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Northland Community Schools' Board of Education saw a familiar face at the board table Thursday during the Board of Education Meeting. Retired Northland Superintendent Mike Doro temporarily took the top administrative seat back, filling in as Interim Superintendent after Theresa Meyers asked that her Superintendent Contract with the district be terminated.

Doro worked with the board to tie up loose ends left by Meyers, alter and correct items that could have become problematic for the district, and briefly walked them through the complicated structure of state school financing.

Superintendent Search

Doro gave the board several options for their superintendent search. Minnesota School Board Association (MSBA), for a fee of $850, can meet with the board to hold a superintendent search workshop. Doro said beginning October 1, MSBA will offer superintendent search services. The basic search fee is $6,900, or an advanced search costs $11,250. The difference between basic and advanced, is the number of on-site visits, three for the basic search and six for the advanced option.The board could use a private search company, as was the case during the superintendent search in 2009. MSBA provided a list of firms that do superintendent searches. For districts who prefer to do their own search, MSBA has a superintendent search tool kit for $100.

At the August meeting Terry Gross and Dave Kitchenhoff volunteered to work on the superintendent search, Doro suggested adding another board member to the search team to look at the current job description, and possible changes in administration such as sharing superintendents and business managers with other school districts, and bring information back to the board to determine the next step in the search. Ione Boor volunteered to join Gross and Kitchenhoff in exploring superintendent search options. Doro requested the board's consideration for a special meeting to review the committee's options, rather than waiting for the October meeting, "Because you need to move on this, and I want to go home," he said.

Board member Rusty Lilyquist said he had a verbal offer with McPherson-Jacobson to do a search again for free, and asked if that was something that should be explored. Doro said he would call McPherson-Jacobson to get more information.

Student Activity Fees

Doro made a recommendation to the board to cut Student activity fees, which had been raised significantly for this school year. The board approved cutting the activity fees in half, $50 for varsity; $35 for seventh and eighth grades, retroactive to the beginning of the school year. Doro said of the higher fees that were already paid for the year, refunds will be coming.

Sale of Excess

Equipment[[In-content Ad]]Representatives from K-Bid have visited the school to inventory and take photos of items the district wants liquidate. K-Bid discovered there was no kitchen equipment, which they said had been promised to them. The equipment is still in the Longville building, which Doro said is where it should stay since there are parties interested in acquiring the facility, who may have a need for the equipment. K-Bid said there was not enough saleable items for them to do the online bidding service, then offered to do the service for a $600 fee plus 10 percent of purchase prices. Doro suggested the board approve holding a rummage sale to get rid of most of the items stored in the bus barn. The board approved holding an excess property sale.

Facilities

The board was told Climate Makers is scheduled to drain and add anti-freeze to the boiler system at Longville Elementary on Sept. 20. Doro advised the board since the Longville facility is a district asset and they must carry liability insurance on it, not to shut off the electricity. Alarm systems at the facility could then be used to continued monitoring the building. Doro suggested the cost to keep the electric service on would not be too high, especially with the boiler system drained and not in use. He also advised the board there is no need to cut and cap the sewer line in Longville.

Doro explained, after the installation of a new boiler at the Remer facility, there are areas in the WPA section of the school that do not get sufficient heating. He said he learned there were students who wore jackets during class because the temperatures at times were around 60 degrees. That section of the school is not zoned separate, which is the cause of the uneven heating issues. Doro advised the board to have Climate Makers give a proposal for correcting the problem. There is more than likely enough funding in Capitol Improvements to have the WPA section zoned separately.

At the August meeting, the board approved a contract with ESC to replace the fire alarm system. Doro said past experience with ESC proved to be less than adequate, without prompt service. Thursday, the board rescinded the motion to have ESC do the replacement, and awarded the fire alarm system replacement to locally owned American Eagle Security, who presently does the district's security/surveillance work.

Fred Smith, gave the board an update on the townships, City of Longville and local organizations which have expressed interest in acquiring or using the school property in Longville. Smith said the interest is still there, but definitive answers won't be available for several months. Townships make the bulk of their financial decisions during the annual meeting in March. Smith also had concerns relating to deeds and titles associated with the four Longville parcels owned by the district. Prior to Smith's update, Doro said the school had received an offer from Deborah Godfrey owner of Action Title, to do title and abstract work for the district at a cost of $840. Stephen Baker of Baker Law Office offered to provide title opinions on the property, for a fee not to exceed $2,000. The board approved moving forward with the title work.

Doro suggested a committee be formed to look into all the options for ownership, sale, or lease of the Longville School property. The board's Buildings and Grounds Committee will discover and report options.

Boor asked if the board would consider changing the name of Remer Elementary, to a name that would better fit all of the communities represented by the school's student population. She suggested it didn't need to be a legal name change, but a name that will be better suited for everyone. The board did not act on an informal name change, it will remain known as Remer Elementary School.

School Board

Community

Representation

Dan Switzer said he'd been asked by concerned citizens what the school board's position is on districting for community representation on the school board. Gross said in researching the idea, they spoke with officials from school districts that went that route, and did not get any favorable comments. Gross said, the board let it go by the wayside because, "We looked into it and didn't like it." No further action will be needed.

In other board business the board approved:

•Elimination of the Elementary and High school Principal positions, in doing so placed Joseph Akre on unrequested leave of absence. The board then created a Principal position, approved the job description, and hired Joseph Akre as Principal.

•Hiring Jesse Bullock as Youth and Family Service Worker.

•Hiring Shem Daugherty for the FCCLA Advisor position.

•Tim Vagle as Head Boys Basketball Coach.

•Changed the day and date of the October board meeting. The board will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., in Remer.

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