The Crookston School Board held a special meeting at the district office on Monday to vote on approving a master agreement with the principals and the Special Services Director, as well as employment agreements with district staff.
The master agreement between the district, the Crookston Principals Association (CPA), and Special Services Director Kathryn Stronstad covers topics including job responsibilities, insurance, leaves of absence, salary, retirement contributions, and other collectively bargained items. The agreement length was changed from three to two years, meaning the next agreement will be negotiated in 2028. Interim Superintendent Todd Selk told the board that the agreements for most district staff members and teachers will now occur in separate years, creating a more balanced schedule for contract negotiations. “The board wanted to try to get contracts offset from the teachers,” said Selk. “So the teachers will be in the second year this coming school year of their contract, and all these other employees will be on the first year, so that we’re not negotiating both teacher contracts and non-certified staff contracts on the same fiscal year, and this is the first step in accomplishing that.”
The board also approved nine employment agreements with several district staff members, including Human Resources Director Wendy Ault, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Marilyn Wahouske, Food Services Director Emily Scheresky, Computer/Technology Director Kevin Weber, Transportation Assistant/Bus Driver Donovan Edlund, Information Technology Specialist Joseph Hyde, Transportation Director and Building/Grounds Supervisor Rick Niemela, and Special Services Administrative Assistant/MARSS Coordinator Robin Reitmeier.
The meeting was created to get these contracts approved because extended negotiations prevented approval at the July 27 regular school board meeting, and to ensure they were approved before the start of the new school year. “We didn’t feel we were ready last Monday,” said Selk. “The contracts for a number of these employees had just gotten settled. We needed the employees’ eyes on the contract to ensure it accurately reflected the negotiated terms and to obtain signatures, etc. And then for the board to be able to review them prior to approving them, that would not have been able to be accomplished for last Monday’s board regular school board meeting, and we felt the need to get them done sooner rather than later.”
Some contracts, including those with bus drivers and custodial staff, are still ongoing but can be approved at a future school board meeting.
