South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) has been in operation for 28 years.  During this time the SCSC Board of Directors has responded to the changing needs of education by approving programs that have been requested by its members.  Cooperative members include school districts, cities, counties, charter schools, and other non-profit and regional agencies.  The staff continues to respond to the changing needs of members.

SCSC meets the needs of its members through a variety of approaches which include:

1.     Staff providing services on an as-needed basis.

2.     Contracting for services with vendors or individuals to provide services that may be very specialized and require specific skill sets on a short or long-term basis.

3.     Private/Public grants may provide the needed funding for a specific purpose.  e.g. science kits, academic programs

4.     Federal or state funds for projects.  e.g.  Health & Safety, Special Education, and Carl Perkins.

The service cooperative is entrepreneurial and innovation-oriented.  Therefore, a funding source has to be identified and in place along with the initiation of a program.  The activity of the service cooperative is driven by its funding sources at a particular time in history.  Right now the focus of a great deal of activity has been on insurance.  However in the earlier days, media services, staff development, and special education were the primary services requested by members.

As another school year comes to an end, we encourage you to get to know what your service cooperative does by visiting our website at www.mnscsc.org.  We also encourage you to participate in these programs.  If you need more information on these programs, you may contact us at (507) 389-1425.

Les Martisko
Executive Director