District 88 Board OKs purchase of house
By KREMENA SPENGLER Journal Staff WriterNEW ULM - A house-and-lot purchase, capital projects and personnel items dominated the agenda of the first District 88 Board of Education meeting of the year - beside the traditional swearing-in of new members and electing board officers.
The school board voted unanimously to buy a house and lot at 512 S. Payne St., for $98,000. It is a 1,064-square foot house and a one-stall garage.
The district is not usually in the habit of buying properties, observed Chair Sue Ullery. But this lot is between two properties the district owns already. Also the district has enough money tagged for such a purpose, after a (more expensive) land sale a few years ago. "It's probably a good deal for us," said Ullery.
Superintendent Harold Remme elaborated that potential uses have been mentioned in facility committee discussions - although nothing has been determined. The property could be used as rental property; the home could be sold and moved; or the building could be put to some school use - a warehouse or office space.
"We have many options," said Remme.
Bids
The board also authorized the process of specific bid development and setting timelines for receipt of bids for work to be completed in the summer of 2009.
The projects that will be bid are estimated to use up the following funds: $232,310 in capital funds; $100,000 in health and safety money; and $230,000 from a deferred maintenance account.
They include the following: tennis court and fence replacement, tile flooring replacement in five rooms, and a serving counter and roll-up door replacement, all at the high school; roof sections replacement and sanding, repainting and refinishing the gym floor, both at Washington; removing and replacing floors in six rooms, removing the floor tile in an art room, and replacing wood cupboards with stainless steel, all at Jefferson; replacing the ceiling above the gym and the stage floor at the former middle school; and roof repairs districtwide.
The fact that the district will be seeking bids does not necessarily mean these projects will be done, pointed out officials.
The contracts will be approved (or not) on an individual basis.
Personnel
The board handled a number of personnel (or similar) matters:
- It posted a vacancy for a 6.75 hours/a day paraprofessional for the remainder of the year.
A high needs student with autism has moved into the district, said officials. The student needs a one-on-one paraprofessional.
- The board agreed to let two teachers who are now on an extended leave of absence to return next school year - a year earlier than expected.
Teachers Sue and Eric Torgeson are in the middle of an extended leave of absence to teach in Colombia. He is an English teacher, and she is a special education teacher.
State law allows for a return from a leave of absence if notification is given by Feb. 1 of the year of the intended return - which the teachers have done.
The Torgesons cited family reasons for shortening their intended teaching stint abroad.
- Approved a request from another teacher, Barbara Hillesheim, to continue her long-term disability leave for the remainder of the school year.
The previous return date had been Jan. 16.
At the end of the year, the employee will be re-evaluated by her medical team and will notify the district of their decision.
- Approved an independent service agreement with Karen Skow, of St. James.
She will provide special accommodations for a high-school student. This student needs closed captioning services to be successful in the regular classroom as the least restrictive setting.
Various options have been researched and provided on a trial basis since the start of the school year for the student, said officials.
The process which best meets the student's needs and is available, in view of the local district's rural location, is a remote Communication Access Realtime Translation Program (CART).
The contract with Skow is from Jan. 5 to May 29.
The projected hours of service per day is 1.75. The rate is $80 per hour plus a $7 per day Skype fee.
The student attends three regular class period per day and needs the closed captioning for those. The rest of the student's time is spent in a self-contained setting.
Sixty-eight percent of the cost of CART is re-imbursable through special education provisions.
Organizational matters
The board elected the following officers: Sue Ullery, Chair; Carol Ackerson, Vice-Chair; Susan Nierengarten, Secretary/Clerk; and Bill Day, Treasurer.
It approved the following compensation for board members: $1,200 annually for each member, $35 per committee meeting; and $70 for a full-day training session.
