The United South Central School Board recognized volunteers from the Communities Fighting Student Hunger program at its meeting held on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Left to right are school board members Katie Hanson and Diana Brooks, program volunteers Joanne Korman, Lauryne Stern, Dorothy Wach, Diane Lutteke, Jean Steinhauer and Carl Forderer, and school board members Brad Heggen, Chris Lutteke, Brittany Voigt and Mike Schrader.

United South Central superintendent Taylor Topinka learned the results of his mid-year evaluation when the USC School Board held their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

“The grading system we use is on a one to five scale with five being the best score and one being the worst,” board chairman Mike Schrader explained. “There were 23 different areas to evaluate. When everything was totaled up, he had a cumulative average of 4.76. We are very excited to see what the new year will bring.”

“I just want to say thank you to the board and the community for all of the support I have been given,” Topinka commented. “I am very happy to be here at USC.”

The board had a number of maintenance issues to address at the meeting, both inside of the school and outside of the school.

Wells Concrete Stadium will have a different look when the football season begins for the Rebels this fall following action taken by the board at the meeting,

The stadium, the site of football and track and field events for USC, was known for the blue seats which were originally used in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Now those seats are being replaced.

“We were able to get 10 years of life out of them,” board member Katie Hanson said. “Of all the schools in Minnesota who obtained seats from the Metrodome for outdoor stadiums, we are the last one to replace them. The seats were designed for indoor use and were not manufactured to withstand the weather and the UV (ultraviolet) rays from the sun.

The board voted to accept a bid from SAAFE, LLC., of Excelsior, to provide and install anodized aluminum seats and painted aluminum seat backs for the existing concrete grandstand. The cost of the project, not including the removal of the old seating, is $90,230.

USC’s indoor athletic facilities will also receive some scheduled maintenance during the summer.

“Our main gym floor is due for a sand, seal and refinish following 10 years of usage,” USC superintendent Taylor Topinka told the board. “This is a routine maintenance item and is built into our Long Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) budget for the coming year. We want to finalize the quote for this project now so we can work to get an opportune spot in the summer schedule with the contractor.”

The board approved the bid from FLR Sanders, Inc., of Princeton, in the amount of $47,632.

The board also made the decision to order a new school bus in keeping with their scheduled rotation of updating their fleet.

“School bus production is incredibly behind schedule at the moment,” Topinka noted. “We ordered a lift bus in January of 2023 that is still slated to be built. However, that process has not started yet.”

Topinka went on to say that even though a bus which is ordered now will likely not be built for quite awhile, placing the order will get the district in a position to have a bus delivered at some point in 2025.

“We have not yet paid for the bus ordered in 2023,” he added. “That amount will likely shift to our fiscal year 2025 budget and the bus we order now will then likely shift to our fiscal year 2026 budget.”

Topinka admitted the process is very abnormal.

“But, doing what we are doing should still keep our bus rotation schedule mostly intact, albeit with a one year hiatus,” he said.

Topinka shared it is very likely that the district will be able to shrink its fleet of buses in the upcoming years.

During the meeting the board took time to recognize volunteers from the Communities Fighting Student Hunger program.

“This is a community group that provides food for students in need each Friday during the school year,” Topinka commented. “The group identifies food donations in our communities and then facilitates packing and distributing ‘backpack bags’ to be sent home with students who may need this food support on days they are not in school. This group has facilitated this program for a number of years and the members put in a great deal of time to make this opportunity possible for the students at USC who may need assistance.”

During his administrative report, Topinka mentioned he has been busy planning for the end of the school year and the beginning of the next year.

“The legislature is back in session. Hopefully, they will revisit the School Resource Officer (SRO) legislation and give some clarification to the schools,” Topinka said. “The strategic planning groups are being finalized which will allow us to continue to go forward with the strategic planning process. Finally, February is School Board Appreciation Month and I just want to offer my thanks for the dedicated leadership the board provides.”

Elementary principal Jennifer Taylor reported enrollment for grades K-6 at 373 students which was a decrease of three students from January.

“The kids just concluded their roller skating unit,” Taylor told the board. “The students had a blast and we only had one injury this year – a special thank you to the elementary physical education teachers for allowing our students this opportunity.”

Taylor shared that the fifth and sixth graders went on a trip to Mount Kato to ski.

“The fifth grade class will go to the Ordway Theater to see Dr Kaboom tomorrow,” she said. “It is another opportunity for them to dream big.”

The board also:

• Approved the final 2023-24 seniority lists.

• Approved the purchase of a 2023 Chrysler Voyager lift van. The total cost of the vehicle, with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) approved conversion, is $61,112.

• Voted to approve the updates to six USC Board Policies.