Board balances budget; readies for 25-26 school year

All seven members of the Flandreau School Board were present to welcome Quinton Cermak to his new superintendent position at the regularly monthly meeting on July 14.
Im happy and grateful to be here, said Cermak who started at his new role here on July 1.
Ive enjoyed the last few weeks on the job meeting the administration and many of the staff members.
Before the new calendar year for the board could begin, they first approved the 2025-26 budgets.
Cleveland explained the budget to the board stating there were a few surprises in them coming late in the year.
In the special education fund, travel expenses were a bit more than anticipated, but are now factored into the budget the board was looking at.
The district received a refund over $131,000 in TIF revenue from Moody County. This money will be distributed in the general ($72,750.66), capital outlay ($37,905.94) and special education ($20,518.02) funds.
We are balanced and good to go for the next school year, said Business Manager Josh Cleveland.
The board approved the following budgets: $7,037,073 in the General Fund, $2,071,643 in Capital Outlay, $2,818,577 in Special Education, $589,658 in the Food Service Fund and $13,200 in Drivers Ed.
Cermak reported to the board the buildings will be ready for the first day of school. Summer cleaning projects will be completed and the new roof will be installed in time.
As far as staffing concerns, there is still the need to fill the Pleasant Valley Colony 5th-8th grade teacher along with some Special Education positions.
Ive called a few area colleges who will try to find a recent graduate or maybe even a December graduate who could help in January, he said.
The board closed out the 2024-25 school year and went right to work on this year.
Cleveland gave the oath of office to returning board members Kari Burggraff, Dustin Headrick and Brian Johnson.
Cermak called for nominations for president and in a unanimous vote, the board returned Burggraff to the position. Tom Stenger was chosen vice-president.
Board members also designated various staff as representatives of programs and accounts.
The Moody County Enterprise was designated the official newspaper, First National Bank as the official depository for district funds and John Shaeffer as legal counsel.
The board will meet the second Monday of each month at 6 pm in the Elementary Commons.
Admission prices for activities were left the same as last year.
The board set other various prices for the upcoming year. Breakfast will raise 10 per meal and lunches 20. Milk will cost an additional 5. These price increases came on a recommendation from Lunchtime Solutions, the districts meal provider.
Breakfast will cost $2.20 for students in grades K-12. Lunch will be $3.60 for students in K-5 and $3.70 for students in 6-12 grades. Milk for elementary breaks as well as extra milk for all students and adults will be 60.
Approval was given for the work contracts and salaries for all staff, and board committee assignments were assigned.
These can all be found in the minutes listed on page 6 of this weeks paper.