FAIRMONT– The Fairmont school board held its first meeting of the month Tuesday evening in the high school’s new vocational building. The meeting was immediately followed by a ribbon cutting and open house in the new facility.

In his report to the board, Superintendent Andy Traetow noted that Cardinal Community Days will begin later this month and that the district was beginning to distribute additional information about the program. Traetow also noted rehearsals for the high school’s upcoming performance of “Newsies” have begun. The superintendent had no new updates concerning ESSER funds or health and safety, but stated the district was continuing to follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education and Health agencies.

Later in the meeting the board voted to accept a series of donations from private entities. The Odell Wind Farm Community Fund donated $1,000 for new equipment for high school robotics, Fairmont 3M donated $6,191 of supplies for high school staff, Fairmont Shoe Sensation donated $500 of supplies to elementary school students and Fairmont Culligan Water donated a water cooler with $2,400 which will be used for concessions.

The board also approved some changes to policies regarding acceptable internet use, public data, security access, security cameras and sports camps. Most notably the revised policies required the district to improve transparency regarding student educational data that’s processed by third party technology providers, placed restrictions on what data can be collected from school-issued devices and placed limits on device usage among preschool and kindergarten students.

The school board meeting was the last in which district business manager Chris Muhvich presented financial reports to the board. The board approved employment for his replacement; Jessica Korte, who will start later this month. The board also approved an employment contract for long- term substitute teacher Joice Foster who is temporarily coming out of retirement to cover for an elementary teacher on child care leave.

The school board’s next meeting will be held on Oct. 25 in its normal location within the Council Chambers at Fairmont City Hall.

Next month the school board will not meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month and will instead hold a single meeting on November 15. The rescheduling was done so the board could canvass the votes from next month’s election shortly after it occurs while also avoiding a schedule conflict with parent teacher conferences and Thanksgiving break occurring later in the month.