LANCASTER SCHOOL BOARD PROCEEDINGS August 19, 2020
LANCASTER SCHOOL BOARD PROCEEDINGS
The Lancaster School Board met in regular session on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at 8:00p.m. in the computer lab. The following members were present: Diamond, Homstad, Langerud, Lupien, Nordin, and Peterson. Also present were Supt. Shannon Hunstad, Teacher Rep. Nicole Thompson, Mendy Coffield, and Kittson County Enterprise Anna Jauhola.
Chairperson Diamond called the meeting to order and took roll call. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by those in attendance.
On a motion by Peterson, second by Nordin, the agenda was approved.
On a motion by Homstad, second by Lupien, the consent agenda was approved as presented.
Items included:
• The minutes of the July 15, 2020, regular meetings were approved.
• Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) in the amount of $46,245.98. Payroll EFTs in the amount of $20,160.79, and monthly bills for the regular and the activity account in the amount of $215,643.03. Check numbers 40683-40751.
• The Budget Comparison and Treasurer’s reports were reviewed.
• The current revenue totals by fund were reviewed.
The following resolution was moved by: Diamond and seconded by: Langerud,
RESOLUTION ACCEPTING DONATIONS
WHEREAS, Minnesota Statute 123B.02, Subd. 6 provides: “The board may receive, for the benefit of the district, bequests, donations, or gifts for any proper purpose and apply the same to the purpose designated. In that behalf, the board may act as trustee of any trust created for the benefit of the district, or for the benefit of the district, or for the benefit of pupils thereof, including trusts created to provide pupils of the district with advanced education after completion of high school, in the advancement of education.”; and
WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes 465.03 provides: “Any city, county, school district or town may accept a grant or devise of real or personal property to maintain such property for the benefit of its citizens in accordance with the terms prescribed by the donor. Nothing herein shall authorize such acceptance or use for religious or sectarian purposes. Every such acceptance shall be by resolution of the governing body adopted by a two-thirds majority of its members, expressing such terms in full.”; and
WHEREAS, every such acceptance shall be by resolution of the governing body adopted by a two-thirds majority of its members, expressing such terms in full;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the School Board of Lancaster Public School, ISD 356, gratefully accepts the following donations as identified below:
Donor Item Designated Purpose (if any)
Gambling Funds $200.00 Mask Lanyards
Anonymous $1,000.00 Use as we wish
The vote on adoption of the Resolution was as follows:
Aye: Diamond, Homstad, Langerud, Lupien, Nordin, and Peterson Nay: None Absent: None Whereupon, said Resolution was declared duly adopted.
EXTRACT OF MINUTES OF MEETING OF SCHOOL BOARD OF
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 356 (LANCASTER)
STATE OF MINNESOTA
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular meeting of the School Board of Independent School District No. 356 (Lancaster), State of Minnesota, was held in said school district on August 19, 2020, at 8 o’clock p.m.
The following members were present: Diamond, Homstad, Langerud, Lupien, Nordin, and Peterson.
and the following were absent: None.
Member Peterson introduced the following resolution and moved its adoption:
RESOLUTION RELATING TO APPROVING A CAPITAL
PROJECT LEVY AUTHORIZATION, AND CALLING AN ELECTION THEREON
BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of Independent School District No. 356, State of Minnesota, as follows:
1. The Board hereby determines and declares that it is necessary and expedient for the school district to submit a capital project levy authorization to fund technology to the voters for their approval. The proposed authorization will be in the amount of 9.459% times the net tax capacity of the school district, will raise approximately $150,000 for taxes payable in 2021, the first year it is to be levied, and would be authorized for ten (10) years. The estimated total cost of the projects to be funded by the proposed capital project levy authorization during that time period is approximately $1,500,000. The money raised by the capital project levy authorization will be used to cover costs related to the purchase, replacement, support and maintenance of technology and curricular materials, building maintenance, and the purchase and replacement of transportation vehicles and related equipment. The program will be commenced prior to November 1, 2025, which date is not more than five (5) years from the date of the special election authorizing the approval of the capital project levy. The question on the approval of the capital project levy authorization shall be School District Question 1 on the school district ballot at the special election held to approve said authorization.
2. The ballot question of the school district shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the school district at a special election, which is hereby called and directed to be held in conjunction with the state general election on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. This date is a uniform election date specified in Minnesota Statutes, Section 205A.05.
3. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 205A.11, the precincts and the polling places for this special election are those polling places and precincts or parts of precincts located within the boundaries of the school district 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 those for the state general election.
4. The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause written notice of said special election to be provided 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 before 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 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 each polling place on election day. The sample ballot 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 the 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 authorized and directed to acquire and distribute such election materials and to take such other actions as may be necessary for the proper conduct of this special election and generally to cooperate with state, city, township and county election authorities conducting the state general and 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 municipal and county officials regarding preparation and distribution of ballots, election administration and cost sharing.
5. The clerk is further authorized and directed 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 and instructions as may be necessary to accommodate the use of an optical scan voting system:
Special Election Ballot
Independent School District No. 356
(Lancaster)
November 3, 2020
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 Capital Project Levy Authorization
The board of Independent School District No. 356 (Lancaster) has proposed a capital project levy authorization in the amount of 9.459% times the net tax capacity of the school district. The money raised by the capital project levy authorization will be used to cover costs related to the purchase, replacement, support and maintenance of technology and curricular materials, building maintenance, and the purchase and replacement of transportation vehicles and related equipment. The proposed capital project levy authorization will raise approximately $150,000 for taxes payable in 2021, the first year it is to be levied, and would be authorized for ten years. The amount of the capital project levy proposed in this question may be offset by the reduction of the referendum revenue authorization that is scheduled to expire. The estimated total cost of the projects to be funded over that time period is approximately $1,500,000.
