The Rushford-Peterson School Board heard at its August 19 meeting that the school was fully staffed with licensed teachers for the 2024-2025 school year. As part of the consent agenda, the following employees were hired as well: Nikki Bunke, cheerleading coach; Nathan Whitacre, assistant football coach; Lacey Drinkall, JH volleyball coach; Jacquelyn Guyette, head dance coach; Megan Boyum, district office assistant/transportation coordinator—LTS; Heather Beerman, ECFE parent educator. The board also accepted resignations from Kristi Agrimson, Kids’ Club/preschool wrap around care paraprofessional; Monte Tudahl, full-time custodian; Rosanna Johnson, food service.
At this time, Superintendent Dr. Ben Bernard said the school still needs to hire for the following positions: assistant dance coach, full-time custodian, two food service assistants, Kids’ Club/preschool wrap around care paraprofessional and van drivers, as well as substitute paraprofessionals, teachers and van drivers. Anyone interested is encouraged to call the school.
New Business
Under new business, the board set the Truth in Taxation meeting for December 16 at 6:00 p.m. This is a regular meeting date for the board.
The handbooks were reviewed and approved after discussion. While the elementary handbook had only some updating of teachers and date changes for the year, the middle school/high school handbook had a few more changes. The state requires schools to include a cell phone policy this year; Principal Jake Timm reported that they would continue with the policy currently used.
Students may have their phones on them and may use the phones during passing times. Board member Matt Helgemoe asked if they had had problems with cell phones at RP. The response was that students put their phones away when asked. Timm pointed out that the policy is not set in stone and could be changed in the future if the need arose.
The requirement to earn a silver cord for graduation was changed from 160 hours to 100 hours of volunteerism. Timm felt the change was needed to encourage more involvement.
The lunch price for adults was set at $5. The state provides free lunch and breakfast for students once again this year.
The bid for garbage service from Harter’s Quick Clean-up of $860.61 a month plus a fuel surcharge if applicable was accepted for a one year contract. Waste Management, last year’s garbage service, had not submitted a bid.
Reports
Bernard reported that while the numbers in the lower grades still show a declining enrollment from the high school numbers, overall enrollment is trending upward at this time. It was noted that four more students had enrolled that very day; enrollment at the elementary school had been reported to be up by seven students as of August 6.
Repair work has finally begun on the failing stone installation on the front wall of the school. All of the stones on that wall have been removed. The surface will be sandblasted. In the spring a choice will be made on whether it should be left as is or have the stone replaced with a system similar to how the stone was applied to the rest of the building. Bernard shared that the workers had been able to easily just pick the stone off by hand when they removed it.
Athletic Director Joel Hinke reported on the fall sports numbers. Registration numbers for grades 7-12 are: 22 for cross country; 54 for volleyball; 69 for football; six for cheer. Hinke noted that he’d driven past cheer practice that day and saw that 15 or 16 girls were out now.
New as AD, Hinke informed the board he plans on being a lot more visible; he plans to attend practices occasionally and actively participate in them with the students. He also plans on revamping and updating the Trojan Activities social media pages.
Hinke has already been involved in the community. He took students to help with the depot restoration work two separate days. The first day, they removed and stacked pavers in front of the depot; the second day, they helped remove heavy items from the depot. Board member and RAHS member Nancy Snyder thanked Hinke and the students for their help.
Superintendent Evaluation
The superintendent evaluation was discussed at the open meeting. The district strategic plan and goals were used to evaluate the superintendent’s work over the year.
Board Chair Chris Grindland noted that he appreciated that the steps toward the goals were very detailed. At this time, not all goals have been met since they are intended to be met over a five year period, but excellent progress toward them has been made.
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