At the November 12, 2025 school board meeting, board members David Sowinski, Katie Priebe, Tom Keefe, Josh Thompson, Jill Harstad and Mark Johnsrud were present. Also present were Superintendent Ed Harris, elementary principal, Shane McBroom, and high school principal, Eric Nelson attended remotely. Student senate representatives Zaylee Boyum and Kylie Sinn were also present.
Reports
Principal McBroom stated that the students recognized veterans at the Veterans Day assembly and thanked the veterans and the auxiliary members that attended. The presentation of the colors, songs, Patriot Pen Essays, Cub Scouts and the Retreating of the Colors were all on display at the event. The next day during Gopher Time, kindergarten through third grade visited with 10 veterans who read stories to them. McBroom said the kids loved it. Teachers are reviewing goals with the changes in the State Standards and will be using FastBridge that tests three times a year to show progress as opposed to MCAs that only test once a year. This will be a more efficient way to check students’ progress or lack thereof.
Eric Nelson spoke to the proposal that the board has before them to start the 2026-2027 school year on September 1, 2026. This is before Labor Day and a week earlier than usual. He feels that this calendar is beneficial for students and staff and that there are few issues for students that may be participating in the State Fair for FFA. He also addressed the issue of when the 2027 commencement ceremony would take place as it is traditionally on Sunday afternoon and the proposed calendar would end the school year ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. In a survey of junior parents on their preference for a commencement ceremony day, 70% of the 47 parent respondents either preferred a Friday ceremony or had no preference. He congratulated the volleyball team on their second place win in the state tournament. The team was also recognized as recipients of the 2025 Team Gold Academic Award from the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association.
A representative from the firm of Smith-Shafer gave the fiscal year 2025 audit that was a clean audit that showed an ADM (average daily membership) of 880 students and that federal aid was down 1%. The board later in the meeting, approved the audit.
Superintendent Harris reported on the facility meeting that was held previous to the school board meeting. He said there were discussions about the tennis courts, baseball and track facilities and that there would be information for the board at the next board meeting.
Consent Items
Under consent items the following were approved:
- Minutes of the October 8, 2025 meeting;
- New hires: Julie Sogla, seventh grade girls basketball coach;
- Resignations: Jenny Bradt, cross country coach, Kelsey Mehus, Valleyland and Lance Boyum, seventh grade baseball coach.
Action Items
The board approved the A&I Progress Report that Eric Nelson discussed in his progress report earlier. This document is a required annual update for districts that are either racially identifiable or border a racially identifiable district. Chatfield is included in this due to its adjacent proximity to Rochester Public Schools. Also approved was the 2026-2027 school calendar that will have a starting date of September 1, 2026, and graduation commencement ceremonies on Friday night, May 28, 2027. Two-year contracts for support staff were approved with 2.5% increase for each year, noncertified staff at-will assignments were given a 2% and 2.25% increase and principals received a 1% increase for both years with five days added to their contract. The superintendent’s contract was approved for a 2% increase for each year. Harris thanked board members Jill Harstad, Josh Thompson and Tom Keefe for helping with the negotiations of contracts and stated that the discussions were productive and it was a smooth process for all the parties involved.
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