03-23-2009 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 23, 2009 7:00 o'clock p.m. • ROLL The Orono City Council met on the above - mentioned date with the following members present: Acting Mayor Jim Murphy, Council Members Lili McMillan, and Douglas Franchot. Representing Staff were City Administrator William Wells, Finance Director Ron Olson, Assistant City Administrator for Long - Term Strategy Mike Gaffron, City Engineer Tom Kellogg, 'City Attorney Soren Mattick, and Recorder Jackie Young. Acting Mayor Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. CONSENT AGENDA Item Nos. 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13 were added to the Consent Agenda. McMillan moved, Franchot seconded, to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. VOTE: Ayes 3, Nays 0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES *2. REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 9, 2009 • McMillan moved, Franchot seconded, to approve the minutes of the March 9, 2009, City Council meeting as submitted. VOTE: Ayes 3, Nays 0. PRESENTATION — 7:00 P.M. 3. WESTONKA SCHOOLS UPDATE — KEVIN BORG, SUPERINTENDENT Borg addressed the City Council regarding the status of the Westonka Schools and their strategic goals for the coming years. The first goal of the school district is to improve the academic achievement of the students on both their standardized tests and the ACT. Borg noted the Shirley Hills Primary School received the prestigious Blue Ribbon School Award this year based on high test scores. This past summer students had the opportunity to travel to China as part of an internship program, which was very successful. This year the students will have the opportunity to travel to Puerto Rico as part of this program. In addition, Mandarin III will be offered this year as a foreign language, which demonstrates the successful expansion of the foreign language program. Borg stated the Westonka Schools are also in the process of reducing its debt and obtaining better financial status. The school unfortunately fell into statutory operating debt, which has been eliminated over the past year, and a better financial foundation is being established in an attempt to prevent that from reoccurring. Borg noted the Westonka School District also ranks the lowest in funding received per student in the seven county metro area. McMillan noted Orono approved a number of physical improvements to their schools, and asked whether • Westonka has a long -term strategy to deal with upgrades to their facility. PAGE 1 of 11