The International Falls School Board Monday had a repeat split vote for three nominations presented for the position of elementary principal, failing to hire a candidate this month for the upcoming school year.
The split votes were for candidates Kristine Lamb, Kevin Grover and Andy Fougner.
The board voted unanimously to table the selection of elementary principal until Nordy Nelson begins as new district superintendent July 9 and attempts to alleviate the divided vote.
“You remember in the interview we had (with Nelson), one of the questions was, how do you deal with a split board, and he said it’ll be challenging but he could get it done,” Stuart Nordquist, board chair, said at the meeting.
Nordquist said that he had talked to Nelson on Sunday and discussed the possibility of Monday’s split vote.
“... he suggested that we postpone this until he comes aboard and he will deal with it. He said not to worry about it, because he has an elementary school principal license that runs into the school year... He said it would not cost us one dime for him to assume this duty for a short period of time.”
Some board members were concerned about putting the issue “in (Nelson’s) lap,” with board member Willie Kostiuk asking, “This is the first thing he deals with when he starts?”
Board member Michelle Hebner said, “I don’t think we have any other choice.” Hebner had suggested hiring an interim elementary principal in the meantime, but action was taken on the proposal.
A board made up of an even number of members, allowing for the likelihood of a split vote, is a fairly normal composition of a school board, according to Minnesota School Board Association communications director Greg Abbott.
“Six is not uncommon,” he said. “It’s very rare to have only a five-member board.”
According to state law, a school board must have six or seven members.
“It’s one of the first things to be made (school) law,” Abbott said. “Whenever the first board formed in International Falls, they got to pick if it was six or seven (elected members).”
There are currently 150 school districts with a six-member board, out of Minnesota’s 337 school districts, according to Abbott. The exceptions are Cook County, with five members because of a low population, and boards with more than seven members in the four state metropolitan areas because of larger populations.
The candidates
The same split votes occurred at this month’s special meeting, and elementary principal candidates were interviewed a second time. The board’s principal interview committee recommended to the board the hire of Lamb after both interviews.
The board was split 3-3 between hiring Lamb, a K- 12 music teacher at Cromwell-Wright Public Schools in Carlton County, and hiring one of two current district employees, Kevin Grover and Andy Fougner.
Three board members, Nordquist, Kostiuk and Dena Wenberg, voted for Lamb in support of the committee recommendation. The elementary principal selection committee is made up of Nordquist; Garner Wiley, parent; Tim Everson, Falls High School principal; Ardel Hendrickson, district testing coordinator and special education teacher; and Paul Hjelle, elementary teacher.
The other three board members, Hebner, Mark Lassila and Darrell Wagner voted for current Falls district employees Grover and Fougner. These members stated earlier that they support the hire of local candidates.
Grover is the dean of students. He served as the district’s interim superintendent and assistant superintendent in the past. Fougner is the Response to Intervention coordinator and special education teacher.
The principal interview committee wrote to the board “it again is the consensus of the committee to bring forward the recommendation of Kristine Lamb for hire as elementary principal.”
Meanwhile, Nelson will join the district the second week of July. He has experience in mediating negotiations for districts and resolving situations like split votes, according to an earlier phone interview with The Journal.
Nelson is self employed as a consultant for School Financial Assistance, a role he also held during his superintendent jobs. As a consultant, he works with various school districts to set up budgets. By request, he also helps districts with contract negotiations between school districts and their employees. Nelson was previously superintendent for St. James Public Schools from 2006 to 2011. Prior to that, he was superintendent of the Melrose Area Public Schools in Stearns County for nine years.
The board this month approved a two-year contract with Nelson through June 2014. His salary is set at $110,000 annually.
Budget
The board Monday received a revised tentative budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 showing a lower projected deficit than was estimated in May.
The deficit dropped to $67,490 “in the red,” according to Stacy Frederickson, district business manager.
In February, the district projected about $700,000 in deficits. After staff and program cuts and staff realignment, the projected deficit presented in May was estimated at about $181,000.
The improved budget presented this month is a result of the state’s announcement of revenue to the district to support its Reading Well by 3rd Grade program, which adds $70,000 in revenue to the school district to offset the cost.
“The state finally put out information on how they were going to put out revenue for the program,” Frederickson explained.
The district also lowered its deficit by changing Grover’s dean of students position from a 1.0 full-time equivalency to a 0.6 FTE dean and a 0.4 FTE math teacher. This saved the district about $12,000 from having to hire a new part-time math instructor.
The approximately $67,000 deficit projected for next year “could change,” Frederickson told The Journal. Factors that could affect it include a change in student enrollment and possible carryover revenue left over from program costs calculated throughout the year.
“It’s just our best projection right now, as far as we know,” she said. “But we’re still in the red. We’re still spending more than we’re taking in.”
Other business
The board also approved the increase of school meal prices for the next school year in accordance with a federal guideline adding new regulations for school meals and prices. The lunch prices increased by 10 cents and breakfast by 5 cents. Milk increased from 25 cents to $50 cents.
During the administrative reports, Falls High School Principal Tim Everson announced that the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment preliminary scores for math improved for students in seventh, eighth and 11th grades. The district is still waiting for the reading results to come back to populate the remedial classes, Everson said.
Superintendent Jeff Peura said the high school pool project is almost completed and is on track to begin being filled.
“Hopefully, we’ll open the doors by the first week of July,” he said. “The project went as planned and was within the budget’s scope. I don’t know the final numbers yet from the contractors.”
Peura added that the air ventilation project at West End Elementary School is “on target” and that the shifting of classrooms between WEE and Falls Elementary School “went very smoothly at the end of the school year.”
“We’re in good shape,” Peura said.
