School board revisits proposal but no vote taken

Discussion about the proposed calendar and a new policy to mandate remediation were on the agenda for the Monday school board meeting, but no motions were made to approve any calendar for 2015-16.

About 100 people attended the meeting at Brookside Education Center. All of the chairs were filled and the walls were lined with members of the community.

Despite having been voted down in a 3-3 vote Dec. 1, the proposed calendar, which calls for school to begin in August, came up again toward the end of the meeting and the board took over an hour discussing it, which resulted in no action.

When Chairwoman Linda Laurie called for a motion to approve the calendar three times, no other board member made a motion or a second. After the third call for a motion, Laurie adjourned the meeting.

Board members Julie Johnson and Jill Marin both said they were unhappy that the proposed calendar was back on the agenda. Johnson said it was disrespectful and disingenuous, and Marin said she felt embarrassed.

Marin, a lead opponent, also brought up concerns that she felt a lack of trust within the district as well as between the board and the community. She also spoke about communication issues between her and the board.

The calendar proposal aims to start classes sooner and provide more breaks for remedial and enrichment education. The idea is to see if more time for lagging students to catch up, particularly ones from low-income families, helps close the achievement gap.

Marin said she heard about the return of the proposed calendar from the community before she heard about it from the board. She wanted to know why that was. She said she felt “stonewalled” ever since her speech during the Nov. 17 board meeting that caused the vote on the proposed calendar to be tabled.

Board member Jeshua Erickson said the group as a whole can explore the trust issue and called it legitimate.

“If there is a perceived issue of trust, there is an issue with trust,” he said.

It was Erickson’s final meeting. David Klatt takes his seat in January.

Board member Bill Leland agreed with Erickson and said he wanted to work to regain trust and build a base to work from, both in Marin’s case and the case between the board and the community.

Once the board returned to discussion of the calendar, Marin said she still has a problem with the proposed calendar being on the agenda.

“It failed,” she said. “It was not nothing.”

Marin brought up board member Mark Ciota’s comment from the Dec. 1 board meeting, saying that there was a negative atmosphere in the community due to the board’s response to the proposed calendar. Bringing the calendar back has aggravated that negativity, she said.

Ciota suggested pushing the proposed calendar back a year to give more time to talk about programming and planning, and Laurie agreed.

However, Johnson said that wouldn’t fix the problem and reminded the board again about the commitment it made to the community where it wouldn’t move forward with a calendar if the community was against it.

“We made a commitment to our community,” she said. “They don’t want this.”

And the audience was very vocal as to what it did and didn’t want. Despite having no public forum, audience members voiced their opinion and held signs saying “Vote no on the balanced calendar.”

“You guys have your own agenda,” district resident Tom Sorenson told the board. “That’s the way it’s looking.”

Another main focus of the meeting was the first reading of a policy to mandate remedial education during summer and intersession for students who need it.

Superintendent Mike Funk said there is a state law that allows districts to mandate instruction when school isn’t in session, and the Minnesota School Board Association has a model policy. However, Funk said no districts in the state use this model.

Marin said she believed students would act out if they were forced to take classes during the summer. Laurie said kids would appreciate coming to a safe environment with food and caring teachers.

Other members, like Erickson and Johnson, were in the middle. Erickson said he wasn’t sure if mandating the remediation was necessary, but if the remediation is mandated, it should be done cautiously.

Johnson said she was open-minded about strategies but also stressed caution and any decision needs to be deliberate and thoughtful. Johnson said rushing into something could be detrimental.

The board agreed to brainstorm areas where there have been identified challenges.

In other news, the board:

• Approved the 2013-14 school district audit report, which was presented by Deputy Superintendent Lori Volz.

• Approved a resolution discontinuing the supervisor of special services, as the special education department is going through a restructure to include a centralized curriculum. Marin was opposed.

• Approved a resolution placing Karen Erickson, supervisor of special services, on an unrequested leave of absence due to her position being discontinued. Marin was opposed.

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Albert Lea Education Association in regard to the disability leave.