Whereupon said motion was declared duly passed and the resolution adopted.
Reports were presented by:
Kari Love-Mainah – Washington DC (Middle School) Student Trip / June 11-14, 2026
Jon Steinbrenner – Elementary Principal (Lincoln)
Scott Colbeck – Elementary Principal (Adams/McKinley)
Tindy Rund – Elementary Principal (Cleveland)
Ivan Hirst – Middle School Principal
Mark Anderson – High School Principal
Jeff Drake – Superintendent
General Consent Items
The following consent agenda was presented for approval:
Minutes from September 9, 2024 regular board meeting
Bills (September 10 - 23, 2024)
Personnel
Certified Staff Hires:
Gail D. Johnson, deaf/hard of hearing consultant; up to 15 hours/month; effective 9/23/2024
Teresa Mahlum, special education teacher @ IQ Academy, .1530 FTE; effective 9/16/2024-12/20/2024
Support Staff Hires:
Liliahna Hermes, special education paraprofessional @ Adams; effective 8/28/2024
Dina Erickson, special education paraprofessional @ KSS; effective 8/29/2024
Sulamita Pribyshchuk, special education paraprofessional @ Lincoln (4 days/week); effective 9/24/2024
Kiera Cox, special education paraprofessional @ KSS/HS; effective 10/2/2024
William (Mike) Scott, night custodian @ KSS; effective 9/11/2024
Amy McClary, noon hour supervisor @ CL; effective 9/23/2024
Support Staff Contract Change:
Michelle Peasley, special education paraprofessional - reduction of FTE to .8256 (working Mon-Thursday only); effective 8/28/2024
Support Staff Resignations:
Lexie Sargent, para educator, last work day 9/11/2024
Pam Graf, special education paraprofessional; last day of work: 9/26/2024
Matthew Lemke moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Stephen Vigesaa and carried unanimously.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
Stephen Vigesaa moved to approve the 2024-2025 Fundraiser Requests. The motion was seconded by Melanie Cole and carried unanimously.
Kirby Anderson offered the following resolution and moved for its adoption:
RESOLUTION FOR PROPOSED LEVY FOR TAXES PAYABLE 2025 (SET AT MAXIMUM AMOUNT)
BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of Independent School District No. 544, State of Minnesota, as follows:
The Board shall certify its proposed property tax levy information to the county auditor on or before September 30 of each year, unless an extension is granted by the home county auditor.
Pursuant to Minnesota Statute 275.065, the School Board is authorized to certify the maximum levy limitation as certified by the commissioner of education for property taxes payable in 2025.
The Public information meeting (Truth in Taxation Hearing) regarding proposed property taxes and the budget is scheduled for 6 PM on Monday, December 9, 2024, in the Otter Community Room - Kennedy Secondary School (during School Board meeting).
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.
Matthew Lemke offered the following resolution and moved for its adoption:
RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE ELECTION OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND CALLING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT GENERAL ELECTION
BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of Independent School District No. 544, State of Minnesota as follows:
It is necessary for the school district to hold its general election for the purpose of electing three (3) school board members for terms of four (4) years each.
The clerk shall include on the ballot the names of the individuals who file or have filed affidavits of candidacy during the period established for filing such affidavits, as though they had been included by name in this resolution. The clerk shall not include on the ballot the names of individuals who file timely affidavits of withdrawal in the manner specified by law.
The general election is hereby called and elected to be held in conjunction with the state general election on Tuesday, the 5th day of November, 2024.
Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 205A.11, the precincts and polling places for this general election are those polling places and precincts or parts of precincts located within the boundaries of the school district and which have been established by the cities or towns located in whole or in part within the school district. The voting hours at those polling places shall be the same as for the state general election.
The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause written notice of said general election to be provided to the county auditor of each county in which the school district is located, in whole or in part, at least eighty-four (84) days before the date of said election. The notice shall include the date of said general election and the office or offices to be voted on at said general 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 general election to be posted at the administrative offices of the school district at least ten (10) days before the date of said general 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 general election and to cause two sample ballots to be posted in each polling place on Election Day. The sample ballot shall not be printed on the same color paper as the official ballot. The sample ballot for a polling place must reflect the offices, candidates and rotation sequence on the ballots used in that polling place.
The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of said general 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 the offices to be filled set forth in the form of ballot below and shall include information concerning each established precinct and polling place.
The clerk is authorized and directed to cause the rules and instructions for use of the optical scan voting system to be posted in each polling place 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 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 election officials regarding preparation and distribution of ballots, election administration and cost sharing.
The clerk is further authorized and directed to cause or to cooperate with the proper election officials to cause ballots to be prepared for use at said election in substantially the following form, with such changes in form, color and instructions as may be necessary to accommodate an optical scan voting system.
STATE GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA
NOVEMBER 5, 2024
INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS
To vote, completely fill in the ovals(s) next to your choice(s) like this:
School District Offices
School Board Member
Independent School District No. 544 (Fergus Falls Public Schools)
Vote For Up To Three
_________________
write-in, if any
_________________
write-in, if any
_________________
write-in, if any
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.
The next regular School Board meeting will be held at 5:15 pm Monday, October 14, 2024 in the Otter Community Room at the Kennedy Secondary School.
Stephen Vigesaa made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:16 pm. The motion was seconded by Kirby Anderson and carried unanimously.
A work session followed the board meeting to discuss the November 2024 Bond Referendum, policies, and staffing.