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   Several teachers showed up to for the regular board meeting Wednesday, Oct. 8 with some speaking and requesting the board negotiate a fair contract.

   Lisa Holm, special education teacher, shared information regarding how much she is currently paid along with health insurance benefits and the district encouraging staff to sign up for the high deductible policy. Holm stated with a family of three and unexpected high medical costs for the year, she lost over $20,000 of her annual salary. She requested the board negotiate a fair contract along with healthcare benefits.

   Carol Procopio, President of the teachers union and high school math teacher, also mentioned that out-of-pocket medical expenses were extremely high along with healthcare premium deductions from her paycheck. It was also stated over the past five years, her salary has only increased a fraction compared to cost-of-living expenses and requested the board consider a 2-3% annual increase along with additional support toward healthcare costs. 

   High School Principal Mary Yakibchuk shared in her report information regarding the recommended new high school science curriculum and shared the cost to the district would be approximately $50,000 which is similar to the cost for the elementary curriculum. Yakibchuk also mentioned students in eighth, ninth and twelfth grades were invited to attend all day retreats with Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (WHA) school district. WHA recently applied for a grant through the Cass County Opioid Settlement Funds program to conduct these retreats with other schools. Eighth grade will attend a retreat about courage, ninth about respect and twelfth about wisdom. Two groups will attend next month with the other retreat being held next spring.

   Superintendent Mark Morrison shared that recently the boiler in early education went down in his report. He also mentioned the district has four buses they are looking to sell with three of them probably not passing inspection. Board member Terri Nystrom asked if this would require the district to purchase more buses, which Morrison stated there are still two extras on hand. Morrison also shared with the board he received a cyber security grant and has sent an email to all board members with instructions on completing a cyber security class. Finally Morrison informed the board he would be looking into starting the next school year before Labor day due to it falling on Sept. 7. Therefore, the students wouldn’t begin school until Sept. 8 and 9 which would put the last day of school into the middle of June. It was stated Minnesota law states school must start after Labor Day, however a bill was passed by the legislature to allow schools to begin school earlier, allowing students to start about a week into September.

   In other Board action:

   • Accepted a donation from the Northland Lions for Boys basketball in the amount of $250.

   • Approved the request to sell, recycle or dispose of obsolete equipment, which included buses and various shop tools.

   • Approved posting for a 1.0 FTE Business Manager.

   • Approved the hire of Alec Wake as Girls Basketball Head Coach.

   • Accepted the resignation of Amy Lego as paraprofessional effective Oct. 16.

   The board has scheduled the following meetings: a work session, Wed., Oct. 22 at 5:30 p.m., a policy committee meeting, Tues., Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. and the regular meeting, Wed., Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. All meetings are held at Northland High School.

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