Approval of the three referendum questions that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, a new three-year contract for the district superintendent and a two-year contract with district bus drivers were among the items on the agenda at the regular meeting of the Becker Board of Education Monday night.

 

The board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the district to call for a special election to increase the general education revenue of the school district and approving the issuance of school building bonds.

 

In an overview presented by Supt, Dr. Stephen Malone, the three questions will address the following issues:

 

Question One will “maintain our current programs and staffing for a period of 10 years, assuming that existing funding sources stay in place."  Passage of Question One would also avoid a budget reduction of approximately $300,000 next spring.”

 

Question Two will “bring back $150,000 of programs that have previously been reduced.”

 

Question Three would “provide facility maintenance and upgrades including roof replacements, new Intermediate School/Middle School parking lots, Primary School/Middle School heat pumps, and a multi-purpose turf field for soccer, lacrosse, phy. ed. and football.”

 

The report also indicates that the tax impact for an “average valued home” in the Becker School District (195,000) would be approximately $15 per month for Question One and $2.50 each per month if questions two and three are also approved by the voters.

 

Facsimiles of the ballot will be published prior to the election, and are available now on the school board web site, along with the text of the referendum resolutions.

 

Superintendent’s Contract

The board also approved a new three-year contract for Supt. Malone, which will run from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019.  The terms of the contact include a 2.25 per cent increase in salary in the first year, with a two per cent increase in the second and third year.  The three-year package cost increase to the district will be 5.6 per cent, averaging 1.9 per cent each year.

Voting to approve the new contact were board Chairman Aaron Jurek and board members Jason Kindred, Lori Molus, Bryan Olson and Phil Norgaard. Board member Mark Swanson, who was monitoring the meeting electronically from a remote site in Las Vegas, NV, stated that he was opposed to the proposal.

 

The tentative contract agreed to between the school district and SSEIU Local 284 (Bus Drivers) in June was given final approval by the board Monday night.  The two-year total package has an increase of 7.82 per cent including salary, insurance and other benefits.  The union membership approved the contract terms on July 21. 

 

The board approved a bid of $149,338.05 from Dean Foods for milk products for the 2015-16 school year.  One other bid for milk products for the same period was received from Kemps LLC which included a total of $165,143.60.  Both bids included escalator/de-escalator clauses based on Federal milk market pricing.

 

Malone informed the board  new teachers and those new to the district will begin the teacher induction and mentorship program Wed., Aug. 26.  The district is partnering with St. Cloud State University as part of their Teacher Preparation Initiative.

 

According to state proficiency assessments released last week, all of the schools in the Becker district surpassed the state average in math, reading and science, though they “generally fell short of making one year’s worth of progress in math and reading,” Malone said.

 

The board approved a resolution moving the September regular meeting to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14 due to the observance of Labor Day on Mon., Sept. 7.