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NRHEG School Board
By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
At the January 19 regular meeting of the NRHEG Board of Education, board members new and old once again faced the task of searching for a new Superintendent, after the delivery of Dale Carlson’s resignation effective June 30.
There is a printable summary of the Superintendent Search process and a Survey community members can fill out to help with the process. Go to the NRHEG website (https://www.nrheg.mn.us) and search for “Superintendent Search.”
Board Chair Rick Schultz announced he had contacted two agencies for the job: the Minnesota School Board Association’s Executive Search services, and the South Central Service Cooperative’s Search Program.
Some of the current school board members are familiar with this process, as are many community members, since, beginning with the departure of NRHEG’s founding Superintendent Richard Lorenz in December 2006, the district has searched for and hired three superintendents through this process: Kevin Wellen, who began as Interim Superintendent in 2006 and stayed for two three-year terms; Dennis Goodwin, who served two years from 2013 through 2015; and most recently Dale Carlson.
Candidate interviews should be conducted in April and a candidate needs to be chosen by July 1.
MSBA
Supt. Carlson introduced Barb Dorn (telepresent) of the Minnesota School Board Association’s Executive Search services, who elaborated on a workshop that is available.
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Ross Sletten stands proudly in front of just a sampling of the new refrigeration units at Lerberg's Foods in Ellendale. (Star Eagle photo by Melanie Piltingsrud)
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
Ross Sletten of Lerberg's Foods has been making renovations to the historic Ellendale grocery store. The biggest change so far has been the installation of a long row of new refrigeration units for produce, meats, dairy, and frozen foods.
“Our other cases were starting to show their age,” said Sletten concerning what led to the change, “and they were open cases, and so they took a lot of energy to run.” The new refrigeration units, which are closed cases with glass doors, are far more efficient.
“We started doing this the week of Christmas,” said Sletten, “and we finished it the week of New Year's. It was about a two-week project.” The refrigerators were up and running by Dec. 29.
The new refrigeration units give the store a lot more space for increased variety. “People are really happy,” said Sletten. “In the past, given the space that we had, we were only able to carry maybe one variety of yogurt, for example. Now, we've probably got five or six varieties. We were able to expand our pizza. Before we only had one area for pizza, and now we've got two full doors of pizza.”
Sletten was able to purchase the Merik, Inc. refrigeration units through American Wholesale Grocers (AWG). “AWG is a co-op, and I belong to the co-op,” said Sletten. “As a co-op, we can go out as a big corporation, and say, 'This is what we're looking for,' and they get us the best price that's out there on things like this when somebody wants to redo their store.”
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By ELI LUTGENS
Editor
A lot was discussed at the recent special meeting of the New Richland City Council Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Originally scheduled as a workforce meeting, the first items on the agenda were the cause for the name of the meeting to be changed.
During the previous week’s council meeting, Chris Schlaak proposed that the City cover former ambulance worker Monica Schutrop’s EMT refresher course. The idea was quickly shot down.
“I don’t think it’s going to take much discussion because she isn’t a city employee anymore,” stated Mayor Gail Schmidt. “It wouldn’t set a good precedent. What would stop other former city workers from coming forward with similar requests?”
Following the short discussion, the item was dismissed. Applications from Tonya Hohansee, Zach Rinehart, and Aidan Kruckeberg were accepted for the ambulance department.
After the items of the special meeting were concluded, the council moved onto the workforce meeting requested by Mayor Schmidt.
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By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
The NRHEG School Board met Tuesday, January 19.
Secondary In-Person Transition Process Update
DALE CARLSON: When we last discussed learning model updates, we were concentrating on the Elementary school. After the first week the Elementary school is going well, but what’s next?
Consultation with our Regional Support Team was held on January 12. There was concern about moving too quickly for grades 6-12. COVID projections for January 3-16, Waseca were in the range of 50-55, Steele 46-52, and Freeborn 110+.
As of today, we have one elementary staff person, and two students, one elementary and one secondary, who are positive; we have one staff in each building who are quarantined, and one Elementary and six Secondary quarantined.
As of today, the other schools in the three counties have moved elementary to in-person like us, but for the middle school and secondary they all have continued to maintain Hybrid Learning.
Our team has proposed a phased approach, following the K-5 process, beginning with Grade 6, and still trying to bring in more of our Seniors, following the Hybrid strategy.
BUNN: 6th grade students would remain in class for the first 5 hours of the day. Hours 4 and 5 the teachers would switch rooms, lunch would be delivered to the 6th grade rooms, and we’d need auxiliary staff to supervise. Hours 6 and 7 students go to special rooms (art, PE, choir, band, and study hall), with 6th grade students just a little behind the rest of the classes. PE would occur with masks as it does now. There is adequate space in the Art Room and the Band Room. Choir will depend on how many students are interested; we may use the gymnasium or other spaces.
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By ELI LUTGENS
Editor
Of nearly $7.5 million distributed to eleven southern Minnesota cities to support struggling persons and businesses, roughly 17.5 percent ($1.3 million) was awarded to local businesses according to federal guidelines. The remaining funds appear to have been used to pad city checkbooks.
Many southern Minnesota cities have used a loophole to allow the use of money from the Federal CARES Act program according to their own discretion. Cities are taking these funds and using them for previously budgeted safety salaries. Doing this allows these cities to take the funds previously allocated for public employee salaries and deposit them, as one director remarked, “Right into the bank account.”
According to federal guidelines, Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) funds may only be used to cover costs that were incurred due to the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus between March and November.
CRF funds may not be allocated for previously budgeted expenses or to replenish lost city revenue. Despite these clearly stated guidelines, one director defended city spending, saying, “The city lost a significant amount of revenues due to shutdowns. We’re using those freed up funds to add to our fund balance.”
According to the Department of Treasury, “Local governments should weigh these factors and decide if a given expense is necessary and due to COVID- 19. The decision-making process and justification for eligibility should be well-documented for use in the event of an audit.”
By using CRF funds for previously budgeted salaries, a city could, in turn, use those funds previously allocated for public safety salaries for any reason. One clerk said the city purchased new winter jackets for the police department. The North Mankato Finance Director reported the city spent $100,000 for brand new computers, monitors and iPads for everyone working in the city office. The City of Pemberton used half of their city's CRF funds to build a new entrance to the City Clerk's office.