Zumbro Education DistricT Minutes

ZUMBRO EDUCATION 
DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 21, 2016
ZUMBRO EDUCATION 
DISTRICT OFFICE
6:00 PM
The Governing Board of the Zumbro Education District No. 61-6012 met in regular session on January 21, 2016 at the Zumbro Education District Office.  Vice Chair Lana Mindrup called the meeting to order.  At the roll call the following members were present:  Michelle Vigeland, Kerry Hayden, Angie Richards, Lloyd Henslin, and Carol Anhalt, Executive Director.  Matt Prigge and Lori Miller-Beach were absent. Heidi Kass recorded the minutes.
There were no visitors at the meeting.
Motion by Richards, seconded by Vigeland to approve the agenda.  Voting for:  Vigeland, Henslin, Hayden, Richards, and Mindrup.  Voting against:  none.
In the matter of electing new Board officers, Henslin nominated Matthew Prigge to serve in the position of Chair. Vigeland seconded the nomination.  Hearing no other nominations, a vote was taken.  Matthew Prigge was re-elected Chair with a unanimous vote. 
Henslin nominated Lana Mindrup for Vice-Chair.  Hayden seconded the nomination.  Hearing no other nominations, a vote was taken. Lana Mindrup was re-elected Vice-Chair with a unanimous vote. 
Henslin nominated Michelle Vigeland for the position of Clerk/Treasurer. Richards seconded the nomination.  Hearing no other nominations, a vote was taken.  Michelle Vigeland was elected Clerk/Treasurer with a unanimous vote. 
The officers for 2016 are Matthew Prigge as Chair, Lana Mindrup as Vice-Chair, and Michelle Vigeland as Clerk/Treasurer.  
Motion by Vigeland, seconded by Henslin to approve the consent agenda. Voting for:  Henslin, Hayden, Vigeland, Richards, and Mindrup.  Voting against: none.  
The consent agenda is as follows:
3.1 Approval of the December 2015 minutes
3.2 Approval of the December 2015 Electronic Fund Transfers of $235,000.
3.3 Approval of the January 2016 Claims and Bills:  Checks numbered 48665-48670 and 48678-48763 for a total of $149,229.12; wire payments of taxes on December 31, 2015 and January 15, 2016 of $74,850.72.
3.4 Set meeting date for the year as follows:
February 18, 2016
March 17, 2016
April 21, 2016
May 19, 2016
June 16, 2016
July 21, 2016
August 18, 2016
September 15, 2016
October 13, 2016 (second Thursday to avoid MEA)
November 17, 2016
December 15, 2016
January 19, 2017
3.5 Approval of the ZED Seniority List for 2015-2016.
3.6 Approval to hire Carl Olson, Specialized Paraprofessional at South Campus, step 3.
3.7 Approval of mid-year lane change for Amanda Johnson, from BA to BA+30.
Carol Anhalt presented the Director’s Report.  A complete report is on file at the ZED office.  The mid-year ZED staff in-service was held on Jan. 18, 2015.  Our presenter was Joanne Mooney from the MN Department of Human Services. She spoke on promoting social and emotional well-being and helping to build hope and resilience in our students. The second half of the day, a group from South Campus toured the new Goodhue County Education District facility and other groups worked on the Strategic Plan and other program initiatives.  Later this month, on January 28th, ZED will host an in-service for member district paraprofessionals at the Byron Elementary School. The presenter will be Dr. Amit Sood from the Mayo Clinic and he will speak on “Living a Life of Resilience.”
The annual Traveling Art Show will begin its tour on February 1 in Stewartville.  The Creative Writing Contest has wrapped up and the winners have been announced. 255 students wrote entries for the contest this year.
Carol updated the board on student enrollments.  The ALC currently has 96 students.  South Campus has 51 students and the B-3 Program is serving 57 children.
Carol shared with the Board that a complaint had been filed with MDE against ZED for not providing a licensed Vision Teacher for a period of 4 months in the summer of 2015.  Extensive advertising and searching had failed to fill the position that was left open when our Vision Teacher moved out of state.  ZED’s corrective action plan involves making up the missed visits during that period of time.  That will be done by the new Vision Teacher who started working with students this fall.  Problems with school districts not able to find qualified candidates is a statewide problem and Carol shared with the Board the Legislative Platform of MN Administrators for Special Education (MASE)which will be focusing on increasing educational efficiency by addressing licensing issues with the state legislature.
Following the Director’s Report, the Board took up the Facilities discussion.  Carol reported that four member districts (Blooming Prairie, Hayfield, Triton, and Byron) have passed the facility resolution distributed in December.  The other three districts (Stewartville, Kasson-Mantorville, and Pine Island) have yet to take a vote.  Some of the delay stems from the desire by some of the districts to know the location of the facility before voting.  The Superintendent’s Advisory Council, at their January 20th meeting, had passed a motion recommending ZED allot dollars from the general fund to pay for a study of the Byron and Kasson-Mantorville sites and then present the results of that study to the Superintendents and the member district school boards.  Discussion indicated that most ZED board members were not interested in pursuing such a study at this time and no motion to do so was forthcoming.  The Board then discussed the revised resolution suggested by the Kasson-Mantorville Superintendent and School Board.  The revisions removed the limit of $13.1 million and added that the site and cost be unanimously agreed upon by the ZED Governing Board and the Superintendent’s Advisory Council.  Carol shared with the Board that in conferring with ZED’s attorney, it was reiterated that the Superintendent’s Advisory Council can be advisory in nature only and has no legal authority to make decisions for the Zumbro Education District.  That authority is vested in the ZED Governing Board only. Vice Chair Lana Mindrup suggested that the three districts that have not voted yet need to take their votes soon, or make a decision to not vote on the resolution at all and notify the ZED Board of that decision so that the ZED Board does not continue to lose months of time waiting for these votes to happen. The Board went on to discuss and address some questions posed by Superintendent Matuska in an email dated January 7th.  Finally, short-term solutions to alleviate the crowding at the South Campus were discussed.  Heidi and Carol will work on three options and bring the costs and pros and cons of each to the Board at the February meeting.
Motion by Henslin, seconded by Vigeland to approve a new position in the Business Office for a part-time hourly Accounts Payable Clerk. Voting for:  Henslin, Hayden, Vigeland, Richards, and Mindrup.  Voting against: none.  
Motion by Vigeland, seconded by Henslin to approve a revision to the 2015-2016 budget as presented. Voting for:  Henslin, Hayden, Vigeland, Richards, and Mindrup.  Voting against: none.  
The next meeting will be held on February 18th, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. 
Motion by Vigeland, seconded by Richards to adjourn the meeting. Voting for:  Henslin, Hayden, Vigeland, Richards, and Mindrup.  Voting against: none.   
Lana Mindrup adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.
Heidi Kass, Recorder
Michelle Vigeland, Clerk/Treasurer