MLPS School Board hires 2016-2017 activities personnel

Updated on S. A. V. E. Yourself training date for K-12 students

 

 

 

mlps school board

MOUNTAIN LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL (MLPS) School Board. Front, from left, Board Treasurer Pam Hoek, Board Chair Doug Standerwick, Board Vice-Chair Tim Swoboda and Board Clerk Julie Brugman. Back, from left, Board Directors Chad Pedersen, Tom Fast and Matt Gohr.

 

 

 

One of the actions completed by the Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) School Board, at a regular monthly meeting on Monday, October 17, was the approval of a “blanket list” roster of individuals to serve as coaches, activity advisors and directors to serve various programs throughout the district for school year 2016-2017. There are positions yet to be filled, with plans for them to be filled when candidates are found.

+ FFA Advisors: Lindsey Brown, Stephen Funk and Hayley Faber.

+ One-Act Play:

  • Head One-Act Coach: Julie Brugman.
  • Assistant One-Act Coach: Crystal Fast.

+ Play Production:

  • Play Director: Julie Brugman.
  • Music Director: Sarah Tailowright.

+ Band Director: Kurt Jahnke.

+ Vocal Co-Directors: Andrea Brinkman and Kelli Tucholke.

+ Annual Advisor: Jessica Svehla.

+ Junior Class Advisors: Andrea Brinkman, Jayme Fast, Kristin Pfeiffer and Jessica Svehla.

+ Senior Class Advisors: Brenda Feil, Shawn Naas and Kim Syverson.

+ Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) Student Council Co-Advisors: Jaime Banks and Kim Syverson.

+ Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES) Student Council Co-Advisors: Amy Hartzler and Annette Kunkel.

+ Declam Coach: Laurie Bartsch.

+ MLHS National Honor Society Advisor: Kurt Jahnke.

+ MLES Science Fair Advisor: Pam Osland.

+ Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) Spelling Bee Advisor: Pam Osland.

+ MLHS Junior High/Senior High Knowledge Bowl:

  • Coach: Jon Harder.
  • Assistant Coach: Jessica Svehla.

+ Driver Education Instructor (Classroom Instruction and Behind-the-Wheel): Annette Kunkel.

+ Boys and Girls Cross Country Co-Head Coaches: Kyle Blomgren and Andrea Brinkman.

+ Volleyball:

  • Head Coach: Cheri Hanson.
  • Assistant Coach: Jaime Banks.
  • Assistant Coach (9th Grade): Michelle Ott.
  • 7/8 Grade Coaches: Mikkala Hup and Esther Klassen.

+ Football:

  • Head Coach: Tim Kirk.
  • Assistant Coaches: Nate Brinkman and Tim Snyder.
  • 7/8 Grade Coaches: Scott Boelke and Brian Oeltjenbruns.

+ Boys Basketball:

  • Head Coach: Shawn Naas.
  • “B” Coach: Nate Brinkman.
  • Junior High Coaches: Tim Snyder and To Be Determined (TBD).

+ Girls Basketball:

  • Head Coach: Wayne Klassen.
  • Assistant Coach: Ryan Jans.
  • Junior High Coaches: Mike James and Susanna Strutz.

+ Boys and Girls Track and Field:

  • Head Coach: Scott Boelke.
  • Assistant Coaches: TBD, TBD and TBD.

+ Softball:

  • Head Coach: Brian Hopwood.
  • “B” Coach: Shawn Naas.
  • Junior High Coaches: TBD and TBD.

+ Baseball:

  • Head Coach: Tim Snyder.
  • Assistant Coach: Tim Kirk.
  • Junior High Coaches: Ryan Jans and TBD.

+ Golf Head Coach: Chad Pedersen.

+ Trap Shooting Advisor: Stephen Funk.

K-12 S. A. V. E. Yourself training set for Tuesday, October 25

All staff at MLPS has been trained in a program called S. A. V. E. Yourself. The program is based on the recommended run, hide, fight philosophy. S. A. V. E. Yourself was developed by Chad Sheehan, a 23-year veteran of law enforcement and certified Rapid Response instructor.

A K-12 student training date with Sheehan has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 25. The tentative training schedule is as follows – 9:50 a.m. to 10:35 a.m., Grades 6-8; 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Grades 9-12; 12:15 p.m. to 12:35 p.m., Grades K-2 and 12:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., Grades 3-5. Training will be done with age appropriate language and content.

Training will be around three general principles – Run (It is no longer acceptable to offer a Lockdown-only response. If safe to do so, school staff will attempt to rapidly evacuate the building, with students going to pre-designated “rally points.” This rapid evacuation may include multiple and non-traditional routes out of a building or location), Hide (If rapid evacuation is not possible, staff will attempt to shelter/barricade in place and make every attempt to keep a violent intruder away from students. Any and all methods to create barriers will be used. While sheltering in place, students will be asked to assist in barricading as staff is evaluating secondary evacuation options and preparing to defend students as a last resort. Students will be taught to district and evacuate at age-appropriate levels, if the room is compromised and Fight (Fighting back as a last resort is just that – a last resort. This option, as it relates to elementary and middle school students, is about doing things to be a more difficult target if confronted by a violent intruder. Elementary students will NOT be taught to physically attract intruders. All students will be taught how to be more difficult targets by creating distractions, moving and reacting quickly to danger.

