The Crookston School Board met on Monday, January 26 in the Crookston High School Choir and Orchestra room.
PRESENTATION BY GAME ONE
The meeting started with a presentation by Game One (Dusty Brend, Christopher Pederson, and Alex Starcevic) on what they could offer to the school district for its athletic department jerseys and supplies. “They handle different things, from equipment to uniforms. Helmet reconditioning for football, and I think they’re pricing-wise, they look at maybe a 40% discount on it, and you’re kind of, they work with a lot of universities and school districts, so it isn’t something new because they’ve been around a while,” said Superintendent Randy Bruer. “I believe the pricing is pretty good because there’s some payback to the schools as well. So they will help out with different things. Let’s say, if we want masking for your windows outside the school or some extra funds for your school’s branding, they can provide some of that. So, you know, I think the benefits kind of weigh in on that a little bit as well. So it was a good presentation.“
ICS WASHINGTON SCHOOL REPORT
Superintendent Bruer told the board that ICS is finishing up its report for the Crookston School District, which they ordered after the community meeting to discuss Washington School. “I’ve kind of had a tentative review of some of the demographics. They look very positive for this district. That means enrollment. It looks like it could be stable to a bit of an increase, which is a positive,” said Superintendent Bruer. “The report looks at where the district is going in the next 10 years, where the kids are coming from, and what the birth rates are in Polk County. How does that work for the school? It also looks at day cares, open enrollment in and out, talks about homeschool kids, compares them to other districts within the county, and birth rates, you know, in Polk County. So it’s pretty concise, and it’s about 50-some pages long.” Superintendent Bruer hopes to hold another community meeting in early March to review the report.
SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH BRINGS IN 12 CANDIDATES
Superintendent Randy Bruer said they have received 12 applications for the Crookston School District Superintendent position. “That’s fantastic. They’ll choose from those and bring in four to six people to interview. And then after that is done, they’ll probably refine it, and then they’ll have a second round of interviews for maybe the lucky two or three that are chosen,” said Superintendent Bruer. “And then they’re going to bring in more people to kind of observe and make that decision. In other words, somebody from the community, a parent, let’s say an organization, a civic union, the principal, maybe a part of the teacher union. They want a candidate from each of those places, and even a student. You know, their participation is important too, as well as the office where they’re going to work.”
NEW HIGH SCHOOL/MIDDLE SCHOOL DISHWASHER
The board approved the purchase of a dishwasher for the high school kitchen at a cost of $39,885.47. “This dishwasher is probably older than the high school when it was built. So it’s about 30, 31 years old. And these things go through a lot of maintenance and repair. And you look at the water quality they run through, all the corrosion. And we want to maintain a water temperature for the safety of cleaning and the students,” said Superintendent Bruer. “It’s a requirement by law that we have a certain temperature in there. So if we don’t have the dishwasher working properly, we’re forced to use paper plates, paper cups, paper utensils, the whole nine yards. So, yes, we’ve got to maintain that. So maybe this is a good time to replace that dishwasher.“
BOARD ACCEPTS $47,978 IN DONATIONS
The board happily approved $47,978 in donations. $10,000 donations from the Crookston Pirate Boosters for the weight room and the Crookston Baseball Association for the strength coach. $13,700 from the June Shaver Endowment for healthcare scholarships, $4,100 from the June Shaver Endowment for the Drama Department, $2,500 from Robert and Jenny Proulx for students in need, $2,500 from the Crookston Wrestling Club for a strength coach, $2,500 from the United Way for the Eat United program, $1,250 from the United Way for the PATCH program, $928 from the Minnesota FFA Foundation for the FFA program, and $500 from Bob and Kathy Altringer for Highland School playground. “That was encouraging that we have our associations from Crookston Baseball to the boosters to the wrestling clubs. We have United Way. You have drama clubs out there,” said Superintendent Bruer. “You have a lot of people who want to support the school, which is overwhelming. I mean, we have health care scholarships. You know, the June Shaver Endowments is one of them. And they put a lot of money into our school, and we appreciate it. We can’t run this school without some of those dollars.”
NEW SECURITY CAMERAS FOR HIGHLAND SCHOOL
The board approved the purchase of camera equipment for Highland School for $9,760. “Some of these cameras are old, and they need to be replaced. So we observed which ones were the worst and which were the oldest,” said Superintendent Bruer. “We found that we have some cameras that are not working properly. So we decided to get estimates for those and replace them. So that will be done here shortly once we approve this amount.”
MISCELLANEOUS
The regular agenda included the designation of the official law firms as Fischer Rust Law Firm, PLLC; Ratwik, Roszak and Maloney, PA; and Pemberton Law, PLLP. The official media outlets as KROX Radio, the Crookston Watch, and the school district website.
The board set the meeting dates for the fourth Monday of each month at 5:00 p.m., with the May meeting held on Tuesday, May 26, at 5:00 p.m. and the December meeting on Monday, December 14, at 5:00 p.m., with the Truth and Taxation meeting to follow at 6:00 p.m.
The board approved committee assignments, and the yearly requirement by state law to approve a resolution directing the administration to make recommendations for reductions in programs and positions, and the reasons therefor. “Each school district does that because it’s a form of law that we have to make sure that we publicize that there could be some reductions or there could be some cuts being made, whether it be programs or staffing,” said Superintendent Bruer. “We always have to balance a budget. You get so much money, and that’s the money you can use; otherwise, you’ll deficit spend. And so that’s the reason for that resolution that we make.”
The board approved the meeting minutes from December 15, 2025 and January 5, 2026, and approval of bills in the amount of $1,233,309.27.
The board approved the following personnel items: the separation of employment of paraprofessional Kelsey Fredrick, a resignation from Cooper Freije as head girls golf coach, employment of Derik Loonsfoot as a kitchen helper at the high school, and overload agreements with Andrea Adrian and Kristine Dickson.
NEXT MEETINGS –
The next Special Board meeting will be Monday, February 2 at 1:00 p.m. to determine the Superintendent Finalists
There will be two special meetings on February 10 and February 11 at 4:00 p.m. each day to conduct the first round of interviews
The next regular meeting will be Monday, February 23 at 5:00 p.m.
