School Board adopts new health and safety document
By Dan Kuss
lbnews@itctel.com
The Lake Benton School Board adopted a new annual Health and Safety Document for the year 2011 and approved membership in the Minnesota School Boards Association at the rate of $1,877 per year. The MSBA is a good organization that offers good information.
The school board designated Kevin Rupp of Ratwick, Rozak and Maloney as district attorney, First Security Bank of Lake Benton as district depository, Lake Benton Valley Journal as district newspaper, Board meetings to be held on the Third Wednesday of the month with meetings to be held at 7 p.m. in the school library and mileage to be reimbursed at the current Government rate.
The 2011 revised budget has been prepared and the expenditures are right on target while revenues are a little less predictable. If enrollment increases, revenues will as well.
Revenues are expected to be $2,071,880 and expenditures are at $2,068,316, which is much closer to what the board anticipated after planned reductions leaving $3,564 to the good, the board said.
Superintendent Loy Woelber gave a legislative update and explained that the state is now $6 billion in the hole for the next biennium as opposed to the standard $5 billion in the hole.
There will be a 50-50 payment shift in the next few years and legislators have cut the basic formula. Schools can get a line of credit loan at low interest rates. The school will get back 27 percent now, though this year it is at 30 percent, so it appears that there is 3 percent missing. It’s goofy. The school will get it back, probably next year when that rate will also go up. Superintendent Woelber said “A lot of schools are in tough shape, but not us.”
The school board set tentative tax levy hearings with an initial meeting on Wednesday, December 8 at 6:30 p.m. a subsequent meeting, if needed, on Wednesday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m. and an Adoption Hearing scheduled for Wednesday, December 22 at 6:30 p.m. When the levy goes down these meetings aren’t necessary, but they are held for the good of the public.
The board discussed lunch deficits and suggested that people not get over $30 in debt in a month, as they have a hard time catching up. Once they get near the $30 mark, they need to catch up rather than get down even further.
At this school, students pay for breakfast, but the school is working on it. Pre-school fees went to $85 for four year olds and $50 for three year olds with $45 and $20 as reduced amounts.
The fitness center fees went up $5 for individuals and $20 per year for family memberships.
Superintendent Woelber’s District report included that summer work is going well; the wood chips have been replaced in the upper playground with the rest going around the trees to enhance décor.
The school received a grant for a new walk-in freezer, which has been ordered, but the school will wait to install it until after the next school year.
The school needs a substitute janitor who is good with kids and has excellent people skills.
Principal Nielsen reported that the school may be gaining a new student or two for enrollment purposes. Tamara
Kremin said there is a new fifth grader named Braden hanging around town with the boys his age.
School technology needs a new server as there were issues with Donnita Bennett’s e-mail. E-mail services will be farmed out for now and revisited when a new server is purchased. They are not cheap. A new server will also help with the key card access for the fitness center.
Title 1 grant information will be submitted sometime in August.
Nielsen will check the bus driver situation for the coming school year and place an ad in the Lake Benton Valley Journal.
The next meeting will take place on August 18.
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