The Crookston School Board met on Monday evening and approved an HVAC quote that included a local company, they approved an increase in the ADM count, a contract with a social media firm, a sale of general obligation school building bonds and at the end of the meeting they held a closed meeting to conduct Superintendent Jeremy Olson’s mid-year evaluation.
SUPERINTENDENT EVALUATION-
The school board closed the end of the meeting to do a half-year evaluation of Superintendent Olson. School Board Chair Frank Fee said Olson scored very high and gave high praise to their leader in his second year. “It went very well. I think most people know we think highly of Superintendent Dr. Olson,” said Fee. “He rates very high. One of the goals is timely communication with the board and public and he received the highest rating he can get with a five. He came out very high in providing leadership in the effective management of school finances. It was a very good mid-year evaluation.”
HVAC CONTRACT APPROVAL –
The board approved the second of three options on a heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) contract. The board had three options to pick from. All three options had Johnson Controls doing the HVAC work as they were the only company that submitted bids for the HVAC work. There were three companies that put an offer on the changing of the filters for the heat pumps. Option one had Johnson Controls doing the HVAC and filter changes. Option two had Johnson Controls doing the HVAC and Grove Mechanical doing the filter changes. There are 105 heat pumps in the district and the filters need to be changed twice a year. The school board elected to go with option two and using the local company (Grove Mechanical) was important to the board. “It gives us an opportunity to evaluate another company,” said Olson. “Grove only felt comfortable taking on the amount of work for the filters. I think it was a good decision by the board.”
INCREASED ADM’S-
The board approved the adjustment of the district’s ADM (Average Daily Membership). Superintendent Olson said enrollment is stronger than expected and he suggested they increase the number from 1,082 to 1,130. Olson said the number is currently 1,142. “We took a conservative approach to make sure we didn’t get shorted. As it turns out we also had an increase in enrollment we weren’t expecting,” said Olson. “We still have a little bit of a margin, but reflect our current number.”
ADM’s and student enrollment are different. The student enrollment number is the K-12 number and the ADM number includes the Alternative Learning Center, the students in the jail, and pre-kindergarten students. Olson said the increase now includes post-secondary students because of a new agreement with the University of Minnesota of Crookston, which Olson said he is extremely grateful to have the new agreement.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT CONTRACT
The board approved a contract with a social media consultant, Social Schools. Andrea Gribble explained (via skype) the work her company does and said her company works with over 85 school districts and has posted over one million social media posts since 2014. She said they want to celebrate the school one story at a time and all information would come from teachers and staff. They would decide on what to post and when to post the submitted pictures, videos, and information.
The contract is $8,500 per year for three years, but Olson pointed out they can opt-out at the end of the year with no penalty. School Board Chair Frank Fee pointed out that it says either side can opt-out with a 30-day notice at any time. “We want to make sure we are doing our job to communicate with the community,” said Olson. “This is an opportunity to work with this company for a year and ask if this creates value for the district. If it doesn’t work out after a year, we are hoping to learn as much as we can through this company.” The board unanimously approved the three-year contract.
SALE OF BUILDING BONDS APPROVED
The board unanimously approved a resolution for the sale of general obligation school building bonds, series 2020A to be used for the bus garage. Jodi Zesbaugh from Ehlers was at the meeting and told the board it was a good time to be selling the bonds because of the low-interest rates. “This is an opportunity for the district and we will have the bond sale on February 24,” said Olson. “It allows us to take advantage of the good interest rate and it is the best of both worlds for us right now.”
GIFTED AND TALENTED PROGRAM PRESENTATION-
Amber Sannes (pictured right) opened the school board meeting with a gifted and talented 
program presentation. Sannes is the instructor of the program for gifted students in third through sixth grade, which meets once a week. Students need to be in the top 95th percentile or pass a special test to be in the program. The students do a lot of STEM learning in various ways including project-based learning, multi-step math logic learning, and tinker CAD 3D design and coding. They have also had guest presenters from the University of Minnesota Extension and 4-H. “We are very proud of the program. It is a great addition to Highland School,” said Superintendent Olson. “The students really enjoy it. I am proud of the kids, the program and it is evident Amber is doing a great job with it.”
CONSENT AGENDA
The board approved the following consent agenda items – Dave Davidson as a High School English long-term substitute from December through January, Ira (Trey) Everett as a High School English long-term substitute for second semester, lane advancement requests, an employment agreement with administrative assistants, the retirement of Dee Ann Sperling, resignation letter from Rachel Loraas. The board also approved the review of policies 101, 102, 103, 108, 201, 203, 203.1, 203.5, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214, and the acceptance of grants and donations are also on the consent agenda. The donations were $500 from RiverView Health, $1,750 from Wal-Mart, and over $23,000 from June Shaver.
NEXT MEETING –
The next Crookston School Board meeting will be held on Monday, February 24 at 5:00 p.m. at the Crookston High School choir/orchestra room.
