Superintendent Beth Schwarz had to leave her final school board meeting on Thursday, June 16 early to handle other matters. She cleared her materials from the table and incoming Superintendent Bill Crandall took her place. Before Schwarz left, acting Board Chair Sissy Lunde said she would like to acknowledge that this was Schwarz’s last meeting. “I’d like to thank her for her hard work for us,” said Lunde.
The board welcomed Crandall and Board Member Terry Collins noted that at the last board meeting the board had approved a letter to the Local Indian Education Committee (LIEC) in answer to concerns raised by LIEC members. He said he would like Crandall to become familiar with the direction provided in that document.
Board Member Deb White agreed, adding that this is something that should be dealt with, “sooner rather than later.”
Also, Collins said, once Crandall is settled, he would like to see the superintendent delineate the responsibilities of the principal and assistant principal. Lunde agreed, adding that it is important for school staff and the community to understand the “chain of command.”
Despite budget concerns, the school board agreed that a number of positions needed to be filled. The board approved hiring Assistant Principal William DeWitt at a base salary of $70,000; Peter Lucken as social studies instructor at $37,218; John Paul as elementary special education instructor at $47,369; Evan Morris as high school special education instructor (on a variance) at $37,278; Rachel Liechty to early childhood special education at $45,984 and Andrea Holfeldt as physical education instructor at $48,967.
Superintendent Crandall, who sat on the committee that reviewed principal candidates, said that William DeWitt was “our top pick.” On the committee with Crandall were two teachers, School Board Chair Jeanne Anderson and Grand Portage Education Director Maria Burnett.
Also hired to work on Community Expert Licenses were Erika Ternes as choir director and Jason Gesch as culinary arts instructor.
Two at-will employees considered for non-renewal
Two contracts for at-will employees were on the agenda with the recommendation from Superintendent Schwarz for non-renewal. There was no explanation of why Schwarz was recommending not to continue the employment of School Nurse Kay Borud and Food Specialist Worker Linda Bockovich in the school board packet.
The board looked to incoming Superintendent Crandall, who stated simply, “I have no information.”
Collins noted that no explanation is required to not renew a contract with an at-will employee, however he added that there is a school policy that gives at-will employees an opportunity to file a complaint.
Discussion started with the school nurse position. Board Member Deb White noted that school board members are not privy to job evaluations, but she noted that Kay Borud had held the nurse position for many years. White said she didn’t think a person would be retained for that many years if their performance hadn’t been adequate.
She said in the past if someone was terminated, the board had some information. White said she was once an at-will employee and her contract was terminated. She said in her case it was due to a personality conflict with a new boss. She said when that happened, “I felt hurt, angry and insulted.”
White continued, “I don’t have enough information. This is not quantitative. It’s not budget. This is qualitative. Honestly, I don’t know what nursing staff does. I know in the past they used to have help with paperwork and now they don’t. They deal with head lice, vomit, shots, etc. and are still upright.”
Collins said the “sticky thing” is whether the board accepts the recommendation from its administrator or not.
Board Member Chris Goettl said the board accepts recommendations when it agrees to hire staff. But in that case, he said, the board looks at a list of items, “A, B. and C.” Goettl said in this case they were being asked to make this decision with no information.
The board considered tabling the decision to gather more information, but Collins noted that the contracts would lapse before the next board meeting. If no action was taken, the contracts would end and the employees would have to reapply for their positions.
Goettl said he had received “many, many” letters and had numerous phone conversations about the nurse position. He said he had heard zero negative comments. For that reason, Goettl said he could not support the non-renewal of the contract.
Goettl added that if the new superintendent reviews the records of the employees in question and found that there were grounds for termination and that the appropriate steps had been taken, the decision to renew could be revisited.
White strongly agreed, reiterating that the school nurse has had to deal with head lice and vomiting for years. “We are very fortunate to have such an employee—unless there is something we are not privy to. I can’t take this at face value from our current superintendent,” she said.
Her colleagues agreed and finally a motion passed to not approve the non-renewal of both the school nurse and the food service specialist with Board Member Collins voting in favor of the non-renewal, but only because of concern about the process. He said, “My vote was a structural nay.”
White quipped, “However, I hope our food specialist doesn’t have to deal with head lice and vomiting!”
Collins stressed that employees have the right to respond to anything in their employment files with which they disagree. He encouraged the employees to review their files and makes responses if necessary.
Borud declined making any comment to the News-Herald, however, Bockovich shared a letter she was prepared to give the school board. Bockovich said she held the position of head cook for seven years and before that was assistant to the head cook. She said when she took on leadership of the food program, the program was in the red. She was able to bring the food program budget into the black and it remained there during her tenure. She said her state and health department reviews were good.
Bockovich said in an evaluation the superintendent said she was not spending enough money on food and that she was told she was “abrasive.” Bockovich said she worked to purchase more expensive foods and on her attitude, but said she believes the request for non-renewal was because she had raised concerns about food program late fees. Bockovich said when she learned that her department was paying up to $1,500 because invoices were not being paid in a timely manner, she took it to administration. She found that in most cases late fees are waived for schools. She said since the school negotiated with vendors this is no longer a problem.
Bockovich said, “There has been a personality clash with Superintendent Schwarz and myself from the beginning. She does my evaluation but has never been in the kitchen to supervise me… There is and never has been any communication…I have felt as though I have been on a deserted island for the past seven years.
“I really like my job. I think I do a good job and am looking forward to continuing under new leadership,” wrote Bockovich.
No band director?
The board passed a motion to accept the resignation of Band Instructor Kerri Bilben with appreciation for her seven years with the school district.
Collins began the discussion that followed by saying that he would not approve of hiring any elective instructors, based on the budget discussion earlier in the meeting. “This should not be an automatic post and hire,” he said.
Goettl said this should not mean band is “going away.” But he agreed that a snap decision should not be made.
Lunde said for students who are in band, this could be heartbreaking.
White said, “I agree, but our voters have said no. This is only the beginning.”
Collins nodded, “It would be foolish not to take this opportunity to look at reductions.”
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