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Paynesville Press - June 22, 2005

School Board approves regulations for school board election

By Melissa Andrie

The Paynesville School Board took the following actions at their meeting on Tuesday, June 14.

*The board approved a resolution establishing Tuesday, July 5, to Tuesday, July 19, as the time period for filing for the upcoming school board election this fall. Up for election this November are incumbents Mark Dingmann, Deb Glenz, Allen Schmidt, and Tami Stanger.

To be eligible for office, you must be an eligible voter, must be 21 years of age when assuming office in January 2006, and must be a resident of the school district for 30 days prior to the election. There is a $2 filing fee for candidates.

To file, go to the district office at Paynesville Area Elementary School.

*The board approved health services guidelines for students. The new guidelines include timetables for student screenings by the school nurse, recommendations for the amount of time students should remain absent from school when sick with a particular illness, and procedure for the administration of medication. For instance, the guidelines include six days outside of school after the appearance of chicken pox, 24 hours after treatment and doctor approval for conjunctivitis (pink eye), 24 hours and a normal temperature after a fever of 101 degrees or more, and until treated for head lice with observance for two weeks to prevent reoccurance.

*The board rejected a proposal to lease the high school baseball field to the amateur team, the Paynesville Pirates. After a general discussion of the proposal, it was recommended, on legal grounds, that interested community members pursue other locations for a field with a grandstand.

Community members had come to the board requesting an opportunity to lease the field in order to sell 3.2 beer during amatuer league games, using the proceeds to build a grandstand at the field. The school district's attorney advised against the proposal, wanting to avoid negative public perception from having beer on school property and possible issues arising from Title IX because similar upgrades are not planned for the softball facilities.

*The board reviewed the proposed 2005-06 budget for revenue and expenditures, which has been created without any new revenue from the state built in, because no increases have been passed due to the legislative stalemate. Right now, the district is projecting a $354,751 deficit for the 2005-06 school year.

The board will need to adopt a budget at its meeting on Tuesday, June 28, regardless of whether a state budget has been passed because the budget must be in place when the district's new fiscal year starts on July 1. The district can revise its budget later.

*The board approved teaching contracts for Leah Pfeifer and for Becki Quade as kindergarten teachers at PAES for the 2005-06 school year.

*The board reviewed an evaluation of superintendent Todd Burlingame, who has nearly completed his first year in that position. The review indicated that the board is pleased with Burlingame's work so far but noted he still needs to work on learning about school finance.

*The board approved membership in the Central Minnesota Adult Basic Education Consortium of St. Cloud. The agreement has not altered from previous years.

*The board approved a request from Farmers and Merchants State Bank to place a link on the business's website to the schools' website.

*The board approved job descriptions for secretarial positions in the elementary and secondary schools, with hours as assigned by each building's principal.

*The board approved the resignation of elementary aides Amy Guzy and Romi Henteges, effective immediately.



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