Position to start out at $146K for first year

After 10 days with an open chair, the Albert Lea Area Schools board approved a contract Monday night to fill the seat at the table left by the former deputy superintendent.

The new executive director of finance and operations will be Jennifer Walsh, who held a similar position with Faribault Public Schools and, previously, worked as district business manager for Byron Public Schools.

Walsh will start with the district July 1.

“She’s going to hit the ground running,” Executive Director of Administrative Services Kathy Niebuhr said.

Niebuhr said Walsh was one of three candidates who applied and one of two interviewed by the district. She said Superintendent Mike Funk, who knew of Walsh through serving on some of the same committees, did some “terrific outreach” as the position with Albert Lea Area Schools became open.

For Niebuhr, it was Walsh’s experience — and experience in areas significant to the district, such as Title I grants, special education funding, voluntary pre-kindergarten funding and facilities bonds —  that made her the best  candidate for the district. Additionally, Walsh has experience in the Big Nine conference.

“Lori’s knowledge brings all of us — brought — all of us in the district great comfort, and this person just, you know, we felt that,” Niebuhr said.

Funk said Walsh, who lives north of Clarks Grove, has a “stellar reputation” from her references.

“For us to be able to hire somebody — and not only hire somebody, but hire somebody who actually lives within our school district — is, it’s very, very fortunate that we were able to do this,” Funk said.

School board member Jill Marin voted against the contract’s approval, citing concerns about the high rate of pay and vacation time. Walsh’s contract provides a $146,000 salary for 2019-20, with an increase to $149,000 in 2020-21 and $152,000 in 2021-22.

Funk said Walsh’s yearly pay increase increment is similar to most district contracts, and that Walsh would be giving up severance pay and post-retirement health insurance to move.

“For somebody to leave their district and come someplace else, that is where we’re at,” Funk said of the contract.

The school board also approved a resolution for a 2018-19 school calendar adjustment in which the district waived three snow days for voluntary pre-kindergarten according to language provided by the Legislature for schools that did not meet state-mandated time quotas due to severe weather. This allows the district to count these three snow days as instructional days.

Voluntary pre-kindergarten was in a different boat than other grade levels due to late starts, which count as missed days, while other levels can still count those as a full day of school, Funk said.

Not meeting the instructional quota would mean the district would lose some state aid, Funk said. However, he said he did not want to have the discussion of adding school days while there was still potential for more snow days to occur. Furthermore, Niebuhr said, voluntary pre-kindergarten did have some built-in time above the state quota.

Finally, the school board approved a 2019-20 renewal with district health insurer Sourcewell Health Partners (formerly NJPA). The average annual increase across three plans was 10.08%, an increase driven by a high claims, Funk said.

The district did not bid out its insurance this year, the superintendent said, but the district is looking at that for the future.

“We feel that this might be coming to an opportune time to do that,” Funk said.

Conversations with Sourcewell regarding insurance options also includes the potential to offer a plan that provides another option for health care than Mayo Clinic Health Systems, Funk said.

In other action:

• The school board recognized Gigi Otten, a student school board member who graduated this year. School board members and district administration thanked Otten for her time as a student school board member.

“Your insight into how things impact students has been invaluable to the board and to the administration when decisions are made regarding the entire district,” Funk said.

• The board approved a property tax abatement for new construction at 1500 Ashley Court. The property was purchased by Raymond and Patty Madrigal.

• The board entered a closed session, which Niebuhr said was focused on rebuilding the district team ahead of labor negotiations.