By Tara Brandl
The Milroy School Board on Monday announced three finalist candidates they will be interviewing this Thursday to replace Supt. Heidi Sachariason, whose resignation was accepted at a special meeting on July 7. Her final day at Milroy Public School was July 16.
With the acceptance of Sachariason’s resignation, the school’s personnel committee quickly got to work to find a replacement with as much time as possible before the start of school this fall. After posting the position, the committee received five applications.
“We received five very able candidates for the position,” board Chair Kim Jenniges said. “We were really excited about that.”
The board has chosen three candidates for final interviews: Josh Wasmund of Worthington, Dan Blankenship of Slayton and Patricia Lindeman from RTR Schools.
Wasmund is currently a special education teacher and does have his K-12 principal license. Blankenship is also a special education teacher in Fulda and has his K-12 principal and superintendent license. Lindeman was the elementary principal at RTR and most recently the grants and federal programs coordinator. She also has her K-12 principal and superintendent license.
Interviews will be at Milroy Public School on Thursday, July 22, as follows: Wasmund, noon; Blankenship, 1:30 p.m.; and Lindeman, 3 p.m. The personnel committee plans to meet Thursday evening and hopes to make an offer as quickly as that evening. The committee, along with three teachers, will be part of the interview committee.
“We have to move quick,” Jenniges said. “We could make a phone call Thursday night. The big thing is, we’ll tell them we want an answer when we call.”
In addition to the search for a new superintendent, the school needs to hire a classroom teacher and janitor prior to the start of the year.
The board also approved the resolution to move $72,611.65 in a fund balance transfer. Of the $72,611.65, $40,000 will be transferred to school readiness (preschool) fund 4 from ECFE while $30,000 will transfer from Rsvd ECFE Fund 4 to unassigned fund balance in Fund 1 to offset COVID 19 costs. The remaining $2,611.65 will be transferred from Fund 1 Basic Skills to Unassigned Fund Balance to offset more operating expenses during COVID. The transfers are allowed this year as a result of part of the education package passed by the legislature.
In other news…
• The board approved the Student/Family Handbook for 2021-2022.
• The board approved the Marshall Tuition Agreement from 2021-2024 with no changes from previous years.
• The board approved the Teacher Master Agreement for 2021-2023.
• The board approved the bid from CHS for propane for the 2021-2022 school year for 26,000 gallons with a prepay price of $1.51/gallon. They also approved the snow removal contract with Shawn Beebout.
In other news from the July 7 meeting:
• The board approved the Tracy Area Public School Tuition Agreement. The annual estimated cost per Milroy pupil (minus transportation) for school years 2021-2024 will be 90 times the Educational Foundation Formula times the pupil weighting factor as determined by the Minnesota Legislature. A Capital Expenditure fee of 50% of the state operations capital formula per pupil unit shall be assessed annually as well as a $50 per pupil unit facility assessment.
• The board approved the resolution of the ISD 635 Long-Term Facility Maintenance 10-year plan for 2021-2031.