It was time for some introspection at the Houston School Board March 7 meeting; the board completed surveys prior to the meeting and publicly shared their thoughts on how Superintendent Mary Morem and they themselves have been performing as they work toward their established goals. MSBA recommends that the board should focus on three or so specific goals for the evaluations.
Superintendent Evaluation
Josh Norlien commented that he appreciates Morem’s grant writing and her initiative in co-op and MNVA interactions. He also lauded Mary’s approachability with students and liked that she often is in each building.
Mimi Carlson agreed that Morem was “wonderful at finding additional sources for revenue.”
Arlin Petersen prefaced his remarks by saying that he has never liked forms such as were used for this – he always wants to say more. After acknowledging Morem’s busy schedule both at Houston and MNVA, Petersen said that one thing Morem needs to do is to get out into the community more.
Mark Swenson agreed, “I see you at games; you just gotta continue to work on it.”
Josh Norlien also agreed, “It’d be wonderful for you to get out more!”
Nickki Johnson commented, “I love the flyers that have been going out.” She added that she feels holding an open house next year is a great idea and wants to see more interaction with residents who don’t have children attending the school.
Richard Erdmann felt the school needed to better communicate student offerings, especially the many MNVA options. He also wants to continue to grow community education.
School Board
Self-Evaluations
Norlien noted that he personally wants to make a better effort to visit the school, students and teachers. Peterson noted that as a board they needed to be involved and be seen by the staff at the school.
In general, the board felt they were being effective in building student pathways to graduation. They saw the need to always be developing in college and career readiness for students since needs are constantly changing. They wanted to continue to work on building communication with the community.
Erdmann shared that he’d recently thoroughly enjoyed coming to school and reading four books in an elementary classroom.
Carlson opined, “The board, as a whole, is working great together!”
Hurricane Hero
Social Studies teacher Jacqueline Mathers was recognized as a Hurricane Hero. Morem read several letters recommending Mathers for the award. One parent shared that there have been countless dinner table conversations about things Mathers had presented in class. Staff commented, “You can hear and see the excitement when she talks about her students!”
Mathers was commended for the time, energy and love she puts into her classes. During COVID, she continued to assemble her little gift bags to encourage her students before finals and personally delivered them to each student’s home.
Arlin Peterson added that he’d had several subs when he was teaching that hadn’t worked out well, but with Mathers, the school had gotten someone who was not only a great teacher, but also a great person! That had made him comfortable in retiring from teaching.
Business conducted
Business conducted at the meeting included:
•Approving an update to the bus barn of a new $17,077.80 bathroom; part of the expense will be covered by long term facilities maintenance funding;
•Accepted the HUDL quote for an upgrade to video services with an additional expense of $553 per year to cover all sports and events;
•Discussed the summer lunch program; the board agreed that they want to continue to provide it, if feasible, but plan to advertise its availability more to increase participation;
•Reviewed several calendar options for next year to include needed days for READ teacher training; the board will vote on the calendar next month;
•Approved a principal contract, professional contracts and a buildings and grounds contract after going into a closed session to discuss the contracts.
The next Houston School Board meeting will be April 4 at 6 p.m. in the media center. The public is welcome to attend; a public comment period is held at the beginning of the meeting.