ELY- The new gymnasium floor at Ely Memorial High School should be ready for use next month, reported Facilities Director Tim Leeson at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Ely School Board. The floor was severely damaged last March by water from a burst pipe.
“The floor will be painted by Thursday,” Leeson stated. He explained that after the paint is dry, the floor will receive multiple clear surface coats. “The last coat … has to cure for two weeks” before it can be used, Leeson said.
In a short 29 minute meeting, Superintendent Anne Oelke reported that 2023-24 enrollment is down six students from the previous school year.
“Last year, we had an enrollment of 536 students with large graduating class and only 19 students signed up for Kindergarten,” Oelke said, “but we had 529 students enrolled at the start of school and we picked up another student during the first week.”
In other action, the board:
• Approved the certification of the proposed maximum payable 2024 levy. The proposed levy certification amount is not yet available from the Minnesota Department of Education, but the board certifies the maximum amount as a routine step in its budgeting process. The budget for the district will be finalized in December.
• Approved the date for the Truth In Taxation budget meeting for Monday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. in the school board meeting room on the 2nd floor of the Ely Memorial High School Building.
• Approved the August financial report, with receipts in the amount of $1,665,438 and disbursements in the amount of $619,088.
• Approved the ice arena contract for the 2023-24 contract between ISD 696 and the Ely Blue Line Club. The club is a nonprofit formed to support amateur hockey in Ely. The contract is for $14,000 and all vending machine and food concession revenue, excluding school fundraising activities. In return, Ely Blue Line will provide the routine maintenance and operation of the ice arena.
• Hired Nick Bates for the part-time Science/Social Studies high school teaching position for the 2023-24 school year, effective Sept. 5.
• Approved the request from Max Gantt, the K-12 Physical Education/Health teacher, for parental leave from Oct. 2 to Nov. 3, under the Family Medical Leave Act.
• Accepted the August resignations of Erika Peterson and Kali Moro from their paraprofessional positions.
• Approved the third reading and adopted revised policy 450-“At Will.”
• Approved the proposed contracting of the city of Ely’s first class boiler operator on an as-needed basis for the school facilities’ boilers. The proposed agreement was approved by Ely at the Sept. 5 city council meeting.
• Approved an increase in the school district’s cyber insurance coverage to $1 million through Vaaler Insurance with the additional premium of $671 for the remainder of the policy year from Sept. 15, 2023, through July 1, 2024. The coverage covers both ransomware attack demands and computer restoration costs for after attacks.
• Accepted a $725 donation from the Ely Parent Teacher Organization for the Elementary Field Trip Fund and a $508 donation from the Ely Veterans of Foreign Wars for school lunch accounts and school supplies.