School board discusses changes for state

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — After Gov. Dayton released his state budget on Tuesday many residents are anxious to see what the future holds for the state of Minnesota.

Changes within the state and the education system were among the topics discussed at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Among these changes is the possible two year pay freeze for public employees, removing the two percent set aside for staff development, as well as the maintenenance effort piece for school support staff.

“There are a lot of things out there, but nothing is really defined yet,” stated superintendent John Landgaard.

School board member and legislative liaison for the board, Linden Olsen, referenced Gov. Dayton’s five-point plan, which included his reaffirmed promise to increase state funding for kindergarten through 12th grade education.

“In his state of the state address the Governor said ‘No excuses, no exceptions,’ and that remains to be seen how this will play out,” said school board member and legislative liaison for the school board, Linden Olson.

Another area of concern was the recently passed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act at the federal level.

The act would affect the reimbursement for free and reduced breakfast and lunches.

There is concern that some districts will be pressured to raise the standards for school meals due to this new act.

In other business, the board Tuesday:

* Approved the comprehensive arts grant of $2,500. The grant will require a nominal amount of funds from the district and will bring an artist into residency later during the month.

* Approved a payroll change from bi-weekly to semi-monthly. The changes will be introduced gradually throughout the year for some employees.

* Approved a new electronic time card system to be implemented during the summer months. The new system is expected to be more environmentally friendly, cost effective and will allow the payroll department to utilized time saved for other endeavors.

* Approved new volunteer guidelines that will be implemented during the next school year. The new guidelines will require volunteers to complete a background check in an effort to ensure student safety.

* Approved school calendar adjustments. The district has currently had one early dismissal day, six late starts and five closed school days. Students will make-up days on April 21, May 6 and May 25.

* Approved the tennis court facility cooperative agreement between the district and the city.

* Approved the Media and Computer Arts class elective as a credit option for students. The class will be offered during the next school year.

* Approved termination of Daniela Esseman as Special Education paraprofessional, retirement of John Goedtel as Special Education/Career Class teacher, resignation of Megan Hagerman as paraprofessional at Prairie Elementary and educational assistant with the EDGE program.

* Approved employment of Shari Vanderveen as education assistant with the EDGE program, Aiwen Burrell as program assistant with the EDGE program, Megan Stofferan as teacher with the EDGE program, Jocelyn Laverman as teacher with the EDGE program, Amber Taarud as long-term substitute cook at Prairie Elementary, Sandy Manila as secretary with the 21st CCLC/Targeted Services, Jocely Laverman as Kindergarten teacher with the EDGE program, Cayleen Mackey as Kindergarten teacher with the EDGE program, Laurie Dahlquist as Kindergarten teacher with the EDGE program, Julia Kutzback as Kindergarten teacher with the EDGE program, Mary Appel as Kindergarten teacher with the EDGE program, Rachel Bell as Kindergarten teacher with the EDGE program, Rhina Galvez as assistant with the EDGE program.

* Approved the out-of-state travel request for the Worthington High School Orchestra to attend the University of Iowa’s Orchestra Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa from Feb. 25 to 26.

Tags: news, school, board, worthington