Spring Grove School Moves Forward with New Leadership

On Monday, April 21, the Spring Grove School Board unanimously approved a 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) contract with Gina Morken, the school’s new superintendent. The board unanimously approved hiring Morken at a special board meeting on April 14.

The board also unanimously approved a 0.1 FTE contract with former superintendent Rachel Udstuen. Udstuen will be responsible for managing specific projects.

The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. by Board President Stephanie Jaster. All board members were present: Myriah Klug, Kelly Rohland, Lisa Myhre and Rhan Flatin.

The consent agenda-including the meeting agenda, minutes from the March 17 regular school board meeting, bills, 2024–2025 donations ($500 from Grove Plumbing and Heating LLC for outdoor banners/sponsorship, $50 from Ernest and JoLeeta Recio for the music department, and $4,000 from Richard Groth for a 2025 Stem scholarship), plus the resignations of special education teacher Vickie Nelson, girls junior varsity (JV) basketball coach Blaine Storlie, art teachers Renee Eiken and Kaley Cross, and IT director Jeff Thompson were approved in one unanimous motion. Superintendent Gina Morken expressed her thanks to Nelson, Storlie, Eiken, Cross, and Thompson for their service, noting that they will be greatly missed.

Principal Luke Kjelland’s report provided valuable insights into referral data, comparing figures from the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. He explained that referrals are categorized by attendance and behavior, with behavior referrals further broken down into areas such as defiance (insubordination, noncompliance, disrespect), disruption, inappropriate language, and physical aggression w/out injury.  Kjelland confirmed, “The biggest thing we see kids in the office for are still for disruptions. They got asked to stop talking twice and they still didn’t, so they got sent to the office.” He continued to review the elementary schedule has been finalized, while the high school schedule for next year remains tentative. Kjelland noted that MCA testing is currently underway, ACT testing for juniors was completed on April 8. The school uses FastBridge’s social emotional screener, SAEBRS, to track the well-being of the students.

Superintendent Gina Morken gave the facilities update on behalf of Udstuen, who was unable to attend the meeting. She announced that construction on the practice gym will begin on May 1, while work on the media center and office has been rescheduled for the summer of 2026.  Morken also confirmed that the school remains on track to start after Labor Day.

Morken shared that two students trained with Brent Messner, head of maintenance, during the break in preparation for two new student custodial positions. The students are enthusiastic about stepping into these trial positions, which will have them working in the mornings and immediately after school. Based on how the arrangement works out for both the students and the school, a decision will be made on whether to continue the program next year.

Morken said that the governor’s proposed budget will cut funding in education by $685 million over the next four years.

District accountant Tanya Elton reviewed the revised 2024-25 Revenue/Expenditure Budget with the board. She noted that the adopted budget was based on 385 students and the revised budget is based on 380 students, reflecting a difference of five students. Changes to the expenses include changes to Morken and Udstuen contracts, personal changes, $25,000 deductible due to last year’s lightening strike, increased garbage costs for dump rentals or purging, increased phone costs, and Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO), Elton noted that she is pretty conservative when building the budget, meaning income is underestimated and expenses are overestimated. The board unanimously approved the revised budget.

Ashley Olson was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by Angie Solie in March. She is set to take the oath of office during a special meeting on Monday, June 2, ahead of the board’s annual retreat. Prior to the vote, Flatin said that both candidates were well qualified, but Olson brought more experience relevant to the role.

Before adjourning the meeting at 7:53 p.m., the board approved the revised 2025-2026 school calendar, which included one change: conferences were moved from November 11 to November 18. The board also approved the updates to the February 2025 Model Policy,  the policy on personal electronic communication devices, and the policy on school meals.