At the April 8, 2026 school board meeting, board members David Sovinski, Katie Priebe, Tom Keefe, Jill Harstad, Josh Thompson and Mark Johnsrud were present. Also present were Superintendent Ed Harris, elementary principal, Shane McBroom and high school principal, Eric Nelson.
Reports
Principal McBroom stated that the sixth graders have concluded their DARE coursework and thanked Logan Brand with Fillmore County for his efforts in providing the lessons. This year the graduation will be held in Rushford with other Fillmore County schools. Kindergarten Roundup saw 47 students and families attending. The families were invited in to learn more about the building, meet teachers and hear about the basics of being a kindergarten parent. McBroom thanked the Student Council for leading the tours with the families and to staff that attended to make the event a success.
Eric Nelson updated the board on data about how Chatfield High School students are prepared for their post-high school careers and/or college. Each year he has seen increases in the number of students demonstrating career and college readiness. The ways students can demonstrate readiness weigh heavily on factors typically seen in their 11th and 12th grade years, such as completing Algebra II, taking a college course and building a cumulative GPA that exceeds 2.8. Lastly, he thanked Tom and Sara Duxbury for giving their time and effort in chaperoning the Senior Class Trip to Disney World 28 times over the past three decades.
Superintendent Harris said the contract with Taher, the school’s lunch program vendor, has been amended for this year and next year and this will produce a positive balance for both years. Spring projects this year will be the updating of the baseball dugouts, modifications for the new net on the batting cage and improved fencing and the building of a storage shed for the elementary outdoor classroom with a writable surface on the outside wall for instruction. Summer projects include improving the slope and shape of the track gate approach, track resurfacing and the beginning of the Veterans Memorial under the direction of Jason Kapper of G-Cubed. He then introduced the 2026-27 budget reduction recommendations of $132,000 which was voted on during the action items portion of the meeting.
Consent Items
Under the consent items, the board approved the meeting minutes from March 11, 2026 and the hiring of Madyson Proper, Valleyland assistant.
Action Items
The board approved the Lease Levy Resolution for the track refurbishment. It’s called a lease levy because the district is essentially “leasing” the project from a lender while paying it off and the yearly payments are funded through a specific property tax. The second action item was the recommendation to reduce a .67 high school ALC teacher ($43,000) and a 1.0 FTE elementary SPED teacher ($23,000) due to low enrollment. The recommendation also included a PSEO savings of $15,000 through MState, reducing three supplementary summer custodial help positions ($15,000), discontinuing color printings ($8000), and implementing subscriptions for CCTV* ($20,000), with a total savings of $132,000. *(This means that if you are watching home games and community events on Channel 11/You Tube, this will still be free but watching games online will now require an NSPN $33/year subscription.) There was a long discussion about the recommended cuts and how this was a difficult decision. This recommendation was passed with a 5-1 vote, with Johnsrud apposing. At the May or June meeting, reduction recommendations will be presented of $87,000 by increasing fees by 10% on average on preschool and Valleyland fees and reductions in Community Education ($70,000). Lastly, the board approved the non-renewal of elementary SPED teacher Angie Brogan due to case load reduction. An unrequested leave of absence for high school ALP (Alternate Learning Program) teacher, Adam Hurley because of low enrollment was approved by a 4-2 vote with Johnsrud and Harstad opposing.
Leave a Reply