Enrollment numbers are high, but the space is limited.
At the Menahga School Board Monday meeting, members were concerned about the space available for students and teachers.
Superintendent Jerry Nesland said the increasing number was a good thing, however the school faces problems with space and staffing.
Thirty-seven more students are attending the elementary school this year.
Elementary principal Joleen DeLaHunt said one of the computer classrooms is currently used for the third section of the sixth grade class.
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She added that further discussions of how to resolve the issue are coming up in more meetings with the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
In other business, the board:
- Discussed Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) elementary science test results.
DeLaHunt said the students took a practice test last year and scored well above average.
But this year, 29.5 percent of the students were proficient, while 40 percent of total students in the state scored in the proficient level.
"It's kind of alarming when you look at it," said board member Jody Bjornson.
DeLaHunt said she believes test questions must have changed significantly from the practice.
DeLaHunt plans to examine the curriculum this year and try to determine ways to raise students' scores in the coming years.
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- Approved a continuation of the agreement with Bemidji State University Post Secondary Enrollment Options.
- Passed a resolution of the six candidates who filed for the four-year, three open positions on the board.
Curtis Hasbargen, Brad Goehrig, Durwin Tomperi, Julia Kicker, Donovan Dulski and Joyce Skoog will be on the ballot this November.
- Approved using the word "maximum" in the certification of the 2008 payable 2009 levy.
Nesland predicts no change in the budget as it hasn't increased or decreased in the past two years.
But in the preliminary budget that will be turned into the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), using the word "maximum" puts the district in a safe mode, meaning the final budget proposals in December can either stay the same, decrease or increase if needed.
- Adopted the annual report on curriculum, instruction and student achievement for the academic year 2007-08.
Once the report is sent to the MDE, it will be available to the public on the board's Web site.
