Crookston Schools Business Manager Laura Lyzcewski announced her retirement date on Friday, November 3, after spending twenty years in the Crookston School District.
Lyzcewski has been the district’s business manager for the past 18 years. As a Crookston High School graduate herself, she believes the school district has many great things to offer for incoming families because of the standards that have been set within the district. She also talked about the importance of the district within the community.
“We have a great school district; I couldn’t speak higher about a district,” said Lyzcewski, “I just think it is the best, my kids went to school here. I’m very happy with the quality of education that we provide. We’re one of the biggest employers in town, and that gives us a lot of stability of being in Crookston.”
Lyzcewksi also said that the Crookston school district test scores speak for themselves, and she credited the teachers, staff, and students in the district for their great work over the years.
“This is a great place. This is a very good school district, I graduated from this district, I have Crookston roots, and once you’re a pirate, you’re always a pirate,” said Lyzcewski, “It’s the people that make everybody’s job much better, and makes it easier and enjoyable to come to work.”
Lyzcewski also said that her career has gone “in the blink of an eye,” and she has really enjoyed the people she’s gotten to work with over the years. “I think my favorite part of working here was the blend of working with people because we don’t work with students,” said Lyzcewski, “We deal more with staff, and you learn that you get to work with wonderful people.” Lyzcewksi also explained the district office as a “one-stop shop” regarding its operations, including funding, accounting, and payroll for staff members.
Being a business manager for a school district can be daunting when viewing all of the responsibilities and tasks performed. Lyzcewski spoke about some of the job duties the position entails. “We put all the different funding sources together that Minnesota gives us,” said Lyzcewski, “Students are generating income based on their attendance in school, so we really like our attendance of our students to be consistent because it is the biggest denominator for getting money.” The job also entails reviewing money from the legislature, finding grants for the district, and computing the funds into the system.
Lyzcewski was asked about some of her plans heading into retirement, and vacations are not on the agenda as of now. However, she has seven grandchildren whom she plans on spending more time with, and her mother, who still resides in Crookston.
