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Superintendent’s contract approved
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By Craig Moorhead
Special for the Argus
A new semester is underway at ISD #299, and the board of directors made some significant decisions at their meeting on Jan. 25.
The board ratified a contract with Superintendent Bruce Thomas for the 2010-2011 school year. The terms of the pact call for Thomas to serve at .80 FTE, at a salary of $100,000. No added benefits were included in the package.
Directors voted to extend the medical leave of Elementary Principal Connie Hesse through March 26. Thomas said he had been in communication with Hesse, who could return as early as March 29, depending on the advice of her doctor. Hesse’s principal duties are temporarily being filled by Mrs. Jane Morken.
New breakfast program
The board voted to begin a new breakfast program at the middle/high school beginning Feb. 17. The first day will feature a free breakfast for all students. Two serving times will be offered. From 7:55 to 8:15, students will get three items, usually cold cereal, fruit, and milk, for $1.25. (Some hot dishes, such as eggs, will be available on certain days.) The other serving time will be at 9:45, and will offer a chance for a second breakfast offering for students and adults for $1.70.
Thomas explained that the program will actually help get the food service program back into the black, since the breakfast will be eligible for state and federal aid. When asked if more hours for workers would be needed, Thomas answered “No.” Food service staff will shift hours to cover the program. Directors also voiced enthusiasm for the program, noting that students who have breakfast have been shown to perform better in the classroom.
After the meeting Thomas explained that the current 9:45 break offers snacks, but is not eligible for reimbursement. “If you structure it so you’ve got three of these nutritional components, then that becomes a reimbursable meal,” he noted.
In other board action:
Budget meetings for public input
Three public meetings on the district’s financial situation will be held in February. The first will be on the 16th at 7 p.m. at the Eitzen Community Center. The second on the 18th at 7 p.m. at the Brownsville Community Center, and the third on the 20th at 9:30 a.m. in the Caledonia High School Library.
Thomas said the meetings will begin with audit information on the school budget, followed by participants breaking up into small groups for discussions. The structure of the meetings will be designed so that all participants will get a chance to voice their opinion. An open forum, Thomas explained, can be dominated by one person, so the smaller groups, with district representatives distributed within each, would allow “a setting that is conducive to dialogue and interaction.” Board members were encouraged to attend as many of the meetings as possible.
Thomas said that suggestions from the meetings would go back to the school board, to be considered at their Feb. 22 meeting.
Period format to change?
Principal DeMorett said that he was working on alternatives to the block schedule now used. Variations on a seven period schedule are being studied, he told the board. Thomas explained that a seven period schedule would save from two to two and one half full time teaching staff positions.
Thomas said that proposed cuts to staff will be taken up at the March school board meeting, followed by actually placing people on un-requested leave at the April meeting.
“I think we know where we’re at as far as the finance thing,” Thomas told the board. “So in my estimation, what we want to do is to move the process along in an expeditious fashion.”
Committee assignments
The board made temporary committee assignments for 2010. Directors Charlie Wray, Spencer Yohe, and Board Chairperson Naomi Fruechte were appointed to the teacher negotiations committee. The support staff negotiations committee will consist of directors Jean Meyer, John Klug and Michelle Werner. The administrative negotiations committee will include directors Matt Hendel, Meyer, and Fruechte. The transportation committee will consist of Klug and Werner. The district improvement team will be Yohe and Meyer. Director Werner will serve on the community education advisory council, with Klug serving as alternate.
Yohe will represent the board on the continuing education committee, with Werner as alternate. Fruechte will serve as Hiawatha Valley Education District Representative. Klug and Wray were appointed to the meet and confer committee. Fruechte will serve on the Houston County Collaborative Governing Board. Yohe will serve on the Minnesota State High School League, with Klug as alternate.
The curriculum committee will include Hendel, with Wray as alternate. The technology committee will feature Meyer and Werner. The building and grounds committee will include directors Wray, Hendel, and Klug.
Other news
The Caledonia Middle/High School building has been recognized for an energy-star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award states that “The energy star is the mark of superior energy performance and identifies your building as one of the most efficient buildings in the nation.”
The award came with a plaque which will be mounted near the entryway of the building. “The efficiencies that the district has put into that facility are paying off,” Thomas told board members.
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