Address administration’s top spot; staff survey; fuel oil release; school’s physical, educational, functional needs; pending lawsuit
Butterfield-Odin Public School (B-OPS) School Board members addressed the administration’s top spot – the half-time superintendent position – at two different levels at a special meeting in the Media Center on Monday, February 6.
At a long-term level – the search for a permanent half-time superintendent.
On another level – short-term – is the need for someone to fill that position from March 1 through June 30. Current interim half-time Superintendent Allen Stoeckman has resigned, effective March 1, and definitively dismissed any ideas for an extension during the meeting.
Taking a look into the future of next school year, and possibly, beyond, Gary Lee of the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA) and Harold Remme of South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) were at the meeting to lead board members in the superintendent search. They reviewed the process in crafting and defining hiring criteria – to developing a timeline from posting to hiring.
Lee asked board members if they wanted to post for more than half-time for the job. B-OPS School Board Clerk Renae Meyer brought up a discussion on increasing the postion to 0.75 time, but B-OPS School Board Directors Joel Penner and Andy Pierson noted that the half-time salary was already set in the budget, and wondered what any increase in time, connected with an increase in salary, would mean for funding students’ other educational needs.
In the end, board members held the post as half-time, and worked with Lee and Remme to craft a timeline:
- Application window – February 17 to March 24.
- Online survey (Survey Monkey) for staff, students and district residents to help determine important issues or standards for the board to consider – March 6 to March 24.
- MSBA review of the list of applicants – April 6.
- Applications in District Office for board members to read individually – A date between April 6 to April 11.
- Joint meeting between school board, Lee and Remme to determine finalists and interview questions – April 11.
- First round of interviews – April 18 or April 19, 4 p.m.
- Second round of interviews – April 25, 4 p.m.
- Site visit if necessary if applicant is employed by another school district – A date between April 26 to April 28.
- Signed contract goal – May 1.
At the meeting, board members completed a qualification survey to be used as a lead-in to hiring criteria, selecting six skills out of the 22 listed as necessary requirements:
- High ethical standards.
- Strong academic background, along curriculum experience.
- Knowledge of finances.
- Knowledge of special needs and a diverse population.
- Visible, accessible and can work with the school board.
- Visionary in implementing educational opportunities.
Salary was posted in a range from $55,000 to $60,000, plus benefits.
The more urgent need, however, is to have a superintendent in place when Superintendent Stoeckman leaves the school district. That leaves the board with a narrow three-week window.
Lee presented three options, one of which – Stoeckman remaining on board – was nixed by the interim superintendent himself. The other two possibilities were sharing with a neighboring district or looking internally for a qualified candidate. K-12 Principal Barry Schmidt is licensed. If he would be called up, his role in that post as principal would need to be filled.
Stoeckman also presented six applications he had received for the interim position.
Board members elected to hold another special meeting on Monday, February 13, at 5:30 p.m., in the Media Center, to make a final decision on what direction they will go to have an interim half-time superintendent on staff.
School Staff Survey results shared
Stoeckman shared a brief summary of a recently-completed School Staff Survey. The survey, which was completed on Friday, February 3, was compiled by School Counselor Tammi Samuelson. The questionnaire was part of both the Achievement and Integration Plan and the World’s Best Workforce.
Out of 43 staff members, 24 responded, some doing so with hesitancy.
Stoeckman reported two high spots in survey responses:
- Respondents felt supported and respected in the school.
- Respondents were committed to seeing the school succeed.
He also told board members to be proud of the way the staff was responding with their support in moving the school forward.
However, he did note that staff members who replied had reservations about the school board.
Action on fuel oil release on school property
Board members also approved an agreement with Apex Environmental for a cost of $7,614.40 to complete a site investigation required by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) due to a fuel oil release on school property.
Unesco presents preliminary results of facility walk-through
Brian Grinnell, along with Sharon Haight, engineer, both of the St. Paul Unesco office, presented preliminary results of a facility walk-through conducted on November 30, 2016. Unesco works in all aspects of facilities planning and management. Their architects, engineers, designers, analysts and energy specialists provide implementation of education facilities initiatives. Their team holds a combined 1,000 years of planning, design, engineering and construction experience, having implemented over $900 million in educational facility improvements with more than 100 K-12 districts throughout the Midwest.
The Unesco representatives explained to the board that during their day of assessments, they observed the school building’s physical needs, students’ educational needs and the functional needs of the building for students and staff.
They shared the findings of the walk-through, noting deficiencies and needs in all three areas – while also stating that 80% of the campus buildings are 60+ years old, and so naturally will have issues.
Those needs, spread across the three categories, included:
- Boiler issues (one boiler available, one decommissioned).
- Heating lines problems.
- Asbestos abatement.
- Tuck pointing.
- Roofing problems.
- Window insulation and casing issues.
- Damage to the concrete foundation.
- Downspouts emptying down into the building’s foundation.
- Damaged bricks.
- Moss growth.
- Sidewalk issues.
- Accessibility to some areas of the building as directed by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Indoor air quality problems (ventilation and dehumidification),
- Room temperature discrepancies (either cold or too hot),
- Poor lighting.
- Plumbing problems.
- Room acoustics.
- Interior spaces and finishes.
- Energy loss issues.
- Student flow through the building.
- Lack of break-out spaces.
- Site security shortages.
- Technology improvements that continually need to be updated.
- Locker room issues.
- Lack of enough storage areas.
- Science classrooms needing updates.
Unesco offered board members a more expansive assessment and assistance in developing a list of criteria. Based on the results, the decision could be made for the district to tackle items on the list themselves and/or plan on budgeting for item(s) over the course of the next year.
What needs remained would be prioritized to complete over a 10-year time period, with funding coming from voter-approved and/or non-voter-approved sources.
As Grinell closed, he presented to board members, “We have done the analysis to this point. The next step is yours. We can assist you to do any project or projects you want, if you want – or you can do a lot of stuff on your own – but we will still help with your 10-year plan.”
Close meeting to address litigation
The school board met in closed session under the Minnesota Open Meeting Law Statute dealing with attorney-client privilege. On hand was the school’s new attorney, Maggie Wallner of Kennedy & Graven. The purpose of the closed session was to address pending litigation in Lisa Shellum v. ISD 836.
