Becker’s School Board met last Monday and tied up some loose ends as the school year ended. They briefly discussed plans to deal with COVID-19, bullying, school funding, fundraising, virtual meetings, and other proceedures as the district begins to prepare for the next school year. 

Superintendent’s Report

Becker Public Schools received grants for $75,000 for summer school district wide and up to $121,400 for summer school at a rate of $4 per hour, per student. Staff also applied for grants for PreK summer school and mental health increased support. The board recently sent out a survey about back-filling funding such as ESSAR, CCRSA, and CARES funding. 

Supt. Jeremy Schmidt congratulated the staff and students for successfully completing a crazy school year. He felt that everyone faced the challenges with a positive attitude. The board discussed graduation, very satisfied with how the event went, being hosted on the football field. 

Regarding COVID-19 regulations for the next school year, the board’s plan currently is to follow recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).

Virtual meetings are no longer required, so the board discussed whether they would continue to broadcast the meetings electronically. They decided to continue to do so, for the time being, for the sake of transparency.

The board continued to discuss issues with bullying and making sure students felt respected in school. Administrators have been speaking with the students who presented to the board at the last regular meeting, and also reaching out to other organizations to better educate staff on how to handle these issues. A special training session is planned for August.

Referendum, Take 2

The board discussed preparing a new referendum proposal. The board still felt it needed a lot of the items they had been hoping to get approved last month when the original proposal was voted down. The board will have to make some significant changes to the proposal, legally, in order to present it to the voters again this fall. The board attributed the failure to the lack of educating the community on why they needed the items included in the referendum. 

Policy Changes

The board reviewed policy changes. Most of the changes proposed were intended to keep in line with MSBA (Minnesota School Board Association), but one change was to include a report of funds raised for various school activities. This report would be made to the board, and the intent is to make sure that funds are being appropriately used and accounted. 

In Other Business, the Board:

• Moved to reschedule the next board meeting to July 12;

• Purchased two new busses through a lease-to-own agreement;

• Approved a 10-year maintenance plan, in accordance with the MDE;

• Updated district goals and values.