Open enrollment numbers of those in, out of district presented
According to a report by Staff Writer Nicholas Cicale in the Thursday, March 24 edition of the St. James Plaindealer, the Buttefield-Odin Public School (B-OPS) School Board unanimously agreed to use the services of the South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) to search for the school’s new superintendent during the group’s Monday, March 21 meeting.
At a Thursday, March 10 workshop, B-OPS Part-Time Acting Superintendent Sandi Novak had presented five options that could be utilized in a superintendent search.
SCSC was selected because the school district is already a member, the services are free for district use, will take some of the burden off of B-OPS School Board Members and Novak and will help guide the district and new superintendent during the next school year.
Other options included the board conducting the search themselves, the board conducting the search following training, the board hiring the Minnesota School Boards Association to do the search at a cost of about $5,000 or the board hiring a private search firm, but would be more costly.
Open enrollment statistics presented
Novak, during her superintendent’s report, presented the open enrollment statistics which had earlier been requested. Those numbers have 109 current students enrolled at B-OPS from other districts, with 79 students living in the district but who either attend school in another district, attend Mountain Lake Christian or are home-schooled. B-OPS Part-Time Principal Lisa Shellum noted that many of that number have never been enrolled in the school.
In other business
+ Discussed a payment to the law firm of Rupp, Anderson, Squires and Waldspurger. Kevin Rupp is the school’s attorney. The year-to-date costs for legal services are $11,234, with additional attorney bills yet to come. An average of $2,500 is budgeted for legal services each year. In 2013, the district spent $2,800 and in 2014, $5,000.
+ Approved the master calendar for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years by a 6-1 vote. Due to the shared student agreement between B-OPS and St. James Public School, the calendar will align with the one passed earlier in March by the St. James School Board. Because of scheduled summer construction at St. James Public High School over the course of the next two years, the 2016-2017 school year will begin on August 22, two weeks earlier than the traditional start day of the day following Labor Day. In spring 2017, the last day of the school year will be May 12, also earlier than usual. Voting against the master calendar was B-OPS Board Treasurer Andy Pierson. Pierson’s objection was that the calendar included early-out PLC days each Wednesday. He has long expressed concerns over classroom time lost due to PLC time. Pierson would rather the school district look at alternatives with teachers.
+ Approved the resignation of Molly Fridstrom, Director of Bands, effective June 30.
+ Approved the resignation of paraprofessional Alyssa Style, effective immediately.
+ Approved the Achievement Integration budget of $46,074.
+ Heard the principals’ report from Principal Shellum and B-OPS Full-Time Principal Barry Schmidt. They discussed upcoming tests, as well as student assessments being used to prepare students.
+ Heard from Casey Lloyd during the Open Forum. Lloyd addressed concerns about board actions during the past year. He also questioned if any Open Meeting laws had been broken. Lloyd also asked if board members would sit down with a citizens’ group to talk about possible plans for the future of the school and to gather community input.
