The Spring Grove School Board approved the recommended snow day make-up plan at the March 20 meeting.
Hopefully the school has seen its last closure this year because of snow. Superintendent Rachel Udstuen explained, “The staff was surveyed. We have three and a half hours that we are behind at the high school level; we have been trying to figure out how we want to make it up. The staff, in just a few hours, got really creative. We are going to provide the opportunity for students to go on a field trip to see the state tournament basketball game during the day. We are going to provide transportation and supervision. They have to buy their own tickets to get in and their own food. We are also going to offer school here. We have enough staff in both places to meet families’ needs. We recommend starting our school day five minutes early for the entire fourth quarter, which will give us the time we need.”
All board members were in attendance: Chairman Aaron Solum, Rhan Flatin, Stephanie Jaster, Angie Solie, Kelly Rohland, and Aric Elton.
The board approved the consent agenda, including the meeting agenda, minutes from the February 21 regular board meeting, treasurer’s report, approval of bills, and contracts for Alisha Solum, paraprofessional and junior high softball coach; Mark Schroeder, musical vocal director; Kenney Bornholdt, musical choreographer; and Carter Bratland, junior high baseball coach.
The school carnival on Friday, March 17 was “a big, big event,” said Principal Luke Kjelland. The turnout was bigger than expected. Student Council representative Liam Rohland reported, “Many high school students helped at the carnival Friday night. The student council was in charge of the concession stand and worked in different areas of the gym. We sold a total of 77 hotdogs and many bags of popcorn and water.” Kjelland added that they received lots of positive feedback.
Udstuen and ISG strategic planning and facility project strategist Sue Peterson reviewed the survey that will soon be available for community members to complete online or print out and return to the school. The deadline to return the survey is April 12. The study aims to gather feedback from the community regarding the plans to update and expand the school.
Chairman Solum reported that the Hiawatha Valley Education District (HVED) is in the process of trying to purchase the south side of the Winona Mall, 1213 Gilmore Ave., Winona. According to the potential site overview document included in the meeting packet, the purchase cost is $2.45M, and the estimated construction cost is $6M for a total of $8.3M. The cost would be split among the 13 districts. The document also illustrates the allocation per district. Solum added, if he remembers right, it is $30 per year.
Following up on last month’s closed session, Chairman Solum said he has a copy of the summary from the superintendent’s evaluation if anyone wants to read it. The summary lists 10 points and includes a list of the goals that were set for next year. Superintendent Udstuen has a copy also.
“We put out an RFP for proposals to be the construction manager for a potential referendum project. We got four proposals. All very good! We narrowed it down to two. We looked at Kraus-Anderson and Knutson Construction. We met with both of them on Friday afternoon. We were very impressed with both of them. It was a very difficult decision because they both bring a lot to the table,” explained Udstuen. “We have decided; I think our recommendation is to go with Kraus-Anderson. Kraus-Anderson has been doing these school projects for a very long time. They have done $2B in school construction over the past five years. Knutson has done half a million because they are newer to this work. Kraus-Anderson has done 100 auditoriums over the past five years, and Knutson has done 4-5 auditoriums over the past five years.” In addition, Kraus-Anderson has experience navigating public-private partnerships; they do not bid on their own work. The board moved to accept the committee’s recommendation.
The board tabled the 2022-23 revised revenue and expenditure budget report until the April meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Spring Grove Public School Board is Monday, April 17, 2023, at 7 p.m. in the school’s Learning Resource Center. In addition, the school continues to offer board meetings on Google Meet for anyone who would like to attend virtually. For assistance monitoring the meeting, contact the district office at 507-498-3221 or email rachel.udstuen@springgrove.k12.mn.us.
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