FAIRMONT — The Fairmont School Board on Tuesday heard from new high school co-principals Jake Tietje and Alex Schmidt, who described changes to the high school student handbook.

Tietje said a team met several times to go over the handbook. It included the dean of students, a social worker, a board member, two parents, two teachers, two students, a secretary and two principals. Tietje and Schmidt were not part of the process but studied the changes recently and added some of their own.

One change is the elimination of “huddle time,” an advisory time for students to meet with a teacher.

“With that, the first key change that you’re going to see is the addition of the huddle time that was 15 minutes per day and have that rolled into the regular day schedule,” Tietje said.

Classes had been 47 minutes but will now be 50 minutes.

Another change is that SOAR time is the new FAST time.

Schmidt said SOAR is an acronym for “student opportunities and academic responsibilities.” FAST was academic support time.

“We really wanted to add in the opportunities side, so we’re looking for our teachers to expand their offerings for students into opportunities in enrichment not just in academic support,” Schmidt said. “We have a lot of kids who are doing really well and we want to offer encouragement there and opportunities for kids.”

SOAR will happen every Thursday. It’s an advisory time for students to meet with a teacher to go over learning and grade-level related matters. It will operate through a system in which a student will have a teacher for three years, then switch to another teacher for three years.

“The last couple years they’ve had a time known as ‘flex’ for upperclassmen, primarily where they were able to flex out to different areas in our building,” Schmidt said. “We’ve eliminated those areas and we have coined it ‘honor flex.’ This is an opportunity for students who have earned this in a responsible way to be in two locations in our building, the media center and the commons.”

He added that students need to fill out an application and maintain a certain behavioral, attendant and academic status to be eligible.

Board member Dan Brookens said he has heard feedback from some students saying they are disappointed to learn that FAST time is being changed.

“What can we do to show students who were making good use of it that they still have some flexibility and an opportunity to take charge of their own learning?” Brookens asked.

Schmidt said FAST was not eliminated, but they have tightened it up.

Another board member — Mike Edman — was concerned about the school policy that asks students to keep their backpacks and bags locked in their lockers during the school day.

“When I hear from students and parents, especially the parents of female students who are entering the high school for the first time, the idea that they can’t have a backpack or purse with them is startling,” he said.

Edman believes more thought should be given to the policy.

Board member Nicole Green said the reason the board has kept the policy is due to fire safety concerns, because backpacks were previously all over the floor. She also said backpacks make it easier to carry around a weapon.

Board members encouraged the new principals to examine the policy, and change or keep what they think is best.

Moving to other matters, Tyler Garrison, buildings and grounds director, was present to go over lead in water testing results. Minnesota schools are required to do a lead in water test every five years. Garrison said they collected 92 water samples districtwide, with 53 at the high school and 39 at the elementary school. He said eight fixtures came back higher than they were five years ago. Those fixtures were replaced before the new school year.

The board approved the following hirings for the 2019-20 school year:

o Elizabeth Arens as head cheerleading coach.

o Voni Eakins as a kindergarten teacher.

o Forrest Hungerholt as a custodian at Fairmont Elementary School

The board also approved the retirement of Kurt Schlomann, effective Dec. 1. He has been with the district’s maintenance department since 1985.

The board accepted the following donations:

o $10,000 from the Martin County Area Foundation to the high school ProStart culinary program.

o $1,000 from the girl’s basketball association to the gym floor refinish project at Fairmont Elementary School.

o $13,000 from the boy’s basketball association to projects in Fairmont Elementary School’s gym.

o $100 from Jerry Brooks donated to the high school aviation program in memory of Gordy Johnson.

In other news, the board approved a public hearing on the proposed CHS tax abatement. The hearing will take place 5 p.m. Sept. 10, prior to the next school board meeting.