FAIRMONT– On Tuesday the Fairmont School Board heard from Superintendent Andy Traetow regarding financials for the coming school years.

“We’re always very mindful of maintaining the opportunities that we have for our kids,” Traetow said.

He said that the district’s federal ESSER funds or “Covid dollars” are expiring in the next five months but that the district has been making strategic plans over the last year to prepare for the expiration of the funds.

“Coming into this school year, the state legislature did provide additional funding to a level that we haven’t seen before in education which resulted in a 4 percent increase on our per pupil formula for the current year as well as an additional 2 percent in the subsequent year,” Traetow said.

He said the district has been appreciative of the support and that the district will continue to monitor student enrollment and maintain the vast majority of the programming that it has offered.

“Ultimately our students are why we’re here and we want to make sure that we’re providing the best education to our students and the best possible environment for our students and staff and the best possible outcome for our community in the future as well,” Traetow said.

At the second board meeting in May, Traetow said a work session will be held where the board can go over the current budget and start planning for fiscal year 2025.

In other business, Traetow said that he and director of buildings and grounds, Tyler Garrison, will start the process of doing a comprehensive facilities needs assessment with an outside entity.

In other news:

— The board heard from high school science teacher, Louise Ostlie, who had been named the district’s Teach of the Year.

— The board approved a motion to increase the hourly rate of pay for student workers from $13 hourly to $15.

— The board accepted the following resignations: Tonya Peterson high school paraprofessional; Jennifer York, elementary school paraprofessional; Emily Fett, high school nurse; Ashley Olson, elementary 4th grade teacher.

The board approved the employment of Andy Garcia as a high school social studies teacher and Keegan Titus as a high school math teacher.