February 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting of the School Board

Discussion:  MEMBERS PRESENT: Eric Griffith, David Hokanson, Jodi McShane (absent), Ashley McFarland, Matthew Munger (6:05 p.m.), Tim Peterson, Wayne Whitwam, Superintendent, Lance Takkunen, Director of Business Services

VISITORS: Sarah Turcotte, Jason Wilcox, Lindsey Beier, Lori Sinnott, Grace Billman, Stacy Sosniecki, Julie Lenz, Bill Wietman, Kammi Wietman, Abigail Kipka, Laura Bakker, Emily Tessier, Stacy Homstad, Nicole Dickey, Bob Miller, Alex Olsen, Lyndsey Knops, John Muenich, Gretchen Appelwick, Brent Chouanard-Nguyen, Nicole Zwak, Miranda Gustad, Connie Adamec, Lorene Botten, Emma McNamee, Dana Carlson, Julie Patton, Heather Hren, Heather Holst, Karl Kunz

Discussion:  Muenich. Congratulations to Campbell Amundson and Nene Sclisizzo for finishing second in the sprint relay at State with the Nordic ski team and to the Mirage Hockey Team for winning the Consolation Championship at the State Tournament. Recognized Karolyn Deiss for her article published in the Opinion section of the Feb. 13 issue of the Duluth News Tribune, titled, Gen Z needs to shake off greed's grip on common sense. 
Whitwam. Congratulations to Toby Schunk of the alpine ski team on advancing to the State Tournament.    
Appelwick. Reading Corps mid-year report confirmed that our tutors are extraordinary and Nikki Zwak is doing a great job as supervisor. 84% of Reading Corps students in all grades and measures are at or exceeding weekly target growth at the elementary school. 

Discussion:  No Visitor Business.

Discussion:  Karl Kunz, Director of Buildings and Grounds, gave an update on his department, which included staffing, work orders and virus reduction measures at each building. 

Discussion:  No Correspondence. 

Discussion:  We gained two students. Have a third grader that would like to open enroll. 

Discussion:  The City of Hermantown would like to demolish the blue garage and footings and the footings under the brown shed that are next to the bus garage. The Facilities Committee is planning to meet and have a plan for meeting their timeline. Right now, I would like to pour a new foundation and move the brown shed. The City is planning to raise the ground closer to where the garages are now, which will flood the current garages.  

The city is within their budget and is currently working on contingency fund spending. They are also still on track for opening on time.  

Discussion:  Teachers, Paraprofessionals and Food Service have all sent letters of intent to open negotiations. 
Food Service will begin negotiations on March 3. 
Paraprofessionals have not yet responded to requests to set a date to open negotiations.
Teachers responded that they plan to open negotiations in September. Hokanson responded that he would like to open sooner, as that is over 65 days past the expiration of their contract. 
 

Discussion:  The Facilities Committee is planning to meet on March 10 to discuss the plan for the two garages next to the bus garage and the Long Term Facilities Maintenence plan.