001Good evening everyone and welcome. We are the Otana School Board. This is Monday. It's January 5. It's 5:30. Tonight is our organizational meeting. I'm going to call this meeting to order. And as I look around, I can see we're all in attendance. Let's start with the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Uh, very first thing tonight would be to approve the agenda as presented. So moved. >> Second. Have a >> motion and second. Is there any discussion? >> All in favor with an I. I. >> Any opposed? >> That motion carries. Sarah does a very nice job of presenting all of this information for us. So I'm
002going to walk us right through it as we uh go through. So the very first thing that we're going to do is the election of the officers. The nominations and appointments for the positions of the chairperson, vice chairperson, clerk, and treasurer need to be made for the 2026 year. After three nomination, after three calls for nominations, acting chair closes the nominations for the office. If only one person is nominated, chair may declare that candidate elected. If more than one person is nominated, a vote is necessary. We'll start with the office of the chairperson. Sarah presented this. Mark Sebring currently holds the office of chairperson. Nominations will be taken for this position and an appointment made. So, I'm going to call for a nomination. >> I nominate Mark Sebring for chair of the Otana School Board.
003>> Second. >> Any other nominations? Okay. Hearing none, I will declare that Mark Sebring has been elected as chair. I'm going to move on to the office of vice chair. Lori Weisenberger held the office of vice chairperson in 2025. I'm going to start by nominating Tim Jensen as the vice chair for the 2026 year. >> Second. >> After I've made that nomination, uh, let me read. Let me stop. >> Just do it. I'm sorry. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Are there any other nominations? >> Sorry. >> Let me give a a brief note of explanation before we move further on. We are in a year where we're going to see some transition and this is our attempt to bring some people into um positions that they have not held before as we want to create
004as orderly a transition from the 26 into the 27 year as this is an election year for us. Um so that's why you're going to see some new uh faces and names with these various positions. Okay. There have been no additional nominations made. So, I'm going to declare that Tim Jensen will serve as vice chair. We're going to move on to the office of clerk. Tim Jensen held the office in 2025. I'm going to nominate Andrea Vanelder to the position of clerk. >> Second. >> Are there any other nominations? >> Yes. Actually, I would like to nominate myself uh for the position of clerk as um being on the board for three years. Um, I think that's would be a good next step. And, uh, I expressed interest a year ago when I nominated myself
005for the very same position. Um, and I guess I'm also um I'm just trying to um understand why it's it appears that some decisions and discussions have happened prior to this meeting and I wasn't contacted for any part of the discussion. So therefore, I'm nominating myself for the role of clerk. >> Are there any other nominations? Okay, we have two nominations. There is a nomination for Andrea Van Gelder. There is one for Elizabeth Hedland. I'll take a voice vote. All in favor of Andrea Van Gelder. >> I. >> All in favor of Elizabeth Hedland? >> Okay. I'll declare that Andrea Van Gelder has been nominated as the clerk. Going to move on to the treasurer. I'm going to Joane Mo has held the office in 2025. I am going to nominate Ron Kubichek as the
006treasurer for 2026. >> Second. >> Are there any other nominations? >> Hearing none. Declaring that Ron will serve as treasurer for 2026. Okay, we're going to move on to item five. There are a number of things that we um are standard that we approve and the first one would be that the schoolboard committees and um the board annually approve schoolboard committees at the organizational meeting attached as list of committees. Um you have the committee assignments in front of you and I will move that the board approve the schoolboard committees as presented. >> Second >> discussion hearing none. All in favor with an I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Item B is uh representative for title one funding. The district is required each year to authorize a person to make application and be
007the contact person for funds provided under title one public law 103-382. The representative will ensure that school district maintains compliance with the appropriate federal statutes, regulations, and state procedures currently in effect. It is recommended that Julie Sullivan, director of teaching and learning, serve in that capacity. I'm going to make the motion. I move that the board authorize director of teaching and learning, Julie Sullivan, to make application and be the contact person for funds as provided under title one public law 103-382 for 2026. >> Second and a second. Is there any further discussion? >> Just a clarification. I think um can you just confirm has Julie held that position historically? I think that's typically the role right of the director of teaching. >> Director of teaching and learning. >> Yes, that's falls under their purview. >>
008That's what I understood. Thank you. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor with an I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Item C would be the official newspaper. District is required to designate a newspaper as the official newspaper to provide meeting notices, schoolboard summaries, requests for bids, and other official business of the school board. The Otana People's Press has most frequently circulated newspaper in Otana, has been the official newspaper of the district for many years. I'm going to move that the board designate the Otana People's Press as the official newspaper for the Otana Public Schools. >> Second and a second. Is there any further discussion? All in favor with an I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Item D would be the regular school board meeting schedule.
