The Crookston School Board met on Monday evening in the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room. The board approved a new contract with the principals, got an update on prom and graduation, an update on the hiring process for a Crookston High School Principal, and more. The story from the meeting is below.
PROM AND GRADUATION UPDATE –
Crookston High School Principal Eric Bubna gave an update on prom and graduation to the board. Prom will be held with the grand march and dinner at Crookston High School. Blast to Bede will be held at the high school after dinner and the evening will probably wrap up around midnight. There won’t be a dance as of now due to Department of Health guidelines.
Graduation will be similar to last year. Bubna said they will fill the gym to whatever capacity the Minnesota Department of Health will allow at that time.
The State Department of Health is expected to come out with updated guidelines on prom and graduation later this week.
PRINCIPAL CONTRACTS APPROVED-
Crookston School Board member Dave Davidson pulled item 3.3.4 (Principal contracts) off the consent agenda because he wanted to discuss it. The item was moved to the main agenda. Davidson questioned why the principals were getting a bigger raise than the other employees. Superintendent Jeremy Olson and fellow board member Tim Dufault explained to Davidson that they are getting less of an increase than the other staff. The three principals (Crookston High School, Highland Elementary School – Chris Trostad, and Washington School – Denice Oliver) will get a raise of two percent in 2021-22, a 2.5 percent increase in 2022-23, and a 2.5 percent increase in 2023-24. “I thought it was a pretty reasonable increase, which is less than what we have been giving the other groups settling around the three percent with steps and lanes locked up as well with guaranteed increases,” said Superintendent Olson. “Those (steps and lane increases) are not in the principal contracts. We wanted to lead by example and not give administrators a higher percentage than other employees.” The contract was unanimously approved by the board.
CROOKSTON HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL HIRING UPDATE
Superintendent Jeremy Olson gave an update on the Crookston High School hiring process. Olson said they have three groups of people giving input on what they are looking for in a new principal. The three groups will be a student group, a community/parent group, and a staff group. They have had a handful of applicants already. “Stakeholder input is so important and this hire will be a very important hire,” said Superintendent Olson. “It impacts so many people. It affects parents, students, teachers and staff. We have to make a decision and we want to get plenty of input on what we want in traits and skills so we can be prepared when we sit down for interviews so we know what we are looking for.”
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Superintendent Olson gave three dates and April 12 was selected as the date to have a strategic planning meeting to discuss setting a “Culture of High Expectations.” The board will discuss what they want to see from Superintendent Olson and the school district going forward. “We are looking at implementing a culture of High Expectation next year,” said Superintendent Olson. “Each school is starting to have these conversations and what does that mean at the school level, I thought we need to have that conversation at the board level. As superintendent and board members, we will ask what that means for our expectations of others, but also of ourselves. We are trying to build a better school for families and kids. We want to look at the curriculum and because we want to meet the needs of kids moving forward.”
MUSIC TRIP POSTPONEMENT APPROVED
The Crookston School Board heard from Crookston Music Trip board president Chris Fee. He stated that they have officially postponed the trip to March of 2022 and asked for permission from the board to officially postpone it. Fee said it was an easy decision to postpone, except for one thing. “We had a meeting earlier to tell this year’s seniors that we were postponing the trip to next year and they wouldn’t be able to go,” said Fee. “Even though most of them knew it wasn’t going to happen it was still hard to tell them. We refunded the money to the seniors so they can use it to go on a trip, or for college.”
The board unanimously approved the trip postponement.
The trip will include this year’s Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors. Fee said they are still planning to take the next trip four years from now for this year’s fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders.
DONATIONS –
The board approved the three donations for a total of $7,500 to the Ag program. American Crystal Sugar Company donated $5,000, the University of Minnesota donated $2,000, and Charles Larson donated $500. “When you look at what my expectations were for the Ag program in this first year and where we are, far exceeded my expectations,” said Superintendent Olson. “Kids are enjoying it, they are participating, there is a wide variety of activities, I didn’t believe that we would have an FFA up and running in the first year. Mrs. Rupprecht and the program have far exceeded my expectations. Going out and raising dollars and so forth to continue to accentuate the program is certainly welcome.”
PERSONEL ITEMS
The board approved the resignation of Rosa Frazee as an ELL instructor, and Cynthia Dubuque and Nancy Halstenson as paraprofessionals. The board also approved the spring coaching list below –
BOYS TENNIS –
Head – Cody Brekken
Asst. – Pat Janorschke
SOFTBALL –
Head – Sara “Sunny” Bowman
Asst – Emily Meyer
Junior High – Lacia Hanson
BASEBALL –
Head – Mitch Bakken
Asst – Ben Halos
Junior High – Tyson Siegle
Volunteer Coaches – Brock Hanson, Alex LaFrance, Yadiel Rivas
BOYS TRACK –
Head – Wayne Folkers
Asst – Lon Boike
Asst – Brett Brenden
GIRLS TRACK –
Head – Amy Boll
Asst – Wes Knutson
Asst – Isaac Black
BOYS GOLF-
Head – Steve Kofoed
Asst – Wes Hanson
GIRLS GOLF –
Head – Jeff Perreault
Asst – Tayler Christenson
TRAP SHOOTING – Darren Gjerswold
ENVIRONTHON – Wes Hanson
THREE-ACT – Head Coach Beth Carlson Asst Coach – Brandon Adams
TRAINER – Luke Biermaier
