By Melanie Stegner

news@pctribune.com

A moment of silence in honor of the tragic events in the community started last week’s school board meeting at Minnewaska Area Schools. 

Following the approval of minutes from last month’s meeting, MAS Principals were recognized in honor of School Principal’s Day on May 1. “You are the backbone of our school and your impact on the lives of our students, teachers and staff is immeasurable. You work tirelessly to create a positive learning environment, inspire and empower our students, and support and develop our teachers and staff,” stated MAS Superintendent Rankin.

Recognition was given to the Buildings and Grounds Department for working hard to keep the snow removed all winter long. “They deserve recognition for their hard work and dedication this winter season,” Rankin said.

Bills were discussed and approved  and the superintendent’s report began. Enrollment is at 1,278 with a gain of ten students since September. 

“Unfortunately, as we do every year, we have to let some staff go because they are grant-paid positions. We have a grant we have every reason to believe we will most likely get. We don’t know the exact amount of money, but we’ll know more soon. So, we’ll be terminating some employees now because they’re on grant dollars and then we will very likely hire them back once the grant would be approved,” added Rankin. 

Central Square has approached the school district regarding the sponsorship of a half-time art position. This would add three more hours of art than there are right now. 

High School Principal Nate Meissner and the Building Leadership Team gave updates on the state of things in the high school. The Building Leadership Team consists of seven staff members. There is a Student Leadership Team as well that consists of three students from each grade. 

Some new classes were added this year including the Alternative Learning Program classes, robotics classes and digital media classes. As the pandemic has eased, the school is working on a return to a sense of normalcy for the students including trips, dances, pep fests and donkeyball. Some new classes that will come in the future are Shop 101, Sports Officiating and Intro to Drama/Theatre. Future planning for the systemic behavior/academic intervention plan and the goal of having three academies in place for the start of the 2024-2025 school year in the ag, manufacturing and healthcare fields are being worked on as well.

Activities Director Phil Johnsrud went over some changes to classifications for the MAS athletics department. Wrestling moves from class A to AA from section 5A to 8AA. Track & Field moves from section 5A to 6A, dance from section 4A to 2A, volleyball from 3AA to 6AA, swimming from 6A to 8A. All other activities remain the same. Football districts will be decided in May/early June. 

The board approved the designation of Chip Rankin as the official with authority for the Minnesota Department of Education external user access. This person is responsible for authorizing, reviewing and re