Milaca School Board briefs meeting April 15

The Milaca School Board conducted the following business during the meeting on Monday, April 15. Written by Chloe Smith.

Pandemic relief funding update

Superintendent David Wedin gave a presentation to the Milaca School Board about the Pandemic Relief funding the district received as a result of COVID-19. In 2020-2021, the district received $1.1 million to put toward keeping the district functional, including meals for students, technology, staffing, instruction, and personal protective equipment. The following summer, the district received $60,599 that was used on similar items for summer school. The district also received $89,956 for pandemic related enrollment loss and $121,417 that was used for COVID-19 testing. The district now has the opportunity to utilize $2.5 million by Sept. 2024 as the last of the funding. $2.069 million of those funds are dedicated to be used for pandemic response purposes. The remaining $517,471 are to be used to address academic impacts related to lost instructional time. Wedin said the district has struggled to be approved to use the $517,471 as the projects have been difficult to get approved. However, the district has asked for ideas from organizations and departments within the district to find creative ways to utilize the funding.

Donation

The Milaca School Board acknowledged and approved an anonymous donation of $15,000 as a CNC Matching Donation. The funds are to go towards Milaca High School.

Designating official with authority

The Milaca School Board voted to approve Superintendent Wedin as the district’s designated official with authority for education identity access management. This is an annual vote that designates one person with the authority to access the State of Minnesota Education secure systems in accordance with the user’s assigned job duties.