009The board is being asked to set the 2026 regular school regular meeting schedule with the date, time, and place for such meetings designated. District has historically held two board meetings per month. Second Monday of the month has been a work session held at the Otana Public Schools District Office. The fourth Monday of the month has been a business meeting held at the Charles Srandle Center located at 540 West Hills, Owatana. Regular meetings in 2025 began at 5:30. attached is a regular meeting schedule for 2026 based on past practice. Exceptions to the second and fourth Monday meeting are noted with an asterisk. Potential conflicts are also listed on the schedule. I will move that the board approve the 2026 meeting schedule as presented. >> Second. >> Have a motion and second. Anybody have any questions relative
010to the schedule? >> I was just going to ask if we're going to have a retreat this year. I think we had talked about that. So, I didn't know, but I know we it'll probably take a while to set that schedule, but we'd like to get that done in the first quarter. >> Yes. >> I don't think historically that's appeared on our regular, you know, meeting, >> but but you're right. That would be we'd have to give notice and all that. >> Yep. Okay. Very good. We have a motion and a second. All in favor with an I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Item E would be legal counsel. district has used a variety of firms to provide legal services. Each firm has been used by school administration for counsel on various
011matters. Dorsey and Whitney has been used on matters related to referendums, Ratwick, Rosac, and Maloney on matters related to personnel and special education. Council is used only by the district level administration and only after receiving superintendent approval. Receiving periodic legal counsel is a means of ensuring the district is doing everything in its power to handle difficult matters in a fair and lawful manner. I'm going to make the motion that the board designate Dorsy and Whitney and Ratwick, Rosac, and Maloney and others as needed as the official legal council for the district. >> Second motion and a second. Anybody have any questions for Dr. Champa as it relates to that? Hearing none. All in favor with an I. >> I. Any opposed? >> That motion carries. Item F would be the designated depositories for school district
012revenue. District is required to designate its depositories for school district revenues. It's good practice to periodically review the de depository practices of the district to ensure the safekeeping of its assets and to maximize its investment. Old National Bank and PTMA Financial are the district's designated deposiitories for revenues related to its payroll, student activity accounts, general accounts, and savings. And they have provided timely services to the district. I will move that the board approve Old National Bank and PTMA financial as depositories for monies necessary to meet payrolls activity money account monies and for school district revenues necessary to meet its general accounts savings and federal income tax withholding obligations. >> Second. We have a motion and a second. Mark Stzer, director of finance is here be able to answer any questions that you might have as
013it relates to this. >> Again, just to clarify, there are no changes in those institutions. There was a name change. >> There was a name change from Bremer Bank to Old National Bank. But that would be this. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> It seemed a little different. That's why I wanted to clarify. But >> any other questions? Hearing none. All in favor with an I. >> I. Any opposed? >> That motion carries. Item G tonight would be designating financial institutions for school district investments. district has historically used a variety of institutions to oversee the proper investment of its assets. It is good practice to periodically review the investment practices of the district to ensure the safekeeping of its assets while maximizing the investments. Below are the financial institutions district is used and the board is asked
014to authorize Wells Fargo Bank NA US Bank, Wells Fargo Investment Services Inc., PTMA Financial, Old National Bank, and the Bank of New York Melon. I will move that the board approve designating the financial institutions as listed to be authorized to investor district assets as requested and within all state and federal guidelines. >> Second >> motion and a second. Again, Mark Stats would be able to answer any further questions that we might have hearing. None. All in favor with an I. >> I. Any opposed? That motion carries. Item H would be authorized persons to make transfers. The district is required to designate persons authorized to deposit and withdraw money on behalf of the district to the checking and investment accounts. I move that the board authorize the director of finance and operations, the controller or designate
015to deposit and withdraw money on behalf of the district to the checking and investment accounts. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Again, Mark Stouts is here. Dr. Champa is here to answer any questions that we might have. Okay, hearing none. All in favor with an I. I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Item six, authorizing co-signers of checks and the use of check signing machine. The district is required to designate co-signers of checks and the use of their signature on its check signing machine. The co-signers will be the newly elected chair, the clerk, and the treasurer of the board. I move that the board designate the co-signers of the district checks to be its chair, clerk, and treasurer. and for these signatures to be used on the district's check signing machine. >>
016Second. >> Motion and a second. Questions? All in favor with an I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries? Item J tonight would be board member compensation. For 2025, the board established an annual compensation of $3,850 per board member. The board added $600 to the annual allowance for the position of chair and $450 to the position of vice chair. It's recommended that the board consider an allowance of $4,000 per board member with an additional 600 to the position of chair and $450 to the position of vice chair for the year 2026. Annual compensation is dispersed over 24 pay periods. I move that the board approve an annual compensation of 4,000 per board member to be dispersed over 24 pay periods and an additional 600 per year to the position of chair and 450 to
017the position of vice chair. >> Second motion and a second. I wanted to give um some insight. The the the increase of $150 is an approximate 3.8 or almost a 4% increase. and that is very consistent with all of the um the standing uh uh annual increases for all of the various uh groups within the uh school district. So that was the rationale behind uh that change. Any questions? Mark, I think I'd just make a comment to that point which I think we've observed um and you don't have to look too far to watch and see what happens when organizations get out of step and out of sync with kind of incremental um appropriate increases over time. So, while we appreciate the challenging financial situation that we're all in, um we also recognize that for
018the future of this board and for having a reasonable compensation um for future candidates and so forth, we'll be entering that later this year. Um a modest increase I think is appropriate. So, >> further discussion. >> Okay. Hearing none. All in favor with an I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries. Item K tonight would be an appointment of the deputy treasurer. District has historically appointed a deputy treasurer whose responsibility is to act in thestead of its elected treasurer. The position has been held by the superintendent of schools as a means of providing an internal check on the district's accounting system. I move that the board approve its superintendent to serve as the deputy treasurer of the district to assist the elected treasurer in carrying out his or her responsibilities. Second. We have >> a
019motion and a second. Any questions for Dr. Champ as it relates to that? Hearing none. All in favor with an I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Item six, I'm sorry, item six. Yeah, item six tonight is to adjurnn and I will move that the school board uh meeting be adjourned. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor with an I. >> I. Any opposed? That motion carries.