Originally published on Fillmore County Journal – June 17th, 2024
With the resignation of former board member Marissa Grams at the June 6 meeting, the Houston School Board will now have four positions to fill in the general election next fall. Grams’ position will be filled by appointment of the school board; it will then be included in the general election and the newly elected board member will join the board in January with the other new board members.
The public is encouraged to contact board members before the July board meeting if they are interested in being appointed for the remainder of 2024. This would give a person to try out being on the board and run for the remainder of the term if they wanted.
To be included on the ballot for the board, people will need to file between July 30 and August 13 and pay the $2 filing fee. They will need to select whether they are filing for the regular positions which are for four-year terms or for the special position to complete Grams’ position which will be for the remaining two years of her term.
Hurricane Hero
Anthony DeCamillis, a middle school social studies teacher at MNVA for 17 years, was recognized as the June Hurricane Hero. Staff commented on DeCamillis’s teaching style calling him “wonderful, engaging and energetic.” According to them, “his passion for teaching oozes out of him!” He was lauded for his inclusive practices and his collaboration with the SPED teachers.
When asked by board member Nickki Johnson what his favorite topic was, DeCamillis responded that he enjoys teaching about labor and work history and early unionization. “It’s like a war – guns and canons – the element of surprise makes what might be a boring topic interesting!”
QComp Evaluation
The board approved the year end QComp Evaluation. Michael Mangan reported that the PLCs continue to grow with the teachers appreciating the consistent time. The school is now using FastBridge districtwide to assess student growth and will continue to use Marzano’s framework to guide the teachers’ work.
All teachers will be completing the READ training this year; some paras will do it next year due to class size restraints.
Budget
The board accepted the adjusted 2023-2024 with a correction to the state aid received. The change increased revenue for the school. The year end fund balance was a positive $353,917. The proposed budget for 2024-2025 was accepted as well.
General Business
The board accepted the Hiller Commercial Floors’ $33,959.54 proposal for the flooring for the elementary kitchen, cafeteria, halls and ramp.
The elementary school sidewalk and playground will be redone at a cost of $40,589. This project qualifies for LTFM funding; Houston will pay 12% with the state covering the remainder. The project had already been included in the budget.
PowerSchool was chosen as the new student information system (records and grading). This system will replace Infinite Campus and result in a $15,000 a year cost saving for the school. Schoology is owned by PowerSchool which will make grade sharing with parents easier.
The Health and Safety Report listed several recent updates completed at the school. The ADA doors have been installed, new sidewalks are being poured, radon and lead testing has been done, new cameras have been installed and the asbestos is gradually being removed.
The annual resolution for membership and participation in MSHL was approved.
Season pass prices for sporting events were approved; the passes are the same price as last year. Admission for senior citizens will again be free.
Additional milk prices were adjusted from 45 cents to 60 cents. One milk is included in the free student meals.
Retiring Teachers
The board thanked the four retiring teachers, commenting, “We have been blessed with their presence!” Band teacher Paul Grupe, English teacher Becky Ideker, Family and Consumer Science teacher Sally Mensink and preschool teacher Shelly Edwards will be missed greatly.
Next Meeting
At the next meeting, in addition to appointing a board member, the board will be looking at the Crisis Plans as well as a total of seven handbooks for the assorted schools in the district. The literacy plan and report will also be shared at that meeting.
To learn more about Minnesota Virtual Academy please visit, https://mnva.k12.com/.
