REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
SARTELL-ST. STEPHEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 748
MARCH 25, 2013
DISTRICT CENTER BOARD ROOM
The regular school board meeting of Independent School District 748 was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Chair Michelle Meyer. Members present: Meyer, chair; Mary McCabe, vice chair; Jason Nies, clerk/ treasurer; Pam Raden, Krista Durrwachter and Dan Riordan, directors; Hannah Tilstra, student member; and Joseph Hill, superintendent.
Meyer thanked staff, guests and students for changing schedules to attend the board meeting and introduced Stacy Karolus, new administrative assistant to the school board.
A motion was made by McCabe and seconded by Nies to amend the following items on the agenda:
- Move Report Item “Review & Recommend Elementary Gifted Programming FY 2013-2014” to April 15, 2013 regular board meeting.
Recognition of visitors and public forum: Allie Koroll, 333 Pine Ridge Road, Sartell, addressed the Board on the topic of revisiting the 2013-14 academic calendar/spring break.
A motion was made by Riordan and seconded by Durrwachter to approve consent items a-d as presented below:
Minutes of the meeting held on Feb. 25, 2013.
Checks in the amount of $1,439,049.22 as presented:
General Fund 1,111,204.19
Food Service Fund 107,915.96
Transportation Fund 71,492.66
Community Service Fund 34,375.37
Capital Expenditure Fund 62,492.46
Building Fund 51,086.13
Summer Rec Agency Fund 754.68
Check numbers 151176 to 151481
Receipts in the amount of $2,780,995.37 as presented:
General Fund 2,493,022.36
Food Service Fund 178,649.22
Transportation Fund 2,584.34
Community Service Fund 71,141.98
Capital Expenditure Fund 35.70
Building Fund 3,800.43
Debt Service Fund 28,666.34
Scholarship Trust 2,400.00
Summer Rec Agency Fund 695.00
Receipts 38251-38364
Wire transfers in the amount of $3,301.68 as presented:
General Fund 222.96
Community Service Fund 3,078.68
Wire transfers 201200043-201200045
Accept the following donations:
| Name |
To |
Donation |
Purpose |
| Pine Meadow PTO | District 748 Schools | $111.45 | Academic Extensions |
| Midway Iron & Metal Company | Sartell High School | $87.12 | Industrial Tech Department- welding practice |
Accept the retirement of Terry Hurd, SMS teacher, and Gayle Swoboda, SMS art specialist, effective 5-31-13.
Accept the resignation of Danelle Grosz, ORE cashier, effective 03-22-13 and Julie Blanchette, early childhood food service, 03-13-13.
Superintendent’s report: Superintendent Hill reported on:
- The first day of our fourth quarter began Monday, March 25
- Thank you to the district buildings and grounds crew for their efforts and support during the winter months in clearing lots and ensuring overall safety for our students
- Sartell High School’s Knowledge Bowl Team won the regional competition and is headed to the state competition
- According to minnCAN, an advocacy group for schools in Minnesota, Sartell Middle School ranked second in the state for overall student performance rankings at the middle school level based on MCA data
- About 40 Sartell Middle students participated in the Central Minnesota Regional Science Fair at SCSU. Sartell received the top school award for highest percent of students with top awards.
- Sartell Middle School 6th-grade Math Masters Team placed first at the regional Math Masters competition.
- An 8th-grader at SMS won the regional spelling bee and represented the district well at the state competition
- Boys basketball made it to the state competition
- Student Council won National Gold Council Award
- Gymnastics and wresting had Sartell-St. Stephen students participate at the state competition
- Starting the 2013-14 school year, our 5th-grade students will have the opportunity to enroll in orchestra
- A plan for incoming 5th-grade students and families is being created as an orientation and welcoming opportunity to Sartell Middle School, similar to Sabre Splash
- Family Library is open to all community members located at the DSC
Student representative report: Student representative Hannah Tilstra, a senior at Sartell High School, reported on the high school highlights.
- Boys basketball competed in the state competition
- Sartell High School Student Council held a blood drive in early March and collected 85 units of blood
- Student Voice is collecting student responses to a questionnaire about the school calendar including the following questions:
- Would you prefer spring break or long weekends?
- What are the pros and cons of long weekends?
- What are the pros and cons of spring break?
These results will be reported back once they are tabulated
School Board Committees:
Schools for Equity in Education Committee: Mark Dayton will be in town on Tuesday, March 26 to discuss issues on education.
