in your general fund,î she said.
ECFE report
Mary Lou Busta, the Early Childhood Family Education coordinator and parent educator, gave a written and oral report to the board. She praised the space available at the elementary school.
Busta noted that fees are charged to help fund the program, which is facing continuing budget cuts from the state. But she added that scholarships are available for parents who canít afford it. She asked the board to pass that information on to anyone who might be discouraged from taking part in an ECFE class for financial reasons. The philosophy of ECFE is to serve everyone, Busta said.
The rest of her staff includes teachers Dianne Stevens, parent educator Deb Wray, and educational assistants Marsha Colsch Daley, Christine Steminsky, and Lynette Snow. They hold classes for ages 0-prekindergarten in Caledonia; at the community center in Brownsville; and at St. Lukeís United Church of Christ in Eitzen.
Budget projections good
Board members expressed satisfaction with some budget projection figures that Moriarty presented at the end of the 2-1/2-hour-long meeting.
It showed a projected year-end balance of $67,933, based on an adjusted pupil unit figure of 1,068.
Moriarty told The Argus after the meeting that some unsettled items will eat into this surplus: an employment contract with non-certified staff; and contracts for elementary principal Connie Hesse, middle school principal Brian Doty, community education director Nancy Runningen, and business manager Amy Schmidt.
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