USD 107 Board accepts resignation

On Monday, Jan. 8, President Kenny Mizner called the regular meeting of the Board of Education for USD No. 107 to order. Those present were Kenny Mizner-Zoom, Marc Grout, Brandon Hollerich, Bobi Fogo, Wayne Frost-Zoom, Justin Angleton, Jeff Sells, Sam Meyers, Cassi Bozarth and Janet Higer. Trevor Elkins was present as a guest.

Marc Grout was elected president, and Bobi Fogo, vice president.

The district buses and Suburbans were discussed as to what repairs are needed and inspections to be made on the vehicles.

Google Maps routes for each bus route have been fine-tuned. This will enable easier process for substitutes to better navigate the routes.

Organization continues on the bus barn.

Snow removal continues also.

Facility and grounds were reported on. At the junior-senior high school, Mahaney Roofing had checked roof leaks during the holiday break. There was a minor leak in the library, and still a major leak in the custodian closet next to the boys bathroom. These leaks have been occurring intermittently for at least four years. Mahaney fixed the leak in the library but said the roof drain clog needed cleared again before they can fully repair the leak at the custodian closet.

Ackerman Lock & Key replaced the locks during break. Each teacher can only access their own room now.

Most of the light ballasts and terminal ends that were burnt have been replaced. Unfortunately, the district has run out of fluorescent bulbs. Most of the classrooms are good, there are bulbs out and maybe a couple that need ballasts. The board should decide if another $200 for bulbs is worth it for the classrooms and to have some extras or wait. New ballasts are available.

Custodial staff received a new mop soap dispenser, this will ensure only needing to stock two cleaning chemicals. These dispensers were installed in all three buildings. The custodial closets are in need of new faucets, however there are no water shutoffs to the pipes. The board should plan on replacing in the summer when the water can be shut off.

One of the basketball practice goal winches is a problem. It is a struggle getting the goal to rise. Raising these up is a 2-person job and takes a fair amount of time every week during basketball season. Zach Duffy and maintenance would like to have a key driven powered winches like what is on the main goals in the future.

At the elementary school all the water fountain filters were replaced. One of the fountains was not working. After repairing it, it is working.

The City of Mankato installed a new water meter and said the district needs to install insulation in the pit.

Maintenance completed the first snow removal at the facilities during Christmas. It was a nice test run while nobody was around. The experience helped to understand what will be required to make all the facilities as safe as possible during the winter months.

There was a natural gas leak. It was determined that the leak was a stove burner that was on, and not lit.

Mrs. Cates’ classroom HVAC unit is squealing terribly. The fan bearings are going out. The unit will need to be disassembled to replace the parts. The units in every classroom are choked with dust.

At the old high school, the steam boiler has been shutting off randomly. American Boiler said the system didn’t get PM’d last year. Rust and other contaminants in the system works its way through the condensate, back to the boiler. This causes problems during the heat cycle and makes the water bounce violently. When the water level goes too low, the system safety shuts the machine down. It has to be manually reset before it will fire again. It is working now but in the spring the system needs to be looked at.

District radios went out Jan. 3. Pierce Electronics found the cable 15 feet up the tower had come apart.

Mr. Meyers gave the 6 through 12 principal’s report. Jan. 8, Kyra Lampe was at the school to introduce and work with students on the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Jan. 15, Mrs. Kastrup hosted a FAFSA work night at in the commons for parents and students to help them complete their FAFSA paperwork.

Rock Hills will be the host site for the Northern Plains League Band clinic and concert on Monday, Feb. 5.

The annual Kansas CTE Conference will be held Feb. 5 through 7 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan. Mrs. Kastrup, Mrs. Eckhardt, CTE teachers and Mr. Meyers will be attending sessions.

Rock Hills has been chosen as the site for the 1A Division 1 Substate Basketball Tournament to be held on Feb. 29, March 1 and March 2.

The annual spelling bee will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the Little Theater

Mrs. Bozarth gave the Pre-K-5 principal’s report. The elementary school had their family fun night on Dec. 4.

Christmas break started with each class having their Christmas parties at the school. There were many parents who joined in with games and snacks.

Mrs. Bozarth and the teachers that are taking LETRS training finished Unit 6. The course has two more units and then 11 teachers and one principal will be complete by May 2024. There are two teachers that are going to finish May of 2025. The early childhood training has been completed by two teachers.

The Edge Grant that the elementary school received is going strong. The students will be coding their own version of Frogger soon and Pac Man at the end of the second semester.

Mr. Sells gave the superintendent’s report. He and his wife attended the dinner theater. He enjoyed the school’s music concerts.

He attended a legislative meeting in Marysville with state officials. House Leader Chris Croft, Senator Elaine Bowers, and Representative Lisa Moser. He felt it was a productive meeting. They discussed celebrations of small schools, staff shortages and ways to address that, P&C Insurance challenges for all districts around the state, fully funding special education to the 92 percent and what that would mean for districts, and Educational Savings Accounts. He discussed how this could negatively affect Rock Hills specifically. Mr. Croft asked for information on the P&C Insurance as he was planning to meet with the insurance commissioner later in the month.

The state board of education approved the KESA 2.0 Accreditation Model. They also approved the four fundamentals as a basis for accreditation and the change to a yearly accreditation process. Mr. Sells has a meeting with the KSDE representative March 20, from 9 until11. The district will begin DLT meetings to focus on KESA and accreditation moving forward.

The superintendent council meeting was in Beloit. Superintendents went over identified student numbers, DLM testing numbers, worked on the cooperative agreement and discussed staffing concerns.

The administration was able to provide the staff with 12 Days of Christmas as they entered break.

There were no board member reports.

The board discussed the district’s insurance situation. Supt. Sells and Mrs. Higer updated the board on progress being made to obtain quotes for replacement insurance.

The board talked about long-range planning and the strategic plan. They discussed the long-range planning that Gary Sechrist from KASB assisted with last winter. Mr. Sells will review those documents and the board will further discuss this at the next meeting.

The board discussed the board clerk’s evaluation. Mr. Mizner will work on compiling the individual board members evaluations into a master evaluation. Members were asked to fill out the evaluations and get them to Mr. Mizner by the next board meeting so the board could have the evaluation finalized by the March meeting.

The board approved Option 2 of the 2024-2025 School Calendar as favored by the faculty.

Supt. Sells provided insight for the board on the proposed nurse medication policies.

The board approved to renew two $500,000 CD’s at Guaranty State Bank.

A lengthy discussion was held on facilities.

The board approved the technology surplus equipment list.

The board accepted the retirement resignation of Brenda Flinn effective at the end of her contract year.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 12, in the board room of the district office.