January 23, 2023 Board Meeting

My first official board meeting was held in the small group forum room at OHS, lasted approximately one hour, 5:30 -6:30pm. Our school board chair, Mark Sebring, read through an oath of office and then I read through my part of the oath and wa-lah! It’s official! Here I am, and so very honored to be sitting in this chair!

Recognition was given to 4 students from OHS for their outstanding achievements, earning them the ExCEL Awards and the Triple A Awards. As mentioned previously, I am so glad that Owatonna continues to recognize the efforts and successes of our students (one male and one female student for each award), honoring each of them and thus encouraging them to continue to work hard and ultimately continue their efforts as strong, capable, kind adults.

For the public forum, we had an announcement regarding the successes of our OHS Magnet team in the community. Also, a community member expressed concerns regarding land conservation and our carbon footprint, noting that he is hopeful that our students are learning these concepts in science classes and through the FFA. Personally, I am wondering what the follow up is to this gentleman’s concern. Are his comments passed along to our science teachers? Will the curriculum committee save these comments and consider them when choosing the next science texts? Will there be a discussion amongst board members regarding his concerns and how to move forward? I have yet to figure this out, especially as more comments come forward in future public forums.

Next on the agenda was the Board Forum which included reviewing Policy Revisions. Our policy committee has 3 board members (Tim, Jolayne, Lori) who review sections of policy, make revisions, and send this to all board members. The policy committee is advisory only, the full school board continues to have the final say in policies. We review these revisions prior to the board meeting, ask questions as needed, and then present them for final approval at the meeting. There were several policies up for review, the longest one being Student Discipline. I was encouraged to see written policy stating that our students are expected to be respectful, including refraining from obscene language. The policy is too long to list here, but it includes the action steps for students who break the policies. Ultimately, the principal sets the “rules and regulations” for each school, the superintendent gives “guidelines and directives” to the school staff, all of which are subject to school board approval. As I visit the schools in the coming weeks, I will be asking about policies and behaviors to get a better understanding of how much this has been a problem in our schools. Also in the review was the addition to the Student Medication policy. Our district will obtain Narcan, and training for how to use it, for “each school site.” Narcan is given when it is strongly suspected that someone is overdosed on opioid medication. This is the world we live in now, when opioids (especially Fentanyl) are finding its way into our schools and we need to be prepared to save a child’s life. While there were several other revisions reviewed, the last policy revision I’m noting here is only because I found it surprising and encouraging. For some time now, the state of MN has mandated schools to have a prevention program for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). From the state of MN, and also stated in our policy, we are required to have “curriculum that includes helping students to abstain from sexual activity until marriage.” What?! Isn’t that refreshing in today’s “free” world where some will say that anything at any age is okay. I’m grateful we still have this language in our policy.

Jeff Elstad gave an Administrative Report. This included Michelle Krell’s discussion of 10 new electives that will be offered next year. Two of those will be at OMS, including sign language and unified PE (combining special ed students with other students). The other 8 courses will be at OHS, including a fire fighter course 1 &2, Emergency Care, Web and Computer Animation, Husky Hut school store for young entrepreneurs, AP PreCalculus, Intro to Plants, and Human Performance (health and wellness based). I believe these new electives are great opportunities for our students! Mr. Elstad is also working with Riverland College to combine labs and work spaces for health science classes with OHS, there is a $1 million bond discussion and I’m not completely clear on how this will move forward yet. He is on the search committee for their new president as well.

Finally, there was a long list of gifts given to the district, from a sled donation to Wilson school, up to an $85,000 donation from the Thelma Rice Estate (which Mr. Elstad explained will be discussed for best use of these funds). Many generous givers are in our community, thank you!

That wraps up the meeting. The video recording should be available soon, check the district website! Moving forward, the work sessions (second Monday of each month) will now be held back at the district office. Anyone is still welcome to attend, but there is no public forum then. Please keep in touch!