At the June 8, 2022, school board meeting, Josh Thompson, Katie Priebe, Jill Harstad, Lanny Isensee and Tom Keefe were present as well as principals Shane McBroom and Eric Nelson, Superintendent Ed Harris, LuAnn Kleven, Community Education director; and Lorri Lowery, administrative assistant. Board member Matt McMahon was not present.
Under the consent agenda, the board authorized the board treasurer to approve the end of year bills and delegate the business manager to wire transfer excess funds and bond payments. The following designations were approved for SY2022-23: Chatfield News, official newspaper; Ratwick, Rozak, Maloney and Bartel, official legal counsel; and official district depositories were the Root River State Bank and the Minnesota Liquid Asset Fund. The 2023 board meeting dates were set as the second Wednesday each month at 7 p.m. in the high school forum room. A maternity leave of absence was granted to Kaitlyn Kerr (Meyer) from December 5, 2022, through March 5, 2023. The following 2022 fall assistant coaches for grades seven through junior varsity are: Josh Berhow, Tom Bance, Adam Hurley, Kirk Affeldt, Tom Moody and Scott Schmaltz for football; Kelsy Lueck for volleyball, and Jenny Bradt for cross country. The following resignations were accepted: Dan Narveson, volleyball, middle school council and middle school science; Kirsten Armstrong, Gifted and Talented; Jayna Harstad, cross country; and Laura Adams, junior class concessions. The following jobs postings were approved: grade nine volleyball coach, middle school science teacher, two long-term upper elementary subs, cross country varsity coach, junior class concessions, ECFE educator, preschool teacher, and junior high football coach. The following new hires were approved: Claudia Meier, Valleyland assistant; Kristine Growski, elementary summer school; Max Aug, summer weight room,; Anna Halverson, Valleyland childcare assistant; Courtney Buss, Valleyland; Kirsten Tangen, Valleyland teacher; Josh Whalen, seventh grade girls basketball; Kaylyn Funk, ninth grade volleyball; Maddie Kammer, eighth grade volleyball; and Rianna Jones, seventh grade volleyball. Also approved were new coaching positions for wrestling and dance.
LuAnn Klevan, Community Education director, indicated that there are still openings for next year’s preschool classes and she is in the process of hiring one or two new teachers depending on the enrollment, and possibly another preschool assistant. Summer Valleyland begins on Monday with staff training taking place this week. Registration for fall will begin July 1. Summer Rec and Enrichment classes begins next week and the Elementary Theater is presenting “The Wizard of Oz” on Thursday, June 23 at 7 p.m. New this summer, the weight room will be open from 8-9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday for individuals ages 17-25 who have completed high school. A discussion was held about the popularity of the new trap team that operates under Community Education. Board member Lanny Isensee, who is one of the coaches, said they have six coaches and don’t have room for any more students. He said it has been a very positive experience for the both the kids and the coaches.
Eric Nelson, high school principal, reported that 100% of all enrolled seniors fulfilled graduation requirements with a few that have a missing credit that will finish in the next few weeks. Sixty-one seniors graduated last Sunday and the commencement ceremony is available on CCTVs Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/chatfieldtv/videos/546230040376245. Looking ahead to the new school year, a baseline will be established to help the school monitor and prepare students for both college and career readiness in the future years. New in the fall, all students in grades seven through nine will receive laptops instead of iPads so that all students in the building can use the same platform. The cost of the program will be covered by one-time COVID dollars. After the grade seven students receive laptops in 2023 the school will revert to BYOD (bring your own device).
Elementary Principal Shane McBroom said the school year ended on a positive note with The End of the Year Reading Carnival at Groen and Mill Creek Parks and all K-6 students were able to go to the swimming pool during a two-day period during the last week of school. On Tuesday, May 24, the Chatfield fifth graders joined members of the Chatfield American Legion to help set out the flags at the markers of the veterans at the Chatfield Cemetery.
Superintendent Harris stated that the parking lot improvement project has begun and hopefully the project will be completed by the first week in August. Some trees were removed in the process but planting replacement trees will be done when the project is complete.
Under action items, the board approved the annual contract with IEA (Environmental, Health and Safety) consulting firm, the Collective Bargaining Memorandum of Understanding concerning the change in the schedule for the next school year, the MSHSL Membership Renewal Resolution, the Food Service Renewal Agreement with Taher, the Resolution to Establish Dates for Filing Affidavits of Candidacy (August 2-16), the leave of absence for Kaitlyn Ellringer from November 2022 through June 2023, and the 2022-2023 Activity Fund fundraisers. The board did not act on the fiscal year budget but will have a special meeting before the end of June to approve it. The board tabled, but will continue to discuss improvements that need to be made to the football and track facility. In approving the food service contract, there was a discussion about concerns that Taher needs to address. Superintendent Harris has been having discussions with them and the district plans to monitor the quality of the service this coming year, including collecting feedback from student and staff which will influence whether or not a ‘23-‘24 contact is offered. The board action was actually a pre-approval because MDE (Minnesota Department of Education) still needs to review the contract.
The meeting was adjourned. The next board meeting will be on July 13, in the high school forum room.
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