With the Grand Marais Public Library moving into its temporary space in the Cook County Schools complex in less than a week, the ISD 166 school board engaged in a civil but hearty debate on June 7 over where the district office to be displaced by the library would move.
In the face of declining enrollment, the board has started a process of decreasing administrative staff and consolidating offices in order to downsize the budget. Some time ago, Superintendent Beth Schwarz proposed to the school board that the district office move into the elementary school and that the elementary office consolidate with the middle/high school office.
One of the advantages of this is that K-12 Principal Gwen Carman wouldn’t have to run from one place to another to retrieve messages and pick up her mail, which has been the case since the two principal positions were melded into one a couple of years ago.
School board member Jeanne Anderson, who was formerly the elementary secretary, voiced concern over requiring small children to navigate their way into the middle/ high school and through crowds of older students. She also expressed concern over the district office, which deals with confidential personnel data on a regular basis, being open to the elementary teacher workroom and lounge.
Anderson said that for both safety and public relations reasons, she would like to see the district office in what is now the Community Education office, especially while the library rents the Jane Mianowski conference room and adjoining offices.
Mary Sanders said that moving the district office once rather than twice would be less disruptive.
“I really believe in my heart that this is the best scenario,” Superintendent Schwarz said, adding that district office staff would walk younger students down to the new office area if they wandered in looking for the elementary office.
Terry Collins said he knows the office changes would be hard for staff and he understands the concern regarding younger kids having to interface with older ones, but he thought the older kids might rise to the occasion and temper their behavior with smaller students present. “I’m optimistic that smart people can make this work,” Collins said. “Smart people of good will will make this work.”
With Deb White not yet at the meeting, the board voted on a motion to adopt Schwarz’s proposal to move the district office to the current elementary office area and to move the elementary office in with the secondary office. The motion failed by split vote, with Mary Sanders and Terry Collins voting yes and Jeanne Anderson and Leonard Sobanja voting no.
Later in the meeting, after White had arrived, the board discussed the issue again since they still had to decide where the district office would be going. Superintendent Schwarz said that if the district office moved into the Community Education suite, it would also need to spread into the west hallway where summer youth programs are based.
Deb White wondered what the faculty thought about the proposed office moves. Principal Carman said they were not necessarily supporting the idea but believed they would get used to it. She pointed out that other planned programming moves would place third grade in the same hallway with fourth and fifth grades, about equidistant from the current elementary and middle/ high school offices. “I think we can make it work,” she said.
Terry Collins wondered how the district would handle older students who were upset and acting out. This happens for a couple of minutes every two or three weeks, Carman said. “Most of the time when they get sent to the office, they’re stewing,” she said, and might not become vocal until they are in one of the staff offices. Fifth graders can get mouthy, too, she pointed out.
Mary Sanders made a second motion, seconded by Terry Collins, to move the district office down to the current elementary office area. While Deb White had expressed disagreement with the plan at first, she changed her mind and voted for it, allowing this motion to pass by a vote of 3-2, with Anderson and Sobanja voting no once again.
“Make it work,” Collins said.
“I’m sure it will work,” said Anderson. “It’s a good discussion. That’s why we have these!”
Secondary office renovation
With the elementary office consolidating with the secondary office, the board voted to spend up to $18,000 renovating the space. The tall built-in counter/desk unit will be removed and the threadbare carpeting will be replaced. Cabinets and equipment near the window may be removed and the space reconfigured. A window facing the Eagle door hallway will be installed so that staff can observe people entering the building.
Furniture in the district office will be used to replace the counter/desk unit in the secondary office if possible. Bids will go out for work that cannot be done by the school. The Boy Scout Order of the Arrow group that will be paying to stay in the school this month while they do community service projects will help with demolition.
In an effort to increase student and staff safety, Superintendent Schwarz is working with Maintenance Director Mike Groth on a plan that would keep all school doors except for the Eagle door entrance locked throughout the day.
Staff, which would have key-card access to the other doors, would be required to park in what is now the elementary parking lot. A parent drop-off and pick-up plan has not yet been outlined. Anderson said she has heard “a lot of positive comments” about limiting public access to a single entrance.
Data-driven instruction planning
With Deb White not yet at the meeting, the board approved a motion to spend $50,000 to add four days to teacher contracts for staff development related to the new datadriven instruction protocol and $10,000 for substitute teachers and other expenses. The expenditure is part of a $155,000 initiative that was outlined on the referendum that passed last November.
Data-driven instruction, which tests students frequently so that teachers can tailor their teaching to student needs, is being implemented to increase student achievement and lower achievement gaps among students.
Lengthy closed session
The board met in closed session for about five hours to conduct employee performance reviews of Gwen Carman and Beth Schwarz. Summaries of those reviews will be given at the June 14 school board meeting.
Leave a Reply