Caledonia Argus

Board discusses hiring process for superintendents

Posted: 10/14/03

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

The search is on for a new Caledonia school superintendent.

District 299 school board members discussed it for 45 minutes at their October 6 meeting, which was held at the Freeburg Community Center.

Current superintendent Jim Tool, who is in his second year as interim superintendent, plans to retire in June.

Here is what they decided:

First they will come up with qualifications that they would like a new superintendent to possess. They will try to get this and salary information out with a mailing to interested candidates by December 1. The salary will start at about $90,000, plus benefits.

They will cut-off applications by mid-January, take two weeks to determine the first round of candidates to interview, then start interviewing the first part of February.

Board members said they would welcome input from the public, but said they would like to do the sorting and interviewing of candidates.

ìThis board has been through a lot,î Suzanne Roesler said. ìI think weíre astute enough to ask the right questions.î

Naomi Fruechte suggested a citizensí committee could form a focus group.

ìI donít think we need a citizens committee to do that,î Dave Klinski responded. ìThatís why we were elected.î

He also recommended that board members make visits to the candidatesí work site to get a feel on how his/her school is being run and how they are perceived in the community.

But the superintendent candidate might live too far away, Fruechte said.

ìWe can cross that bridge when we come to it.î Roesler said.

ìBut if we get one from Las Vegas, Iíll be more than willing to go,î Barb Hurley said, bringing a smile from most of the board and the six people in attendance.

Students pitch dance line

The next 15 minutes of the meeting centered on an idea that high school students Melanie Dodson and Aubre Heberlein discussed.

They asked the board to consider starting a dance line at the school. (Dance line consists of students doing dance routines to music.) They had a list of 36 students who had shown an interest, and said there were more too.

It would be open to students in grades 9-12, with about 20 participants.

Tool gave some background on dance lines. He said the competitive version, which is a Minnesota State High School League activity, is expensive due to travel and uniform requirements. Coaching would cost about $1,000.

Heberlein said the girls would do all their own fund-raising, and they would also be willing to just do it with the band or in parades and not competitively for at least two years.

Hurley spoke in favor of the idea. ìI think we are showing the community that we are trying to involve all students,î she said. ìItís a healthy program. Itís better than seeing the kids go home and watch TV.î

Fruechte wondered how it would impact other programs, and whether it would put pressure on kids who already are over-involved in school. She said she would like to see it done for fun and not competitively.

ìWe only have so many kids to go around,î Roesler added. ìAre we reaching kids that arenít involved?î

Fruechte also asked if a dance line would compete with cheerleading, which the school currently does not have.

ìI think we could make it work together if we needed to,î Dodson said.

Tool noted that the board had made a motion at an earlier meeting to eliminate the Future Problem Solving coach and activity. The money is already in the budget for that, and teacher Jennifer Snook is willing to be the coach.

The board directed Tool to give them numbers on the cost of Future Problem Solving, dance line, cheerleading, and flag activities.

On a related note, a letter from from Julie Stafslien and Angie Zaiger was presented that argued for re-establishing the Caledonia Cheer Squad. This is the second year that the school does not have cheerleaders.

Soccer discussion

The board also fielded some questions from Jeff Rud, vice president of the Caledonia Youth Soccer Association.

Rud wanted to know what the status of his groups request to use school fields for practices and games, and whether they could move a storage building onto the property. He said he needed to know because they have a contract with the Catholic church in Caledonia that will expire in December. The soccer league currently uses space owned by St. Maryís, which is adjacent to its cemetery.

Klinski told Rud that he should plan on using other facilities for the foreseeable future, because the school fields are in bad shape due to compaction and dry weather. They need time for grass to get established on them.

Roesler noted that the school may even have to lease the cityís ball fields again.

Hurley said she was opposed to having a storage facility on school property. If another group wants a storage shed, should the school board allow it?

Allowing a building implies it is a school function, Roesler added. Rud said the shed by the fields would eliminate transporting goals after every game.

Other business

The board also accepted a bid of $29,575 from Caledonia Implement for a Ford tractor. It is needed for maintenance and snow removal at the new 60-acre school site, and will be equipped with a loader and 72-inch broom.

The board agreed to sell a steam table for $500 and warmer for $300 to Camp Winnebago.

The board approved an additional half day per week for Theresa Hegge, the speech clinician at the middle/high school.

The meeting ended with the board going into closed session to discuss teacher contract negotiations.

Tool said the next day that negotiations are progressing well. ìI would expect us to be done very soon and certainly before Christmas,î he said.

The boardís next meeting is Tuesday, October 28 at 7 p.m. at the Eitzen Community Center. They moved the meeting from Monday, October 27, because there is an indoor marching band concert that night.

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