○ Yes
Shall the capital levy authorization proposed by the board of
Independent School district No. 356 be approved?
○ No
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 colored 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.
6. The individuals designated as judges for the state general election shall act as election judges for this special election at the various polling places and shall conduct said election in the manner described by law. 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 by the school board between the third and the tenth day following the election.
7. If the capital project levy authorization proposed in School District Question 1 is approved, a capital project referendum account shall be created as a separate account in the general fund of the school district. All proceeds from the capital project levy must be deposited in the capital project referendum account. Interest income attributable to the capital project referendum account must be credited to the capital project referendum account. Money in the capital project referendum account may be used only for the costs of acquisition and betterment of the approved projects. As required by Minnesota Statutes, Section 123B.71, subdivisions 8, the Board hereby determines and states that the funds approved by the voters for said authorization will only be used as authorized in Minnesota Statutes, Section 126C.10, subdivision 14. The funds in the capital project referendum account may be accumulated and not be expended until sufficient funds are available, may be accumulated and not be expended until additional funds from a bond issue are available, or may be expended on an ongoing basis for approved project costs. Any funds remaining in the capital project referendum account that are not applied to the payment of the costs of the approved projects before their final completion shall be transferred to the school district’s debt redemption fund.
8. The School District 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 for the adoption of the foregoing resolution was duly seconded by Langerud and upon vote being taken thereon the following voted in favor thereof: Diamond, Homstad, Langerud, Lupien, Nordin, and Peterson.
and the following voted against the same: None.
whereupon said resolution was declared duly passed and adopted.
STATE OF MINNESOTA )
)SS
COUNTY OF KITTSON )
I, the undersigned, being the duly qualified and acting Clerk of Independent School District No. 356 (Lancaster), State of Minnesota, hereby certify that the attached and foregoing is a full, true and correct transcript of the minutes of a meeting of the school board of said school district duly called and held on the date therein indicated, so far as such minutes relate to the calling of a special election of said school district, and that the resolution included therein is a full, true and correct copy of the original thereof.
WITNESS MY HAND officially as such clerk this 19th day of August 2020.
Lacey Lupien
Clerk, School District No. 356
On a motion by Lupien, second by Homstad, and carried: Be It Resolved, that the Board of Education of Independent School District 356, accepts the resignation of Samantha Alme as Elementary Teacher, effective immediately.
On a motion by Diamond, second by Nordin, and carried: Be It Resolved, that the Board of Education of Independent School District 356, hires Hannah Rynning as Elementary Teacher for the 2020/21 school year.
The Board reviewed the HIPAA Training section of the Employee Handbook to complete their annual HIPAA training.
On a motion by Langerud, second by Nordin, and carried: Be It Resolved, that the Board of Education of Independent School District 356, approves the Final Reading of the 2020/21 Employee Handbook.
On a motion by Nordin, second by Peterson, and carried: Be It Resolved, that the Board of Education of Independent School District 356, amends the 2020/21 Student Handbook per the changes presented by Supt. Hunstad.
Supt. Hunstad presented the Administrative Report:
1. The Sports Coop Advisory Committee met last week and discussed fall and spring sports.
a. With the spring sports not happening this past school year, the coaches will be
practicing this fall for golf, baseball and track. Without practice this fall, those
athletes would go two years without playing these sports. Coaches were paid
their full salaries last spring; therefore, fall practice will not be compensated
b. Football and volleyball will also practice this fall. Their seasons were moved to
the spring of 2021 and will be shortened. Having practice in the fall will make
up the ìregularî weeks of their sports season that they would miss in the fall. If
the seasons stay on as planned, fall coaches would receive their entire salary.
If seasons change, salaries will be prorated.
c. Some area schools are adding in club sports and/or playing a junior high
schedule (JH is not regulated by the MSHSL). KCC has chosen not to do either
of these.
2. The board meeting dates for September through December were reviewed.
On a motion by Diamond, second by Peterson, and carried: Be It Resolved, that the Board of Education of Independent School District 356, sets the date for the Truth In Taxation meeting to be December 16, 2020, at 7:00pm in the Supt. Office.
3. The Return to School 2020/21 Plan was reviewed. This must be send to MDE by Monday, August 24th. This must also be shared with Parents.
4. COVID funding and expenses were reviewed. With the new funding of $42,000 released last week, total revenue is now $62,000 for Lancaster School to use for COVID-19 expenses.
5. Enrollment numbers for 2020/21 school start for K-12 are currently 157 in person and 18 distance learners totaling 175. Preschool has 6 distance learners and 16 in person totaling 22. Five new students K-12, and two new preschoolers have registered for the 2020/21 school year. There a few families who have chosen to home school (6 students) this year (who attended last year.)
6. The Fall Teacher Workshop schedule was reviewed. Supt. Hunstad noted that David Horsager is presenting via Zoom for the area schools . Supt. Hunstad and Dean Thompson will be attending a separate workshop for school leaders.
7. The Open House plan this year will be a bit different. There won’t be a meal. There will be packets in the west gym for families to fill out. We will set up tables for social distancing.
The next regular board meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, at 8:00 pm (DST).
Diamond adjourned the meeting at 9:12 p.m.
James Diamond, Chairperson Lacey Lupien, Clerk
(September 23, 2020)
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