Regular School
Board Meeting
Monday, February 9, 2026
BOARDROOM
200 Highway 55 E
Maple Lake,
Minnesota 55358
Natalie Anderson:
Present
Kaitlyn Helmbrecht:
Present
Liz Lind:
Present
Scott Mavencamp:
Absent
Joe Paumen:
Present
Jen Rasset:
Present
Branson Thomas:
Present
Present: 6, Absent: 1.
1. “District #881 is Proud of”
“Proud of Exhibit”
During the week of January 26, we celebrated our paraprofessionals and recognized the important role they play in supporting the students they work with each day.
National School Counseling Week was February 2-6, 2026. Thank you Mrs. Labo for all that you do for our school.
Thank you, the High School Staff, for organizing another successful Irish Adventures for our 7-12 grade students.
Congratulations to Oliver Melchart for winning the Maple Lake Spelling Bee.
Congratulations to the 7th grade boys’ basketball team for winning the CMC Jr. High Tournament.
Thank you to all the Maple Lake Elementary staff for hosting another amazing
Rise and Read on Tuesday, February 3. This was a fantastic parent engagement event.
Thank you to the Annandale Food Shelf for donating all of the juice boxes for rise and read.
Congratulations to Abigail Gindele on advancing to State and winning the Section!
Lily O’Donnell and Jacqueline Pribyl- 2026 All Conference – West Central Conference.
George Riveire and Bowen Walton earned CMC Players of the Week.
2. (ACTION) Approve the agenda for the regular school board meeting held on Monday, February 9, 2026.
This motion, made by Branson Thomas and seconded by Joe Paumen, Passed.
3. (ACTION) Approve the consent agenda for the regular school board meeting held on Monday, February 9, 2026 Motion to approve the consent agenda. This motion, made by Natalie Anderson and seconded by Liz Lind, Passed.
4.A. Enrollment 2025-2026
Enrollment for the Maple Lake School District remains the same. We did add two new students to the high school this month.
4.B. Food Service
4.C. Storage Facility Lease
The Building and Grounds committee made the recommendation to not lease levy the storage facility and to focus on our current storage areas before finding a different solution.
5. (7:20) New Business
5.A. Support Staff Contract
Motion to approve the 2025-2027 Support Staff contract. This motion, made by Jen Rasset and seconded by Natalie Anderson, Passed.
5.B. Spring Coaches
Motion to approve the 2026 spring coaches. This motion, made by Branson Thomas and seconded by Liz Lind, Passed.
5.C. Tax Abatement Request
Motion to approve the City of Maple Lake tax abatement letter. This motion, made by Joe Paumen and seconded by Branson Thomas, Passed.
The school will not participate in the tax abatement request. This will allow the City of Maple Lake to stretch the request to 20-years lowering taxes.
5.D. Activity Center Addition – Cost information was shared. At this time the board would like to explore updating existing spaces.
5.E. Early Retirement Incentive
The school board decided not to set the precedent where we do not meet the required minimum that was requested in the letter. No action was taken.
5.F. State of the School – Superintendent Rowe shared parent involvement activities.
6. (7:45) Representative Reports
6.I. Elementary School – Anna Reedy
• Conferences were held January 27 and 29. We had great attendance despite cold temperatures and lots of illness.
• I Love to Read Month is in full swing. Rise & Read kicked off our festivities. We served over 320 donuts to students and families!
• Students who reach their grade level reading goal will attend a GLOW PARTY on Friday, Feb. 27.
• Additional rewards will go to the classroom at each grade level with the most reading minutes, and a special surprise bonus event for students who read at least 50 minutes over their grade level goal.
• On Thursday, Feb. 5, our 4th graders participated in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing. We had about 45 of our students test, some in reading and some in math. Unfortunately, we do not receive individual scores from the test. The students’ scores are compiled with others across the country to provide a “snapshot” of achievement.
• I attended the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association’s annual institute last week. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to attend professional development and learn from fellow educators.
• Our sixth graders are headed to Powder Ridge on Thursday this week for their grade level ski trip.
• We are hosting our Kindergarten Round-Up on Thursday as well. Last names A-H @ 5pm, I-O @ 5:30pm, and P-Z @ 6pm. Students and parents meet the Kindergarten team, tour the classrooms, hear from principal, and take a short bus ride.
• The end of second trimester is February 27.
• We received our items for the calming corners provided by our Non-Exclusionary Discipline Grant. We were given enough funds to purchase calming corner kits for all classrooms K-2; calming cards for classrooms 3-6; and hallway sensory output stickers to be accessible to all students.
6.J. High School – Dave Hansen
1. Irish Adventures
a. Activities all went smoothly
b. Attendance was similar to last year
2. Snocoming
a. Next week – Western Theme
b. Activities – Battle of the Grades activities, coronation, dress up days, and activity hour
3. Scholarship Info
a. Senior Class Meeting -Tuesday, Feb. 24
b. Scholarship Applications due March 17
4. 2026-2027 Course Registration
a. Juniors registered Feb. 6
b. Sophomores register TBD
c. Freshman will register on Feb. 17 & 18
d. 8 th grade students register TBD
e. Parent Registration information session on Feb. 24
f. Registration window closes Feb. 27
5. Donkey Basketball
a. Monday, February 23
6. Mid-quarter
a. Feb. 23
b. HS Parent-Teacher Conferences Feb. 24, 4-7 pm
7. Testing
a. ACT Test the week of March 9
b. 10 th Grade Reading MCA – March 19
c. Other MCA – April
7. (8:20) Set Meeting Dates
7.A. IAQ Funds Planning Meeting
Special Meeting — March 4 at 4:00 p.m.
8. (8:25) Other Business
8.A. Mail
8.B. Upcoming Meetings
8.C. Miscellaneous Information
9. (8:40) Adjourn – 7:45 p.m.
(28c)