The Crookston School Board met on Monday and discussed several topics, including the student and staff handbooks for the 2026-27 academic year and a drainage repair proposal for the Highland Elementary School parking lot.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
The board meeting began with comments from Crookston resident Bob Prudhomme. He spoke about the concern with weeds on the grass in the common area around the high school football field. He offered the services of his company, Bob’s Lawn Care, to spray for weeds this fall and spring to mitigate the problem and beautify the area around the stadium. Interim Superintendent Todd Selk told Prudhomme that he would discuss the issue with the district’s grounds crew and see if Prudhomme’s offer is the direction they would want to go. Prudhomme also asked Activities Director Evan Pederson why the trap shooting club does not receive funding from the Crookston Pirate Boosters as the other sports do. Pederson told Prudhomme that the trap shotting club does receive funds from the boosters, but the check is not usually cut until their season begins in the spring.
2026-2027 STUDENT AND STAFF HANDBOOKS
Crookston Middle and High School principal Lisa Conzemius and Highland Elementary School co-principal Greg Garmen presented the 2026-27 handbooks for both students and staff during the meeting. The handbooks are guides to school policies, procedures, schedules, and resources.
A notable change to the high school student handbook this year is a stricter policy on cell phones. Conzemius told the board that the high school will adopt a policy similar to the one implemented at the middle school, which prohibits the use of cell phones, personal computers, tablets, and wearable technology during the school day. The policy is intended to keep kids focused on their classwork, help improve their mental health, and engage in active conversations with classmates throughout the day. “So on the high school side, they’re going to have their phone in the locker at the start of the day, and they can’t have it again until they get released for lunch, which is at various times,” explained Conzemius. “Because if you need extra time and you’re missing work, or you want to make up a test, you do have to stay for this 25-minute intervention. You still get your 30-minute lunch, and you can have your phone at that time, but not during the intervention period. So high school kids will get it in the middle of the day. We just decided it was more consistent to let all of them have it in the middle of the day.”
Another change concerns backpacks: students may carry them, but should leave them in their lockers whenever possible. The goal of the updated backpack policy is to keep hallways and doorways clear of loose bags and to ensure that students don’t circumvent the cell phone policy by placing their devices in their backpacks. “I’m not going after backpacks. I don’t care if kids have backpacks. If it’s a safety problem in school, then you can’t have it where you have it,” said Conzemius. “You have to move it. But we talked about that. Kids will say, ‘Well, my backpack’s my locker.’ Oh no, their backpack is not a locker, and we have clarified that in the policy that it’s not a locker. So if you have your backpack with you, your zipper open, and your phone in there, and you go, ‘It’s in my locker,’ we say, “Nope, that’s a violation.’ We try to prepare for the things that kids like to do.”
Other changes to the handbook for 2026-27 include aligning the middle and high schools on the same daily schedule, so teachers who teach both middle and high school students can be in their classrooms to supervise students, allowing all students to be eligible for academic letters and the Honor Roll regardless of the number of classes they have in the buiding, and stronger enforcement and penalties for unexcused absences. Currently, parents and/or guardians must contact the school within 48 hours of an unexcused absence to have it cleared, but many are not getting the absences cleared. Conzemius stated that stricter enforcement of the unexcused absence policy will begin this year, with students getting one lunch detention for an unexcused absence and additional consequences for each additional unexcused absence.
For Highland, there were few notable changes to the handbook this year, as Garmen and Dave Kuehn took over following the retirement of Chris Trostad. Changes were made to the Highland schedule, adding more classes and alternating between A days and B days. Another significant change is the drop-off and pick-up zones for students. Pre-K and kindergarten students will enter and exit the school through the east side of the building into the main parking lot. First through fifth-grade students will enter and exit through the main entrance on the south side of the building. After a review this month, some changes may be needed to ensure the safety of everyone during the busy moments before and after school, so Garmen and Kuehn will meet with Transportation/Building and Grounds Director Rick Niemela and his staff to make any necessary changes to the drop-off/pickup routes before they are posted for parents. “We looked at what we were going to do and discussed a little,” said Garmen. “We have some traffic flow issues with buses around cars, so we’re looking into that, and we’re gonna do the safest thing we can in terms of pickup and drop-off. It’ll it’ll look a lot like last year.”
The student and staff handbooks were approved unanimously.
HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY PARKING LOT REPAIRS
The board unanimously approved a parking lot drainage repair proposal submitted by Olson Underground, Inc. of Warren in the amount of $12,400. The work done to the parking lot includes boring a three-inch pipe for a storm drain and installing a catch basin, as well as repairing and/or replacing asphalt. According to Selk and Niemela, the drain was the most cost-effective way to address the parking lot extension, which was previously a tennis court, and the way it slopes up creates a sizable flooding issue that takes valuable parking spots away from staff. “When it would rain, it would back up in that area because the drain actually ran uphill there,” explained Selk. “Poor design when it was put in, probably, but nonetheless, we’re here to correct it now. When we have heavy rains, it would back up to the point where about a third of that lot would not be usable. Unfortunately, we don’t have an extra third of a lot to spare, so we need those parking spaces. We need them year-round, and hopefully, we believe that this will alleviate that issue going forward.”
POLICY UPDATE
The board discussed the proposed removal of policy 435 from the list of policies following a second reading. Interim Superintendent Todd Selk spoke about the policy, which concerns teacher and staff absences due to unforeseen circumstances. Selk met with members of the policy committee and the teachers’ union, as the union sought clarification on why the board wanted to remove the policy. Selk stated that the current excused absence policy enforced is superseded by the state’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law, so there is no need to have the policy included on the district’s end. The board agreed and unanimously voted to remove that policy.
ATHLETICS UPDATE
Activities Director Evan Pederson provided updates on the fall athletic season. First, he was pleased to announce that all of the coaching vacancies for the fall sports were filled, as Stephanie Overgaard will coach eighth-grade volleyball, and Emilee Tate and Emily Meine will coach seventh-grade volleyball. He also announced that tickets to Crookston school activities and athletic competitions can be purchased online through Bound, the district’s new athletic scheduling app. He noted that online tickets will include a $0.90 processing fee, but cash purchases will remain the same price. As for enrollment in fall athletics, the numbers are consistent with previous years, but there is still time to sign kids up for fall sports. “We want to grow more, so if kids still want to come out and participate, they can obviously do that,” Pederson said. “Just because the season has started doesn’t mean registration is closed. So kids come out and play if you want. We’re excited. Our coaches are excited to coach our kids hard and teach them the skills that they love and the sport that they love.”
Fall 2026 Sport Participation Numbers
| Sport | Grade 9-12 | Grade 6-8 |
| Football | 30 | 32 |
| Boys Soccer | 17 | 9 |
| Girls Soccer | 17 | 13 |
| Girls Tennis | 19 | 16 |
| Volleyball | 38 | 12 |
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
During his report, Superintendent Selk spoke with staff on Monday about the upcoming school year and how hard they have been working to have the schools ready for students on opening day. It will be Selk’s 41st year in education and his first as the superintendent of Crookston, but he remains excited to see nearly 1,000 Crookston students attending school this year. “I love school years because there’s a start and there’s a finish, and then you get to restart again,” said Selk. “And with that restart every year on an annual basis. It’s a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement, a lot of hope. And I talked to our staff about that today. We need to have hope, and we need to bring hope to our students as well. And the start of a school year obviously does that.”
The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 28, at 5:00 p.m. in the Crookston High School choir/orchestra room.
