CLARA CITY -- The MACCRAY School Board agreed Monday on an installment schedule to reimburse the Central Minnesota Christian School in Prinsburg for transportation services.
Instead of reimbursing the neighboring school with a lump sum payment when state aid funds are received, MACCRAY will provide monthly payments of $2,200 to Central Minnesota Christian School during the period of January through May. It will make a final $10,000 payment to the school at the end of June, or after MACRRAY receives state aid payments for transportation.
MACCRAY Superintendent Greg Schmidt said the action by board members reflects a desire to be good neighbors with Central Minnesota Christian School, a private school located in Prinsburg. The MACCRAY public school district serves students in the areas of Maynard, Clara City and Raymond.
MACCRAY board members approved the action after looking at information indicating that MACCRAY could manage the installment schedule without adversely affecting its own cash flow needs.
As a public school district, MACCRAY is responsible for the transportation of students. Under an agreement with MACCRAY, Central Minnesota Christian School provides transportation service for students who are living in the MACCRAY district but are attending the private school in Prinsburg. MACCRAY reimburses Central Minnesota Christian School based on the state transportation aid it receives for the students.
ADVERTISEMENT
In other business, MACCRAY School Board members set 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 in the school board room at the Senior High in Clara City for a public meeting to discuss the possibility of closing the Junior High, also in Clara City. Board members are hosting the meeting to gather public comment on the possibility. They will meet Jan. 16 in a work session to review the public comments.
They will resume discussions at their meeting on Jan. 22 and could take action at that time.
The district has been discussing the possibility of closing the Junior High building during the last three years as a cost-saving measure. The MACCRAY Junior High School in Clara City holds four sections of students in grades seven and eight. There is room in the high school to accommodate the four sections, which includes just over 110 students.
The closing of the Junior High building would save an estimated $65,000 to $85,000 annually in maintenance. The school board members also instructed the administration to provide information on the possibility of reducing staffing. With the possibility that the Junior High School could be closed, the district previously did not replace a janitorial worker who retired.
Enrollment projections for the district show preschool numbers are stable and in some cases increasing as compared to elementary school enrollments per age group.
School board members also discussed recent conversations with the Yellow Medicine East and Renville County West districts. The next meeting among the three districts will be held on Jan. 24 at MACCRAY. YME serves students in the areas of Granite Falls, Echo, Clarkfield, Hanley Falls and Hazel Run. RCW includes students in the areas of Renville, Danube and Sacred Heart.
Superintendent Schmidt said the MACCRAY board members are looking at areas where the three districts might cooperate to improve the opportunities provided students. A variety of ideas have been raised. One suggestion calls for the district to cooperate on junior high sports with low participation numbers. Other ideas include cooperation on foreign language instruction and curriculum development. YME offers French as a foreign language. MACCRAY has a full-time curriculum development director.
