Battle Lake School Board April 14 minutes (Special and Regular)

The School Board of ISD #542, Battle Lake, met in special session on Monday, April 14, 2025 in the Battler Conference Room. The meeting was called to order by Chair Paul Ness at 4:30 p.m. Members present: Sheila Newark, Ashley Altstadt, Bennett Stich, Sean Belmont and Paul Ness. Members absent: Jonathan Hartman. Others in attendance were: ob Nudell, Kristi Hastings and Elizabeth Klintworth. The purpose of the special meeting is to discuss negotiations strategy for the MSEA union. Motion to go into a closed session at 4:33 p.m. for the stated purpose. (Newark/Belmont) UC. Jonathan Hartman joined the meeting at 4:50 p.m. The board came out of closed session at 5:20 p.m. and the meeting was adjourned. Sheila Newark, Clerk

Regular Session April 14 – The school board of ISD #542, Battle Lake, met in a regular session on Monday, April 14, 2025 in the media center. The meeting was called to order by Chair Paul Ness at 5:30 p.m. Members present: Sheila Newark, Paul Ness, Ashley Altstadt, Jonathan Hartman, Sean Belmont, Bennet Stich. Members absent: None. Others in attendance were: Rob Nudell, Pete Amundson, Aidan Heggem, Elizabeth Klintworth and several faculty, staff and community members. All in attendance recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Motion to adopt the agenda as revised. (Altstadt/Hartman) UC. Dr. Misty Wilkie and Rachel Logan spoke to the board in regards to the district’s mascot and logo, Indigenous Curriculum and forming an American Indian Parent Advisory Council AIPAC. Motion to approve the minutes of the regular March meeting as printed. (Newark/Hartman) UC. Motion to accept the donations to the district as follows: Caulfield Studios $250, Girard Township $250, Waters Edge Church $50, Shawn Frank Insurance $25 – all for summer recreation. Lakes Country Sportsmen’s Club $ 500, Battle Lake Area Sporting Club $ 2,500 – all for Fishing League. (Altstadt/Hartman) UC. Motion to approve the following consent agenda items: Payment of bills including checks #60301-#60388 in the amount of $138,859.61; electronic fund transfers in the amount of $526,636.55; payment of payroll checks #21941-#21944 in the amount of $5,061.00; acceptance of the Treasurer’s Report as presented; acknowledgement of enrollments per grade – current enrollment for K-12 is 402; recommendation for hire of William Klaers as the long term substitute teacher for Secondary Social beginning May 1 and running through the remainder of the 2024-25 school year; recommendation for hire of Luke Himmelspach as Jr Hi Track Coach; recommendation for hire of Ellie Rutten as elementary teacher; recommendation for hire of Carly Larson as elementary teacher; recommendation for hire of Adysen Tysdal as Jr Hi Golf Coach; recommendation for hire of Ellie Rutten as Head Girls’ Basketball Coach (Newark/Hartman) UC. Aidan Heggem gave the update on Student life and activities. Pete Amundson gave an update on the facilities. Ryan Severson, was unable to be in attendance, so he sent his report prior to the meeting to the board electronically for their review. Rob Nudell gave his Superintendent’s report. Member Jonathan Hartman introduced the following resolution and moved for its adoption: Resolution Placing a Continuing Contract/Tenured Teacher on Unrequested Leave of Absence. Be it resolved that Kathryn Scherfenberg be placed on unrequested leave of absence as a teacher of ISD #542 on the grounds of reduction of position; namely, a Chinese Teacher to a .25 FTE at the end of the 2024-2025 school year effective June 30, 2025. The following resolution was duly seconded by member Sean Belmont and upon a roll call vote being taken thereon, those voting in favor: Bennet Stich, Jonathan Hartman, Sheila Newark, Ashley Altstadt, Sean Belmont and Paul Ness. Those voting against the same: None. Whereupon said resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. A copy of the entire resolution is on file in the district office. Motion to table item B under New Business. (Newark/Stich) UC. Motion to approve the overnight travel for the BPA students that qualified for a National competition spot. The trip to Orlando will take place May 6-11, 2025. (Hartman/Stich) UC. Motion to call for bids on sale of extra bikes. (Altstadt/Hartman) UC. Motion to post the board packet on the school’s website for public viewing by the Friday before the regular monthly board meeting. (Newark/Hartman) UC. Motion to forgive the snow day. Teachers can use a day for packing up their rooms and hourly employees that did not work can use ESST time to get paid. (Altstadt/Hartman) UC. Motion to approve the MOU with the BLEA in regards to the READ Act. A copy of the MOU is on file the district office. (Newark/Hartman) UC. Motion to accept the letter of resignation from Rodney Christianson effective April 8, 2025. (Newark/Hartman) UC. Motion to approve the recommendation for hire of Amanda Callahan as Art Teacher. (Hartman/Belmont) UC. The next meetings of the school board are scheduled for May 12th and June 9th both beginning at 5:30 p.m. The May 9th meeting will be in the media center and the location for the June 9th meeting is yet to be determined. Motion to set a school board retreat to be held on June 3, 2025 from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The location of the retreat is yet to be determined. (Hartman/Newark) UC. With no more items of business remaining on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned by Chair Paul Ness at 6:27 p.m. Sheila Newark, Clerk (This publication constitutes the legal printing May 21, 2025 of the official minutes of this meeting.)