Some topics that are currently being addressed at the legislature include:
- All-day, every-day kindergarten being fully-funded by the state
- Bullying legislation
- Mental health issues within the schools
- The impact of the new health care system on school district staffing budgets
- Looking at the funding balance of districts that are property-poor and/or property-rich
- Additional funding for special education through state dollars
Operations and Finance: Received an update on the district systems’ plan. Discussed enrollment information from 2012-13 to 2018-19 school year. Discussed the preliminary budget and will hold a work session for further discussion. Reviewed the current audit process for the school district and the relationship with KDV.
SMS Parent Advisory Council: Learned about the program Schoology and its functionality including grading student work, providing immediate feedback and enhanced communication. Discussed a welcoming and mentorship program for incoming 5th-graders to the middle school. Dr. Hill presented the State of the District report.
Board Policy Committee: The policy committee continues to review policies on a routine basis.
PME and ORE Parent-Teacher Organization: Very successful Bingo nights in March held by both PTOs. PME and ORE PTOs both hosted Dr. Hill in sharing the State of the District report.
Benton-Stearns Committee: Benton-Stearns is looking to become a Positive Behavior Intervention System-sponsor for the district. Through implementing effective Response to Intervention in ROCORI, the district has seen a slight decline in special-education referrals.
Sartell Senior Connection: The Sartell Senior Connection is working with the Whitney Without Walls program and collaborating programming with Whitney Senior Center for classes like yoga and tai chi.
Sartell Community Resources Facility: The Community Resource Facility report will be presented on April 8 in which the city is currently looking at the present city hall site.
Academic Interventions by Building: Building principals presented information about interventions that have been implemented within building programming.
Calendar Committee: At last work-study session it was determined this committee will be created with staff and parents being the driving force. The focus will be the entire academic calendar. Meyer will give a report at the next meeting.
Technology Implementation Plan: Kyle Breitkreutz, director of technology, presented information about the Three-Year District Technology Plan.
Kindergarten Programming: Greg Johnson, principal at PME, Beth Laudenbach, PME kindergarten teacher, Sarah Gill, ORE kindergarten teacher, shared information about the kindergarten programming and enhancements that have been made during the past year.
A motion was made by Nies and seconded by Riordan to REMOVE POLICIES 612, 617, 620, 621 and 622. All in favor. Motion carried.
A motion was made by McCabe and seconded by Riordan to HAVE SECOND READING AND APPROVE REVISED POLICIES 602, 613, 614, 615 and 616. All in favor. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Raden and seconded by Riordan to ALLOW FOR POTENTIAL BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS. All in favor. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Durrwachter and seconded by McCabe to APPROVE THE PERSONNEL OMNIBUS RESOLUTION.
New Employees or Changes:
| Name | Bldg. | Position | Compensation | Change | |
| 1. | Rob Notsch | SMS | 7th-grade baseball, 4.5% | BS1, $1,492 | Replacing Mark Krippner |
| 2. | Greg Jamison | SMS | Junior high track, 4.5% | BS1, $1,492 | Replacing Jen Mahowald |
| 3. | Nicolette Benoit | SMS | Junior high track, 4.5% | BS1, $1,492 | Replacing Becky Steinberg |
| 4. | Brady Lee Finnern | SMS | Junior high track, 4.5% | BS1, $1,492 | Replacing Gary Rosin |
| 5. | Amber Dziengel | SMS | Junior high (7th-grade) softball, 4.5% | BS1, $1,492 | Replacing Amanda Blum |
| 6. | Karlye Barron | SMS | Junior high (7th-grade softball), 4.5% | BS1, $1,492 | Replacing Nicole Maslowski |
| 7. | Nicole Maslowski | SHS | 9th-grade softball coach, 6.35% | BS2, $2,106 | Replacing Kristen Hansen |
| 8. | Mike Holman | SHS | 9th-grade baseball, 6.35% | BS9, $2,538 | Replacing Luke Sweeter |
| 9. | Rihab Naheel | SHS | Tutor – ESL 3 hrs. per day | $22.65/hour | New position |
| 10. | Mallory Wetzell | DSC | Operations assistant | $15.87/hour | New position |
Schedule Work Session and Committee Meetings:
Negotiations Meeting: 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 3
Work Study Session: 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, DSC board room
Policy Committee Meeting: 4:15 p.m. Thursday, April 4, DSC board room
Finance and Operations: 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 10
The board completed official review of Policy 625.
The board had the second of three readings of proposed new Policy 905. The board made the decision to not move forward with the first of three readings of proposed new Policy 215. First reading will be made at the April meeting.
The board had first of two readings of revisions of Policies: 612.1, 618 and 619.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:24 p.m. was made by Raden and seconded by Riordan. All in favor. Motion carried. __________________________________________
Jason Nies, Clerk/Treasurer
