The Houston School Board met at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15 in the library of Houston High School. Present at the meeting were board members Kelleher, Stillin, Evenson, Bonner, Carlson, and Wilson. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the board approved the agenda and opened the floor to public comment, of which there were none. The board passed all consent items unanimously, and moved on to discussion items.
Superintendent Krin Abraham proposed changes to the board’s meeting schedule for 2017. After discussion of holiday observances, local church events on Wednesdays, and a few humorous comments about holding meetings on Friday nights to ensure no audience attendance, the board planned to consult with newly elected board member Josh Norlein before confirming any possible time changes before the schedule is set in January.
Next, Abraham called for discussion on the district’s Sports Cooperative Agreements. According to the superintendent, Caledonia and Spring Grove had recently secured a formal agreement in writing, leading Houston to want to pursue a similar agreement to prevent the confusion that happened in previous agreements. Houston’s agreement with Rushford-Peterson for track and field, made 25 years ago, cannot be found in writing by either district, and the last Houston/Caledonia agreement was considered a “verbal handshake” between the district’s respective athletic directors. The plan is to make the agreements more concrete and official by writing them down and having 2-3 board members present in the formation of the agreement. Board members Carlson, Evenson and Stillin all volunteered to help cement the agreement going forward for sports like wrestling, gymnastics, and soccer with Caledonia.
Heidi Thompson then spoke to the board requesting a continuation of the re-established cheerleading program for the 2017-2018 school year. Thompson mentioned several of the positive reviews she had gotten for the squad in their first year from Facebook, football players, fans and even school administration for their presence at games and participation at the elementary homecoming pep-fest. Two members of the squad were present, and spoke to the benefits of cheerleading, including benefits to their public speaking, leadership and teamwork skills, along with building new friendships. Thompson said that the squad had faced some unexpected challenges in their first year, but are looking to expand in year two now that cheerleading has been firmly established. The board will consider the continuation of cheerleading as Old Business for approval at the next meeting.
The board then moved to a public hearing on the World’s Best Workforce initiative, a state program paired to the federal No Child Left Behind program to set educational benchmarks, improve student performance, and meet academic standards. Superintendent Abraham gave a thorough report detailing Houston’s successes with the initiative’s set goals, like kindergarten readiness, and areas where the district needed to improve, such as bringing 100% of the 3rd grade class to grade-level literacy. Unfortunately, Houston’s district must include online students and students at the Summit Academy, which can lead to skewed results given the different pace of learning for those students. As such, the four-year graduation rate has dropped, but the numbers of students staying on to graduate in five or more years makes it a net positive. This stands in contrast to athletics, where Houston cannot count online students as part of their enrollment, as online students play sports for their resident districts. The hearing ran from 6:30-7:13 p.m., when it was adjourned, and the board moved back to the main meeting agenda.
Superintendent Abraham reported that the updates to school facilities would be finished and closed out during a meeting on December 8 at 11 a.m. She applauded the hard work, preciseness and attention to detail of the workers as the facilities have been improved. The council then moved on to Old Business, approving a Staff Development Plan and two school policies on the second reading dealing with superintendent duties and an administrator code of ethics, respectively. In New Business, the board canvassed and approved the results from the recent school board election. Members Bonner and Wilson retain their spots on the board, while Josh Norlein will fill the seat of the outgoing Kevin Kelleher. In Announcements, Superintendent Abraham noted an upcoming conference in January and a legislative forum in February. It was generally agreed upon by the board that they would appreciate appearances at the legislative forum from the area’s two elected representatives, Greg Davids and Jeremy Miller. Board Member Evenson then spoke on behalf of the policy committee regarding a possible renaming of school properties. The committee has studied several other school districts in Minnesota regarding how and why school property may be named after someone as a memorial or as the result of contribution. The policy committee will produce a draft regulating naming of school property at a future board meeting. The board meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
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