MONROE - At a meeting Monday, the Monroe school board:
• Chose to make Dean Insurance the district's new health insurance provider. The switch from Unity, the current provider, to Dean will save the district more than $300,000 from the current year's budgeted amounts, said Ron Olson, the district's business manager. While proposed health plans were to match the current plan as closely as possible, there may be changes in individual drugs within the drug plan tiers due to the change in the HMO network, according to Olson.
• Heard about the Fine Arts Festival, a biannual event for students to attend workshops and events with master artists, craftsmen, musicians, poets, storytellers and authors. This year's festival will include 108 events on Thursday and Friday. The Empty Bowl Dinner is set for Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m., where patrons can purchase bowls and dinner for $10.
• Extended a new five-year contract to Lamers Bus Lines Inc. Olson went to Lamers for negotiation after the board brought up concerns at a previous meeting about budget issues and committing to five years. Lamers originally offered a 1.75 percent increase in rates for the next two years and a CPI increase for the following three years with a minimum 2-percent increase and a maximum of 6 percent. In the final contract, the same is true except Lamers offered to split the costs over 4 percent, in effect making the actual maximum increase 5 percent for the district.
• Received an update on quick visits/instructional priorities. During the last couple months, the district has improved in all four of the "Fab Four" instructional priorities, said Director of Pupil Services Joe Monroe.
• Accepted the resignation of instructional staff member Rikki Kazda, Monroe Middle School psychologist.
• Hired new instructional staff member Alaina Nesbitt, MMS psychologist, and support staff member Lori Seffrood, district special education driver.
• Approved the retirements of instructional staff member Jo Ellen Mosher, occupational therapist at Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy and Parkside Elementary School, and support staff member Terry Jackson, Monroe High School custodian.
• Received an update on a staff survey, which will be sent out next week. The survey is on a "variety of different topics," Hirsbrunner said, including climate, culture, work environment, health and wellness, student achievement and engagement. Results will be in by May 8. Hirsbrunner said the district is also working on another survey for the community as a whole. The community survey will be sent out at the beginning of May.
• Accepted donations totaling $7,600 from about 41 donors for the MHS Fine Arts Festival and $2,650 from the Optimists Club for the Rock'n Readers Program at the district's elementary schools.
• Heard from District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner that one of the district finalists for a National Merit scholarship made it to the next level of the competition.
• Approved a student's request to leave the district. Board member Dan Bartholf abstained from the vote.
Board member Scott Schmidt was absent.
- Susan Endres
• Chose to make Dean Insurance the district's new health insurance provider. The switch from Unity, the current provider, to Dean will save the district more than $300,000 from the current year's budgeted amounts, said Ron Olson, the district's business manager. While proposed health plans were to match the current plan as closely as possible, there may be changes in individual drugs within the drug plan tiers due to the change in the HMO network, according to Olson.
• Heard about the Fine Arts Festival, a biannual event for students to attend workshops and events with master artists, craftsmen, musicians, poets, storytellers and authors. This year's festival will include 108 events on Thursday and Friday. The Empty Bowl Dinner is set for Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m., where patrons can purchase bowls and dinner for $10.
• Extended a new five-year contract to Lamers Bus Lines Inc. Olson went to Lamers for negotiation after the board brought up concerns at a previous meeting about budget issues and committing to five years. Lamers originally offered a 1.75 percent increase in rates for the next two years and a CPI increase for the following three years with a minimum 2-percent increase and a maximum of 6 percent. In the final contract, the same is true except Lamers offered to split the costs over 4 percent, in effect making the actual maximum increase 5 percent for the district.
• Received an update on quick visits/instructional priorities. During the last couple months, the district has improved in all four of the "Fab Four" instructional priorities, said Director of Pupil Services Joe Monroe.
• Accepted the resignation of instructional staff member Rikki Kazda, Monroe Middle School psychologist.
• Hired new instructional staff member Alaina Nesbitt, MMS psychologist, and support staff member Lori Seffrood, district special education driver.
• Approved the retirements of instructional staff member Jo Ellen Mosher, occupational therapist at Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy and Parkside Elementary School, and support staff member Terry Jackson, Monroe High School custodian.
• Received an update on a staff survey, which will be sent out next week. The survey is on a "variety of different topics," Hirsbrunner said, including climate, culture, work environment, health and wellness, student achievement and engagement. Results will be in by May 8. Hirsbrunner said the district is also working on another survey for the community as a whole. The community survey will be sent out at the beginning of May.
• Accepted donations totaling $7,600 from about 41 donors for the MHS Fine Arts Festival and $2,650 from the Optimists Club for the Rock'n Readers Program at the district's elementary schools.
• Heard from District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner that one of the district finalists for a National Merit scholarship made it to the next level of the competition.
• Approved a student's request to leave the district. Board member Dan Bartholf abstained from the vote.
Board member Scott Schmidt was absent.
- Susan Endres