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BLUE EARTH-- Blue Earth Area Schools will have a new math curriculum for Kindergarten through fifth grade for next school year.
The decision to proceed with one of two vendors for the curriculum was made at the BEA School Board meeting on Monday night.
Curriculum/Instruction director Allison Schmidt explained how they have been studying different curriculums for some time and had narrowed the choice down to two.
"Both are solid programs," Schmidt said. "One is from Math Expressions and the other is from enVision."
They had staff members take an in depth look at both programs and then vote for the one they felt would be the best fit for Blue Earth Area.
"We had 14 votes for Math Expressions and 10 for Envision," Schmidt said. "We are recommending going with Math Expressions. It is a bit more cost, but Minnesota state standards are fully imbedded in the program."
The board agreed and passed a motion to go with the Math Expressions program.
The cost of the curriculum will come out of the school's Esser Funds, and will cover eight years of print and digital upgrades.
Schmidt said they are continuing to work on choosing a new math curriculum for grades 6-12.
"We are a little behind as we are still in the process of studying various vendors," she said. "We may have a selection made and ready to recommend by the March board meeting, but by the April meeting for sure."
In other business at the meeting, the School Board also:
-- Heard a report from principal David Dressler concerning a new High Quality Early Childhood program called "Begindergarten" for students who are old enough, but not quite ready for Kindergarten.
It would start this coming fall and be full days, with a goal of having no more than 18 students in the class.
-- Heard a report from superintendent Mandy Fletcher on the reveal of a new design for the Buccaneer mascot, which was done at a recent pep fest.
-- Approved the calendar for the 2022-2023 school year. It includes a week of no school in April 2023 as a new spring break week.
Fletcher said this has been an idea under discussion for some time. She added that it will not necessitate going extra days at the end of the school year.
-- Approved retirements for Pat Patrowiak (special education), Jody Johnson (paraprofessional); resignation of Kiley Loveng (Little Giants); leave requests for Sharla Goodrich and Allison Dallager; new hires Jon Traetow (interventionist), JoAnna Helgeson (special ed teacher) and Adrianna Granillo (Little Giants preschool teacher assistant).
-- Learned that K-12 enrollment at BEA is currently at 1,039, up from 1,027 a year ago.