The Crookston School Board held a working session on Monday morning that spanned into the early afternoon, focusing on the possible closure of Washington School and plans to move the preschool students to Highland School.
In attendance were the full school board, Crookston High/Middle School Principal Lisa Conzemius, Highland School Principal Chris Trostad, Food Service Director Emily Sheresky, Transportation and Building and Grounds Director Rick Neimela, Superintendent Randy Bruer, District Finance Director Blake Stoltman, Payroll and H.R. Director Wendy Ault, Early Childhood Director Gina Gunderson, and Title Teacher Janel Kresl. The meeting also included Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/H.R. Marilyn Wahouske and KROX Radio.
OPTIONS FOR HIGHLAND SCHOOL
The meeting started with a discussion on two different plans for Highland School. There were two options, both of which included using two portable classrooms. Moving a portable classroom from Washington School to Highland School would cost an estimated $25,000, plus $60,000 for renovations, while building new portable classrooms would cost around $450,000 (about $450 per square foot).
The group seemed to agree that the second option would be the best approach. It would keep the youngest kids close to the large bathrooms. The second option would keep the first, second, fourth, and fifth-grade classes in their current location. In third and fourth grade, two teachers would have to move. “One option would be to kind of put our youngest kids in the furthest west end of the building, keep four or five where they are. It really eliminates some costs, and also puts our youngest kids next to the biggest classrooms. I think it’s just a better idea. And we still kind of maintain a school within a school,” said Highland School Principal Chris Trostad. “You got older kids is kind of their school within a school, the younger kids and the new additions. So the teachers walk their kids where they go. So we’ve kind of isolated the three groups. Four or five is a school, pre-K is a school. And then it would be the K through three would be a school within a school in the far end.”
Trostad said his biggest concern is the growing number of students with special needs. “The number one concern I warned the board is I’m not so much concerned about more class sections. I haven’t seen an increase in 12 years. We’ve had a lot of three-section grades,” said Trostad. “I’m more concerned about adding special ed teachers. That kind of threw me for a wrench between the last time we met with the board and this time. We have to find a third-grade special ed teacher for next year. So I’m probably more concerned about more special ed rooms, but we will now have one special ed room for every grade.”
Trostad added the growth in special ed students brings a need for more staff. “If they grow, that is probably more of a concern to me than more class sections. We’re talking 69 kindergarteners coming in instead of the last couple of years was 89 and 92.”
Trostad said the bathrooms won’t need to be remodeled, but he admitted they could use a new look and colors down the road.
“There are a lot of people out there saying the bathrooms have to be redone for the little kids. That’s simply not true. The heights of the toilets and the heights of the sinks are the same as the new addition. They meet the plumbing code,” said Trostad. “I like to say they’re aged. They have a little bit of the Partridge family colors in them still, but they do function. They are the correct heights.”
Trostad, a Crookston Central High School grad who has been in education for over 40 years, said closing a school isn’t an easy decision. “Closing a school is never easy. Financially, that’s always the piece board members end up stuck with. They need to figure out how to fund this. It was Jeremy Olson’s plan to install new lockers at Highland School, which freed up three locker bays. We wouldn’t be able to do that if we hadn’t put in new lockers, we would not fit. And those three openings, those spaces kind of started the ideas rolling that we could potentially get down to two buildings because we’ve freed up a lot of square footage,” said Trostad. “We created three special ed rooms and we created a student success center. And we also created an area where Alluma has four offices. So that’s what created this.”
Trostad said having the new preschool addition, that cost over $6 million, was a smart use of COVID dollars. “I think it’s huge that people forget that we used COVID-19 dollars and we used our general fund dollars to build this building, which is huge for saving tax dollars,” said Trostad. “And now it’s a matter of if we fit, we can be as efficient as possible. I think that definitely helps the bottom line of the general fund, too.”
POSSIBLE CUT TO THREE-YEAR-OLD PRESCHOOL
The other discussion was whether the district should still offer pre-school for three-year-olds. The program is currently losing the district money because it doesn’t receive any state funding for three-year-old preschool. Most, if not all, of the students aren’t potty trained, which creates additional challenges, and many districts in the area either don’t offer it or are going to stop offering the 3-year-old preschool program.
