The Crookston School Board met on Monday evening in the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
The board approved the installation of sound insulation in six Highland School classrooms by Cullen Insulation of Grand Forks at a cost of $14,918. “We have a few rooms over there where you can hear the sound from the classroom next door. So it kind of interferes with some of the teaching and instruction that’s going on within the classroom,” said Superintendent Randy Bruer. “We will get that fixed so we looked into it andthe walls don’t go all the way up to the roof so there’s an open space in a classroom you can see all the way across multiple classroom ceilings. We need to put some matting, some soundproof insulation on top of the ceiling to guard some of that.”
The board had an extended leave of absence from kindergarten teacher Renee Tangquist. An extended leave of absence requires a leave of at least three years and no longer than five years, according to the School District and teachers’ union master contract. Tangquist has been teaching in the school district for 33 years. “That’s something that’s been in the teacher’s contract in most districts for many years. And it is something that you can take a leave of three to five years,” said Superintendent Bruer. “It might be to start a business. It might be to do something different.”
The school board approved the request as it was for Tangquist to care for a family member, but the board said every extended leave of absence is a case by case decision, noting they turned one down the previous request.
The Crookston School District only has one snow day left before it will be forced to make up days if more than one snow day is needed the rest of the winter. Superintendent Bruer suggested March 16 as a snow day make up day and a second day (if needed) on Monday, April 6, which is the Monday after Easter. “We’ve used five days at this point. We only have one day left, and if we use that one day we’re going to make up that another day,” said Superintendent Bruer. “If we have another day off, we’ll make it up on March 16th, and the next day would be on Easter Monday. So there’s a couple options right there, but we’re using up those days and hours pretty fast.”
The board approved the resignation of paraprofessional Emma Mekkes before approving employment of Mekkes and salary lane advancement requests from Kristi Griffin, Jamie Mach, and Katelyn Stegman. The board approved hiring Gavin Salem Boman as a full-time custodian at the high school.
The school board accepted Minnesota State High School League Foundation grants of $5,396, a $6,000 grant from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council for a Trey Everett art project, and a $250 grant from the Andersons Inc. Charitable Contributions committee for the FFA program.
The board also had a presentation from BSN Sports on what they can provide the school. BSN Sports’ Tom Piche has been providing the Crookston School District with uniforms, equipment, all the weight room equipment and more going all the way back to Activities Director Les Drechsel’s time. BSN sports can offer team stores, signage, uniforms and they said they are one of the largest Nike dealers in the country. The board asked for a proposal from BSN Sports as they received one from another company and want to see who has the best deal for the district.
