Reports were presented by:
Scott Colbeck - Elementary Principal (Adams/McKinley)
Tindy Rund - Elementary Principal (Cleveland)
Mark Anderson - Secondary School Principal
Jeff Drake - Superintendent
General Consent Items
The following consent agenda was presented for approval:
Minutes from the regular School Board meeting held on February 12, 2024
Bills (February 13 - 26, 2024)
Personnel
Certified Staff Resignation:
Nathaniel Bailly, school counselor @ KSS; effective 5/31/2024
Certified Staff Hire:
Lauren Akers, part-time special education teacher (.1767 FTE) @ iQ Academy; effective 2/21/2024
Support Staff Resignation:
Darcy Landberg, Title 1 paraprofessional @ Cleveland; last work day 3/4/2024
Support Staff Retirement:
Daniel Ross, head custodian @ Roosevelt Education Center; effective 2/23/2024
Support Staff Hires:
Kirsten Lanoue, special education paraprofessional @ KSS; effective 3/4/2024
Darcy Landberg, para educator @ Cleveland; effective 3/5/2024
Jenee Babic, Title 1 para @ Cleveland; effective 3/4/2024
Darin Muchow, custodian/full-time floater; effective 3/18/2024
Melanie Cole moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Matthew Lemke and carried unanimously.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
Matthew Lemke offered the following resolution and moved for its adoption:
RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SCHOOL BUILDING BONDS AND CALLING AN ELECTION THEREON
BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of Independent School District No. 544, State of Minnesota, as follows:
The School Board hereby finds and determines that it is necessary and expedient for the School District to borrow money in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $54,820,000 and not to exceed any limitation upon the incurring of indebtedness which shall be applicable on the date or dates of the issuance of any bonds, for the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the construction and equipping of a new grades 3-5 elementary school facility. The question on the borrowing of funds for these purposes shall be School District Question 1 on the School District ballot at the special election held to approve said authorization.
The administration of the School District is hereby authorized and directed to consult with the Minnesota Department of Education and cause a proposal to be prepared and submitted to the Commissioner of Education for the Commissioner’s Review and Comment on behalf of the School Board, and to take such other actions as necessary to comply with the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, Section 123B.71, as amended. Any such actions taken by the administration prior to the date of this resolution are hereby ratified, confirmed, and approved in all respects. The actual holding of the special election on School District Question 1 specified above shall be contingent upon the receipt of a positive or unfavorable (provided applicable statutory requirements are met) Review and Comment from the Commissioner of Education on the projects included in the question.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause the Commissioner’s Review and Comment to be published in the legal newspaper of the School District at least forty-eight (48) but not more than sixty (60) days prior to the date of the special election specified below.
The School Board must hold a public meeting to discuss the Commissioner’s Review and Comment before the referendum for bonds.
The ballot question specified above shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the School District at a special election, which is hereby called and directed to be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, between the hours of 7:00 o’clock a.m and 8:00 o’clock p.m. This date is a uniform election date specified in Minnesota Statutes, Section 205A.05.
Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 205A.11, the School District’s combined polling places and the precincts served by the combined polling places, as previously established and designated by a resolution of the School Board adopted November 27, 2023, for elections held in 2024, are hereby designated for this special election.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to prepare a notice to any voters who will be voting at a combined polling place for this special election. The notice must be sent by nonforwardable mail to every affected household in the School District with at least one registered voter. The notice must be mailed no later than fourteen (14) days before the date of the election. A notice that is returned as undeliverable must be forwarded immediately to the appropriate county auditor. The notice must include the following information: the date of the election, the hours of voting and the location of the voter's polling place. This notice may be in the same form as the notice of special election to be published and posted.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause written notice of said special election to be given to the county auditor of each county in which the School District is located, in whole or in part, and to the Commissioner of Education, at least seventy-four (74) days prior to the date of said election. The notice shall specify the date of said special election and the title and language for each ballot question to be voted on at said special election. Any notice given prior to the date of the adoption of this resolution is ratified and confirmed in all respects.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of said special election to be posted for public inspection at the administrative offices of the School District at least ten (10) days before the date of said special election.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause a sample ballot to be posted at the administrative offices of the School District at least four (4) days before the date of said special election and to cause two sample ballots to be posted in the combined polling places on election day. The sample ballots shall not be printed on the same color paper as the official ballot.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of said special election to be published in the official newspaper of the School District, for two (2) consecutive weeks with the last publication being at least one (1) week before the date of said election. The notice of election so posted and published shall state each question to be submitted to the voters as set forth in the form of ballot below, and shall include information concerning each established precinct and polling place.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause the rules and instructions for use of the optical scan voting system to be posted in the combined polling places on election day.
