Superintendent Beth Schwarz reported to the ISD 166 school board Wednesday, August 18, 2010 that thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Blandin Foundation, the county is seeking proposals for projects that would demonstrate how ultra high speed Internet (“broadband”) could benefit the community, and the school could be one of the prime projects.
Schwarz showed the board a diagram comparing various Internet speeds people in Cook County have now and could have in the future: from dial-up —a dot on the page—to T1 lines (which the school has three of)—a circle about 1/3 inch in diameter—to the proposed fiber optic line—almost 8 inches in diameter. Superintendent Schwarz suggested that they think of the dots and circles like water going through pipes in order to understand the difference higher speeds could make.
Schwarz talked about other Minnesota school districts that either offer online classes statewide in addition to regular school or districts that were created solely for online education. If Cook County Schools had ultra high speed capability, it could compete for student dollars by offering classes to students across the state, and it might retain some Cook County students who would otherwise pursue online options outside the district.
Early childhood education
Lynn Sheils, hired as the Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) parent and child educator for 40 40-hour weeks per year, gave the school board an overview of the program.
One of the resources being utilized by ECFE is a set of sign language videos to help parents and children learn to sign. A trend in recent years has been to teach signing to babies and toddlers because many of them can communicate with their hands before they have developed the ability to speak. Schwarz said that signing can help lower kids’ frustration levels because they can communicate their thoughts more readily.
Sheils talked about some of the topics she covers with the children and their parents. The program helps parents feel less isolated, she said, and she hopes it helps them feel respected and welcome in the school district. “We try to respect the parent as the child’s first teacher,” she said.
Superintendent Schwarz said state funding will pay for Sheils’ position this year and those of three assistants, Joanne Edson, Bernice Kloster, and Sierra Prophet. Funding is not guaranteed after that.
A pancake breakfast in August made over $2,000 for the program. Gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton attended it, and Sheils said she overheard him saying, “Wow. That was great. We need to do something like this for our education center.”
This last school year, 43 families and close to 70 children participated. Sheils would like to reach out to all Cook County families with children ages five and under, but ECFE has no way of automatically finding out who those families are.
Principal’s report
K-12 principal Gwen Carman told the school board she heard lots of good comments on the CCHS band float in the Fisherman’s Picnic parade. She would like to see it become a tradition. CCHS alumni had been invited to participate as well, and it was led by band director Bill Tormondsen, who retired from the district this June.
ISD 166 is one of 296 schools or districts in the state that will be required to set goals and make a plan to meet Adequate Yearly Progress on student achievement scores. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools must demonstrate that their students are meeting certain goals as measured on standardized achievement tests.
Superintendent’s report
Some reductions in district programs this year will be the result of funding cuts, Schwarz said, but others will simply be a result of fewer dollars coming in due to smaller enrollment figures. As of the August 18 school board meeting, 464 students were enrolled for the 2010-11 school year. Fifty-nine students graduated in June, and the district anticipated 34 kindergarteners, which would be a net loss of 25 students.
The federal jobs bill could bring some money to the district, Superintendent Schwarz told the school board. If it does, the money may need to be spent on certain programs. She expected to hear word on this after August 30.
Biomass feasibility study
The board declined approving payment of a $2,500 bill from LHB Engineering of Duluth for a preliminary study on the feasibility of a biomass-fueled heat- and electricity-generating plant for public buildings in Grand Marais. No one on the board remembered approving the expenditure last year when the study was initiated.
LHB conducted the study for the county, the City of Grand Marais, ISD 166, and the Cook County Local Energy Project and split the bill among the four entitites.
The board directed Superintendent Schwarz to tell the county board that the district will not contribute the money unless they get documentation that they approved the expenditure. They could not find record of it in school board minutes.
Personnel
School nurse Kristin DeArruda Wharton resigned for another job. In the nurse’s office this year will be registered nurse Allison Heeren (16 hours a week) and licensed practical nurse Kay Borud (32 hours a week).
T.J. Super was hired as a technology assistant for 100 hours this year in addition to his teaching job, which was reduced after the end of this last school year.
Chair Bill Huggins read a summary of the school board’s performance evaluation of Superintendent Schwarz. He said, “Generally speaking, the board was satisfied with her performance. Her enthusiasm and dedication, concern and financial ability ranked high. Her ability to keep the board informed was applauded, as was her desire to improve the academic standing of students with dedication to early childhood development and keeping class sizes small. Her involvement with the community was discussed and suggestions were made.” Areas for improvement regarded the handling of unrequested leaves of absence, staff layoffs, and research into a four-day school week. Schwarz outlined her own goals, which also included the unrequested leave of absence process as well as “limiting personal reactions to issues.”
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