At the April 12, 2023, school board meeting, board members Jill Harstad, David Sowinski, Mark Johnsrud, Katie Priebe and Tom Keefe were present, as well as Superintendent Ed Harris, Principals Shane McBroom and Eric Nelson, Trista O’Connor, business manager; and Lorri Lowery, administrative assistant. Board member Josh Thompson was not present. Also present were Student Senate representatives Kiera Kobs and Kayla Novotny and Class of 2023 representatives Sydney Ellis and Liv Hare.
Ellis and Hare thanked the board for allowing their class to go on the senior class trip to Disneyworld. They said the trip was well planned and allowed them to get to know their classmates better and become closer as a class. They would encourage others to go on this trip. It was truly a memorable experience for all. They thanked the chaperones for planning such a wonderful trip. Chaperones were high school counselor Sara Duxbury and her husband Tom, and Eric Nelson, high school principal. Student Senate representatives Kiera Kobs and Kayla Novotny stated that the Snowball Dance in March was well attended. They are now planning for next year, and will be adding two new members to replace graduating seniors.
Eric Nelson, high school principal, explained to the board that the Achievements and Integration Budget and Plan for SY 2024-2026 draws funds to support efforts to increase student performance and reduce gaps between students with various demographic profiles. Chatfield receives funds each year, and the plan for the next two years has goals related to teacher training, reading performance and integration through access to CTECH, a Rochester School program that emphasizes career pathways. The board later approved this as an action item. On Wednesday, April 12, Taher and CHS students celebrated a year of quality food services with a cook-off competition between seven teams entitled, “Who Can Beat Nellie” (Principal Nelson). Six teams were made up of students and one was led by Mr. Nelson. This Iron Chef / Chopped-style competition had students submitting and then preparing recipes to be judged in front of the whole school. Taher provided prizes for the top performing teams and gift certificates from local businesses were given out. It was a fun competition that can be seen on https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rB8B-aM0uct-CEfrFDwgAns8IKn2m_mC?usp=share_link
The teachers of grades 4-6, along with Principal McBroom have been having discussions regarding students’ grades. They have been using a Standard Based Grading Approach with number grades of 1-4. After these discussions and collecting information from parents of students in both schools, they have decided to move to a grading system similar to the high school with grades of A-F. Kindergarten Round-up will take place on April 19 with families being invited to attend to learn more about the building, meet the teachers and hear about the basics of being a kindergarten parent.
Superintendent Harris congratulated Principal Eric Nelson on completing his Doctorate in Educational Leadership. One of his goals for this year was to have support staff meetings. From those meetings implementation of mentoring, orientation, on-boarding and handbook organization will be instituted this fall.
Under consent items the following items were approved:
• Internal job postings for elementary and high school summer school teachers, elementary summer school paras and homecoming coronation coordinator
• New hires: Shane McBroom, junior high baseball; high school PCA Joleen Greenwaldt, Kyle Tollefson, varsity girls basketball; Kristi Rindels, varsity volleyball.
• Resignations: Scott Schmaltz, junior high football; Kelsey Lueck, junior varsity volleyball; Lorri Lowery, administrative assistant to the superintendent; homecoming coronation coordinator, Stacie Conway
• Job postings: junior high football coach, junior varsity volleyball coach, administrative assistant to the superintendent, 9th grade boys basketball coach, high school special education teacher, 0.5 FTE high school economics teacher; high school mathematics teacher; elementary teacher-long term substitute.
• Speech fund raiser partnering with the Prom Shop.
• Leave of absence: Kia Virgin, SY 2023-2024; Kelsey Lueck, September 2023-January 2024.
Under action items the board approved the following:
• Resolution non-renewing of probationary teachers Tyler Nielson and James McKay.
• Lawn Care Contract Package A (Ball Fields) – Based on composite per mow for the season awarded to Josh Broadwater $19,240.
• Package B (HS/EL General Grounds) $675 per mow (Med City Mowing – Jessica Polikowski).
• Food Service Contract Renewal with Taher.
The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be on May 10 at 7 p.m. in the high school Forum room.
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