Due to the events of last week, this report on the most recent work session will be brief. There were a few important agenda items that I wanted to be sure to make note of.
LEVY REFERENDUM – Dr. Champa is hosting several informational sessions with local community groups and leaders, plus hosting a few public sessions, in order to communicate and answer questions about the upcoming levy vote. Public sessions are listed here and on the district website:
September 26, 7am and 8am, District Office
September 30, 7pm, OHS Foundation Room
October 15, 12pm, District Office
October 23, 7pm, District Office
SALE FORMER DISTRICT OFFICE BUILDING – Administration is working with the City of Owatonna for the purchase of the old district building on Bridge Street. The city plans to use the building for law enforcement purposes. Hopefully, the sale will be finalized in October.
CADENCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY – Dr. Champa presented a sample graph that will be used for measuring goals’ success over the school year. Each principal and cabinet member is setting 3 SMART goals that align with our strategic directions and will be accountable for self-reflective ratings and meeting with Dr. Champa every month.
Dr. Champa also presented 3 goals as the Superintendent which are outlined in the associated agenda item. Mainly, these include working with the community to provide information regarding the levy, working to ensure ongoing safety and cybersecurity for all aspects of the district, and thirdly, working with a “nationally-normed survey” to address areas of need, assessing priorities and setting goals, plus communicating this information to the community. She noted that this survey will be a combination of a national survey with our Desired Daily Experiences survey that our district has used for the last few years.
CLOSED SESSION – the board closed the open work session for a closed session presentation regarding safety and cybersecurity. This session was closed due to the nature of information presented. Chair Sebring noted that this work for safety has been ongoing for many months and is not new or related to the recent school shooting in Minneapolis. I was reassured that our district is taking extensive measures to protect our kids, teachers, and staff in our buildings but also through the internet.
That’s all for now! Enjoy the homecoming week and please be safe, kind, and respectful.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Elizabeth for Owatonna Schools 
Does the survey to address areas of need involve monitoring and developing plans to address poor reading and math proficiency? At the Rotary meeting on Monday I told Dr. Champa I would be more inclined to vote for the referendum if there were meaningful programs to address reading and math proficiency and not just maintain current programs. She mentioned there were some types of efforts to measure and improve proficiency. I told her that publicizing these programs might be positive in passing the referendum. Personally, if I am convinced that there are meaningful programs in place that are designed to produce* measurable results* (and only if I am confident) will I vote for the referendum.
Ray Stawarz
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Agreed. The READ Act is one of those programs that is just getting started with new curriculum and ways of teaching reading. My fourth grader’s class is starting a new math curriculum this year that will be expanded next year to most/all elementary classes. I’m hopeful this will help, but I suppose it will take some time to see significant improvements on MCA test scores. I’ll mention this to Dr Champa too. Thank you Ray!
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