Enderlin School Board..... Two teachers retire, drainage bids awarded
At their regular meeting held on Tuesday evening, March 9th, the Enderlin Area School Board dealt with awarding bids for the drainage and storm sewer project, discussed public questions submitted by the Independent, heard auditor, Harold Rotunda, sum up 2009 school year, and accepted the resignations of two long-time faculty members, Mrs. Carol Baarstad and Mrs. Cathie Lutgen.
Rotunda made a quick summation of the schools books, stating that business manager Tammy Boeder had done a fine job. He said the numbers were good and that declining enrollment looks to be the only possible problem on the horizon. He said that studies show that a decline of two to three students over the next two or three years is expected.
Following Rotunda’s report, Rick Gillund moved to accept the auditor’s report, it was seconded by Roland Schroeder and approved by the whole board, Schroeder, Gillund, Sandy Bartholomay, Dan Billing and Cyndee Chesley.
Chesley, during discussion, suggested that the board consider having a yearly audit instead of every two years. It is very difficult to answer pertinent questions asked by an auditor when two years have passed. The board will discuss changing the policy concerning audits at their next meeting.
The board discussed the questions that had been submitted by the Enderlin Independent from school district residents. Board members questioned why people did not come to the meetings with their questions instead of asking the Independent to pose them. Board member Chesley said all a person would have to do is pick up the telephone and call Mr. Feist or one of the board members for answers to questions. She also stated that the board does not have to answer these questions, but we have nothing to hide, we will do our best. She thanked Mr. Feist for his added work in providing answers to the questions.
Board member Schroeder suggested that many of the answers are in the published board minutes but that they are delayed a month following the board’s meeting.
Feist told the board that answering the questions would not be a problem, even though all the questions had been stated in the column in the Independent. He said he would work with the Independent’s editor, Ruth McCleerey on getting all the answers put together.
The board spoke to their engineer, Tracy Eslinger of Moore Engineering by phone. The low bid was submitted by Kindred Plumbing and Heating for $45,591. The questions that the board had for Eslinger was whether he felt they would need an inspector for the project at an additional fee of $4,500 to $6,500. Eslinger said that because KPH would be working for the City of Enderlin this summer, that inspector fees could possibly be less because they would already be on location. Feist said that the previous work on the drainage and sump pump installations were not done according to plans, so felt maybe an inspector would be useful.
The board approved KPH bid and also approved having an inspector for the project.
The board had the second reading and approval of fourteen policies and had the first reading for another twenty-two policies.
A curriculum report compiled by principals Brian Midthun and Tim Michaelson listed all the required courses, strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum, and showed the progression of proficiency levels from 2001-02 to 2009-10. Discrepancies in the resulting numbers, according to the principals, is that the same students are not followed longitudinally and that the state has changed which testing programs that they prefer. The latest testing scores will be available in the next couple weeks.
Letters of resignation were received from two faculty members. Mrs. Carol Baarstad will be retiring in the spring. The board expressed their appreciation for her years of teaching service to the district. Gillund moved to accept the resignation, seconded by Bartholomay and approved by all.
Mrs. Cathie Lutgen also submitted her resignation for year end application. The board expressed their appreciation to Mrs. Lutgen. Gillund made a motion to accept the resignation of Lutgen, it was seconded by Billing and approved by all of the board.
Feist reported that Leon Thielges submitted his resignation as the boys basketball coach, but the board does not accept extra-curricular resignations until replacements can be found.
Chesley reported that she had met with Feist concerning the board’s evaluation. She thanked the board for returning their evaluation sheets so quickly and said that Feist’s evaluation was very good.
Midthun reported that the Math Goals Committee will meet on March 16 to develop Power Standards for the upcoming year. He also reported that Grades 3-8 Jump Rope For Heart has been rescheduled for April 23rd. The Grades 5-8 ski trip finally took place on February 11th. He thanked the board for allowing the students this opportunity.
Finally he reported that Grade 5-8 students that were on the honor roll or improved their GPA went bowling. Percent of students earning this honor in each class was as follows: Grade 5- 89%; Grade 6- 77%; Grade 7- 86%; Grade 8- 79%.
In his Athletic Report, Midthun said that the Enderlin Maple Valley Fastpitch softball had made a request to the North Dakota High School Athletics Association (NDHSAA) concerning the region alignment:
Region 1: West Fargo, Fargo South, Fargo North and Fargo Shanley. Region 2: Valley City, Central Cass, Enderlin and Hankinson. Region 3: Bismarck, Dickinson, Minot and Minot Ryan. Region 4: Grand Forks Central, Grand Forks RR, Grafton, Devils Lake, and Turtle Mountain.
The rules recommended for qualification for state tournament would be determined by the individual regions.
Midthun reported that the Spring Athletic Banquet had a conflict and would be determined at a later date. He also reported that the 2010-11 Basketball schedule will include a game against Four Winds and playing in a Class B Shootout at Devils Lake.
Michaelson reported that he attended a Mid-Winter Conference in Bismarck in February. He also reported that the Fifth Grade attendance was 95.34% and the Eighth Grade 95.01%.
Michaelson reported that Vance Zacharias was a bronze medal recipient at the Academic All-State Awards Class B Team.
Finally, Michaelson reported that 16 teams will participate in the SE Academic Competition March 16th which will be hosted by Enderlin.