Students may opt-out of this training.

In other business

Discussed the Cottonwood County Tax Abatement Program. The City of Windom, along with Drew Hage, Windom Economic Development Authority Director, are working with public entities in Cottonwood County to address housing needs within the county. (Tax abatement programs reduce or eliminate the amount of property tax owners pay on new construction, rehabilitation and/or major improvements. They don’t completely eliminate a property tax bill as taxes will still need to be paid on the value of the property before it was improved.)

Research is being done on the possibility of a county-wide tax abatement program for new housing. The intent of the program is to provide incentives to encourage the construction of new owner-occupied and residential housing units, and to encourage replacement of dilapidated housing structures within Cottonwood County. A tax abatement program for housing is one step in encouraging new development in Cottonwood County.

In mid-September, Hage presented information on the program to the Cottonwood County Board of Commissioners. The county’s involvement would be spread over three years, with a cap of $300,000.

A county-wide tax abatement program for new housing would allow cities and schools to participate, or opt out. The consensus of the commissioners was to have Hage contact all cities and school districts in Cottonwood County to learn the intent of each.

The MLPS School Board took no position on the proposal, questioning if abated taxes for the district would be that much of an incentive.

+ Hired Christiana Lewis and Mary Kispert as Town & Country Day Care workers.

+ Heard the Auditor’s Report for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 from Matt Moline of the certified public accounting (CPA) and business advisory firm Eide Bailey.

Learned the change in fund balance from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 –

  • General Fund: Balance decreased by $130,645.
  • Food Service Fund: Balance increased by $49,392.
  • Community Service Fund: Balance increased by $5,569.

+ Heard a report from the Building Committee. Members of the MLPS Building Committee include Chair Tim Swoboda and Vice-Chair Tom Appel, along with Cheri Hanson, Jerry Haberman, Bruce Swanson, Bryan Bargen, Vern Peterson, Shawn Naas and John Carrison. To learn what is being discussed for building proposals, go to: https://www.cross-countiesconnect.com/2016/07/mlps-school-board-meets-thursday-with-building-committee-architect/.

+ Heard a report from MLPS School Board Director Chad Pedersen who had attended a recent Mountain Lake City Council meeting.

+ Heard a first reading of policy revisions. The policies include the most recent updates available from the Minnesota School Boards Association. Adoption of the list is expected to occur at the Monday, November 21 regular board meeting. The policy revisions may be found on the school district’s website: http://home.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/district/school-board/policy-changes-aug-2016.

+ Received an updated list of upcoming school board meetings –

  • Monday, November 21, 2016: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, December 12, 2016: Truth in Taxatioin Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, December 19, 2016: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Tuesday, January 17, 2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Tuesday, February 21, 2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, March 20,  2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, April 17, 2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, May 15, 2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, June 26, 2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.
  • Monday, July 17, 2017: Regular School Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Room 1.

+ Each week, Superintendent Strom submits Week in Review notes to school board members; elementary and high school principals; the Mountain Lake Education Association; elementary, high school and district office personnel; district buildings and grounds supervisor and the media. All of these reports are considered public data. Following each regular monthly MLPS School Board meeting, Cross-Counties Connect will chronicle, summarize and highlight information from the Week In Review notes from over the course of the intervening month. Following are those points from the September 16, 23 and 30 and October 7 and 14 reports –

