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Fairmont Area shuffles staffing

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont School Board on Tuesday approved the employment of Andy Traetow as co-principal at Fairmont Elementary School.

The staff welfare committee met recently to discuss options for replacing retiring 3-6 Principal Jim Davison for the next school year. The committee approved having two full-time principals serving as E-6 co-principals. The committee also approved naming Traetow as one co-principal to serve alongside current E-2 Principal Michelle Rosen. Traetow currently is the 7-8/vocational principal at Fairmont High School.

Following the approval of Traetow as co-principal at Fairmont Elementary, the district will now hire a co-principal to serve at Fairmont High School.

“We will post the position and open it up to anyone internally as well as externally,” said Superintendent Joe Brown. “We’ll do a major recruitment for that replacement. I think it’s a very attractive position.”

In another matter, the board approved hiring Sheri Artz as an artistic paraprofessional at the elementary school for the second semester.

Earlier in the year, the district received a $50,000 grant from the Schmeeckle Foundation to be used for the arts program at the elementary and high schools. While the majority of the funds were used to purchase new band and orchestra instruments, $10,000 was set aside to be used to employ an artistic paraprofessional.

Artz will assist Kim Koppen with her elementary art classes. Artz will work no more than 69 days and her salary will not exceed $10,000.

Finally, the board hired Melissa Curry as an elementary special education teacher for 2019-20.

Moving along to other matters, board member Nicole Green said she had met recently with the science department as part of curriculum committee work and had received a large stack of papers of the proposed standards for what is taught in science classes.

“It’s open for public comment until Thursday the 28th,” Green said. “I encourage anyone in the community who’s interested in science to go through and look at the standards and comment.”

Those interested can visit the Minnesota Department of Education website to see the standards, or may call Julie Kopischke in the district office at (507) 238-4487.

In other news, the board accepted a donation from Gemini Studios of band and orchestra books, valued at $3,607, to the elementary and high school band and orchestra programs.

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