• The Groton Area School Board had a short, 35 minute, meeting Monday with the highlight being the Capital Outlay Fund and the Lunch Fund.
• During the financial report, Business Manager Mike Weber talked about the Capital Outlay Fund. Last year there was a balance of $203,098.37; that is down to $58,539.53. He reported that the district paid $111,000 for roof repairs. The board needs to keep an eye on this balance and may have to write a promissory note from the general fund until the tax dollars come in. Weber also noted to expect the general fund to decrease more rapidly. Utility and fuel payments now come out of the general fund instead of the capital outlay fund.
• The lunch fund is on the verge of getting into trouble. Board member Kelly Kjelden looked at the numbers from 2011-12 to 2013-14 school year. The August/September daily averages dropped from 459 to 356. "That is staggering," he said. Superintendent Joe Schwan said that he has noticed a lot of middle school students bringing sack lunches and high school students eating off campus. Board member Steve Smith asked if the district could do away with the federal requirements and change the serving of the lunches. Schwan said the problem is that if the district were to do that, the district would lose funds for reduced meals and food commodities. Weber said that if the numbers don't bounce back, there will have to be a change in the lunch program.
• Schwan said that at the superintendent's meeting, it was reported that South Dakota is dead last in the nation in teacher's pay; in fact, South Dakota is $3,000 behind the 49th state. "You're seeing a lot of teachers leaving the field because of the pay issue," Schwan said. "The hiring pool is a lot smaller than it used to be."
• In other action:
• Hired Dorothy Reder as custodian for 30 hours per week at $11 an hour.
• Approved work agreement for Lea Kooiman as Rtl Para for 20 hours per week at $12 an hour.
• Approved a request from the school attorney, Rodney Freeman, for the district to pay $130 towards him attending the Education Law Association 2013 Annual Meeting.
• Approved a request from the Groton Youth Rally Committee to use the GHS Arena on Nov. 13 at no charge for the annual rally.
• Approved an open enrollment for a second and a fourth grader from the Aberdeen School District. The family, this past summer, had moved from the Groton School District into the Aberdeen School District.

• - Paul Kosel