Updates on the potential transfer of land between the Mobridge-Pollock School District and surrounding districts and on progress on the new high school highlighted the M-P School Board meeting Monday night.

M-P School Board Chairman Harry (Bingo) Kindt told the board that he had talked to various officials at the state level about the issue (transfer of land), although he was still waiting for some return calls from the South Dakota Department of Education. “They told me that because of the Selby Area decision, we would be wasting our time to pursue the matter right now,” he stated.

Earlier this fall, some Selby Area School District patrons had asked the district to allow the transfer of their land to the M-P School District. The Selby Area School Board had denied the request, and the issue was appealed to the DOE. The DOE held a hearing on the issue, and appointed Robert Anderson as the hearing officer. He upheld the decision of the Selby Area School Board to deny the request. The patrons who brought the request for the land transfer could appeal the decision to court, but no action has been taken yet.

Because that issue is still up in the air, officials are telling Kindt that it would not pay to pursue other land transfers at this time.

Another factor in the issue is the difference in the amount of land that might be involved in a transfer. The M-P School District has received requests to transfer about 17,000 acres out to other school districts, while there are requests to transfer in only about 3,400 acres.

“It’s pretty much out of our hands at the moment,” Kindt stated. He suggested that people contact the DOE with their concerns.

Construction Project Manager Jack Hollingsworth told the board the project is “moving along very well.” He said the workers are back on site following the storm last week. “Conditions are not as bad as we might have thought,” he added.

Hollingsworth presented the board with a number of proposal requests (change orders). Some of them represented a decrease in costs, and some an increase. The net difference in the seven proposal requests he presented was a decrease in cost of almost $38,000.

Buffy King of HKG Architects of Aberdeen was also at the meeting. She noted that the firm keeps a running log on the change order requests. The requests will be brought to the board monthly, since they need board approval.

King discussed several other issues with the board, including some rows of decorative brick on the gym and keying options for the interior rooms.

Protective fencing will be installed around the worksite in the near future. There have not been any problems, but safety at the site will be an ongoing concern as the project moves forward.

In other business, the board:

• Received information from Gary Street on the school’s yearbook. The current yearbook has some color pages, but is mostly in black and white. Jostens proposed a full-color yearbook at a cost of $8,243 per year, an increase of $150 from the current mostly black and white version. They would also give a $100 discount per year if a three-year contract is signed. The yearbook will cost about $52 per copy for the 160 copies which are printed. In past years, the student cost has been $30, with the district making up the difference. Street asked the board for permission to approach businesses with requests for sponsorships to defray some of the cost. Following discussion, the board approved a three-year contract with Jostens for the publication of the school’s full-color yearbook. In addition, the motion set the cost for the yearbook at $30 and allowed the yearbook staff to pursue seeking funds to pay for some of the costs.

• Adjusted the contract for Ron Jacobson for his bus route in the Pollock area.

• Accepted the resignation of Tara Thomas as the Cheer advisor. Keri Nehls will assume the duties for the rest of the year.

• Approved a SPED Aide contract for Mike Norder. He assists in the high school.

• Gave permission to Elementary Principal Brian Liedtke to add paraprofessionals as necessary when elementary classrooms have 27 or more students. He noted that there has been more adds and drops of students this year than normally occurs.

• Approved a new preschool handbook.

• Approved a resolution asking to get out of the Northwest Area Schools technology programs starting in the 2009-10 school year.

• Learned from Liedtke that the elementary Christmas Concerts are earlier than normal this year. The reason, he noted, is that the instructor is expecting in December and wanted to present the concerts herself.

• Learned that there had been a very positive response to a four-day school week questionnaire, with 67 percent of the respondents favoring the idea. The board took the survey under advisement.