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FAIRMONT-- Fairmont Area Schools Superintendent, Andy Traetow, and serval school board members made statements Tuesday evening regarding the decision to non-renew a contract for one of the high school's ag instructors.
As the district doesn't allow a period for public comment during school board meetings, none of the individuals present in support of the ag and FFA program spoke at Tuesday's meeting. However, the public is always welcome to speak during various committee meetings.
Traetow thanked students, parents and community members that have reached out in support of the agricultural program and FFA at Fairmont Area Schools.
"As a school district we continue to be committed to these programs and the future success of agricultural education at Fairmont Jr./Sr. High School," Traetow said.
He spoke about some of the other career and technical education classes and said that there will be seven licensed instructors in the district in those areas next year.
"Agricultural education will continue to have a place at Fairmont Area Schools. We are committed to that and ensuring that all our kids have access to a wide variety of courses across all subject areas to meet their interests and future aspirations," Traetow said.
Board Member Rufus Rodriguez asked if the Ag advisory committee has provided any guidance or recommendation. Traetow said that he's meeting with members of the committee on Wednesday evening.
Board Member Julie Laue asked how Fairmont's FFA program and agricultural academy compares to programs in surrounding districts.
"When we compare to other schools, our neighbors to the West do have more licensed agriculture instructors than we do. Their agriculture instructors are also teaching courses in woods, welding, automotive... in addition to plant and animal sciences and ag business," Traetow said.
He said that moving forward, Fairmont schools will work on building connections between these areas and the agricultural community.
When it came time to vote on the resolution, Board Member Mike Edman explained that every year at the end of the school year they need to approve recommendations from principals regarding non-renewals of non-tenured contracts.
"The school board is responsible for the management of the running of the school. We hire a superintendent and principals to run the school. We do not run it but we make sure it's run well and I have a tremendous amount of faith and confidence in the people that we have hired to run our district and our buildings," Edman said.
He added that those people have made this recommendation and have provided their reasonings and he saw no reason to doubt them.
Laue added that they're being financially responsible and that by law, they're granted the ability to put the teachers on unrequested leave of absence.
In a 5-1 vote, with Board Member Dan Brookens voting no, the board passed the resolution to non-renew the contract of Cassandra Brown.
Brown came on as a second ag teacher at the start of the 2021-22 school year. She joined Katie Elder, who has been employed as an ag teacher with the district since the 2020 school year.
The board also passes a resolution to non-renew the probationary contracts of teachers Chelsey Jensen and Carrie Rosenberg.
Moving to other matters, Traetow provided an update on the vocational expansion project and estimated that they're about three-fourths of the way done with the project. He said interior walls are painted and the tiling on walls and restrooms are finished but the floor tiling needs to be done yet.
While the project has remained on schedule, Traetow said their budget is getting tighter as they've had a few added expenses. However, Traetow said he's been in contact with severval other districts that are working on projects and that they've ran into similar budgetary issues.
Traetow said that once again, there are no currently no active Covid cases in the district.
"To sit here on May 10 to report that we have maintained the same consistent learning model all year... that has been a huge asset," Traetow said.
During Tuesday's meeting the board also heard a presentation from Ideal Energies on a solar power rooftop project. Several board members took the opportunity to ask questions but no action was taken at Tuesday's meeting.
In other action, the board accepted the following employments:
-- Emily Lubenow, 1st grade teacher.
-- Haley Olson, 3rd grade teacher.
-- Mercedes Moeller, kindergarten teacher.
-- Reada McConnaughy, math teacher.
-- Adam Cartensen, CTE teacher.
-- Miles Duffey, english teacher.
-- Brooke Schultz, Director of Teaching, Learning and Student Support.
-- Stew Murfield and Holly Neusch, head cross country coaches.
The board accepted the resignations of Michelle Hernes, intervention specialist and Kyle Leeson, math teacher.
In other news, the board:
-- Recognized Tom Seifert and Steve Lebert for 25 years of service with the district.
-- Recognized retirees Kathie Card, Laurie DeBoer, Cindy Jensen, Cindy Opheim, Julie Ricard and Barb Sandersfeld.
-- Accepted the 2022-23 school calendar.