Hello! How was your summer? Are you ready for school to start again? Our students will see some new things as they return on the first day. At the high school entrance, there is new flooring, including a Bucs mascot/logo. Also, please make note that homecoming has been moved to the week of October 10-14. Most traditions will continue.

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August 22, 2022, at 6:30 p.m.

Agenda (Additional links to documents below are found within the agenda.)

I called the meeting to order at 6:32. p.m. All Board members were in attendance as well as Superintendent Ryan Jensen, Principal Bastian, and Activities/Community Ed Director Boran. Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Board approved the agenda, meeting minutes of the regular meeting on July 25, 2022, and the regular meeting on June 27, 2022, as well as financial transactions from the August finance report.

Following a presentation from Jeff Seeley of Ehlers Public Finance Advisors, the Board unanimously passed a resolution for the sale of bonds. In the past couple of months, it was determined that the Board could seek out $800,000 in bond sales that was remaining from the $19.3 million building referendum from 2018. The administration will come to the Board with areas where these funds can be applied.

No comments from visitors were heard.

The Board heard reports from Principal Bobbie Jo Bastian and Jeff Boran, Community Education & Activities Director. The reports consisted mostly of back-to-school activities and dates. One important nugget is that Homecoming week will likely be changed to October 10 – 14.

Principal Bastian reported that several parents expressed concern about the plan to align the fifth- and sixth-grade schedule with the junior high grades. This plan would result in a slight decrease in time spent on Physical Education over the course of a week. Ms. Bastain reported that the administration has decided not to shift the schedule due to the wishes of parents. This has been a hot topic all summer, which has spurred several emails, phone conversations, and one-on-one discussions with parents and Board members as well as administrators. While the Board supported the administration in their decision to try something new that would help the students in all areas of their education, the Board also appreciated the way the administration was willing to adjust their decision based on parental concerns.

Board Member Reports

June Rezac attended a drone event and suggested that we shoot a video of the school, using a drone. She had examples of a company that can do this for the district.

Board Committee Reports

The policy committee met and discussed several school policies that will be read to the Board in the future.

Ryan Jensen, Superintendent

Mr. Jensen reported about meeting with Board members and staff over the last month, just to acclimate to the district. He reported that there is no special session planned currently to address various education funding issues.

The agenda item “Substitute Teacher Pay” was moved to Action items.

The Board approved a resolution relating to the election of school board members and calling the school district general election.

The Board heard the first reading of policies:

The Board approved the 2022-2023 agreements concerning staff sharing between ISD #829 Waseca and ISD #2143 Waterville-Elysian-Morristown:

The Board discussed substitute teacher pay. Substitute teachers are in demand. Administration and other staff are called upon to teach when substitutes are not able to fill that gap, which has taken a toll. The Board wants to increase pay to substitute teachers now and get the word out prior to the school year beginning. The Board approved a starting pay of $150/day with $25 incremental increases after 10 and 20 days worked for substitute teachers. Retired teachers will start at $175/day and increase to $200 after 10 days worked.

The Board approved the following new hires

The Board approved the following 2022-2023 Coach:

The Board approved the following contracts:

The Board approved the following resignations:

The Board approved the following requests for lane change:

I adjourned the meeting.

September 8, 2022, 6:30 p.m. Work Session (Tentative)

September 26, 2022, 6:30 p.m. Regular Meeting

507-330-0500, sba.email@yahoo.com

Note: WEM School Board meetings can be viewed live via Zoom video conferencing, and the recordings for past meetings are available on the website. The agendas and accompanying documents are also available online. 

Preschool through grade 8 school supply lists are found on the WEM website on both the "elementary school" and the "middle school" pages.

High school (grades 9 through 12) supply lists are found on the WEM website on the "high school" page.

Teachers and staff teams have created their wishlists on Amazon. These are items they would like to have for their classrooms or groups. Anyone wishing to purchase items as donations to WEM can quickly and easily see what is needed. These lists may be updated at any time. We thank and greatly appreciate all of our generous donors. Find the wishlists on our website.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (WEM) Public School District is proud to announce The Minnesota Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) State Leadership Team has recognized WEM elementary and WEM junior high schools as 2022 Sustaining Exemplar Cohort Schools. For this honor, the schools will receive a signed certificate from the Commissioner of Education.

In addition to individual school recognition, WEM received the 2021-2022 Minnesota PBIS District Recognition. This requires that districts "demonstrate capacity for coordination, training, coaching and evaluation to support schools in their district to implement School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS)." Thank you and congratulations to everyone who made this possible.

Register online now for 2022 Fall Flag Football for students in grades 1 - 4. The cost is $30. The dates are Saturdays, September 10, 17, 24, and October 1, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. on the football field or practice field. Game Night Under the Lights will be on Friday, September 23, 2022, during halftime of the varsity game.

School Age Child Care (S.A.C.C.) is almost full for the fall. Please contact Ms. Jennifer to inquire about openings.

The "55 Alive" Driver Improvement course for people age 55 and better will occur in person again this fall as follows:

Also, check out the fun and educational activities happening at our local public libraries.

Check the Community Education page of our website, the Athletics page, or contact them with any questions. The phone number is 507-362-4403, or e-mail Jeff Boran or Jeannie Morsching.

August 29-September 1 - Teacher workdays (no school)

August 31 - Grades 9-12 orientation / open house

September 1 - Grades 5-8 open house

September 5 - Labor Day (no school)

September 6 - Grades 5-12 first day of classes and grades K-4 back-to-school conferences

September 7 - Grades K-4 first day of classes

September 8 - WEM School Board planning meeting

September 26 - WEM School Board regular meeting

October 10-14 - Homecoming week *This is a change

October 11 & 13 - Grade 5-12 conferences

October 20-21 - no school - Education MN Convention

WEM has several job openings, including the following:

Applications are available on the website or by calling the district office at 507-362-4432.