The Crookston School Board met on Monday night inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room. Below are all the items that were on the Consent Agenda.
CONSENT AGENDA
- Approve meeting minutes from June 27 and July 7 meetings
- Approval of Current Bills
- Accepting resignation letter from Sandy Seregin, Paraprofessional at Highland
- Accepting resignation letter from Darin Zimmerman, Assistant Varsity Baseball Coach
- Accepting resignation letter from Denise Affeldt, ELL Instructor
- Accepting resignation letter from Andrea Weisse, Administrative Assistant at Crookston High School
- Approve employment with Autumn Hanson, Visual Arts Instructor at Crookston High School
- Approve employment with Marcelo Campoverde, Spanish Instructor at Crookston High School
- Approve Staff Handbooks at Highland Elementary School
- Approve contracts of Matt Torgerson as Crookston High School Principal, and Greg Garmen as Crookston High School Assistant Principal.
- Designate Official Financial Institutions
- Payroll Account: United Valley Bank, Crookston, MN
- Financial Account: Bremer Bank, Crookston, MN
- Lock Box Account: (direct wire of state funds): Bremer Bank, Crookston, MN
- Designate Investment authority to
- Dave Kuehn (Superintendent)
- Laura Lyczewski (Business Manager)
- Nancy Nottestad (Fiscal Services Director)
- Designate Official Signatories as
- Frank Fee (School Board Chairperson)
- Adrianne Winger (School Board Clerk)
- Tim Dufault (School Board Treasurer)
- Dave Kuehn (Superintendent)
- Laura Lyczewski (Business Manager)
- Nancy Nottestad (Fiscal Services Director)
- Designate Personnel Dave Kuehn (Superintendent), and Laura Lyczewski (Business Manager) to lease, purchase, and contract for budgeted goods and services.
The board approved all Consent Agenda Items unanimously.
REGULAR AGENDA
The Regular Agenda initially featured just one item, Approving the ten-year Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Plan. Crookston Public Schools Superintendent Dave Kuehn explained what the plan looks like. “This is an annual thing that the state wants you to map out,” said Superintendent Kuehn. “It’s just to keep you looking at your facilities and on top of things as far as spending money that we receive from the State goes. We have money from the State specifically for our facilities so it’s important to have a plan in place and to be looking at it every year.”
The board approved the ten-year Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Plan unanimously, and once this upcoming school year comes to a close, they will review the plan again and update it once again for the 2023-2024 School Year.
One item from the Consent Agenda was removed and placed under the Regular Agenda for discussion. That was the approval of Student Handbooks for the 2022-2023 School Year at Crookston High School, Highland Elementary School, and Washington Elementary School. “I just wanted to make sure there were a few clarifications in the student handbooks,” said School Board member Mike Theis. “One of those was regarding the parents coming in and having lunch with the students, and I wanted to make sure we are open to that. The other one was making sure we have the Board of Education’s contact information in all the handbooks as well as the Superintendent’s number if anyone has any questions. Transparency is vital to me, so I wanted to make sure we discussed those things before approving the handbooks.”
School Board member Patty Dillabough also wanted some clarification on the dress code, and after she and Theis received clarification, the board approved the 2022-2023 Student Handbooks unanimously.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
The board also heard administrative reports from Crookston High School Principal Matt Torgerson, Highland Elementary School Principal Chris Trostad, and Washington School Principal Denice Oliver.
All three left a packet with the board to review and noted they are in the calm before the storm and didn’t have anything else to report. Oliver did make one note saying that next Wednesday, Washington School will be doing an early childhood screening as they prepare for the upcoming school year.
The board also heard a report from Superintendent Kuehn who said they are having staffing issues and problems recruiting people to work in the district. He is hopeful they will eventually fill the positions before the start of the school year. Kuehn also provided an update on the upcoming referendum for the new Track & Athletic Field Complex. “I really encourage people in the community to be informed on this referendum and know the needs and benefits of why the district is looking at this project,” said Superintendent Kuehn. “This facility could be used for much more than just athletic needs. We could use it for classes, and throughout the community with different events. That isn’t happening much now with the current setup, so I think it’s important for people to know why we are pursuing this option and why it could be beneficial.”
The vote is set to take place on August 9, and Crookston Public Schools will have one more public meeting on August 3. The next regular School Board Meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 22, at 5:00 p.m. inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
