At the January 12, 2021, Chatfield School Board meeting, these board members were present: Katie Priebe, Josh Thompson, Tom Keefe and Jill Harstad, as well as Principals Shane McBroom and Randy Paulson. Board members Lanny Isensee and Matt McMahon joined the meeting via Zoom. Also present were Superintendent Ed Harris, Lorri Lowery, administrative assistant; LuAnn Klevan, community education director, and Trista O’Connor, business manager.
As vice chair, Lanny Isensee opened the meeting and after the Pledge of Allegiance and the approval of the agenda he called for nominations for chairman of the board. Lanny was nominated and elected and then as chair of the board, continued with the election of officers for the next year. Katie Priebe was elected vice chair, Josh Thompson was elected clerk and Jill Harstad was elected treasurer.
Student senate representatives Abbi Hinckley and Molly Henry were present and told the board of the planning the senate is doing for Snow Week. Since school has not been in session they are still in the planning mode but have ideas for a back to school celebration and a Snow Week with outside activities. They are also planning on selling cookies for Valentine’s Day.
LuAnn Klevan, Community Education director, said that this year was particularly hard financially but that Sue Tangen had applied for a grant through the Minnesota Department of Health and that has been a great help. Classes for four-and five-year-olds will return to the in-person model the week of January 18 and classes for three-and four-year-olds will resume on January 25. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) classes were offered online in November and December, with staff preparing and distributing over 80 project bags for families with young children. It is hoped that in-person classes can resume in the spring.
High school principal, Randy Paulson, announced that the high school will move back to the hybrid model from distance learning on January 26. It will be very similar to the one used previously with students divided into two groups; each group attending in-person two days a week and distance learning on the other days. The senior class trip to Disneyland has been cancelled because Disney is not allowing groups at this time. He hopes that maybe there are other possibilities on a smaller scale and closer to home that could be done instead. The Washington, D.C. trip that was cancelled last year for eighth graders (now ninth graders) may be rescheduled for this April.
At the elementary school, Principal Shane McBroom stated that the Winter Benchmarks in NWEA started this week and said it will be interesting to see the results with the distance learning from the spring, paired with the disrupted schedule to this point this year. He thanked the Masons for their contributions of books to the elementary and for the Books to Bikes program that gave bikes to six lucky students. The K-3 classrooms will be getting portable Smart Boards as part of the Fillmore County COVID Funds. Lastly, the elementary will be going back to in-person learning on January 26, with classes meeting four days of the week.
Superintendent Harris thanked all the people involved for the work in transitioning back to in-person learning. He would like the board to schedule a board “learning” session and listed the items they would discuss. He would like to have this before the next board meeting. Harris is asking the board to approve the policy that after three snow days, E-Learning days would be instituted for up to five additional days. They would follow the two-hour late schedule.
Under consent items, the board approved the meeting minutes of the December 9 and December 21 meetings and the pay equity report. The following spring assistant coaches were approved: Softball: K. Affeldt, B. Harmening, J. Johnson; Baseball: J. Voeltz; track: D. Nickelsen, S. Schmaltz, B. Storsveen, N. DeBuhr, B. Nolan, J. Bradt. They also approved the job posting for an elementary paraprofessional and the new hires of Tracy Hom, elementary paraprofessional and Ariana Caddell as fourth grade teacher. Other new hires approved were Ryan Kivimagi, .5 ninth grade girls basketball and Jeff Johnson, junior high baseball.
Under action items the board approved the annual payment to the city of Chatfield for CCTV at $15,000 and streaming video at $5,000. They also approved the E-Learning days for snow days 4-9 if necessary.
The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the board will be on February 10, in the forum room at the high school.
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