Jacqui Coleman, second from left, with InGensa, updates the USC Board about the Community Engagement meeting.

The United South Central School Board met in Freeborn on Tuesday, Oct. 21 and the main topic of discussion was the Community Engagement meeting that was held the previous week.

“The majority of the comments collected were positive which is typically an indicator that there were mostly supporters in the room,” Jacqui Coleman of InGensa told the board members. “The comments will tend to become more negative as more numbers are discussed.”

Coleman also noted that most of the feedback and questions compiled were centered around enrollment (i.e. source of growth) and using other available building spaces in the community to accommodate the increase in students and other space needs.

“At the next engagement meeting, held sometime in January of next year, we will present data to discuss with the participants,” Coleman commented.

More data presented by Coleman showed the baby boomers and millennials had the most representation at the first engagement meeting.

“More than half of the attendees were from Wells,” Coleman shared. “At least three of the six district communities were under-represented.”

USC’s technology expert, Tyler Hintz, was at the meeting and gave a quick update to the board concerning the district’s Chromebooks.

“We were able to clean 750 old ones and get them sold,” Hintz reported. “We also received our 750 new Chromebooks and got them updated and ready to go out to the students.”

During her report, high school principal Jen Bye expressed her thanks to Hintz for the work he and his team do, including tons of hours, to make sure everything works as it should.

“The USC High School teachers participated in Staff Development on Monday, Oct. 20 to work on Professional Learning Communities goals, learn about accessing and using data from the aReading and aMath assessments, and connecting with grade level teams on ways to best support students,” Bye said. “The teams continued to work on their content area goals to increase student success rates.”

Bye reported that USC Parent Teacher Conferences for students in middle school and high school were held on Oct. 13.

“On Oct. 2, students participated in a regional Tour of Manufacturing, including a local visit to Ron’s Plumbing and Heating in Wells,” Bye commented. “Thank you to the team at Ron’s Plumbing for the great information they shared with students on how students enter various careers and what training is needed.”

Bye added that other upcoming student events include the National FFA Convention next week, a construct tomorrow field trip, a small engines field trip and several college visits.

Elementary principal Jennifer Taylor was also at the meeting to update the board on happenings in the elementary grades.

“We are partnering with the South Central Service Cooperative to prepare for the new math standards that will be implemented in 2027,” Taylor reported. “Kari Pratt and Andrea Hansen have been collaborating closely with teachers to support this transition.”

Taylor also gave a big thank you to Ellen Gordon Kamm and Karissa Jewison, who are coaching the USC Elementary Knowledge Bowl teams for the second year in a row.

“Last week, our students competed in their first meet,” Taylor said. “We are excited to see these young scholars continue to grow through this enriching academic opportunity and appreciate our coaches.”

Taylor told the board that elementary students have been able to experience a number of field trips this fall.

“Several grade levels visited History Fest in Mankato, the Big Island Rendezvous, and Center Creek Orchard,” Taylor remarked. “Later this month, our second graders will explore the Hormel Nature Center. These experiences extend learning beyond the classroom and help students connect lessons to the world around them.”

Superintendent Taylor Topinka’s report included the latest information on the school’s enrollment numbers.

“At our mid-October benchmark, our district enrollment stands at 739 students,” Topinka said. “This is up from 727 students in October of last year. We also had 727 students in October of 2023. It does reflect growth from October of 2022 when we had 708 students, and from October of 2021 when we had 681 students. We do anticipate month-to-month fluctuations throughout the year, but it is encouraging to see enrollment remain strong.”

Topinka announced that two juniors had applied for the open student School Board representative position and that both candidates would be interviewed on Nov. 18.

“We had a retirement in the district office where Kathryn Johnson worked as the payroll coordinator. I would like to extend my thanks to Kathryn for her 13 years of service to USC, and for the work, help and guidance she has provided to our staff,” Topinka remarked. “We were fortunate to have a very robust hiring process for this position, with a field of very well-qualified applicants. We are excited to welcome Tiffany Niebuhr to our district office team starting on Monday next week.”

Moving on to business matters, the board approved the revised Master Agreement and corresponding memorandum of understanding with the USC Education Association for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years.

The total salary/benefit change represents a 2.98 percent increase for the 2025-2026 school year and a 2.46 percent increase for the 2026-2027 school year.

In other business:

• The board voted to re-approve USC board policies 2130, 2140 and 3010.

• The first readings for USC board policies 3020, 3030 and 3040 were held.

• A motion was passed designating excess track and field uniforms as surplus equipment.

• The School Board approved their annual District Procurement Procedures.

• The board voted to approve the scheduled fundraisers for the 2025-2026 school year.