Red Wing School District Board Meeting, May 26 notes

The meeting started promptly at 5:00. As the members were walking in the pre-talk was about remembering when there was no air conditioning in the buildings, no water-bottles in classrooms and few water fountains. {Those were the good old days?} All board members were in attendance.

We were introduced to a robot, some students, and staff member Josh Nelson from the Tower View Robotics Club. This is an 8 week course in which the 9 students involved participated in creating a robot that would gather yellow balls and put them into a hopper to shoot.  It involved the students in programming, engineering and creating new relationships and friendships. The students participated in the competition at Mariucci Area as the smallest school and the mostly rookie team. They came away with new found relationships, as Cannon Falls helped the RW team with some programming issues. Their enthusiasm was contagious and they were rightfully proud of their learning experiences. The robot was driven by eight motors on battery power. The Tower View team competed in eleven matches over two days.

Recognition was given first by the superintendent regarding the conclusion of spring sports, concerts and the upcoming graduation. Mr. Riester also congratulated the Ovation choir and the RW Band for doing an outstanding job at the Memorial Day service.  Both Amy Pearson and Lisa Hanson were given the Elizabeth Hedin Award for Educator Excellence, with Amy being at Sunnyside and Lisa at TBMS/ HS.

There were no committee reports,  and the finance committee often has its information included in the reports given by the head of finance, Chris Mulvich.

The resolution accepting donations was unanimously passed. These were from the Frontenac Sportsman Club and the American Legion Post #54 for the Red Wing Trap Team, The Jones Foundation for CE Driver’s Education Assistance, Red Wing Youth Volleyball for the RW Volleyball program, Red Wing Ignite for summer STEAM camps, and the American Legion Post #54 for TBMS food pantry.

The superintendent will have a rough draft by the end of the week regarding budget, and there is a continuation of the sale of Jefferson with the RW City Council having to complete the rezoning in a couple of weeks.

The rest of his administrative report was filled with good news happenings throughout the system especially highlighting the numerous field trips at the elementary schools often funded with grants from the RWPS Foundation and bussing provided from the Innovative Learning Fund.{ Here’s my personal aside, I went on the third grade field trip with my granddaughter to Target Field where we learned about the reasons Target field is considered the “Greenest Ballpark in America”, and I was quite concerned that I was the only one who was impressed with the Harmon Killebrew memorabilia! Kids these days } The superintendent also highlighted and congratulated the district’s students who participated in the Adaptive Track and Field Day in Zumbrota, where they had a great time and enjoyed participating in various activities.

There is a switch in the activity tickets for the different RW teams with all the Hiawatha Valley Schools adhering to the same rules. The HVL conference will be cashless for all event admissions with ticket prices set for $8 adults and $5 students. RWHS students and families will have the opportunity to purchase season passes and senior citizens age 65 and older will be admitted to the conference venues for free. 

There was more information on hired staff positions and what hiring still needs to be completed in the superintendent’s administrative report, and that is online, but he really also wanted to highlight that Kids Junction now has a summer school waiting list and there are over 50 staff members working at KJ for the summer. 

There is a special workshop that is on May 28, involving the future decisions regarding Early Childhood programming. This will be to hash out any thoughts and questions the board may have so the June 9^th meeting can finalize decisions. Ms. Tift said she had a list of questions and several other board members agreed, and the superintendent asked that they be given to him early so he can find answers prior to the meeting to expedite everything.

There were several resolutions and policy motions and all were approved unanimously: revisions to Policy 721; resolution to renew membership to the Minnesota High School League; resolution to call for the general election regarding school board member elections and a possible bonding request; several resolutions to approve working with Ehlers Inc. for bonds relating to the new roofs needed at the ice arena this year and TBMS next year. These bonds are only for the roofing projects. Now the really nice thing about this was the school district got a certificate for the Ehler’s company because of a Moody’s rating change upwards, which has been rare for school districts.{ So that means these board members and our superintendent and staff are doing a great job at keeping the finances in order. Kudos!} 

Finally, under new topics Ms.  Marshall Schoenfelder asked that the activity director present to the board regarding the changes coming with our involvement in the HVL. Mr. Koenig also suggested that there be talk about how to get more students at the activities and to somehow incentivize student to come and enjoy the activities. Ms. Marshall Schoenfelder suggested and other board members requested that the principals of the buildings be invited to present to the board in person, although the superintendent has been doing a terrific job with all of his written comments in an effort to create an enhanced relationship. The board as a whole would like to have a list of goals and a strategic plan from the superintendent as his evaluation will be coming soon. The meeting was adjourned at 5:57