Houston Sets Goals for Superintendent

At their regular board meeting on September 4, the Houston School Board settled on four smart goals for Superintendent Mary Morem. After tabling the item at a previous meeting, the board ultimately decided on the following goals: 

• To establish a Community Service and Industry Exploration Program that provides 100% of 9-12 grade students at least one volunteer or industry exploration each semester by May 2026.
• To develop a Multi-Platform Communication Plan to increase family and community engagement with a result of a 25% increase in parent participation in surveys, events and feedback opportunities by January 2026.
• To increase student participation in career pathways and advance coursework by 30% by Fall of 2026.
• To collaborate with the school board to design and adopt a comprehensive hiring and staffing plan that supports and retains high quality staff while keeping the focus on student interests and district priorities.

Initially, a goal about implementing a district-wide positive athletics and activities culture shift had been included in the goals. After discussion, the board decided to leave that to the activities director. 

Lisa Schultz had suggested the fourth goal on creating a hiring/staffing plan, noting that such a goal was suggested by MSBA (Minnesota School Board Association). After further discussion, the board approved and adopted the goals.

Hurricane Heroes

C.J. Wruck and Coleman Peterson were selected as Hurricane Heroes for September. Both Wruck and Peterson had completed projects at the school as they worked to become Eagle Scouts. Wruck poured cement under the bleachers at the baseball field; Peterson expanded the parking area near the football field. 

Teacher Negotiations

Negotiations with teachers have been going on since May. Eighty-nine percent of the teachers reportedly are in favor of the current proposal. A raise of 2% for each of the next two years, $200 additional has been added to 403Bs and additional money has been put into insurance. 

Class sizes and how to treat MNVA staff and onsite staff with equity has been addressed. PTO will be paid out rather than forcing retiring teachers to take time off to access that benefit. A longevity stipend will provide $500 each year after teachers reach the last lane of the contract; this is intended to retain experienced teachers.

Student Representative Report

Student School Board Representative Grayden Beckman shared his impressions of summer updates at the school. He said he loved the offices near the east door of the school as well as the PSEO lounge.

Beckman informed the board that the student council had Rolling Into Homecoming shirts for sale for $15 with a link on the school Facebook page. The shirts will be available at the Powder Puff football game. He enthusiastically shared that several football players had gone to KTTC studios for an interview to be played on the station’s new Prep Preview show. 

Board Business

Superintendent Morem asked the board for approval to purchase a used bus. Currently, there are two buses that Houston may choose from with bids from two companies. The cost ranges from $85,000 to $88,000 for the buses that have been used for a few years; a new bus would cost around $140,000. Morem will have a chance to examine the buses and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to purchase one because she needed authorization from the board. 

The board gave her permission to proceed with purchasing a bus if she found a suitable one.

The board also approved building up the area where the basketball court formerly was to create a retaining wall that people could sit on. The wall was estimated to cost $22,000 which is slightly over what the facilities committee can spend. After checking that LTFM funding could be used, the board approved the wall construction. 

A donation of $1,750 from the Knights of Columbus Council 16456 of Houston and Rushford for the backpack program was gratefully accepted by the board. A  previous acceptance of a donation from Terry and Deb Chiglo for the After Prom Committee was rescinded. The committee is a separate entity from the school so the board could not accept the donation. 

The board resumed reviewing policies with a first reading of five policies. The only question at this time was regarding late work. Late work must be submitted by the end of the semester; students with IEPs have any extensions addressed in their IEP. Notes from the policy committee will be shared with the entire board before board meetings. 

A short levy certification meeting will be held September 18 at 6 p.m.