Following up a work session with the School District 166 school board at which 2009-10 district goals were set, Superintendent Beth Schwarz recommended setting up five committees to address those goals. At the Monday, August 17 school board meeting, Schwarz said each team will consist of three community members recommended by the school board, two school board members, and three staff members.
The goals are to improve the district’s financial status, maximize communication and collaboration with the community to improve public perception, improve curriculum and instructional strategies to work toward success for all students, review supplemental activity offerings and determine their impact on student performance and development, enhance supplemental activity programming, and establish goals and strategies to address finance, communication, academics, and supplemental activities.
The five committees, called teams, will be a finance team, an academic team, a long-range planning team, a supplemental activities team, and a collaboration/ communication team.
New health plan
The new health plan adopted by the school was not as good for the Teamster’s union as for the teachers’ union, Schwarz reported. Some allowances were negotiated to which the Teamsters were agreeable, however. The fitness center incentive will not be available through the new plan.
Retired employee benefits
Schwarz reported that she had been to a Minnesota School Board Association conference. While the school’s financial situation “continues to look grim,” she said, she learned a lot at the conference and returned with a set of options to deal with the cost of retired employee health benefits.
The district currently has 12 retired employees or spouses of deceased employees who qualify for post-employment benefits.
At the meeting to discuss the school’s options for financing those benefits was financial advisor Gary Olsen of Ehlers and Associates. Legislation passed this year leaves school districts the option of issuing bonds by October 1, 2009 and depositing them in a trust that would earn interest to be used to pay for the costs (issuing bonds after October 1 would require a referendum), levying each year for the amount needed, or tapping into the general fund.
Levying for the current cost of $32,913 would mean a $3 annual property tax increase on a $200,000 home. For the same home, an eight-year bond would bring a $7 increase for eight years, and a five-year bond would bring an $11 increase for five years.
Leonard Sobanja supported the issuing of bonds because they would be put into an interestbearing account. “In the long run,” he said, “we come out ahead.”
The board voted unanimously to issue bonds that will be put into a trust.
Bread vendor
Two votes were cast to determine which vendor would supply the district with bread this next school year, but one of them left Pan-O-Gold Baking Company of St. Cloud the winner over North Shore Dairy of Grand Marais.
The board discussed the prices offered by each vendor and the benefits of offering its bread contract to a local business. Theway the two bids listed their prices made comparison difficult, however. The board said as much as they would like to go local, Pan-O-Gold has the better deal.
Pan-O-Gold did indeed offer better prices in all categories than North Shore Dairy, with North Shore Dairy’s average unit price more than two times higher than Pan-O-Gold’s.
The board first voted on a motion to give the business to the local vendor, North Shore Dairy. It failed to pass, with Leonard Sobanja and Eric Kemp voting yes and Bill Huggins, Rod Wannebo, and Mary Sanders voting no.
A motion giving the business to Pan-O-Gold did pass, with Kemp casting the sole nay vote.
Mary Sanders said she likes the idea of buying locally but thinks they need to be careful about spending.
Kitchen hires
The head cook position of previous years has been replaced with a two-hour-a-day food service manager position, awarded to Kim Falter. According to Superintendent Schwarz, Falter has a master’s degree in nutrition along with managerial skills and a good personality for the job.
Linda Bockovich will be the school cook this year, working 175 eight-hour days.
Working with Bockovich six hours a day as a kitchen helper will be Diane Koeneke. Another 2 ½-hour-a-day kitchen helper is yet to be hired.
Time card software purchase
The board approved purchase of a software program that will track employee work time. It will help decrease employee error and inefficiency in calculating payroll. Implementing the program will cost $9,318 but Payroll and Benefits Specialist Lori Backlund estimates it will save the district $6,750 a year.
Next meeting
The next school board meeting will be Monday, September 21 at 5:30 p.m., with a 15-minute social time preceding the meeting.
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