“Some good news about this year’s budget,” said Supt. Johnson, “is that we have only one payment left on our Bond Redemption fund. This means, we won’t have to request as high of a levy this year. As the board will recall, when we asked our taxpayers to pass an opt out for us, we promised that if we did not need the full opt out amount, then we would ask for less. I’m happy to say that with our fund balance and with just one bond payment remaining we can request a fund balance of $350,000 in tax levy’s rather than the maximum $500,000 our opt out was set for. Our taxpayers should notice a significant difference this year.”
The board reviewed and adopted the amended budget. They then voted on the aforementioned ratification of Schweitzer’s employment.
Next they talked policy items and had first reading on several items. One item of note, which was mentioned at the last meeting, was policies on public comments at meetings. State law on this has been revised so the school policy will be changed to reflect those laws.
“People want to speak and we want to hear them, but there are rules that have to be followed,” said Nordstrom. “If they have a grievance or a complaint there is a procedure for that. Usually when there’s an issue, that’s when we see this room full of our constituents that have something to say. Again, we want to give people an opportunity to address the board with their concerns, but we need to do so with clear boundaries of what we can or can’t talk about in an open meeting. We’ll revisit this, make things a simple and clear cut as possible, perhaps with a copy of the policy and a Cliff’s notes checklist for anyone who wants to make a public comment.”
If members of the public want to review the new policy or speak to the administration or a school board member about this issue before the new policy is adopted, potentially by the next meeting, they should do so forthwith.
The board approved changes to the school counseling program policy, (specifically removing the title of “guidance” to just “school counselor,” as the term of guidance has fallen out of use.
The board also voted to appoint Nordstrom as the Garretson School’s delegate to the Associated School Boards of South Dakota for this year.
The board then moved on to Administrative reports. Supt. Johnson reported that the official school count would be happening on Sept. 27. As of the time of the meeting, Johnson reported currently that 498 students were enrolled in our district. Last year’s count was at 480.
Next, Supt. Johnson brought to the board a report about the school’s heating and cooling. GNR controls had created a large report on a list of potential improvements. Johnson was quick to point out that these estimates were on the high side.
However, Johnson did think it would be worth the board’s time to explore this report and to set a special meeting of the board where this item only would be on the agenda.
“We already know that we will need a replacement chiller soon,” he said. “The cost of constantly repairing the one we have has outweighed it’s usefulness. Some of our boilers are also old and inefficient, but they aren’t as high of a priority as the chiller. These estimates will give us a starting point to talk about what the school needs. At this special meeting, we can set down a plan and course of action, and have the specs ready to go out by December for bid, giving us the best cost savings advantage possible.”
After some discussion, the board set a special meeting for Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. to talk the heating and cooling infrastructure of the school.
Supt. Johnson reported that the school in-service had gone well, with the Admin team reading Crucial Conversations, a book and curriculum covering positive conflict resolutions, with an emphasis on preserving relationships while functioning toward a goal. Also they worked on a curriculum that addresses poverty and class, how to reach, understand, and teach to students form the lowest economic strata.
The board had an executive session regarding a personnel matter, entered in executive session at 7:21 p.m. and exited at 7:41 p.m., at which time they adjourned.
