The Crookston School Board had a special meeting on Monday in the Crookston High School District office to approve retirements, hiring’s, and a resignation of Crookston School Board member, Dr. Kari Miller, because her family will be moving to Grand Forks, where her husband works at Brady Martz and Associates.
Miller’s resignation will be effective June 7.
School Board member Tim Dufault begrudgingly made the motion to accept the resignation and Board Chair Frank Fee begrudgingly seconded the motion. The rest of the board unanimously approved the resignation. “First of all, I want to say I am really saddened to resign from the board because my time has been extremely rewarding. I have appreciated the opportunity to serve along with a terrific group of board members and I believe each one cares deeply about our schools, our kids and the outstanding faculty we have here,” said Kari Miller. “I would like to strongly encourage anyone that is interested to run for the position being vacated by my resignation. It is a time commitment, but it is one that directly and positively impacts the lives of our kids and the community. I believe Crookston Public Schools is on the cusp of an exciting future and I would like to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve in this capacity. It really has been an honor and a privilege.”
The school district will have a special election in November to fill Miller’s remaining term, but Crookston School District Superintendent Jeremy Olson said the board will have a couple of options between June 7 and November to fill, or not fill the opening.
The board can appoint somebody to the board or they can take applications and pick from the pool of applicants. The board could also elect to not fill the position. “We have to have a special election for the opening on the school board and that would be in November. The person who is selected by the people would start right away in November and be immediately seated as a board member,” said Superintendent Olson. “In the meantime, the recommendation from the Minnesota School Board Association is that we appoint someone to fill the opening so the people have a voice and the board will make the decision on what to do at the meeting on May 28.”
Several personnel items were on the agenda. The first item was to accept a retirement letter from Denice Oliver, principal at Washington Elementary School (WES) effective June 28. “We want to wish Denice the very best in retirement and we thank her for all the years of service to the district,” said Superintendent Olson. “I have really enjoyed working with her. She has a lot of wisdom and I wish her the very best.”
With the retirement of Oliver, the board approved a .56 FTE Elementary Principal/Community Education Director/Curriculum Director for the 2019-2020 school year. “The position is a little over half time and that person will be serving Washington School and we are looking for somebody with a principal license that is experienced and has community ed director experience and some curriculum directing,” said Superintendent Olson. “We are looking for a right balance of experience and if somebody had previous knowledge of Crookston, that would be great.”
The board also accepted the retirement letter of Julie Tiedeman, a paraprofessional at Highland Elementary School (HES) effective May 29. The board also accepted resignation letters from Aimee R. Silva, school-age care aid at WES effective May 3; and from Phyllis Hagen, head speech coach effective May 3.
To board also approved employment with Chelsey Lossing as a paraprofessional at HES effective August 26; and the hiring of Alexandra Schiffler, as an elementary teacher at HES for the 2019-2020 school year.
The board approved the main agenda including approving a pool use agreement and resolution authorizing the transfer of swimming pool property, fixtures, and equipment to the City of Crookston; the 2019-2020 Crookston High School course offerings and registration guide and the board accepted three donations from the United Way. The donations were for $2,500.00 to the Eat United Summer Food Service Program, and $3,625.00 to the United for Learning Program. The last donation was $500.00 to the P.A.T.C.H. Program.
The Crookston School District will have a long-term planning meeting on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. in the Crookston School District office conference room. The main topic of discussion will be extra-curricular activities, including co-ops.
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