Though it was mostly routine business at the Garretson School Board meeting last week, there were a few items of note. The board will hold a special meeting on Oct. 26 to talk about a Tax Opt-Out and the project to repair the Athletic Complex.
There were three lane change pay raises for Alysha Kientopf, Amber Williamson, and Emily Backer, all of whom had earned master’s degrees during the summer education cycle. And, after their executive session, the School Board voted to make Mallory Zell the High School Special Education Teacher for an annual salary of $43,230. By this, we can infer that the State Education Department finally came through with the waiver for the district that they had been hoping for.
They also voted to surplus and sell the storage shed on the school playground by sealed bid. The shed is repairable, but with the roof damage the shed has sustained, the administration and maintenance staff determined it was not worth their time to fix.
The next noteworthy item was that one of the teachers had discovered a discrepancy in the school calendar this year. There were supposed to be 180 regular educational days in the school calendar for the 22-23 year, however the calendar the board passed had 181 days scheduled.
“We’ve got an extra day accidentally scheduled,” said Supt. Guy Johnson. “What you want to do about that is up to you, but I recommend that we just acknowledge that it’s incorrect, and move on for now. Maybe revisit it at a later time after we see what the winter brings?”
Considering the possibilities of snow days, the board thought that this was a good suggestion and tabled discussion of changing the calendar until the February meeting, when they’d have a better idea of the number of snow days that would need to be used.
The board also discussed and set a date for a special meeting. The items to be talked about would be the proposed repairs to the Athletic Complex and a potential tax opt-out.
“They kind of go hand in hand,” said Board President Shannon Nordstrom. “We need to make the repairs out there. Also, if you look at the budget we just talked about we are deficit spending this year, and it’s not going to be sustainable. These are big issues, and we really should devote a whole meeting to it.”
The board decided on holding the special meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 26th starting at 6 p.m.
Both principals, Katie Hoekman and Chris McGregor, had reports for the board. Hoekman’s report involved student testing, using new tests and tools to better serve the needs of the students. McGregor gave details for upcoming homecoming celebrations starting on Monday, Sept. 26 through Friday Sept. 30th. He also noted the Challenge Day scheduled for Monday, Oct. 3.
Supt. Guy Johnson then gave his report. Final student number counts will be held on Sept. 30. He said that so far there has been some fluctuation, with some families leaving the area and some moving in. As of this meeting, seven new students had open enrolled into the district of the nine students who applied. Two were denied because the district didn’t have the special educational resources necessary to serve these students. Ten students open enrolled out of the district. Total numbers as of this meeting were 451 students in K-12.
Supt. Johnson then informed the board that the school’s upcoming accreditation certification would be happening this November.
New board member Jodi Gloe reported to the board that she missed her first meeting as their liaison to the Prairie Lakes Coop, but Supt. Johnson said that the follow-up Superintendents' meeting had nothing of importance, only the payment of bills and salaries for the Cooperative.
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