Caledonia Area Public School board members met Tuesday, January 21 at Caledonia Elementary School in room #162. Board member Mike Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m., led with the Pledge of Allegiance, then conducted roll call. Board members present included Derek Adamson, Julie Augedahl, Tim Gunn, Leigh King, Melissa Marschall and Spencer Yohe. School district employees present included Superintendent Craig Ihrke, Elementary Principal John Wahlstrom, and Community Education Director Gretchen Juan.
Board member Adamson moved, seconded by Yohe, to adopt the Agenda. Motion carried.
In unanimous approval, the board graciously accepted a monetary donation from Merchants Bank. The donation will be applied to both the elementary and middle/high school buildings.
No Board Showcase took place.
Coach Carl Fruechte and Greg Hoscheit addressed the board to consider a new press box. Hoscheit explained the current press box is in dire need of an upgrade in that “it’s really inadequate.” An ideal press box would consist of three levels, right now, the current press box is small and inadequate. A new, three level press box could better accommodate media, the scorekeeper, camera crew, and even opposing coaches. A new press box could also be used to store other sporting materials. The location for a new press box is up for discussion, however, it would be ideal to place the new press box next to the track similar to how Rushford and Chatfield has theirs. Further discussion will go to the Facilities Committee in regards to the press box and bleachers.
Board member Adamson moved, seconded by Yohe, to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried. The Consent Agenda consisted of the following…
- Approval of the December 16 regular board meeting minutes and the January 6 organizational board meeting minutes.
- Approval of the Treasurer’s Report and Authorization of Accounts Payable.
- Accept the resignation of board member Tim Gunn, effective at the closing of the January 21 board meeting.
- Approval for the Long-Term Facility Maintenance Ten Year Revenue and Expenditure Plan.
The board decided to table Action Item A which included the 2025-2026 school calendar.
Principal Wahlstrom presented his administrative report. Wahlstrom presented data obtained through iReady that showed both reading and math scores. iReady is a nationally normed assessment that aligns with state standards. Data could be broken down by classroom or at an individual level. Four quadrants on a graph were shown-the lower left quadrant represented low performance/low growth, the upper left quadrant represented low performance/high growth, the upper right quadrant represented high performance/high growth, and the lower right quadrant represented high performance/low growth. Scores shown on the graph looked similar to a scatter plot. Wahlstrom acknowledged that the students at the elementary school are high in reading. Wahlstrom shared that the iReady assessment adapts to student performance. Wahlstrom encouraged anyone with questions about iReady to reach out to him.
Superintendent Irhke informed that PowerSchool had experienced a data breach. Caledonia Area Public Schools does not put social security numbers into the PowerSchool system, not since the early 2000s. Possible information that could be compromised include birthdates and addresses. Whoever breached PowerSchool had informed they will not use any information. PowerSchool vowed to do free credit checking.
There was no Old Business or New Business items. Old Business listed the Strategic Plan Update, but there was no update.
Board member Gunn thanked everyone in the room and said how he felt honored to be part of the community. Gunn shared that he and his wife bought a house in Tennessee and that their current house will go up on the market within a week. He warmly shared that he appreciated the opportunity to be part of Caledonia’s school board. The board thanked Gunn for his service. Peterson thanked Gunn and added that Gunn’s work with the COPS Grant will make a difference.
The board went into a closed sesson to discuss the superintendent evaluation. Gunn moved, seconded by Adamson, to adjourn the meeting at 7:32 p.m.
Caledonia School Board meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. going forward. The meetings are livestreamed at www.youtube.com@CAPSSchoolBoardMeetings.