The Clerk is authorized and directed to acquire and distribute such election materials as may be necessary for the proper conduct of this special election and generally to cooperate with election authorities conducting other elections on that date. The Clerk and members of the administration are authorized and directed to take such actions as may be necessary to coordinate this election with those other elections, including entering into agreements or understandings with appropriate officials regarding preparation and distribution of ballots, election administration and cost sharing.
The Clerk is further authorized and directed to cause a ballot to be prepared for use at said election in substantially the following form, with such changes in form, color, instructions, and content as may be necessary to accommodate an optical scan voting system or to comply with the form and content requirements of applicable state election laws:
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Special Election Ballot
Independent School District No. 544
(Fergus Falls Public Schools)
May 14, 2024
_________________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS
To vote, completely fill in the oval(s) next to your choice(s) like this:
_________________________________________________________________________________
To vote for a question, fill in the oval next to the word "Yes" on that question.
To vote against a question, fill in the oval next to the word "No" on that question.
School District Question 1
Approval of School District Bond Issue
Yes
No
Shall the school board of Independent School District No. 544 (Fergus Falls Public Schools) be authorized to issue its general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $54,820,000 to provide funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the construction and equipping of a new grades 3-5 elementary school facility?
BY VOTING "YES" ON THIS BALLOT QUESTION, YOU
ARE VOTING FOR A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.
Optical scan ballots must be printed in black ink on white material, except that marks to be read by the automatic tabulating equipment may be printed in another color ink. The name of the precinct and machine-readable identification must be printed on each ballot. Voting instructions must be printed at the top of the ballot on each side that includes ballot information. The instructions must include an illustration of the proper mark to be used to indicate a vote. Lines for initials of at least two election judges must be printed on one side of the ballot so that the judges’ initials are visible when the ballots are enclosed in a secrecy sleeve.
If the School District will be contracting to print the ballots for this special election, the Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to prepare instructions to the printer for layout of the ballot. Before a contract in excess of $1,000 is awarded for printing ballots, the printer, at the request of the election official, shall furnish, in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Section 204D.04, a sufficient bond, letter of credit or certified check acceptable to the Clerk in an amount not less than $1,000 conditioned on printing the ballots in conformity with the Minnesota election law and the instructions delivered. The Clerk shall set the amount of the bond, letter of credit, or certified check in an amount equal to the value of the purchase.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to provide for testing of the optical scan voting system within fourteen (14) days prior to the election date. The Clerk shall cause notice of the time and place of the test to be given at least two (2) days in advance by publishing the Notice of Testing once in the official newspaper and by causing the notice to be posted in the office of the county auditor, the administrative offices of the School District, and the office of any other local election official conducting the test.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of the location of the counting center or the place where the ballots will be counted to be published in the official newspaper at least once during the week preceding the week of the election and in the newspaper of widest circulation once on the day preceding the election, or once the week preceding the election if the newspaper is a weekly.
