Cook County K-12 principal Adam Nelson said Ojibwe signage had been placed throughout the school building, but he added, “I’m working with Martina Wigwas to put syllables together, so people reading the signs know how to pronounce the words.”
Nelson was addressing the I.S.D. 166 school board at its October 27th meeting held in Grand Portage. The meeting took place in the old log building located across from the Community Center.
The Targeted Services K-8 program is in the final stages of evaluation, said Nelson. Those services are for kids struggling in reading and math, but he added that virtually any student could qualify for the program if they wanted to be included in it. A board of four elementary teachers and one middle school teacher are working in the program. For its efforts, Nelson said Northland Services considers Cook County a “model school.”
Four teachers have been taking the lead in learning a new way to conduct staff development, said Nelson. Mitch Dorr, Jana Larson, Mrs. Steele and one other teacher are taking five training classes. “It’s a change in philosophy taught by Learning Sciences International (LSI). Deer River has been using it and it has done wonders for their building.”
“Things are going very, very well with special education this year,” Nelson said. “Northland Services (who provides some of the special education services) has said that communications have improved dramatically over last year.”
New faculty and teacher evaluations were also coming along well, Nelson said. This year there are 20 non-tenure faculty and 15 new staff members.
Last, collaboration between Sawtooth Mountain Clinic and other service providers to the school district was a subject that Nelson was working on, and he said he would continue to cultivate those relationships throughout the year.
Dr. William Crandall gave the Superintendent Report next. He said Northland Foundation awarded the school district with Pre-K funding and Dr. DeWitt, assistant principal, was working out the details for the district to get the most out of the funding.
Tom Nelson, head of the maintenance department, and his crew earned a 100 percent on a report from the state’s bus inspection, said Dr. Crandall.
On Indigenous People’s Day, the cafe served a wild rice dish enjoyed by many of the students. But Crandall said an incident occurred that day among students that needed further addressing. He said a goal was to build a positive community within the school called the “Viking Way.” He added there would be a positive enrichment behavioral system discussion on December 9, and the goal would be to speak a common language throughout the school.
Dr. Crandall spoke about the need to manage the school’s financial resources. One thing he mentioned he was looking at was a way to streamline the amount of time a para took to work with some special education kids. “Do they (special ed. child) need someone sitting side-by-side with them the whole time?” While he didn’t know the answer to that question, he said the school district needed to deliver timely educational services, but in a fiscally responsible way.
“I attended the LIEC meeting in Grand Portage in September and on September 27,” said Dr. Crandall. “I also participated in the Lions Club meeting with information on the referendum with a Vote Yes committee member.”
The board voted unanimously— as it does every year– to pass a resolution for I.S.D. 166 to have membership in the Minnesota State High School League.
After some discussion, the board adopted a resolution for a Sick Day Bank. This will allow teachers who need a sick day but don’t have any available to them to borrow one from the bank. No one will know who contributes some of their sick days to the bank, said Dr. Crandall, adding it would be anonymous.
The five-year trend for student enrollment at I.S.D. 166 is mixed. The high school classes have been getting bigger, which was positive, said Dr. Crandall. But the middle school classes and elementary school classes were both trending down. Principal Adam Nelson said the smaller classes were in the 6th and 7th grades while the 9th- and 10th-grade classes were the largest. He noted that kids would come to the school after leaving Great Expectations following eighth grade, so that would help enrollment.
Michael McHugh’s sabbatical proposal request for the 2017-2018 year was granted. McHugh, a high school English teacher, put in the same request last year, which was also awarded to him but wasn’t used. Just because it’s available to him, doesn’t mean he won’t be back teaching next year, said Dr. Crandall.
No decision was reached on parking lot signs. That will be discussed at the board’s next meeting.
Julie Brandt’s retirement request was accepted, and the board approved the hire of Wiliam Hackett to drive school bus. William retired last year but, missing the kids, decided to come back and drive the Grand Portage school bus again.
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