Thanks to Amore Coffee for their support. Amore hosts free homework help for all ages, led by retired professors, on Sundays from 4-6 p.m.
Reports from Pilot Knob and Two Rivers schools took center stage at last night’s school board meeting, which also featured a statement from the board on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in Minnesota and the election of new board officers.
Statement on ICE
Board chair Sarah Larsen read a prepared statement before getting into the meeting’s agenda. She emphasized that ISD 197 remains committed to being a place where every student feels safe and valued, regardless of their ethnicity or immigration status. Her statement concluded with one of the district’s core values: “Together we thrive.”
Pilot Knob Site Report
Tom Benson, principal of Pilot Knob STEM magnet school, gave his annual site report with help from three Pilot Knob students. In a presentation that featured a music video starring every Pilot Knob student, Benson reviewed the school’s core values and mission and highlighted some recent accomplishments.
- The school has completed phase one on their new accessible playground, and is now beginning work on phase two. Highlights of phase one include an accessible merry-go-round and sensory-friendly play experiences.
- Led by their school psychologist, Pilot Knob has been focusing on targeted, individualized supports for each student to help them learn and grow.
- Pilot Knob offers robotics and coding curriculum starting in kindergarten with Lego Coding. The school also has coding clubs and a Lego League team.
- The school does school-wide book clubs, with meetings held virtually during morning announcements.
- Pilot Knob is now a Title I school, which allows them access to extra funding for support curriculum and additional in-class staff.
- Principal Benson also highlighted the many partnerships Pilot Knob has with local companies, charities, and government organizations.
Two Rivers High School Site Report
Jessica Cabak, principal of Two Rivers High School, provided an update on the school. Cabak expressed particular pride in the little moments of solidarity and support she sees around the school. Cabak also highlighted the school’s work-based learning program, which allows students to earn class credit working real-world jobs outside of school. Students are working at local coffee shops, restaurants, indoor playgrounds, and the district’s own school-aged care program and tech support team, among others. Finally, she recognized the school’s philharmonic orchestra, which was selected to perform at the Minnesota Music Educators’ conference.
ISD 917 Report
Michael Favor, ISD 917 superintendent, gave an annual report.
- Intermediate school districts like 917 are designed to provide alternative education and special education services to multiple traditional school districts within their footprint. They offer programs for students who can’t get the services they need from their local schools. This includes severely mentally disabled students, those who are deaf or blind, and those who are recovering from trauma.
- Favor emphasized the district’s commitment to empathy for every person they interact with. The district is also severely understaffed and underfunded, with long waits for many of its programs and consistent struggles to find qualified teachers for niche roles.
- Superintendent Dr. Peter Olson-Skog emphasized his support for ISD 917’s efforts and promised to work with Dr. Favor to find more resources for the district.
Equity Update
Peter Mau, assistant superintendent and Sara Blair, director of communications, provided an update on the district’s equity efforts.
- The district is working to expand its Unified program, which provides opportunities for students with special needs to participate in mainstream activities alongside regular-education students.
- District leaders and students got an opportunity to learn more about Native American culture with a trip to Bdote at Fort Snelling State Park.
- The district has implemented sliding-scale fees for things like parking passes in order to provide more access to low-income students.
- The district is finding ways to implement student input into issues like bullying and food choices at school.
Other Items on the Agenda:
- Principal contracts: Tye Michaels, director of human resources presented a tentative bargaining agreement for the district’s principals, with raises under 2% each year over the life of the agreement. The agreement was approved unanimously by the board.
- Election of board officers: The school board elects their own chair, vice chair, and treasurer at the start of each calendar year. In three quick, unanimous votes, the board re-elected Sarah Larsen as board chair, Jon Vaupel as vice chair, and Byron Schwab as treasurer.
- Student rep report: Student representatives Fuentes and Walsh shared updates from around the district. Elementary school highlights included Odyssey of the Mind, dress-up days for spirit week, new libraries, upcoming Kindness Day celebrations, and celebrations for the 67th day of classes. Middle schoolers got to enjoy cross-country skiing during physical education classes, interact with experts from the University of Minnesota’s biology department, and compete in Lego League. High school students are busy with semester exams, signing up for next year’s classes, and applying for colleges.
- Superintendent’s report: Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog used his report to recognize a variety of achievements and events:
- Coach Kluznik was named the Minnesota AAA Boys Cross Country coach of the year after leading the Two Rivers team to a strong showing at the state meet.
- Two Rivers students participated in the state’s model legislature.
- Pilot Knob Elementary has again been named a Project Lead the Way distinguished school in recognition of its excellent STEM curriculum. They will also begin offering full-day pre-k, up from half days.
- Two Rivers High School now offers Warrior Care, an in-school health clinic that provides low-cost services to students and staff. They offer flu shots, among other services, and Olson-Skog expressed regret that he didn’t get one after suffering a rough bout of the flu over the holidays.
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 Jon Vaupel and Sarah Larsen.
Once again we had to hire a contributor to cover both ISD 197 School Board and West St. Paul City Council meetings on the same night. We make local news freely available, but it’s not free. Join now to support local news and keep your community informed.