The Crookston School Board held a special meeting on Wednesday morning in the choir/orchestra room at Crookston High School. During a special meeting, the discussion is limited to the items on the agenda which included a Highland Elementary School (HES) Playground Project and approval of spring coaching pay.
HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PLAYGROUND PROJECT
The playground and tennis court at HES both had items addressed in the proposed project. There were safety concerns according to Superintendent Jeremy Olson regarding the merry-go-round, which are no longer recommended at schools for safety, as well as the condition of the court surface. There were old tennis poles that had been cut off that have pushed up above the court surface due to the thaw cycle, as well as some old basketball hoop poles, explained Olson. “We’ve been looking at our playground, play surface area at Highland,” said Olson. “As we walked around we realized there were some things that need to be done. One is blacktopping the old tennis courts. We wanted to do that to have a good playing surface. There were some safety concerns we’re addressing and taking care of after the spring thaw and everything. We have some fencing that is in disrepair, so everything along the parking surface will get new fencing as part of the bid. We received multiple bids and went with the lowest responsible bidder per state statute.”
The Board received three bids for asphalt work to replace the surface in some parts of the playground and to remove some areas no longer needed. The second part of the project to replace the fencing received two bids. The board voted to approve awarding the asphalt project to Agassiz Asphalt and the fencing to McGlynn Fence for a total project cost of $25,891. All the bids are below –
| Asphalt | Bids |
| Agassiz Asphalt | $17,800 |
| Reit Rock Paving | $42,180 |
| Tri-State Paving | $27,590 |
| Fencing | Bids |
| Dakota Fence | $9,735 |
| McGlynn Fence | $8,091 |
All of the current work is the removal or repair of dangerous areas. Olson said nothing new is being added to the playground although there is a possibility of additions through a separate project. “Nothing extra is going in (at this time),” said Olson. “We are working with our athletic director and there might be a possibility of some basketball hoops or something like that going up that would be separate from this project that would be funded through a different source. Right now, what we’re trying to address is the frost heave has pushed up some of the old tennis court poles, so obviously as we walk through that surface make it unsafe. We need to get those removed before we have kids back on that surface.”
SPRING COACHING SALARIES
The School Board also voted to approve paying spring coaches 50 percent of their salaries for the season that was canceled due to COVID-19. The board had been considering a payment range between 33-50 percent, but no motion was made calling for a 33 percent payment. When the request for a motion for a 50 percent payment was made, Tim Dufault made the motion to pay coaches, seconded by Dave Davidson, and passed unanimously.
The district is also returning the spring sports fees to the families, which totals $20,600. Olson said about half the spring coaching salaries are fee-based, so with paying 50 percent salary and returning fees the district budget isn’t impacted positively or negatively by having no spring season. “About $20,600 is being returned to the families,” said Olson. “Because of the spring sports not happening we wanted to return those to the families to make them whole because we believe that’s the right thing to do. When you take the $20,600 and look at the total savings, we had paid the coaches 33 percent. If you look at the total savings the district is still a little bid to the good there. So, we are making the decision to pay the additional 17 percent which is pretty much in line with the dollars that are being returned from the spring sports fees, and the dollars being saved from the coaching salaries. About half of the spring sports salaries are fee-based, so we’re able to pay the coaches about 50 percent of their contract.”
The graph below shows the fees returned as well as the budget impact of paying coach’s salaries at different levels for the spring season.
| Spring Sports | 33% Salary | 50% Salary | 75% Salary | 100% Salary |
| Returned Fees | $20,600 | $20,600 | $20,600 | $20,600 |
| Salary Savings | $31,000 | $21,000 | $5,500 | $0 |
| District Impact | $10,400 | $400 | -$15,100 | -$20,600 |
Olson said spring sports fees are being automatically returned, so families don’t have to take any action, however, if they’d like to have the lunch account balances returned instead of rolled over they should contact Food Service Director Anna Ogaard-Brekken. “The fees for spring sports are the ones people have paid and not received anything for,” said Olson. “Those are going back right away. But families can also request the lunch balance. Let’s say they have a couple of hundred dollars that they paid ahead on their child’s lunch accounts. Those can also be returned back to families as well. That would just be contacting us, letting us know that you want those returned. What we often do with that is if families have paid ahead and they don’t request them back we just keep those dollars in their account for use next year. That is an option those families would have as well.”
