Inspiring Excellence. Every Learner, Every Day.

Attached are the policy revisions summary and the policies with recommended changes. These have all been reviewed by the policy committee and are now being presented to the full board for a first reading.

If desired, items may be removed from the consent agenda by request by an individual school board member for independent consideration.  A request is timely if made prior to the vote on the consent agenda.  The request does not require a second or a vote by the school board.  An item removed from the consent agenda will then be discussed and acted on separately immediately following the consideration of the consent agenda.

Roll call vote is required as the consent agenda contains the personnel report.

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Professional Educator Licensing Standards Board (PELSB), and Office of Higher Education (OHE) require annual designation of an Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) for each local education agency that uses the Education Identity Access Management (EDIAM) system. The IOwA is responsible for authorizing, reviewing, and recertifying user access for their local education agency in accordance with the State of Minnesota Enterprise Identity and Access Management Standard, which states that all user access rights to Minnesota state systems must be reviewed and recertified at least annually. The IOwA will authorize user access to State of Minnesota Education secure systems in accordance with the user’s assigned job duties, and will revoke that user’s access when it is no longer needed to perform their job duties.

The school board must designate an IOwA to authorize user access to State of Minnesota Education secure websites for Owatonna Public Schools.  This EDIAM board resolution must be completed and submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education annually, as well as any time there is a change in the assignment of the Identified Official with Authority.

It is recommended that the Board authorize Superintendent Jeff Elstad to act as the Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) for Owatonna Public Schools.

The District’s contract with the current prime vendor supplying the majority of school food items and all USDA commodity foods expires June 30, 2024. The current contract is with Upper Lakes Foods and was initially awarded in 2019, and renewed every year since the initial bid was awarded by the Board. This spring, Owatonna Public Schools Nutrition Services made available Request for Proposals (RFP) to interested vendors for school year 2024-2025, which would begin on July 1, 2024 and end June 30, 2025 with up to four 1-year renewals. This procurement method is used when the value of the award exceeds the applicable small purchase threshold, which currently is $175,000. 

The district received one proposal by the published deadline, and opened the proposal on April 11, 2024. While only one bid was received, it was evaluated by the Director of Nutrition Services and Nutrition Services Coordinator using the criteria defined in the RFP.  Based on the evaluation, it is recommended that the Board approve and award the contract to Upper Lakes Foods as our Prime Vendor and distributor of USDA Commodity Foods.  This contract would begin July 1, 2024 and end June 30, 2025, with the option for up to four 1-year renewals.

Attached is the farm lease agreement for Board approval. The District will be renting the farm land it owns to the FFA rather than having a custom farm/labor agreement.  The FFA will enter into the custom farm/labor agreement with the farmer.

Lori Volz will be available for any questions.
 

Attached is a document regarding the renewal of the district's health insurance self-insured coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield. As described in the document, the proposed renewal increase for the self-insured plan is 3%.  The attachment also includes the district's self-insured dental coverage through Delta Dental and life insurance and long-term disability insurance through Madison National Life with no increase to rates.

Policy 706 establishes guidelines for the acceptance of gifts to the District.  As specified by Minnesota Statute 465.03, the School Board may accept a gift, grant, or property only by the adoption of a resolution approved by two-thirds of its members. Any gifts accepted of more than nominal value (more than $5), shall become property of the District (Policy 421).

The gifts are listed on the attached resolution.