Michael Mangan, director of Educational Success and Innovation at Houston Schools, shared the Report Card on Redefining Ready and Concurrent Enrollment Board Update at the July 11 regular board meeting. Using assorted data and comparing with the previous year’s senior class, Mangan showed that overall, 70% of Houston’s 2024 seniors were college ready, 93% were career ready and … [Read more...]
Travel Opportunity to Europe for Caledonia High School Students
Caledonia Area Public School board members met Monday, July 15 at Caledonia Elementary School in room #162. Board member Mike Peterson called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m., led with the Pledge of Allegiance, then conducted roll call with all board members present. School district employees present included Superintendent Craig Ihrke, Middle/High School Principal Nathan … [Read more...]
Spring Grove Discusses Virtual Learning
Spring Grove Public School board members met Monday, June 24 at Spring Grove School’s Learning Resource Center room. Chairman Aaron Solum called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. then conducted roll call. Board members present included Solum, Stephanie Jaster, Kelly Rohland, Aric Elton and Rhan Flatin. Board member Angie Solie attended the meeting virtually. District employees … [Read more...]
Principal Sue Link Retires from Caledonia Public Schools
Caledonia Area Public School board members met Monday, June 17 at Caledonia Elementary School in room #162. Council member Mike Peterson called the meeting to order at 6 p.m., led with the Pledge of Allegiance, and conducted roll call. Council members present included Derek Adamson, Tim Gunn, Leigh King, Melissa Marschall, Daniel Small and Spencer Yohe. School district … [Read more...]
M-C 2024-2025 Preliminary Budget Approved
The Mabel-Canton School Board approved the preliminary budget for the 2024-2025 school year during their regularly scheduled meeting on June 18. The projected student enrollment for 2024-25 is 270, slightly lower than the revised figure of 276 students for 2023-24. Business Manager Aimee Lake provided further details, noting changes in revenue compared to the previous year. … [Read more...]
R-P Fully Staffed
R-P Superintendent Dr. Ben Bernard was able to announce to the school board at their regular meeting June 17 that, with the hiring of middle school special education teacher Nathan Whitacre, the school was fully staffed for the 2024-2025 school year. Both the revised 2023-2024 and the proposed 2024-2025 budgets were approved after the examination of the budgets with the help … [Read more...]
Kingsland School Board Looking for New Board Member Applications for Upcoming Term
By Annika Doberenz At their latest meeting on June 17, the Kingsland School Board discussed topics ranging from faculty retirements to applications for the soon-to-be open seats on the board. Not only will Angel Apenhorse be resigning from her full-time position as custodian, but Theresa Zwart will be resigning in September from her position as the school’s bookkeeper, a job … [Read more...]
Four Houston School Board Positions Up for Election
With the resignation of former board member Marissa Grams at the June 6 meeting, the Houston School Board will now have four positions to fill in the general election next fall. Grams’ position will be filled by appointment of the school board; it will then be included in the general election and the newly elected board member will join the board in January with the other new … [Read more...]
Lanesboro School Board Approves Policy 404
After tabling the issue for several months, the Lanesboro School Board unanimously approved Policy 404, Employment Background Checks, at their June 12 meeting. The board used the MSBA suggested policy, but added procedures to the policy. In the adopted procedures, they stipulated that the teaching staff will annually respond to some questions that are the same as they are asked … [Read more...]
Houston City Council Holds Improvement Hearing
Houston City Council members met Wednesday, June 12 at Houston City Hall. Mayor Scott Wallace called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and led with the Pledge of Allegiance. Council members present included Wallace, Zeb Baumann, Emily Krage, Cody Mathers, and Steve Westby. City Administrator Michelle Quinn was also present. Bolton & Menk, Inc. project manager, Derek Olinger, … [Read more...]
Fillmore Central Jumps Into Summer Programs
At the May 28 Fillmore Central school board meeting, superintendent Heath Olstad reported that the month of May had been very busy with multiple elementary field trips taking place, along with spring concerts at the high school. The elementary concerts were canceled and the students dismissed early that day due to potential dangerous weather conditions. The students recorded … [Read more...]
Houston Signs Six-Year Contract with Morem
At the May 2 regular Houston School Board meeting, the board reviewed and voted on the proposed six-year contract with Superintendent Mary Morem. Josh Norlien and Nickki Johnson voted against the contract, while Mimi Carlson, Arlin Peterson, Richard Erdmann and Mark Swenson voted in favor of the contract. Marissa Grams was absent. The contract was for $150,000 each year … [Read more...]
Lanesboro School Board Discusses Policy 404
Once again, policy 404 which deals with Employment Background Checks was on the agenda at the May 8 meeting of the Lanesboro School District. This was the third reading of the policy which had been tabled at a previous meeting. Superintendent Matt Schultz had done exhaustive research and prepared a rough draft of procedures that could be implemented to follow the legal … [Read more...]
Shannon Kochie Teacher of the Year 2024
A person never knows what the day might bring. That was certainly true for Shannon Kochie, a third grade Humanities teacher at Caledonia Elementary School on April 30, 2024. Kochie was not feeling quite up to par that morning and contacted Superintendent Craig Ihrke to request a substitute teacher. Knowing that all the plans were in place to surprise Kochie later that … [Read more...]
Teacher Appreciation Week
Caledonia Area Public Schools Mitchell Bechtel 3 years, HS Social Studies Tami Bennett 1 year, HS Math Katie Block 2 years, MS Math Becky Breeser 26 years, HS Math Bob Burmester 6 years, Elem./MS Physical Education & K-12 DAPE Tori Burmester 6 years, MS Science Sara Buros 13 years, MS/HS Special Education Jennifer … [Read more...]