Upsala School Board Proceedings

Upsala Area Schools
Upsala, MN 56384
UNOFFICIAL MINUTES
(A full text of the minutes is available for public inspection at the District Office, or available on the District Website)
Minutes of the regular meeting of Upsala Area Schools, Independent School District No. 487, held on March 27th, 2024. Present were Chairperson Peterson, along with board members Harren, Warga, Wensmann, Roerick, and Klassen. Also present from the district were Superintendent Capelle, Principal Klug, Payroll Clerk Harren, and Buildings Manager Harren.
The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by Chairperson Peterson.
Motioned by Wensmann, seconded by Peterson to approve the agenda. M.C.U.
Motioned by Peterson, seconded by Harren to approve the minutes of the February 28th, 2024 regular board meeting. M.C.U.
Motioned by Harren, seconded by Roerick to approve the bills in the amount of $835,262.85. Bills paid with check numbers 25507 to 25574. Also approved the cash balance report and journal entries as presented. M.C.U.
Principal’s Report: Highlighted students of recognition for the previous month. K-12 Parent/Teacher Conferences were held on March 21st. Currently looking for a makeup date for the March 25th conferences that were postponed due to weather. The Senior High Band will be on their band trip on April 3rd and return on April 8th. The Upsala Drama Club will perform the musical “Legally Blonde” on April 19th and 20th. The show on the 19th will be at 7:00pm and on the 20th there will be two shows, one at 2:00pm and the other at 7:00pm. MCA testing has started and will continue through the end of April. Students in grades 10 and 11 will be attending the Morrison County Career Day at the Morrison County Courthouse. Students will get to tour the courthouse and explore the various careers at the county level. The school will be reimbursed for transportation by Rural MN CEP. Enrollment projections for 2024-25 were shared.
Activities Director’s Report: Discussed the boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, and wrestling seasons this past winter, all programs performed very well and represented the school district at a high level. Brandon Mugg took 6th place in the Class A state individual wrestling tournament. Upsala Lions Club donated $3,000 towards the boys’ basketball and girls’ basketball programs to order a new Shoot-A-Way machine for the students. Thank you to the Upsala Lions! Presented fall coaching assignments for volleyball, which included Head Coach Ken Solarz, Assistant Coach Denise Cheney, and Junior High Coach Dan Cheney.
Building Manager’s Report: Met with Hillyard to go over the supplies needed to eliminate costs. Process will include ordering rugs, towels, and mops, which will all be laundered through the school.
Upsala Lions Club agreed to donate $5,000 towards the LED lighting project. The lights have been installed over the last four days, which is another big thank you to the Upsala Lions Club. The total cost for labor and bulbs came around $15,636. With the $9,360 rebate from Minnesota Power and the $5,000 donation for the Lions Club, the cost to the school is going to be around $1,200. We will be seeing the savings for this project on a daily basis.
Superintendent’s Report: Financial report presented with continued work with MDE on budget revisions. Discussed capital project improvements and recent change orders within the building bond construction. $39,289.01 reduction in boiler price and reduction in carpentry bid for band room floor protection. With these reductions the contingency fund for the project has been increased to $293,059.01. Payments of $522,548 to Masters Plumbing and $1,400 to Wendel Architects were included in this month’s bills that were approved by the school board. Next regular meeting will be April 24th at 7:30pm.
Board Member Report: School board member Klasen gave a Mid-State meeting update and shared information on SEL.
Consent Agenda:
Motioned by Roerick, seconded by Harren to approve the following consent agenda items:
1. Accept the paternity leave request as presented.
2. Approve the salary schedule lane advancement from BA 30 to BA 40 for Mr. Jacob Drimel.
3. Approve the fall volleyball coaching assignments as presented by AD Zimmerman
4. Authorize administration to seek bids and quotes for summer LTFM projects.
M.C.U.
New Business:
Motioned by Peterson, seconded by Wensmann to approve the ratification of the 2023-2025 Master Agreement with the Upsala Education Association as presented. M.C.U.
Reviewed and discussed Policy 533 - Wellness revisions. First Reading of Policy 533 - Wellness.
Motioned by Roerick, seconded by Peterson to accept the letter of resignation from Karlee Peterson as the Speech Pathologist as of June 30th, 2024. Motion carried with many thanks for a job well done.
Motioned by Wensmann, seconded by Klein to accept the letter of resignation from Melissa Luethmers as an Elementary SPED teacher effective at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Motion carried with thanks for her years of service.
Motioned by Peterson to adjourn the meeting at 8:25pm.
Stephen Roerick,
Clerk
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