The Becker Board of Education held the first meeting of 2015 in the new Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) at Becker High School Monday night.  The agenda included all of the normal housekeeping details of the annual organizational meeting, and a resolution to approve approval of a joint powers agreement for the current special education cooperative of which the district is a member.

 

The board also welcomed new board member Phil Norgaard, who was appointed to serve out the term of former director Sheri Lumley, who resigned last October.  Norgaard had previously served several terms on the board, and was the unanimous choice of the board members among the three candidates who applied for the position last month.

 

Following a brief discussion, the board voted to retain the slate of officers approved last year, with Aaron Jurek remaining as chairman, Jason Kindred as vice-chairman, Lori Molus as treasurer, Mark Swanson as clerk and Bryan Olson and Norgaard as directors.

 

The board also voted to retain the existing financial institutions, district auditors and legal consul, and retained “The Citizen” as the official district newspaper.  Regular meetings will be held on the first Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the TLC, except for the Mon., March 9 meeting, which will begin with a high school stakeholder meeting at 2 p.m., with the board meeting to follow at 3 p.m.

 

Supt. Dr. Stephen Malone was appointed as the district representative for all “meet and confer” sessions with Becker Education Association representatives, with a rotating agenda of board members serving as the liaison to be present at the meetings.

 

The board approved a recommendation from Malone for the district to enter into a joint powers agreement with the other members of the Sherburne Northern Wright Special Education Cooperative, which includes the Big Lake, Monticello and St. Michael-Albertville school districts.

 

In his report, Malone said the Monticello School District is the current financial host for the cooperative.  The Minnesota Dept. of Education now requires that all host-configured cooperatives now transition to operation under a joint powers agreement, which will oversee operation of the cooperative, though Monticello will continue to administer employee contracts and serve as the financial host.  While the agreement could require an audit (and increase expenses), it would also give the coop the ability to appeal tuition bills, and thereby potentially decrease expenses going forward.

 

The Becker board unanimously approved the resolution Monday night.  The measure requires passage by all four participating school boards for final approval.

 

Malone informed the board that he and District Business Mgr. Joe Prom are currently working on the preliminary FY 2016 and revised FY 2015 budgets, which will be presented at the February regular board meeting.

 

A stakeholder meeting with district parents was held in advance of the Monday meeting.