MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 777, Benson, Minnesota
Monday, January 7, 2019 – 5:30 p.m.
Benson High School Media Center
The organizational meeting was called to order at 5:31 p.m. by Vice Chair Gary Williams.
Members present: Paul Carruth, Mary Langan, Bill McGeary, Gary Williams Eric Peterson, Brian Samuelson and James Berens.
Acceptance and Oath of Office: Newly elected board members Brian Samuelson and James Berens signed the Oath of Office.
Additions to the Agenda: None
Citizens Comments: Tim Nagler and Aaron Vadnais, Facility Task Force community members, spoke about hearing rumors of construction cost cutting and stated the Facility Task Force voted for a plan that didn’t include cost cuts. Gary Williams stated he hadn’t heard of any rumors regarding cost cutting. ARY Architect Paul Youngquist spoke on cost savings of completing the HVAC now. Discussion was held.
Gymnasts Gwen Wilcox and Mya McGeary spoke about the gymnastics program needing a new space that meets their needs. The Armory is not big enough. The gymnasts do not want the board to give up on finding space for gymnastics. Kerry Wilcox also spoke about finding a new place for gymnastics and would like a timeline plan for finding a location. The board will continue to work on finding a location for gymnastics.
Organization of School Board:
Brian Samuelson elected Chairperson.
Gary Williams elected Vice-Chair.
Clerk and Treasurer combined into one position and delegated duties to Business Manager David Benson.
School board meeting schedule approved as presented for 2019.
Swift County Monitor-News designated the official newspaper.
All Minnesota Depositories plus PMA Financial and Minnesota Liquid Asset Fund designated the Depositories.
Authorized the Business Manager to make electronic funds transfers and authorized the Superintendent and Business Manager to apply for Federal, State and other grants and programs.
Swift County-Benson Health Services named as the official school physicians on call.
Superintendent or Board Chairperson authorized to select an attorney as needed at their discretion.
School Board member salaries and expenses set at: $1,700/year; Chairperson $1,200/year; Clerk $1,000/year; Treasurer $0/year.
The Chair and Superintendent will establish the school board committee members.
Approved Gary Williams to continue employment by the school district, with compensation not to exceed $8,000.
Consent agenda items approved as presented.
Old Business:
The roles of the school board and the superintendent were reviewed and provided in printed form.
College Entrance Exam: By state law, every public school district must offer a college entrance exam during the school day. Benson High School offers the ACT and Accuplacer. Principal Knutson presented different options for the 2018-2019 ACT Test for junior students and recommends having the district pay for the students who want to take the ACT with writing and seek to recoup as much funding as possible through the free and reduced family waivers.
The ACT testing recommendation accepted as presented by Principal Knutson for the 2018-2019 school year.
Construction Discussion: Paul Youngquist, ARY Architect; Tim Rabbits, Electrical Engineer; Kyle Simonson, Mechanical Engineer; and Ryan & Adam Breitbach, from Breitbach Construction gave the board a pre-construction update. The board discussed direction for architects and engineers on how to draw plans and write specs for the construction project.
New Business: None
Donations: None
Future Meetings: Regular School Board Meeting - February 19, 5:30 p.m., Senior High Media Center
Meeting adjourned 7:58 p.m.
Business and Report Items: Document Reference (filed with original minutes)
Copies of documents presented for action and report purposes are located in the district office as prepared for permanent record and posted on the school website at www.benson.k12.mn.us.
Mary KW Langan, Clerk
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