School District 166 has a good problem to have. Several teachers are expecting or recently gave birth to children, which is good news for future school enrollment. However, those births raised some issues regarding time off for the new parents at the February 5, 2015 school board meeting.
April Wahlstrom, the Cook County Middle and High School Science teacher, as well as coach for cross country running, track, Knowledge Bowl and Envirothon, is expecting her baby in June. In a letter to the school board, Wahlstrom said she plans to teach up until the point of delivery if possible, which would allow her to finish out the 2015 school year.
She said her intent is to take maternity leave during the first quarter of the 2015-16 school year. That would mean she would use six weeks of sick leave, plus additional time, which would be unpaid. Wahlstrom wrote, “I feel that transitioning at quarter time is what is best for the students in a long-term absence.”
She noted that during maternity leave she planned to continue coaching the cross country team. She said another teacher, David Liechty, has agreed to take on her JV Knowledge Bowl coaching duties and she would be back to coach the varsity Knowledge Bowl team in January 2016.
Superintendent Beth Schwarz noted that Wahlstrom goes above and beyond in her teaching and extra activities, however, she said that approving the use of sick leave when someone is not under medical care would be setting a precedent. Schwarz said she had talked to the school attorney who recommended not approving the request as is.
The attorney said the school could consider a memorandum of understanding with Wahlstrom. Or, Schwarz said the attorney advised that this is something that should be considered during negotiations with teachers.
Schwarz thanked Wahlstrom for bringing this forward now so details could be worked out. She said although there is no question that Wahlstrom qualifies to take up to a year off under the Family Medical Leave Act, the FMLA leave is unpaid.
Schwarz said an additional question was whether people are allowed to use the FMLA leave in conjunction with summer vacation.
Schwarz said the school board had talked about establishing a paid time off (PTO) system in negotiations with the teachers last year and it was rejected. Under a PTO system, employees can use time accrued for whatever purpose they wish. “That would have allowed us to do this,” Schwarz said.
If the school district granted Wahlstrom’s request, “We would be setting precedent for anyone to come forward, wanting to use their sick leave when they are not sick.
“On the other hand, we want to be supportive of our teachers, especially when they are bringing a new life into the world.”
Schwarz said she would get copies of the teachers’ contract to all school board members. She would get in touch with the teachers’ union representative Mitch Dorr to ask them to draft a memorandum of agreement for the request.
“We don’t have to adopt it, but it gives us something to work with,” said Schwarz.
Another staffer, Spanish Teacher Carrie Jansen is also expecting a baby around April 15. Jansen made a request for maternity leave, which was granted unanimously. However, a request by another staffer to gift Jansen with five accumulated sick days to use as maternity leave days was denied.
Board Member Deb White asked if this would set a precedent and Superintendent Schwarz said yes. She said she had discussed the request with the school’s attorney and she said, “I strongly, strongly suggest that the board not approve this.”
She said if the school board wanted to approve the request, it should establish a “sick leave pool,” which is something that should be done through negotiations with the teachers.
She added that the school has had a number of staff members who have welcomed babies or been out numerous days because of illness or for cancer treatment. She asked how it would make an employee feel if no one contributed to them. The board took no action on the request.
Finally the board unanimously approved extending maternity leave for Melissa Steele. Her leave from teaching is authorized under the FMLA and is unpaid. She plans to return to work on April 6 as students return to school after spring break.
Parking lot expansion includes driveway on school grounds
In January, the school board gave the go ahead to Superintendent Schwarz to seek bids for two major projects at the Grand Marais campus. At the February 5 meeting, Schwarz provided more information to the public on the proposed renovation and expansion of the Industrial Tech area and the school parking lot.
Bids are currently being accepted for a proposed “entry drive project,” which includes a new access road from the east. Schwarz shared a preliminary architectural drawing from Fernandez Landscape Architecture of the project. The work to be done includes construction of a new asphalt paved driveway entrance with curb, gutter, sidewalk and storm drainage improvements. The plan calls for the possible creation of another 12 stalls of parking between the existing parking area and West 5th Street.
Fernandez Landscape Architecture was hired at a cost of $13,750 in May 2014 to develop a plan, which would create a driveway to facilitate a oneway traffic flow to and from the main entrance.
The architect estimate covers a range of options including paved or unpaved parking stalls, several new ADA stalls near the school’s Eagle entrance, and a new concrete walk between the school and the YMCA.
Bids will be opened on February 26 and the school board will take action on the bids—to accept or deny—on March 5. If bids are accepted, the projected start date for construction will be June 5, said Schwarz, with the work completed by July 2015.
Industrial Arts expansion bids sought
This week, Architectural Resources Inc. (ARI) advertised for bids for the Cook County High School Tech Ed addition and remodel. Schwarz provided the school board with a preliminary floor plan for the Tech Ed area, which will consist of 4,462 square feet of remodeled space and 2,184 square feet of new space.
This summer ARI estimated that the budget for the remodel/expansion project would be $997,500 plus a contingency fund of $100,000.
Project costs are being covered by $750,000 of taconite funding plus another $150,000 available from the sale of the west end of the building to the county for the Cook County Community YMCA. There may also be funds that can be accessed from the health and safety fund for certain improvements.
The bid opening will be March 12 and the board will decide what action to take at the March 19 school board meeting. If the board decided to proceed, Schwarz said staging would begin in the middle of May with construction “in high gear” by June 9, 2015.
The completion date is set for August 25, 2015.
Schwarz, School Maintenance Director Tom Nelson and School Board Member Deb White (via phone) did a walk through of the area to be remodeled with the architect last week. White said, “The energy around that Industrial Arts expansion is exciting!”
In other business
. The school board gave a final review of the updated transportation policy, which had been reviewed by the school’s attorney Bonnie Thayer and discussed at two previous meetings. A unanimous motion passed to approve the updated policy.
. Superintendent Schwarz reported on her attendance of meetings at the Minnesota Rural Education Association. She said the meeting was “very informative” and she learned a lot about the Success for the Future (SftF) program. She said ISD 166, in collaboration with the Grand Portage Education Department receives $69,445 in SftF funding. However, because it is a competitive grant process, the school district and the Grand Portage Education Department do not know exactly what they will be receiving—or if they will receive any funding—from year to year. She said efforts are under way to make sure legislative action secures this funding for all districts that receive Title VII funding, as ISD 166 does.
. The school board recessed to closed session for the final agenda item, which was superintendent evaluation.
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