(Spirit Lake)– Meeting in special session Wednesday, the Spirit Lake school board voted four-to-nothing to terminate a rental agreement with the Before And After School Services, or “BASS” Program, and for the school to start it’s own “extended day program”. Terms of the motions call for the rental agreement to be terminated at 8:00 p.m. October 4th, with the school starting its own program effective at 6:00 a.m. October 5th.
The Director of the BASS Program, Meg Waltz, has been charged with one count of ongoing criminal conduct…a class “B” felony; and one count of first degree theft…a class “C” felony. She’s accused of misspending more than 400-thousand dollars from the BASS Program. Waltz has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to go to trial November 29th in Dickinson County District Court.
The school board took the action Wednesday after being updated on new concerns from Superintendent Tim Grieves. Grieves reported BASS owes the district 1,563-dollars for bus service and is late with three months of rent. Waltz, who was at Wednesday’s meeting, maintained she wasn’t made aware of the bills on a timely basis and that they didn’t fall into the proper bill paying cycle used by her bookkeeper who only works for her one day a week.
Grieves also briefed the board on several new legal issues, including a report from the Department of Human Services regarding an alleged denial of critical care involving a student of the BASS Program. Grieves says it was a student-to-student issue and did not involve Waltz or any BASS employees. Grieves added the district has been notified of the potential of a lawsuit stemming from the alleged incident. The claim has been turned over to the BASS and school district’s insurance carriers.
Grieves also cited a certificate of dissolution issued by the Secretary of State’s office discontinuing BASS’s non-profit status for failure to file a biennial report. Waltz says she deliberately did that so she wouldn’t subject her board members to any legal problems.
When it comes to the school offering the program on its own, Grieves cautioned the board that it will be a rather complex process, saying staff and a director will have to be hired. The program will be overseen for now by Elementary Principal Jon Wiebers. Grieves says there will be a cost to the district for providing the service, and that it will have to cash flow. He says the district, with its current financial situation, simply can’t take on any programs with a negative cash flow. Grieves added they had visited once again with the YMCA about the possibility of that organization offering the program, but said they would require a fairly significant lead time.
School board member Ann Goerss was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.
