The International Falls School Board Monday unanimously approved the addition of a first-grade section.

The new first-grade class is scheduled to begin next week at West End Elementary School. The board approved the hire of Terry Mason as the teacher for the class. The move was in response to a large number of first-grade students enrolled in the district this year.

Mason was formerly a West End Title I reading and math teacher before she was laid-off in a sweep of layoffs in June. The layoffs avoided a projected $700,000 deficit for the 2012-13 school year budget.

In other business, the board unanimously approved the hire of Ross Johnson as assistant hockey coach for this school year. Petitions from students and residents of the district in support of his hire were presented to the board.

Sources say that Johnson, who served as assistant coach for the Broncos for the first time last season, was told earlier this summer by Independent School District 361 administration that he would not be recommended to the position for the upcoming season.

The driving force behind the administration’s decision was apparently a YouTube video that featured Johnson partying and drinking alcohol with others.

At the August school board meeting, several members of the community and district staff spoke in support of the hire of Johnson. It was expressed that Johnson was of the legal drinking age and was not serving as a coach when the video was made and that administration was alerted to the video halfway through the 2011-12 season.

The board also approved the hire of Tom Biondich as another assistant hockey coach for this school year.

The board approved a proposed 2012 levy payable in 2013 for the maximum state aids and levy revenue allowed under Minnesota statutes. Superintendent Nordy Nelson told The Journal the proposed levy is “a touch more” than last year’s levy “with different calculations,” but that exact percentages were not yet available.

The board approved an updated contract for concurrent enrollment and the Post Secondary Enrollment Option program, or PSEO, between the district and Mesabi Range Community and Technical College. 

The changes waive the requirement that students have pretesting and meet grade-point average targets to concurrently enroll with the college. Instead of taking college readiness exams, students will be required to have signatures from the superintendent and college provost to indicate that they are capable of completing college-level work.