The Crookston School Board met on Monday in the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room. The meeting started with comments from Marcia Meine and she said she had two concerns and since she wasn’t elected to the school board in the voting on November 6, she wanted to pass them along to the board. Her first concern was a lack of communication with parents. Crookston Superintendent Jeremy Olson said he would like to have a meeting with Meine and discuss her concern and listen to any ideas she has about having better communication.
The second concern was more of a question and Meine was wondering if families that are leaving the school district were being called or receiving letters in the mail. Superintendent Olson said they have been calling people to talk to them about why they are leaving and Meine seemed to be pleased with both responses.
Career Tech Education class tour-
The next part of the meeting was a tour of the Career Tech Education programs (the shop, metals and graphic design classrooms) with teachers Travis Oliver, Mike Geffre and Amy Boll leading the tour in their respective classrooms and the school board, superintendent and everybody on the tour were pleasantly surprised at the great things that are being done by Crookston High School students in the classes. “It was really impressive, to be honest with you,” said Superintendent Olson. “It was a fun tour, showcasing some of the great things our students are doing and the variety that our students get to engage with every day. We are excited about adding Ag classes next year.” We have a video of the tours below
Personnel Items-
After the tour, the regularly scheduled meeting resumed and the board approved the bills and year-to-date budget reports.
In the personnel items, the board approved the resignation of Sarah Pester as a Treasurette Coach, Justin Johnson as Junior Varsity baseball coach and Tyler Brekken as junior high softball coach.
The board approved the employment of Margaret Emanuel as a Title Aide, Marlene Murray as custodian, both at Highland School. They also approved the hiring of Rebekah Olson, Morgan Williams, and Linda Yeager as Instructional Aides at Highland School to help in the three sections of sixth grade.
The board approved the seniority list with Mike Geffre at the top of the list. Mike was hired by the Crookston School District on August 1, 1985.
The final item in the personnel items was a leave of absence approval for Megan Hanson, Highland School second grade teacher.
Main Agenda-
The main agenda included the approval to apply for a grant from the Minnesota State High School League. The approval of the school board election results with the three incumbents, Tim Dufault, Adrianne Winger, and Patti Dillabough winning re-election. School Board Chair Frank Fee conducted the oath of office that has to be issued within 30 days of the election. Over 5,000 Crookston School District residents voted.
Frank Fee conducts the Oath of Office to Tim Dufault, Adrianne Winger, and Patti Dillabough
Bus Garage Committee-
Superintendent Olson offered the school board a list of school district residents, business owners, and farmers that have been nominated or expressed interest in serving on a bus garage committee. He said they haven’t contacted people on the list yet because he wanted approval from the board before reaching out to the individuals. “Pretty much everyone in the community knows we need it, but they want to know how we go about this,” said Olson. “We have several community members tell us they are interested and others that have been nominated. Once we contact all the people, we will have a meeting and look at the process of getting a plan and then see what we want in an architect.”
Enrollment Committee-
Olson also said they have an enrollment committee that has met a couple of times and they will look at ways to increase the school district’s enrollment. “Currently it is a staff committee and we are looking at telling our story better. We have a CTE program that is absolutely fantastic. There are some awesome things happening and the last thing is to look at our policies and procedures and looking at becoming a better school each and every day.”
Donations-
The board accepted a donation of $300 from Ag Country Farm Credit Services for School Age Care, an $8290 donation from the Pirate Fine Arts Boosters and a $15,423.50 from the Crookston Education Foundation grant.
The next Crookston School Board meeting will be Monday, November 26 at 5:00 p.m. at the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
To see the tour of the Crookston High School CTE Classrooms, click on the video above
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