ISD 197 School Board Recap: Nov. 10, 2025

Thanks to Bisanz Brothers and Lindsay Bjerke with Norton Realty for their support.

Jon Vaupel filled in as chair in the absence of Sarah Larsen at a school board meeting that focused on the district’s efforts to be more welcoming and inclusive. The board recognized clubs and groups that focus on Hispanic and Native American language and culture, as well as including special education students in regular classes and activities.

Student Representatives’ Report

Student representatives Rhys Walsh and Evangeline Fuentes visited schools throughout ISD 197 and shared a summary of their experiences. Highlights included a Feed My Starving Children event at Pilot Knob Elementary, both middle schools’ participation in National Walk and Bike to Work day, and Two Rivers High School’s book fair. Walsh and Fuentes also shared updates on fall sports and field trips to Dodge Nature Center.

Somerset Elementary Spanish Club

Stephanie Espinoza, an art teacher and librarian at Somerset Elementary, shared her experience starting and leading the school’s Spanish club. 

• It began with one student, who only spoke Spanish, arrived for his first day of kindergarten and refused to get off the bus. Espinoza, the only Somerset staff member who spoke Spanish, talked the kid off the bus and helped him feel more comfortable at school. The club grew from there.
• Today, the club has 24 students in grades 2-4 and is looking to expand to younger grades. The focus is on cultural traditions, experiences of identity, and the struggles that come with living a multicultural life.
• Eva and Stella, two club members, shared brief statements on their experience, and the club also fielded questions from the school board about things they enjoy in the club and how to feel more confident learning a new language.

American Indian Education

Nell Barri, the district’s American Indian Education Coordinator, introduced members of the Native Student Group at Two Rivers to share their experience. They appreciate the chance to practice their cultural heritage during the school day and share it with their classmates through events, displays, and decorations throughout the school. Their goal for the future is to bring more representation to the group. While the group is growing, many native students don’t participate, and they also have ambitions to find ways for non-native students to participate.

Superintendent’s Report

Dr. Peter Olson-Skog shared his regular report, highlighting several district events and initiatives:

• November is Native American Heritage Month. Olson-Skog highlighted relevant events and groups, including field trips, the Native Student Group, and a more inclusive curriculum. He also emphasized that Native people are an important part of ISD 197 all year round, not just for this month.
• The Direct Admissions Minnesota program, which allows students to get automatic admission to multiple colleges and universities based entirely on their academic record, without needing to apply.
• New electives at middle school. 7th and 8th graders will have the opportunity to take new elective classes, including Medical Detectives, which focuses on hands-on medical science activities and experiments, and “What’s Happening at Heritage?” which produces news media in a variety of formats.
• Kindergarten Showcases are happening this week. These are a chance for parents and rising kindergarteners to explore the district’s elementary schools in anticipation of enrolling next year.
• Olson-Skog also highlighted resources available to help people who are struggling due to the federal government shutdown.

College and Career Readiness

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Cari Jo Drewitz and Curriculum, Gifted, and Talented Coordinator Miles Lawson shared an update on some of the district’s college and career readiness initiatives.

• Two Rivers High School is offering an Ojibwe language course through MSU Mankato starting this year. Aubrey McMahon, who also spoke about her participation in the Native Student Group, shared her experience in the class, which currently has three enrolled students. She actively recruited students to make sure the class would happen. State law requires districts to offer Native American language instruction if their Native American student population hits a certain threshold, but finding instructors for these courses is a real challenge, which is why Two Rivers’ class is only starting this year, and why it’s online instead of in person.
• Drewitz elaborated on the direct admissions program. It features more than 50 colleges and universities in the state, and students are automatically admitted to certain colleges based solely on their GPA, without any application fees. Students may still have to complete some parts of the application after being accepted, like sending their high school transcripts.
• In addition to other initiatives to support Native American students, Drewitz highlighted the American Indian student focus group related to curriculum. The goal is to look for curriculum issues, like harmful stereotypes, that might negatively affect Native American students.
• At the end of the presentation, Olson-Skog emphasized that the district has a long way to go to meet their goals in this area.

Special Education Unified Program

Sara Lein, Director of Special Services, led a presentation on Two Rivers High School’s Special Education Unified program. She was joined by multiple teachers as well as Nick and Addy, two seniors at Two Rivers. The Unified program focuses on actively including special education students in regular classes and activities as much as possible.

• Their starting point was an after-school club, then launched the district’s first unified physical education class in the fall of 2022. The club receives no funding from the district, but has sponsored Polar Plunge challenges to raise money.
• The club currently has around 80 active members who meet regularly to plan activities, spend time together, and explore new ways to build the Unified curriculum.
• In addition to the club, Two Rivers has had a Unified physical education class since 2022. They started with only 16 students, but are now up to 100 and four separate sections. They also added a Unified foods class last year.
• One of the Unified program’s biggest successes so far has been the Unified Flag Football Invitational. Two Rivers took the lead in organizing this tournament with help from the Special Olympics and Unified programs at Eagan, Apple Valley, and East View high schools. The tournament, which was held at TCO Field at Viking Lakes, featured opportunities for students to participate as players or coaches and was so successful that Special Olympics of Minnesota used the event as an example of what’s possible.
• Future plans include a Unified basketball tournament, activities for autism awareness month, adding more Unified courses, and bringing the Unified framework to district middle schools.

Friendly Hills Middle School Site Report

Assistant Principal Kira Fischler and Principal Chris Hiti shared a site report from Friendly Hills Middle School. Principal Hiti emphasized two key goals: get students to participate in extracurricular activities, and engage them in hands-on work. Assistant Principal Fischler emphasized how welcoming the school is, living up to its name. This includes everything from the front office staff to the student ambassadors who welcome new students.

• Highlighted extracurriculars included the LiveGreen program, which teaches students how to be members of a sustainable community, EmpowerED, which is very similar to Two Rivers’ Unified program, Student Council, Yearbook, Future Cities, and Model UN.
• Another goal they highlighted was to use more technology to communicate more efficiently with families. They highlighted SmartPass which is a digital hall pass system that’s quick and easy for teachers and provides useful data for administration, and TalkingPoints, which allows teachers and administrators to send messages quickly and easily. Messages are automatically translated into other languages when communicating with families and back into English when the families reply.

Engage

• More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
• Watch: You can watch this meeting online. You can also watch a video recap with Board Members Tim Aune and Byron Schwab.

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