BLUE EARTH– With nearly 40 items on its agenda, the Blue Earth Area School Board was expecting a fairly long meeting on Monday night and that is just what happened.

Some of the items were the usual ones that are covered at all meetings, like staff reports. Others were a series of items that had to do with starting a new year – the end of one school year and the start of another.

Two resolutions were passed that had to do with the upcoming school board election, which will be held during the General Election.

The first one set the date, Nov. 3, and the second one established the dates for the filing for candidacy. Those dates are July 14 to July 28.

There are four of the seven board members whose terms expire at the end of this year. They are Stacey Beyer, Kyle Zierke, Sara Hauskins and Mark Franta.

Several other items and resolutions had to do with the budget or other financial matters.

One dealt with approving the original budget proposal for fiscal year 2027, and another was to related to a reallocation of General Education Revenue for fiscal year 27.

Another resolution was for a Long-Term Facilities 10-Year Maintenance Plan. The plan includes redoing the parking lot at the high school and at the employee lot at the middle school, replacing sinks at the high school and some roof repair, among other items.

The board also approved the bids for softener salt, waste removal, snow removal, fuel oil and fuel for the 2026-2027 year.

Under staff reports, teacher Sara Albright gave the board a detailed update on the Q-Comp program, and the Professional Development Grant funds.

Albright reported the plan has been working well and also gave information about a grant they had received for doing teacher coaching and mentoring. A total of $22,300 has been used for the coaching and training and mentoring so far.

Activities Director Travis Armstrong gave an update on the spring sports season. He reported 170 students out for spring sports.

He reported that the softball team played junior varsity this year and had a 5-9 record; the tennis team was 4-8 and the baseball team made strong improvements over the season.

The boys golf team had 17 out and just two were seniors and the girls’ golf team were the Conference Gold Division champs and member Kate Storbeck moved on to the State Golf Meet.

In track, Kyannah Brandt moved on to the State Track Meet.

In other action at the meeting, the BEA Board;

— Approved memberships in the Minnesota State High School League and the Schools Advocating for Fair Funding (SAFF).

Board Member Mark Franta voted no on the membership in SAFF.

–Approved board meeting dates for 2026-2027 year, investment depositories for the year and legal firms for the district.

–Approved a resolution for termination and non-renewal for probationary teacher Baylea Obermeyer.

— Also approved personnel changes including the hiring of elementary teacher Kaycee Redican and Special Ed teacher James Miller; resignations of high school principal Conan Shaffer, elementary teacher Jack Mellstrom and paraprofessional Arika Ziegler.

The vote to approve the changes was 6-1 with board member Franta casting the no vote. He had questioned the reason for Shaffer leaving the district and no reason was listed.

–Approved the final reading of 45 District Policies, with some having small changes, and several changed due to the State of Minnesota and Minnesota State High School League requirements.

The policies covered such topics as weapons in school, service animals, library materials, religion and much more.

The full policies are available at http://www.beasschools.org/district/policy_library