Our first school board meeting of 2024 began with the annual Organizational Meeting. This meeting includes multiple votes, including that for the Election of Officers, Committee assignments, and various legal and business decisions. All votes seemed to be typical and routine with no major changes from last year.
Election of Officers:
- Chairperson- Mark Sebring
- Vice Chairperson- Lori Weisenburger
- Clerk- Eric Schuster
- Treasurer- Jolayne Mohs
School Board Committee assignments: https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1055?meeting=615873
These assignments are made by the chair each year. In the interest of participating on a committee that I could offer more interest and experience, I had recently asked Mr. Sebring for an assignment change for the 2024 year. He noted in the meeting that no changes were made but that requests for future assignment changes can be made toward the end of the year for next year.
Mrs. Julie Sullivan, our director of teaching and learning, was named the representative for Title I Funding.
The People’s Press was named as the district’s official newspaper.
School board meetings will continue on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 5:30pm at a district designated place.
Two law firms were approved to continue to offer legal counsel for the district: Dorsey & Whitney, and Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney.
Designated district depositories will continue to be Bremer Bank and PMA Financial Network for monies necessary to meet payrolls, activity account monies, and school district revenues needed to meet its general accounts, savings, and federal income tax withholding obligations.
Financial institutions authorized to invest district assets include: Wells Fargo Bank NA, US Bank, Well Fargo Investment Service Inc, PMA Financial Network Inc, and Bremer Bank.
The board approved authorization of the Director of Finance and Operations, the Controller or designee, to deposit and withdraw money on behalf of the district to the checking and investment accounts.
The board approved cosigners of district checks to be the Chair, Clerk, and Treasurer, and for use of the district’s check signing machine.
The board approved an allowance increase of $100 for a total of $3700 to each board member with an additional $600 to the Chair, dispersed over 24 pay periods in 2024.
The board approved an appointment of the Superintendent to serve as Deputy Treasurer of the district, assisting the Treasurer in carrying out the duties of Treasurer.
The board approved the 2023-2025 Agreement with the Local 147, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Secretarial/Clerical Employees and authorized the Chair and Clerk to execute the agreement on behalf of the school board.
The board approved the 2023-2025 Agreement with Owatonna Educational Assistant Staff and authorized the Chair and Clerk to execute the agreement on behalf of the school board.
Finally, the monthly Personnel Report was approved, and the Organizational Meeting was adjourned.
Immediately following, we proceeded to begin the monthly work session which primarily focused on reports from Lincoln Elementary School and OHS.
Mary Hawkins, principal of Lincoln, presented information regarding Social Emotional Learning, Professional Learning and Collaboration, and Academics. Joining her were 3 teachers, and the teaching and learning coach. They focused the presentation on the Functional Phonics program for K-2 students. This has been a great success so far and the teachers and students have had good experiences. They will be doing winter benchmark assessments this week and are eager to see the results.
Kory Kath, principal of OHS, presented with the Dean of Students Doug Wanous, and assistant principals Hollie Jeska and Phil Wiken. They discussed transitions, working within the new high school building and deciding what is working well and what could be done better for the 2024-2025 school year in this new space. Mr. Kath discussed the Social Studies changes based on recent legislation which has changed the graduation requirements. Mr. Elstad noted that this will also require policy 613 to be updated and will be addressed at a future board meeting. Students need to have 3.5 social studies credits to graduate, Personal Finance is required for all students in grade 10, 11 or 12 and civics is required in grade 11 or 12. OHS continues to offer advanced electives and entry courses which go above and beyond state requirements.
Owatonna Public Schools uses the model of MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support). This identifies 3 tiers of students and the supports available to them. About 80% of students fall in the bottom tier and do well in school without extra interventions. About 15% of students fall into the second tier and are considered “at risk.” They qualify for short term counseling, social skills groups, mentoring or tutoring, a special education evaluation, IEP or 504 plan, the WIN or REACH programs. Then about 5% of students fall into the top tier which is for high risk students who require intensive monitoring and supervision, ongoing counseling, treatment programs, alternative education options, special education resources and direct instruction. These students can qualify for the MN Model and work with the Behavior Interventionist. The rest of the presentation given at the meeting specifically addressed some of these interventions available to our at risk and high risk students.
Mr. Wanous discussed the WIN program. This is for students that have 10 or more absences from school. Once a student has 5 absences, he is notified and tries to work with the student to identify barriers for school attendance. However, if the student continues to miss school, up to 10 absences, they become part of the WIN program. He works with them to build a relationship, and offers financial incentives such as gift cards for meeting attendance goals.
Ms. Jeska noted that for the first time, we have a General Education Social Worker at OHS. In the past, social workers have only worked through special education. Ms. Jeska applied for a grant and OHS has been awarded the MN Model state grant. The goal with this grant is to decrease the “school to prison pipeline.” The school is partnering with South Central Humans Relations Center to offer counseling and treatment to students at no charge to their family. Our schools also have Behavior Interventionists, funded by Special Education monies, to help students with self regulation, and also reduces disruptive behaviors in the classroom.
Mr. Wiken discussed student driven course planning, meaning that our course offerings are based on graduation requirements and student interests. If approved by the District Curriculum Advisory Committee and the school board, there will be 12 new courses next year. They are creating an online student hub which will be a “one-stop shop” for student resources and registration. February starts the registration process and by March 7th, registration will close. There will be planning meetings for course registration on February 7 and 21, and March 6, 2024.
During Board Forum, Superintendent Elstad mentioned that they continue to work through the Guiding Change elementary boundaries process. They have developed an Input Team of staff and parents, and will have open meetings to discuss this further. These meetings are public but only the team members are allowed to make comments. These meetings will take place at OMS on January 23 and February 20, 2024 from 6-8pm : https://www.isd761.org/our-district/school-board/boundaries
Lastly, Superintendent Elstad noted that the district was approached by Wee Pals daycare center due to the unexpected need to find a new facility for the daycare by April 1, 2024. In working with our Community Education director, Deb McDermott-Johnson and Superintendent Elstad, the district is able to help Wee Pals and the many families that use Wee Pals for daycare, beginning April 1 through December 2024. The daycare will be utilizing space at the Owatonna Education Center. Knowing how challenging it is to find daycare, I am glad that our district could help the community in this way. Thank you Deb and Mr. Elstad and all the staff and students at OEC for sharing your space with Wee Pals.
Wow, a lot of info here! Bundle up Owatonna, it’s getting cold as a typical Minnesota winter should be. Stay safe and watch out for slippery ice. Isn’t ice always slippery?? Anyway, take care. Soli Deo Gloria.
Elizabeth for Owatonna Schools 