Thompson School District BOE unanimously approves emergency fund transfer and Whitson's contract to cover food services overage

The Thompson School District Board of Education held an emergency meeting on Dec. 17, 2024, and unanimously approved a transfer of funds to cover an $11,300 overage on an emergency food services contract and approved the contract with Whitson's to provide interim food-service management.

Melinda A. Smith said the meeting was convened "to approve the transfer of funds to support the emergency food services contract, which was $11,300 over the initial budget," and stressed the urgency because food needed to be ordered promptly. William "Bill" Steglitz provided the board with a financial update, saying the Vo-Ag tuition account had a budget of $125,000 and had received $75,183 earlier in the year. He outlined proposed internal transfers: $15,000 to the math lab and $11,300 for café services, bringing projected total expenditures to $101,483 and leaving a remaining balance of $23,517 in that account.

Steglitz also summarized the Whitson's contract to replace Lisa Durand, putting the contract cost at $69,031 for the period Dec. 18 through June 30. He said the contract charges were broken down into a general manager's salary, an administrative fee, a management fee and a regional manager monitoring fee.

Board member Kristin Schultz moved to approve the transfer of funds; Heather Santos seconded the motion, which the board recorded as passing unanimously. A subsequent motion to approve the emergency food services contract, including the overage beyond the prior approval, also passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. after a motion from Jessica Bolte, seconded by Kristin Schultz. Danielle M. Pederson is listed in the minutes as recording secretary.

No additional details about funding sources beyond the internal account transfers, or individual roll-call votes, were specified in the minutes.