Twelve members of the high school choir graced the Cook County Schools – ISD 166 school board with a couple of melodies to open the March 3, 2016 board meeting. The chorus under the direction of instructor Erica Ternes performed The Cloths of Heavens and Candle Blessing. The choral group is preparing for their second appearance in two years at the Minnesota State High School League music competition.
Superintendent search
The search for the next Cook County school superintendent kept members of the local school board busy over the last few weeks. In addition to being a main subject of discussion at several of their most recent regular board meetings, a special meeting was held March 10. The Lake Superior School District (LSSD) board also attended the gathering via telepresence as they had earlier on February 24. The seven-member LSSD board unanimously agreed that they are willing to share their superintendent, Dr. Bill Crandall.
The two boards considered three possible sharing scenarios of Crandall’s salary and related superintendent expenses such as travel, membership dues and telephone expenses. Crandall’s current salary is $135,782 per year. The first scenario would be for ISD 166 to assume 30 percent of the salary and all associated costs. In the second scenario, Cook County would pay just 50 percent of the salary and LSSD would be responsible for all other shared expenses. It was anticipated that the bottom line for both districts would be similar under either situation.
The third and eventually approved option was for each school to hold separate contracts with Crandall with an additional agreement between the two districts for the sharing of related costs. Although not a unanimous vote by the LSSD board, their consensus was that they would then retain their full-time superintendent and would basically just allow him to pursue a second outside job as he saw fit. They do not currently require any certain schedule from their chief administrator and trust his professionalism to be sure he makes up any excess missed time used for the Cook County employment.
Tentatively it is foreseen that the agreement between the districts would be for one year with a clause that either district can terminate the arrangement with a 90-day notice. Also during the final three months the contract would be subject to review by the districts.
Board Members Chris Goettl and Terry Collins met with Crandall March 11 to begin contract negotiations. The board would loosely expect the position and compensation to be approximately 30 percent of what a full-time position would entail.
Board Chair Jeanne Anderson and LSSD Board Chair John Merrill have also been in contact to create the agreement between the districts. Contacted by email March 13, Anderson said she is hopeful that both agreements can be arrived at and approved at the March 17 regular school board meeting.
Anderson also reported that there are 14 applications completed for the position of a superintendent/ principal through grade five posted through the Minnesota School Board Association. The board reviewed and accepted the format of the first round of interviews at their March 3 meeting. A list of standardized questions for the interviews was also agreed to.
That part of the search has been pushed back one week pending the outcome of the Crandall and LSSD contracts. If the negotiations are not successful that process will continue as originally set.
Budget discussion
As finalizing next year’s budget gets closer, the possibility of increasing class sizes was further discussed. Board Member Deb White said she feels that some middle school students in transitional years would be challenged by larger classes. She stated that she would prefer to keep those classes smaller as opposed to earlier elementary grades. Collins countered that research shows the most benefit of small classes in the younger grades.
Echoing his observations from previous meetings,
Collins said he does not feel that Superintendent Beth Schwarz has gone far enough with decreasing non-academic areas of the budget. He believes that two of the teaching positions slated for potential cuts could be saved. Anderson suggested giving Schwarz a directive to further look at reduction options outside of the classroom.
Board Member Sissy Lunde remarked that looking at the projections of only 25 children in some grades, she does not think it is necessary to have just 12 students in classes in later grades.
“We have serious roof issues that have to be addressed,” said Lunde, adding that it has to be done this year and can’t be pushed back any longer. Maintenance Supervisor Tom Nelson has received some bids for roof repairs but was not available to present any additional details.
Anderson mentioned that union president Mitch Dorr has discussed the anxiety among staff knowing that budget reductions are looming. They would prefer to see the specifics of reductions sooner than later so they have the opportunity to pursue other job postings if necessary. White replied, “We have been looking at list after list and we need to get where we’re going.”
Anderson refuted that it is typically April before the budgeting process is complete.
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