The Crookston School Board met on Monday, February 2 at Crookston High School. Following the Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance, the board heard from a couple of students. Two seniors spoke to the board about something very important to them as graduation is approaching. “We had two young ladies that presented and a couple of young ladies who supported them,” says Randal Bergquist, School Superintendent. “I give these two gals a lot of credit, they were very professional. They just talked about how it’s been a tradition here in Crookston that the senior class got to pick a teacher, and the teacher could talk at their graduation.” Bergquist says there has been some discussion set forth that this tradition may not be continuing, and the students were concerned and spoke to the board about their concerns. The board said they would talk about it and will bring it up with Mr. Torgerson upon his return and report back at the next school board meeting.
The board heard from Gina Gunderson, the director of the Crookston ECFE and School Readiness programs, as the Feature Program part of Monday’s meeting. Gunderson gave a presentation that covered topics at Washington, including attendance, smaller class sizes, the most recent conferences, and more. She also called on School Readiness teacher Kiely Tate to help with the presentation, who told us how vital the decreased class sizes are to kids and teachers. “We have seen a huge increase in our students’ behaviors; we can use that to our advantage, and they are supported in our classrooms,” says Tate. “So, if we can deal with two less students, that’s two less students to help in the bathroom, and two less students to help get ready, so that is 16 students that are benefiting, and we get to connect with each of those students.”
Tate also touched on the importance of attendance at Washington, even though it isn’t mandatory. “Preschool is super important, and it isn’t mandatory, although we are establishing routines with families and trying to get kids in school so that they are successful at that early age and establishing those routines at early ages,” says Tate. “So, when they hit those grades where it is mandatory, they already have those established, and they are ready for school.”
Conferences for Washington were just over a week ago, and Tate says the improvement from fall to winter was quite noticeable. “At the beginning, in my classroom, all of the kids were not meeting where they needed to be for their social/emotional skills,” says Tate. “Now they are all at “meet expectations,” so we get to communicate that with our parents. I also had 100% of my parents attend conferences, which is huge in saying that our community is investing in our youngest learners, so they are successful.”
The consent agenda was approved although Item 4.3.7 was pulled out for discussion. This item was to approve the Concessions Manager Contract for Kayla Snyder. The board was asked to increase the contract from $4,000 to $8,000. “We have concessions that we provide at various extracurricular activities, and last year Kayla received $4,000,” says Bergquist. “This school year, we have increased our number of concession opportunities by almost 30, and next year, it’s going to be closer to 50 that we are going to increase.”,
Bergquist says it is essential to showcase the multi-use facility, and the job of the Concessions Manager is vital to make things run smoothly. “Being a concession stand director, you do all the ordering; you take the cash, you count out the cash, and it’s not something you can get done really during the school day,” says Bergquist. “You go to a football game or soccer game; for example, concessions are being done in the evenings.” The job also requires ordering food, pop, and supplies, getting popcorn ready for basketball games, and a lot of Saturday hours as well. The School Board voted unanimously to approve the contract increase.
Also, on Monday’s consent agenda, the board was asked to accept the Letter of Retirement from Kim Davidson, a fourth Grade Teacher from Highland Elementary School. Davidson was in attendance, and the board thanked her and told her she would be missed. Davidson taught for 11 years before coming to Crookston where she taught for another 31 years. Davidson also serves as the Crookston Education Association President.
The Main Agenda for the evening consisted of one item: The board was asked to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the CEA for the READ Act. Bergquist explained what the READ Act is. “It’s the science of reading,” says Bergquist. “That’s what the READ Act is saying. Ok, Teachers, you need to be trained on this, and administrators need to be trained on this so we can implement this in the classroom.”
The READ Act was established with specific parameters yet allowed districts to choose from different programs to use. “So, our district gets to pick the program,” says Bergquist. “Before my time, they picked LETTERS, so elementary teachers worked on a program called LETTERS. It was 155 hours that they had to put in extra to make sure they passed the two-year program of LETTERS.”
Bergquist says that the district paid a lot for that training. “Now this year, the State of Minnesota allocated money to each district based, I think, on its student population,” says Bergquist. “Our district got $42,000 or $43,000, so as of July 1, 2024, we were supposed to meet with our administration local union and talk about what are the parameters to make sure we are following what the State of Minnesota is requiring us to do.” Bergquist says the meetings have gone quite well and that they have decided to go to a different program that is only 67 hours in addition to regular teaching duties. “We had to do this as a state mandate; many districts have already completed their memorandum of understanding,” says Bergquist. “This is just something we have to do, like so many other things the state of Minnesota requires us to do as a school district.” Bergquist is hoping that by implementing this program, reading scores will be better across the state.
