Houston Hires New Superintendent

The Houston School Board approved a contract with new Superintendent Angi McAndrews at their June 4 meeting. McAndrews comes with experience in school administration. For the last eight years she has worked at Rochester Schools. For six years she was a principal; the last two years she served as a director at the district level.

McAndrews lives in Houston County with her husband Jim, a surgical tech at Gundersen (Emplify) in La Crosse. “I’m really excited to be back working in Houston County. I like the innovation at Houston and have admired the work of Houston for many years. I’m really excited to work in the district where I live!” McAndrews enthused.

Public Comment

Parents, grandparents and a student addressed the school board during the public comment portion of the meeting again about the films suggested for home viewing in a film class at Houston. Julie Rosendahl was concerned that students had not only viewed pornographic films, but that the class had been held the previous year as well. “You’ve failed these kids!” she exclaimed to the board.

Carter Rosendahl was a student in the class who went into detail about some things he had viewed. He felt the administration blamed him for the situation when they spoke to him. Carter said he was there to make sure this doesn;t happen to another student.

Susan Rosendahl was concerned that there was no written report created; she wanted policies to be followed. Faye Narloch wanted to know if there had been a thorough investigation.

Jennifer Frey commented that explanations have changed and that the assignment had been changed in Schoology. She claimed a student had a screen shot of the original assignment.

Shannon Peterson called the two minute time period for public comment a joke. She said she had asked a police officer if she could show one of the movies at the board meeting and had been advised not to. The assignment was to watch the videos at home; presenting the film at school would be illegal.

Kiel Koehler, teacher rep, stated that public discussions had to be accurate; he commented that questions are healthy, but reporting them inaccurately was not.

The people commenting felt the board was not listening to them. During public comment, the board does not enter into discussion with the public. Later in the meeting, the board approved a revised curriculum and instructional materials review procedure which will apply to both the onsite school and MNVA. The board previously apologized for the situation.

A SPED teacher at MNVA commented online on the recent hiring of the superintendent; she was disappointed at the outcome off the search. She felt that MNVA teachers’ voices were not heard.

Site Goal Updates

Site goals were reviewed by the principals of each school. MNVA Elementary/M.S. exceeded their goals with 93% of the elementary and 81% of the middle school increasing their FastBridge scores.

At the MNVA H.S., 72% of students increased their scores, exceeding their goal of 70%. Eighty-one percent of the seniors actually increased their scores.

The MNVA ALP (alternative learning program) and the onsite Summit School showed 78% of the some or high risk students showed growth in their FastBridge reading scores.

Houston’s onsite preschool and elementary reported that 88% of the preschool were able to independently draw Mat Man. This was explained as part of the foundation of how kids read. The Elementary Site Goal was a stretch of 10% growth for the year; the goal was exceeded with 14% growth.

The onsite MS/HS showed a 4% growth overall. According to Principal Cassellius, it remains difficult to test the 11th graders. Due to schedules, some students were not available for testing.

Other Business

In other business, the board:

•Heard Superintendent Morem acknowledge the Hurricane Heroes for the month; in addition to recognizing MNVA SPED teacher Tori Flores and paraprofessional Laura Krage, Morem recognized each member of her administrative team individually and declared them the “best team of administrators I’ve ever worked with:”

•Officially accepted the low bid of $686,000 from Olympic Builders for the Elementary Safe and Secure Entry after receiving state approval;

•Tabled payment of bills until the June 25 special meeting; board member Mimi Carlson wanted more time to examine the bills and questioned a $21,000 bill from a consulting firm;

•Approved the Local 70 contract, MSBA membership renewal and check signers (chair, clerk and treasurer) for the district;

•Accepted donations totalling $10,912;

•Set the dates for filing affidavits of candidacy for school board beginning July 14 and ending July 28;

•Set the election of board members for Tuesday, November 3 (the general Election Day);

•Set season athletic passes at the same rate as last year.