As required by Minnesota Statutes, Section 203B.121, the School Board hereby establishes a ballot board to process, accept and reject absentee ballots at School District elections not held in conjunction with the state primary or state general election or that are conducted by a municipality on behalf of the School District and generally to carry out the duties of a ballot board as provided by Section 203B.121 and other applicable laws. The ballot board must consist of a sufficient number of election judges. The ballot board may include deputy county auditors and deputy city clerks who have received training in the processing and counting of absentee ballots. The Clerk or the Clerk’s designee is hereby authorized and directed to appoint the members of the ballot board. The Clerk or the Clerk’s designee shall establish, maintain and update a roster of members appointed to and currently serving on the ballot board and shall report to the School Board from time to time as to its status. Each member of the ballot board shall be paid reasonable compensation for services rendered during an election at the same rate as other election judges; provided, however, if a staff member is already being compensated for regular duties, additional compensation shall not be paid for ballot board duties performed during that staff member’s duty day. Each member of the ballot board must be provided adequate training on the processing and counting of absentee ballots, including but not limited to instruction on accepting and rejecting absentee ballots, storage of absentee ballots, timelines and deadlines, the role of the ballot board, procedures for opening absentee ballot envelopes, procedures for counting absentee ballots, and procedures for reporting absentee ballot totals.
The Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to begin assembling names of trained election judges to serve at the combined polling places during the special election. The election judges shall act as clerks of election, count the ballots cast and submit the results to the School Board for canvass in the manner provided for other School District elections. The election must be canvassed between the third and the tenth day following the election.
The Clerk shall make all Campaign Financial Reports required to be filed with the School District under Minnesota Statutes, Section 211A.02 available on the School District’s website. The Clerk must post the report on the School District’s website as soon as possible, but no later than thirty (30) days after the date of the receipt of the report. The School District must make a report available on the School District’s website for four years from the date the report was posted to the website. The Clerk must also provide the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board with a link to the section of the website where reports are made available.
The motion was seconded by Kirby Anderson and upon roll call vote being taken, the following voted in favor thereof: Kirby Anderson, Melanie Cole, Missy Hermes, Natalie Knutson, Matthew Lemke and Stephen Vigesaa;
and the following voted against same:
None.
Whereupon said motion was declared duly passed and the resolution adopted.
Missy Hermes offered the following resolution and moved for its adoption:
2023-2024 AMERICAN INDIAN PARENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Fergus Falls School District #544 has an AIPAC composed of parents/guardians of American Indian children who are eligible for Indian education programs, American Indian language and culture teachers and paraprofessionals, American Indian teachers, American Indian counselors, American Indian adults enrolled in educational programming, and American Indian representatives from the community.
WHEREAS, the school district affords the AIPAC the necessary information and the opportunity to effectively express their views concerning all aspects of American Indian education and the educational needs of the American Indian children enrolled in the school(s) and program(s); and,
WHEREAS, the AIPAC is directly involved with and advises the school board and district staff on Indian Education program planning; and,
WHEREAS, the AIPAC develops and submits recommendations to the school board and district staff pertaining to the needs of American Indian students.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the AIPAC concurs that the school board and district are compliant with Minnesota Statutes, Section 124D.78, and that the school board and district are meeting the needs of American Indian students.
The motion was seconded by Melanie Cole and upon roll call vote being taken, the following voted in favor thereof: Kirby Anderson, Melanie Cole, Missy Hermes, Natalie Knutson, Matthew Lemke and Stephen Vigesaa;
and the following voted against same:
None.
Whereupon said motion was declared duly passed and the resolution adopted.
Kirby Anderson offered the following resolution and moved for its adoption:
RESOLUTION ON THE RETIREMENT OF DANIEL ROSS
WHEREAS Dan (Daniel) Ross began his employment with the Fergus Falls Public Schools in September 1996 and
WHEREAS Dan has been a valued employee with the Fergus Falls Public Schools for 27 years, and
WHEREAS Dan has been a night custodian and a head custodian for the school district and,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Fergus Falls School Board to thank Dan Ross for his 27 years of service to the Fergus Falls Public Schools.
The motion was seconded by Stephen Vigesaa and upon roll call vote being taken, the following voted in favor thereof: Kirby Anderson, Melanie Cole, Missy Hermes, Natalie Knutson, Matthew Lemke and Stephen Vigesaa;
and the following voted against same:
None.
Whereupon said motion was declared duly passed and the resolution adopted.
The next regular School Board meeting will be held at 5:15 pm Monday, March 11, 2024 in the Otter Community Room at the Kennedy Secondary School.
Melanie Cole made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:09 pm. The motion was seconded by Stephen Vigesaa and carried unanimously.
A work session followed the regular board meeting.