Reading Corps provider Nancy Bruckhoff and Reading Corps coordinator Kim Stevermer, holding certificates, were honored by the USC School Board for their efforts in making the Reading Corps program successful at USC.

Space and staffing were two of the topics United South Central superintendent Taylor Topinka discussed during his report to the USC School Board at their meeting on March 18.

“Our Facilities Committee met last Wednesday. It was the third meeting of the group and the goal that night was to review each of the six potential plans that the committee developed in February and analyze each of the plans for their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats,” Topinka shared. “The goal of all of this is to determine which options could be the best fit for our district, and most importantly, our students. At our core, our district is operated by our communities and we hope to identify the foundation of any project we pursue at a community level.”

Looking ahead, Topinka also addressed the district’s possible staffing needs for the 2025-2026 school year.

“At this time, we have two retirements upcoming, and these are the only two certified positions that we have open,” Topinka said. “We also will continue to closely monitor our student enrollment and projections to ensure our class sizes are as balanced for student learning as possible.”

After further reviewing class size and staffing requirements, the board voted to add a middle school teacher for the next school year.

Topinka also touched on the current legislative session during his report.

“They are mid-session right now and we continue to monitor the progress coming out of St. Paul,” Topinka said. “There are many bills circulating at the moment in both houses and we continue to monitor what seems to be gaining traction.”

Topinka shared that the projected State deficit of $6 billion for the 2028-2029 fiscal years is worse than the original projections from last fall.

“However, we do now know that our per-pupil funding formula will increase by 2.5 percent for the upcoming budget year,” Topinka added. “We are still closely monitoring progress on the compensatory revenue status.”

Activities director Joe Kuechenmeister was at the meeting and updated the board on the winter sports season which had concluded two weeks ago for USC.

“Maple River/USC qualified three wrestlers for the State Tournament and all three were actually from the USC School District,” Kuechenmeister commented. “Our girls basketball team had their best season in 10 years with a 15-13 record. We were knocked out of the Section 2A Tournament by Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s who ended up finishing fourth in the State.”

Kuechenmeister also recapped the boys basketball season where USC had a 9-18 record for the year.

“We also had cheerleaders on the sideline for the first time in a number of years,” he said.

Kuechenmeister reported the USC High School robotics team finished 27th in the State while the Middle School team finished 39th.

“We also had a speech team for the first time in years,” Kuechenmeister commented.

The activities director shared that participation in spring sports is up in almost all of the activities.

“Finally, I want to thank the 76 student-athletes who helped deliver softener salt,” Kuechenmeister said. “This is the biggest fund-raiser for our USC Boosters and it is good to see so many young people involved.”

High school principal Jen Bye shared that USC students are celebrating spring week with dress-up days and activities throughout the week.

“Today we had two Jackson County Middle School staff visit USC to see our Yondr pouch procedures and to gain information about our Lexia PowerUp reading intervention program,” Bye said. “They were able to visit a few classrooms and were impressed with the programs we were offering to help our students be successful.”

Elementary principal Jennifer Taylor informed the School Board that spring conferences were held on March 3.

“They provided an opportunity to discuss notable changes in students’ academic, social, or emotional progress,” Taylor commented. “It served as a valuable time for parents, guardians, and teachers to celebrate student growth and collaborate on strategies to support those who need additional help to make meaningful gains.”

As for upcoming events, Taylor noted that MCA assessments were set for April.

“We are already looking forward to the next school year and we had kindergarten round-up last Friday and we welcomed the class of 2038,” Taylor said. “Students met the kindergarten teachers and staff who will assist them next year, went on a bus ride, and participated in STEM activities.”

The board also took time during their meeting to recognize Reading Corps provider Nancy Bruckhoff and Reading Corps coordinator Kim Stevermer for all the work they do to make the Reading Corps program successful at USC. National Americorps Week was celebrated March 9-15.

In other business, the board also:

• Reviewed the preliminary General Fund and Capital Fund budgets for 2025-2026.

• Approved a quote from Nielsen Blacktopping, in the amount of $110,605 for maintenance and seal coating of the school parking lot.

• Approved a bid of $194,868 from Ron’s Plumbing HVAC and Electric for LED lighting retrofitting work to be completed during the summer of this year.

•Approved a grant, in the amount of $26,325, from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety which will be used for the purchase of school bus camera systems.