  • Athletic Participation Policy: Superintendent Strom answered several questions about volleyball, and upper elementary students playing with junior high (7/8) students. He also had several conversations with parents, coaches, faculty and board members. Though the majority of coaches want to keep the policy as it is, there are others who disagree. Rumors are circulating that the school board is divided on this matter. When there are disagreements about what policy should prevail, one solution is to propose a policy for consideration so that each school board member can register their vote for or against the current policy.
  • Instant Alert System: The superintendent shared that the district is considering changing its instant alert system from Honeywell to JMC. The reason for the change is because JMC would allow the school to create a more efficient management of the way in which it communicates to students, families and groups, as the JMC system is already in the district’s system.
  • Long-Term Facility Maintenance: Superintendent Strom spoke with Buildings and Grounds Maintenance Supervisor John Carrison about long-term facility maintenance. Carrison is gathering quotes for repairs to the unit ventilators for the 1940 (high school) building. He also spoke with Kim Naas, Business Manager, about long-term facility maintenance revenue. A budget has been submitted for long-term facility maintenance revenue, but there are not any projects or a plan for how to spend these funds. Additionally, Strom met with Tim Swoboda, chair of the Building Committee and vice-chair of the MLPS School Board, to review the last committee meeting on Monday, October 6. The committee will meet again on Monday, November 7 at 6 p.m. in Room #1. The Building Committee and architect ?? both endorse the superintendent’s interest in creating a project list which will be funded by long-term facilities maintenance revenue.
  • CTE (Career Technical Education) Meeting and MLPS Response: On Wednesday, September 28, former MLHS ag teacher and FFA advisor Tom Appel represented the superintendent at a meeting in Worthington addressing the critical shortage of CTE teachers, CTE programs and the impact this shortage is having on schools and businesses across southwestern Minnesota. The meeting was held to lay possible groundwork that could lead to shared CTE programs, CTE teachers and resources. The discussion involved superintendents, leaders in area high schools, representatives from the Southwest/West Central (SW/WC) Service Cooperative in Marshall and leaders from Minnesota West programs in the southwestern part of the state. Mountain Lake Public School District is participating in order to see how it can benefit students. Superintendent Strom noted that MLPS began responding to this situation as early as 2010-2011, with implementation beginning in 2013-2014. Former art teacher Nancy Nelson was not a CTE teacher, however, parts, but not all, of her program was incorporated into the current MLPs CTE format, while other parts were discontinued. MLPS now has three primary CTE teachers – Stephen Funk, Lindsey Brown and Hayley Faber. These replaced Tom Appel, Connie Risty, Donna Peterson and Nancy Nelson (not CTE). Current CTE teachers hold licenses in agriculture, business, family and consumer science and industrial tech. CTE teachers can teach energy, animal science, mechanics, medical, finance, marketing, careers, construction, child development, drafting and design, computer technology, consumerism, culinary arts, electronics, engineering, family dynamics, fluid power, interior design, law enforcement, criminal justice, medical careers, plant science, electricity, plumbing, robotics, welding and small engines. An added benefit to the CTE program and personnel situation is that school districts receive a 35% funding reimbursement for CTE teachers who are licensed in agriculture and consumer science. With the 35% reimbursement, the school district is able to staff three teachers for the pay of two. This 35% reimbursement comes to the district through a local levy.
  • Removal of Swimming Pool Diving Board: A recent inspection of the indoor swimming pool resulted in the removal of the diving board. This was necessary as the pool is not deep enough to accommodate a diving board. The pool’s depth at the deep end is nine feet, while code requires it to be 10 feet deep. In addition, the depth of the pool’s bottom rises too quickly from the diving board to the shallow end to accommodate the board.
  • Preliminary Audit Report: Strom noted key financial highlights for the 22015-2016 fiscal year including – net position increased $196,274 since the prior year; overall revenues were $7,157,345 while overall expenses totaled $6,961,071 for a difference of $196,274; overall general fund (Fund 1) balance decreased by $136,645; food service fund (Fund 2) balance increased by $49,392; community service fund (Fund 4) balance increased by $5,569 and the General Fund unassigned fund balance decreased by $136,645. At the direction of the school board, $224,000 was maintained in the reserved operating fund. This will further reduce the school district’s unassigned fund balance by $136,645 + $224,000 = $360,645.
  • Enrollment Report to MDE: Each October 1, the school district is required to update its enrollment figures to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). About 78 of MLPS resident students attend other schools, while 82 from other schools attend MLPS. Following are the numbers –
  • Early Childhood Special Education: 9.
  • Kindergarten: 27.
  • First Grade: 35.
  • Second Grade: 30.
  • Third Grade: 33.
  • Fourth Grade: 37.
  • Fifth Grade: 32.
  • Sixth Grade: 33.
  • Seventh Grade: 41.
  • Eighth Grade: 39.
  • Ninth Grade: 41.
  • Tenth Grade: 45.
  • Eleventh Grade: 39.
  • Twelfth Grade: 41.
  • Administration Roles: Strom designated MLHS Principal Michelle Larson as the District Title IX Coordinator, MLES Principal Karl Wassman as the District 504 Coordinator and himself as the District Human Rights Coordinator.
  • Ceiling Plaster/Floor Problems: In the school district’s oldest building on campus, there are difficulties with the ceiling plaster in Special Education (EBD) Teacher Tim Snyder’s first-floor classroom, as well as the floor in Vocal Director Andrea Brinkman’s room directly above. Carrison is working solutions and getting quotes from builders. The plan is to implement a temporary fix. However, if the problem is extensive and the structure of the floor and ceiling is compromised, students and faculty may have to be moved out of those two room.
  • Girls Softball: Strom reported that Windom Area Public School Superintendent Wayne Wormstadt had contacted him to see if there would be any interest in pairing for girls softball in spring 2017. In talking with MLA coaches, Strom learned that there is no interest to pairing for softball for the 2016-2017 school year.
     
     
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