Lake Holcombe School Board; Busing company makes themselves at home
By Ginna Young
The beginning of the school year is just around the corner for Lake Holcombe, with buses ready to roll – literally. In preparation for their new role with the district, Chippewa Yellow Bus purchased four acres across from the auto lot on 270th Avenue, as reported at a regular school board meeting Aug. 14.
Clearing of the lot is in progress and once done, the company will park buses for the start of the school year, while constructing a building is a work in progress. In the meantime, Chippewa Yellow Bus rented temporary office space in the strip mall in Holcombe.
“Looks like they’re getting serious about the start of the school year,” said superintendent Kurt Lindau.
Although they parted ways at the end of last school year, Paul Gilbertson, who formerly provided busing services to the district, had a question about some line items of the new bus contract with Chippewa Yellow Bus. Lindau said he is happy to meet with anyone who wants to go over the contract, but since the public comment time is for comments only, not questions and answers, the meeting would have to move along.
Gilbertson said he understood that, when put that way, but did mention he’s getting slammed with comments from the public, that they are the fourth highest paid contract in the state. Gilbertson said it is true...sort of, that they are the fourth highest, per student.
“I’m getting tired of hearing it,” said Gilbertson. “They’re leaving out some words in there.”
As part of the new school year, members approved the review of the LH Education Forward Plan, which is an Esser III funding requirement, in which the school has to prove they have a COVID mitigation strategy. Just as the Forward Plan was complete, the CDC came out with new recommendations, such as no more quarantines.
“It’s really, stay home if you’re sick,” said Lindau. If a student is sick at school, they will be isolated and sent home. There will also remain a deep cleaning and disinfecting of the building.
“All those practices were something good that came – if there’s anything good that came out of COVID – it made us take a look at our cleaning practices,” said Lindau.
Lindau says that also included good ventilation, which the district has, as they just completed a new HVAC control system, along with new boilers.
Members also upped sub rates, so for a full day, the rate went from $110 to $130; a half day went from $55 to $65; food service went from $12 to $14; paraprofessional went from $12 to $14; custodial went from $14 to $16; and clerical went from $12 to $14.
“This is trying to keep up with the Jones,” said Lindau.
The board also approved the hire of Rebecca Raven, fourhour kitchen assistant; Garrett Dekan, math teacher; Dusty Nitek, assistant football coach; and Jason Lehman, assistant football coach, as well as accepting $155, from Eastbay Lodge’s Dine & Donate Locally Program, to the music department. They also accepted the resignation of assistant football coach Dave Guthman.
In addition, members approved a transfer of money, so they can put some into Fund 46, to help with upcoming projects.
“Bottom line, we have a balanced budget,” said Lindau.
During the meeting, the board also heard from attendees of the Rural Youth Health Care Initiative (RYHCI) Camp, which was a collaboration of healthcare professionals, the Cornell Area Fire Department and Cornell Area Ambulance Service.
“It was a really cool experience,” said student Ella Hartzell. “We got to learn a lot of things.”
Hartzell said it was nice to meet with people who do a lot for the community and to practice CPR, as well as taking part in a water rescue and helicopter training.
“You see behind-the-scenes stuff and you learn that healthcare isn’t just doctors and nurses…it’s EMTs, EMS, firefighters and police officers,” said student Chloe Lee.
Lee also felt the camp was beneficial, so youth can step in
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will indefinitely extend the deadline, for producers to return the pre-filled applications for Phase One of the Emergency Relief Program (ERP). A new deadline will be announced after the last Phase One applications are mailed and provide at least 30 days, following the mailing.
Continuing to build on the initial mailing of pre-filled applications in May, the department will continue using existing information in USDA and crop insurance files, to send additional pre-filled applications for potentially eligible Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) participants.
Once applications from eligible NAP producers are returned, these producers are expected to receive about $105 million in ERP payments, for eligible losses from 2020 and 2021 disasters.
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is now mailing pre-filled applications to NAP producers through ERP, to offset crop yield and value losses. To receive a relief payment, producers should complete and return the applications by announced deadlines.
Producers are expected to receive assistance direct deposited into their bank account within three business days, after they sign and return the prefilled application to the FSA county office, and the county office enters the application into the system.
While most crop insurance customers that may be eligible for ERP Phase One received the pre-filed applications in May, there are some who should expect to receive a form in August, including the following:
• Producers who had an eligible loss in 2020, that was recorded in the crop insurance records as a 2019 loss (e.g., prevented planting claims).
• Producers with policies that required additional information before they are able calculate an indemnity for 2021 losses (producers with 2020 losses would have already received that application). Policies that required additional information include Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO), Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX), Margin Protection Plan (MP) or Area Risk Protection Insurance (ARPI).
Producers without risk management coverage through crop insurance or NAP, and those with shallow losses, may be covered by the forthcoming Phase Two of ERP.
Like any new process, there are some kinks to work out,,” said FSA administrator Zach Ducheneaux, “but we are addressing them and will use the streamlined process to keep the ‘red tape’ to a minimum.”
to perform CPR, if needed. Since the accidents around the area can be so rural, it can take up to 30 minutes of response time.
The two students said they would really like to have more people the next time the RYHCI is offered.
“The emphasis really is about trying to get youth at this age, introduced to the healthcare professions, but also to recognize the barriers are in rural populations,” said Dr. Pam Guthman, RYHCI coordinator. “But they understand the significance and importance in a rural community of being the link, and you never know when there might be an accident.”
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="243"]
Matt Flater, Lake Holcombe School Board vice president (right) was presented a grand trophy and a Lake Holcombe beanie Aug. 15, from superintendent/referee Kurt Lindau, in a free throw shooting contest. Lindau had the board members take part in the contest to “break in” the new floor in the “new gym.” The school contracted with Jones Construction locally, saving about $8,000, by them bringing in skidsteers to tear up the old floor. “It was the original gym floor from when it was built in the ’80s, I believe,” said Lindau. Photo by Ginna Young[/caption]
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Although she had good form, board member Jamie Tester-Morfoot narrowly lost to the competition in the free throw shooting contest. On the new floor, two layers of plywood were added underneath for more bounce and spring, and the school also plans to put in a dehumidification system, since it gets very warm and humid in the summertime. During the project, they also added permanent pickle ball lines, as the court is heavily used by the community for that pastime. Photo by Ginna Young[/caption]
