Author Archives: ElizabethHedlund

Governor Walz recently signed a new law regarding the use of restraints in Minnesota schools by School Resource Officers. Many have felt that this law is confusing, lacking clarity, and therefore places our SROs with too much dangerous liability. As a result, several school districts in Minnesota are now without any SROs. In our lastContinue reading “SRO Update”

The school board work session occurred on Monday September 11, 2023. Please take a moment to pause and remember 911, and talk about what happened to our country on that day. Thank you to all of those that have made significant sacrifices on that day and since that day. The majority of the work sessionContinue reading “9/11/2023 Work Session”

I just received this email and wanted to share a great resource for anyone who knows children starting a new school year. This resource is called Success at School Handbook 2023-2024 and was created by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. Lots of helpful information is here to assist you in navigating and finding answersContinue reading “FAIR: School Handbook”

Since I was not able to connect to the school board meeting to attend virtually, I watched the video recording and will summarize the meeting here. Here is the video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUyyCxhP5w0. Most of the audio is difficult to hear but I will do my best to accurately report on the meeting. First, the SchoolhouseContinue reading “8/28/2023 Regular School Board Meeting”

First, my apologies to the Owatonna community. I had prepped and planned to be virtually present for the school board meeting on 8/28/2023 while my family was spending a long weekend in Wisconsin Dells. When I attempted to connect to the meeting with the Google Meet invitation received last week, the wheels were turning butContinue reading “Update/News”

The application process is open for anyone to apply for the District Curriculum Advisory Committee. This committee allows up to 25 members and will meet once monthly during the school year. Membership is one year, but could possibly be longer if desired and space allows. District meetings are “closed” meetings, meaning that the general publicContinue reading “Curriculum”

The school board met on August 7, 2023 for a four-hour retreat at The Learning Zone and again on August 14, 2023 for our monthly work session at the district office. The retreat was led by Dr. Ray Queener from TeamWorks (https://teamworks4ed.com/). We engaged in a team building exercise and Ray led us in discussionsContinue reading “Retreat and Work Session”

The only school board meeting for July was held in the school district office, 5 school board members attended. I was not able to attend this meeting but have listened to the recording on the district website. The link to the meeting video: https://youtu.be/_fBdhY9RVRE As per all regular school board meetings, public forum was anContinue reading “July 10, 2023 Regular Meeting”

Our school board meeting was held at the district office, beginning at 5:30pm, where all meetings will be held until further notice. Save the date! Grand opening for the new Owatonna High School will be held September 23, 2023. This fall, there will also be a farewell open house at the old high school building.Continue reading “June 26,2023 Regular Meeting”

The school board meeting on June 12,2023 began with a Special Meeting due to the need to approve an updated copier/printer lease agreement and an updated personnel report. The board approved a 5 year lease agreement with Marco after reviewing comparative results and recommendations from Lori Volz, our director of finance. The new company MarcoContinue reading “June 12,2023 Special/Closed Sessions and Work Session”