BLAIRSBURG — The Northeast Hamilton School Board approved an administrative contract and accepted a board member’s resignation at its regular meeting on Thursday.

The board went into executive session at 6:28 p.m. to discuss the contract of NEH Principal Mike Kruger. It reconvened at 6:49 p.m. and unanimously approved the one year contract with a 2.38 percent salary increase. Voting were President Eric Patterson. Bruce Mark, Sara Zorn and Thea Wibholm. Marlin Pruismann was absent.

The board also accepted the resignation of Thea Wibholm, who will be moving out of the district she currently represents.

The board will advertise the vacancy as the public has a right to call for an election for a replacement director, explained Superintendent Mike Sherwood. If no election is requested, then the board can appoint a replacement director.

The board also approved a full time teaching contract for Matthew Vagt, who will serve as the Physical Education instructor and reading teacher.

The NEH board voted to raise the substitute teacher rate to $100/day. Initially, Kruger asked the board to increase the pay from $75/day to $85/day.  After discussing the rates of neighboring districts and NEH’s struggle to find substitute teachers in a competitive market, the board increased the district’s pay rate.

The board approved an increase in adult lunch prices by a nickel to $3.65.  The student lunches will remain at the current price.

After approving a motion to sell .48 acres of the district’s property to the City of Blairsburg, the board set July 20 at 6 p.m. for a public hearing on the action.

School board Secretary Kathy Biere reported that the district will receive a $210 rebate for its participation in the P-Card Mastercard program. The money will be deposited into the General Fund.

The board reviewed the second reading of the 700 Series of the School board policy which includes the articles of debt management, capital planning finance, purchasing and bidding, payment of goods and services, pay deductions, restructuring of debt and financial structuring. Also included are care, maintenance and disposal of school district records as well as security procedures and passwords.

Sherwood told the board its recent bond restructuring is within the perimeters set out in the new 700 policy. The 700 Series also addresses the district’s liability and protocol regarding student transportation to school events in private vehicles.

Students must first obtain approval from the district superintendent prior to taking a private vehicle to a school sponsored event, he said.

Also in the 700 Series, smoking and tobacco products are prohibited on school grounds at all times.

The board also heard the first reading of the 800 and 900 Series.

In reports, Kruger announced that Mighty Trojan Day Care director Amy Pruismann was notified that the district was awarded a $2,000 grant. Also, last month Fifth/Sixth Grade teacher John Seiser gave a presentation in Kansas City on agriculture related curriculum in elementary school classrooms.

Sherwood and Kruger gave the summer facility project update.

The track is undergoing its final grade and the old day care site will be seeded this month, said Sherwood. Prep work is beginning for the new layout for the playground.

The greenhouse has been ordered and the site will undergo an asbestos abatement.  The bus barn driveway will soon be paved, he told the board. Kruger told the board the layout for the new playground track will be mapped out in the coming weeks. The goal is to keep as many of the heirloom trees as possible, he said.

The meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 20 at 6 p.m.