The Crookston School Board met on Monday night inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Consent Agenda began with approval of the meeting minutes from July 25, and approval of Current Bills. It also included resignation letters from Allison Ozaki as a Special Ed Instructor at Crookston High School, Scott Mustain as a Paraprofessional from Highland Elementary School, and Donna Hartel as a Multicultural Liaison. The Consent Agenda also listed the approval of Susan Akerlind’s retirement as a Special Ed Instructor from Highland, as well as the approval of Salary Lane Advance Requests.
The Consent Agenda also featured the approval of the following employments.
- Rachael Thompson as a Paraprofessional at Crookston High School
- Bianca D’Amato as a Paraprofessional at Highland
- Katrina Gonzalez as a Paraprofessional at Highland
- Stacy Sirek as a Paraprofessional at Highland
- Jenny Slyt as a Paraprofessional at Crookston High School
- Tabitha Spears as a Paraprofessional at Highland
- Danielle Edlund as a Paraprofessional at Washington School
- Susan Anderson as a Paraprofessional at Highland
- Erin Marsyla as JH Interventionist at Crookston High School
- Emily Olson as Head Cook at Crookston High School
- Cindy Johnson as Kitchen Helper at Crookston High School
- Position change for Stephanie Tappe from Paraprofessional to Special Ed Instructor
- Kathleen Mulvey as a Paraprofessional at Crookston High School
- Olivia Anderson as Paraprofessional at Washington School
- Adrianne Winger as a Kindergarten Teacher at Washington School
- Wanneta Wilhelm as an Instructional/SAC Aide at Washington School
- Kathleen Goodyke as an Instructional Aide at Washington School
- Gary Stegman as a .5 FTE Art Instructor
- Scott Oliver as a .6 FTE Physical Ed Instructor at Highland
- The 2022 Fall Coaches List
The board approved all Consent Agenda items unanimously.
MAIN AGENDA
The Main Agenda began with the approval of the District’s Safe Learning Plan. Crookston Public Schools Superintendent Dave Kuehn stated. “I think all School Districts are hoping to get back to in-person learning, but at the same time we do have an online option just in case we have to go that route. We would only implement that if things got crazy and other safety protocols that are in the Safe Learning Plan are hopefully never used. We are still watching what is going to happen with Covid and some distance learning may have to take place for some students who do contract Covid, but we are looking at having some normalcy this year and getting back to normal.”
board approved the Safe Learning Plan unanimously. The next item on the agenda was the approval of the District Teacher Evaluation Plan. The evaluation serves to update good teaching practices. After hearing a report on the Evaluation from Highland Elementary School Principal Chris Trostad, the board approved the District Teacher Evaluation Plan unanimously.
The board then approved the Crookston High School Staff Handbooks for the upcoming school year unanimously, and Crookston High School Principal Matt Torgerson said there are only slight changes this year. “What I did was ask some of the teachers on our leadership team what their thoughts were and what we could improve,” said Crookston High School Principal Matt Torgerson. “We went through it, didn’t make any major changes, but as we move into the future years, we will be picking it apart and looking at ways we can update the handbooks.”
The following item on the agenda was the approval of an increase in Adult Meal Prices for the 2022-2023 School Year. The adult meal price is essentially for staff only, and the board approved the increase to $4.95 which is the required minimum for the upcoming school year.
The board then heard updates to three new policies as recommended by the Minnesota School Board Association (MSBA).
- Policy 416 – Drug & Alcohal Testing
- Policy 418 – Drug-Free Workplace/Drug-Free School
- Policy 524 – Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy
“With the changes in legalization of cannabis and other products, that doesn’t necessarily mean our policies change for what is allowed on school ground,” said Superintendent Dave Kuehn. “So, all we did with the first two policies was update the terminology so that people understand some of those products still can’t be consumed on school property.”
Policy 524’s update was simply going along with state stature that School District’s must supply parents with a written notice of different software applications and uses that have to do with students and their curriculum. The board approved the policy updates unanimously and then also approved non-substantive Policies as recommended by the MSBA.
The next item on the agenda was the approval of an Extra-Curricular Concession Services Agreement with Lucky Duck Food Truck. “We’re happy to have found somebody because we had been advertising and finally Lucky Duck stepped up and I think they’ll do a great job,” said Superintendent Dave Kuehn. “It sounds like they may even be interested in being at other outside events where we haven’t had concession stands before so that would be great.” It is a one-year agreement in which Lucky Duck Food Truck will pay the School District $4,000 and then keep any profit they make throughout the course of the school year. The board approved the agreement with Lucky Duck Food Truck unanimously.
The board then approved a Girls’ Swimming & Diving Cooperative with the Fosston/Bagley School District. Crookston didn’t have enough girls sign up for Swimming this year and therefore will be joining the Fosston/Bagley School District for this season.
The last item on the agenda was to Set a date and time for this year’s Truth in Taxation Meeting. The board approved and agreed that the Truth in Taxation Meeting will be held on Monday, December 12, at 6:00 p.m.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
The board then heard Administrative Reports from Washington School Principal Denice Oliver, Highland Elementary School Principal Chris Trostad, and Crookston High School Principal Matt Torgerson.
Outside of a few Thank You’s, the most notable item from the reports came from Crookston High School Principal Matt Torgerson, who mentioned the annual E-Race Stigma event will be held on September 17 at the High School. The event began last year and Torgerson noted they are hopeful to continue the event each year.
The board also heard a report from Superintendent Kuehn, who noted a lot of work has been done to complete hires before the school year. Kuehn also mentioned some changes to the High School could be coming next summer. Kuehn stated they are pursuing moving the District Office from its current location, and towards the Commons area to best serve all that will be in the building for the years to come. There is a room down the first main hallway when you walk through the main doors of the High School, and that will serve as the new District Office if they make the move.
The next scheduled School Board meeting will take place on Monday, September 26, at 5:00 p.m. inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
