Governing Board Meeting #1
July 2, 2013 4 PM
Freshwater Education District Conference Room
At 4:04 PM Chair Hofer called the meeting to order. Present for all or part of the meeting
were board members: D. Bestland, L. Kajer, J. Hofer, K. Lindgren, Interim Director Sue
Boehland, Steve Jennissen, Teresa DeGeest, Wendy Schluender, (CLC Representative),
Chris Hadfield (CLC Representative), Mark Schmitz, (ISD 2170 Superintendent), Sara
Dregney (Communications ISD 2170), Penny Olsen (Social Worker, ISD 2170), Wade
Bendson (parent), Mark Anderson (Staples World), Barb Schmitt (ISD 2170 Board Member)
Absent: L. Bach
Jennissen moved to approve the adoption of the agenda as amended, DeGeest seconded the
motion. Motion carried.
Consent Agenda:
Motion made by Boehland, with a second by Jennissen, to approve the minutes of May 7,
2013 board meeting. Motion carried.
Reports:
Boehland, Schmitz and Bestland summarized the June 10, 2013, ISD 2170 work
session on Connections High School. The only change in the original resolution was to move
the location from CLC to SMHS. There was discussion about how to market to all students.
Schmitz was to write a letter to be sent to all students at SMHS. The next logical step is to
identify staff needs and during the year to pursue becoming a site governed school.
Bestland, Lindgren and Kajer summarized the Project Based Learning conference that
they attended on June 21 – 23rd at New Country School in Henderson. It provided practical
training on how to run a project based school.
Schmitz requested that a facilities committee be formed to discuss the needs of the
school. Boehland, LeRoy Peterson, Kajer and Schmitz will be on that committee.
Boehland stated that there is a need to develop the school calendar since Connections
may run on a slightly different calendar than SMHS. The following people will serve on the
calendar committee: Boehland, Bonnie Madson, Bestland, DeGeest and Kajer.
Financial Items:
Boehland stated that she received a $2,651 quote from IQS to remain the charter
authorizer for the school year 2013-2014. Lindgren moved and Jennissen seconded the
motion to pay the amount of the quote from IQS. Motion carried.
The Perkins funds needed to be spent by June 30th so Boehland used some of the
remaining funds to pay for 10 licenses for Odesseyware and training of the staff in that
program. Boehland also purchased 40 student licenses for Project Foundry.
Boehland has written a grant to submit to the CTE division at the Minnesota
Department of Education for $40,000 for innovative programming in CTE
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Hofer stated that Blandin funds should be used to pay Boehland as the interim
director. Boehland stated that she would like a job description. Schmitz and Hofer will work
on the job description. They will also pursue additional funding from Blandin.
The group spoke about staffing needs of the school. There needs to be a job posting
for the .33 math position. Lindgren stated that we may need to look to community experts to
help fill the IT/Machine Trades position. Central Lakes College just interviewed for a
machine trades instructor and may be able to work out something to help with staffing needs
for the machine trades position.
Curriculum & Instruction
Kajer stated that the curriculum committee is scheduled to meet on the third Monday
each month. The committee will meet after the meeting to determine if that day will work
for their next meeting.
Schmitz shared the draft letter that he had ready to send to SMHS students and their
parent/guardian about the opening of Connections. It was decided to send the information
from the letter on a postcard as that is more likely to be read then a letter in an envelope.
Schluender suggested that it also be sent to students who are open enrolling out of ISD 2170.
Boehland was also given permission to buy advertisement in local papers to advertise
the parent information sessions.
The information sessions were set for July 30th and August 8th at 7 PM at SMHS,
the former FACS area, where Connections will be located. DeGeest suggested that an auto
call be made to remind people about the sessions.
Dregney would like a marketing committee to help with the communication needs.
Members include: Dregney, Schmitz, Kajer, and Lisa Jenkins.
Policies:
Kajer stated that a committee is needed to work on the student handbook which
includes many policies needed for the school. The following volunteered to be on the
committee: DeGeest, Boehland, Kajer, Olsen, Schmitz, and the two board members on the
policy committee from the ISD 2170 board.
Kajer suggested that a thank you note be sent to Central Lakes College for all of the
support that they gave the school over the past couple of years. Hofer and Kajer will work
on the thank you. Schluender suggested that a CLC representative be added to the
governing board now that they are not renting to Connections High School.
Lindgren and Hofer will work on new By-laws since the other By-Laws are for the
charter school. The By-Laws will determine the make-up of the governing board.
Boehland asked if she should attend the charter school law meeting on August 1st.
Hofer felt that there was not a need at this time.
Olsen asked about special education needs of the school. It was decided to wait and
see what the needs are for the school once all of the students are registered. Olsen would
like the students registered as soon as possible in August.
DeGeest moved with a second from Kajer to adjourn the meeting.
Hofer declared the meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM.
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