LUNCH SCHEDULE
Another topic of discussion was lunch at Highland School, and Food Services Director Emily Shereskey handed out a sheet with the current lunch schedule and two proposed lunch schedules. “I’m always looking for the ability for the students to get as many bites in as possible, preventing food waste, making sure that they’re fueled for the rest of their day. And those were really my priorities when I was making this lunch schedule,” said Sheresky. “I obviously do not have all of the background information on teacher contracts and things like that. So I’m ready to work with Mr. Trostadt on making something that works for both of us.”
One schedule gave all the kids 30 minutes in the lunchroom, and another gave all the students, except fourth and fifth graders, 30 minutes of lunch. “There are a few concerns that I have. Obviously, just serving an additional 60 to 70 students with the same square footage of one building, as well as the specific needs of such a young age group. Preschool students also have a very different set of specific nutrition guidelines,” said Sheresky. “So, by incorporating them into our elementary school, that could make a need for increased training with students, training for paras, aides, people in the cafeteria, so they know what they should be having.”
Shereskey said the goal is to make sure they are doing what is best for students, “I hope as a district that we’re just working together towards what’s best for the students and what’s best for the community. So as long as we’re doing that, I’ll be content.”
NEED TO SAVE MONEY, WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE COMMUNITY
Interim Superintendent Randy Bruer said the district needs to look at saving as much money as possible, especially amid the state’s potential cuts to districts. “We’ve got to look at it because I know the state is looking at $250 million to $300 million in cuts, and how can Crookston sustain some of that, especially with your high-needs kids?” said Bruer. “We’ve got to look at something because we don’t want to go backwards in Crookston School. We’ve made a lot of advances forward, so we need to be concerned about what those things are that we need to really review and take some time with.”
Bruer said the district is looking to release answers to questions they have received from the community, and they will do so soon. “We’ve had a lot of questions, and we expect to answer a lot of those questions with some factual information. We just don’t want to give some general information. Well, it could be this, it could be that. We’re going to answer those, and we’re going to post them, and we’re going to give them to people so that they can see what those answers would be,” said Bruer. “Those are some of the big things. But, you know, we’ve got to look at the big picture. It doesn’t show that our student enrollment is going to go up drastically, and we do have an aging building that needs some tender loving care, so you know where to put your funding.”
NEED TO CUT COSTS. CROOKSTON WELL ABOVE AVERAGE IN COST PER STUDENT
The Crookston School District has found itself in concerning territory when it comes to per-student costs. It is significantly higher than other similarly sized (enrollment) schools in the area, according to 2023 Minnesota Department of Education data.
Crookston’s cost per student compared to others is listed below –
Crookston Pre-K and Kindergarten (112 students) – $17,281.51 per student
Frazee – 7-12th grade (376 students) – $14,410.97
Crookston 1-6th grade (449 students) – $14,122.15
Pelican Rapids – Pre-K – 6th grade (445 students) – $12,759.78
Roseau Pre-K – 6th grade (613 students) – $12,302.19
Barnesville – 7-12th grade (400 students) – $11,422.17
Warroad – Pre-K – 5th grade (474 students) – $10,457.70
Hawley – 7-12th grade (403 students) – $9,875.80
Superintendent Bruer said the district needs to be more efficient, and the group looked at administration and regular staffing. “We want to look at how many people are being used within the Washington building. We’re spending over $17,000, $18,000 a student, and the average should be right around $12,000 a student,” said Bruer. “So we’ve got to kind of take a look at that and see what direction we want to go. Certainly, that’s a high cost. Our staffing accounts for 80% of the school’s funding, so we have to really look at how we’re spending taxpayer funds efficiently.” The Crookston School Board approved a two-year contract with the teachers’ union last year that will add over $750,000 in salaries and benefits to the budget this year and next.
CROOKSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT ELEMENTARY ATTENDANCE NEEDS IMPROVEMENT – to help increase funding
The Crookston School District’s elementary attendance rate is one of the lowest in the area, and that costs the district money and reduces learning. The same district attendance comparison is below-
Hawley Elementary – 96.7 percent
Frazee Elementary – 90.30 percent
Roseau Elementary – 83%
Minnesota District Average – 81.88 %
Barnesville Elementary – 80.80%
Pelican Rapids Elementary – 77.10%
Crookston (Pre-K and K) – 75.8%
Crookston (1st-5th grade) – 75.8%
Warroad Elementary – 75.3%
NEXT MEETING –
The Crookston School Board will have a special meeting on Thursday, April 9 at 5:00 p.m. at the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room, where the board will discuss and look at approving the closure of Washington School, and discuss and look at staffing. Since it is a special meeting, the public can attend, but there won’t be a public forum for the public to ask questions.
