Three elected to NR-S School Board

The New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board has a new face. At the board’s regular meeting on Monday, June 10, members approved the results of the recent school board election held on Tuesday, June 4. New Rockford area farmer Mike Schaefer was elected to a one year unexpired term representing the former New Rockford district. Mike Jacobson was elected to a three-year term from the former New Rockford district, and Alyson Myhre was re-elected to serve a three-year at large position. Board member Todd Duchscherer opted not to seek re-election to the board after serving for six years.

The newly elected officials will begin their board positions at an organizational meeting scheduled for Monday, July 22 at 7 a.m. Also at that meeting, the board is expected to adopt a preliminary budget for the 2019-20 school year.

Currently administrators are working with the business manager to bring the budget into balance. Some of the hallmark features of this budget were covered at the June 10 meeting including technology and staffing. Superintendent Jill Louters said, “We’re really taking the time to distinguish what we need-to-have versus what we think would be nice to have.”

For example, in terms of technology, the adjusted budget proposes the installation of more economical smart-boards to replace the outdated ones. Meanwhile, delaying the replacement of computers at the teacher workstations lends to a significant reduction in the budget.

When it comes to staffing, there’s a bit more gray area between the needs and the nice to haves. In terms of operations and maintenance, the current staff of two janitors and one maintenance specialist are used to fluctuations in their hours based on upcoming events and needed preparations. However, the staff is consistently logging overtime hours, a situation that is ideal for neither the budget or the staff. The board approved the addition of one full time staff with an altered work schedule to help accommodate the needs.

The desire to keep elementary class sizes small was also weighed against the need to balance the budget. Three candidates interviewed for two elementary teaching positions the administration said were needed to split some of the larger classes. Two of these candidates were very strong and would make good additions to the staff. However, to reign in the budget, the board decided to hire only one of the candidates.

A multi-year grant will make another staff addition reality, Louters explained. Through an ongoing collaboration with Lindsay Unified School District in Lindsay, Calif., NR-S will receive a portion of Lindsay’s Bush Foundation dollars to support staffing costs of a student engagement coordinator. The focus of this position is to explore ways to make programming more engaging to students. Upon acceptance by the board, the new position has now been posted. The successful candidate will work closely with the administration on a full-time schedule that is aligned with the school calendar. Teacher licensure is encouraged, but not required. Louters said that the most important attribute they seek in candidates is experience with and a desire to work with students.

The board approved out of state travel for selected teachers and administrators to attend the Minnesota Summit for Learning & Leading on Aug. 13-14. The district will incur no cost, as all expenses will be paid by Lindsay Unified School District’s Bush Foundation dollars. Staff from Lindsay Unified will give a presentation at the summit. Topics for the event include school culture, instruction, standards-based grading, social emotional learning, project-based learning and personalized competency-based learning.

Christina Brodina of the Lake Area Career and Technology Center in Devils Lake presented an opportunity for NR-S students grades 11-12 to pursue career and technical education opportunities specifically in building trades and welding. The cost for the school’s membership is $5,000 a year and will contribute to staffing and equipment costs.

The board approved the partnership, which administrators say will work flexibly with student schedules and can pair seamlessly with the new Flex-Mod schedule. Students who choose to take courses at Lake Area Career and Technology Center will participate in real life projects and gain time management skills. The upperclassmen who elect to take courses at the Lake Area Career and Technology Center will have half-day to full-day schedules at the center and will be responsible for their own transportation.

The final motion made by the board was to add five early dismissal days to the 2019-20 calendar for staff meetings and professional development: Sept. 20, Oct. 16, Jan. 17, March 20 and April 17. The revised school calendar is available on the NR-S School website. The calendar will also be published in the Back to School edition of the “Transcript” in early August. 

The next regular meeting is set for Monday, July 22 at 7 a.m.