Red ribbon and referendum presented to board

School board sets date for certification of referendum intent

FAIRMONT - The Martin County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (MCSAP) presented its plans for Red Ribbon Week, and the Fairmont School Board set a date for certifying their intent to seek voter approval for a referendum at their meeting on Tuesday.

Student President of Fairmont High School Empower, Georgia Werre, said that, along with substance abuse, they have also added mental health and suicide prevention to their mission, as these issues can often run together.

This month, Empower will be helping run Red Ribbon Week from Oct. 23-31 for drug abuse prevention and to encourage students to make healthy choices.

"As a part of Red Ribbon Week, Empower students will give peer-to-peer presentations to the fourth, fifth and sixth graders on bullying, kindness, and social media," Werre said. "We encourage everyone to wear red on Oct. 29th to bring awareness to Red Ribbon Week and the importance of making healthy, drug-free choices."

This year, they will also be adding a Halloween safety sheet, which will be given to parents.

As part of their update, Werre also spoke on new initiatives that will be done through MCSAP and Empower. The first one is through a Coalition grant from the Minnesota Department of Education.

"Empower's part of a pilot training used to teach changing the narrative on mental health and suicide," she said. "A group of us were trained this summer, and we hope to train more youth across the county. We will offer 50-minute modules to younger students on mental health. The eight dimensions of wellness, recognizing when someone is struggling, and how to get help."

Another piece is the new Empower Mental Health Advisory Committee, which is being trained to teach the program Erica's Lighthouse.

"Erica’s Lighthouse is a national non-profit that provides free school mental health programs," Werre said. "It was started by a family who lost their daughter Erica to depression. We’ll offer presentations on bullies and anxiety, with digital wellness coming soon."

Board Member Nicole Green thanked MCSAP and Empower for speaking on this.

"Looking at screen time and mental well-being and all of that affects us every day," she said. "I appreciate all of your efforts."

After that, Superintendent Andy Traetow gave an update on the potential February 2027 referendum.

"Yesterday, the operations committee met," he said. "The review and comment has been submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education for a proposed two-question referendum in February of 2027. That has been reviewed, and information provided by ICS, our construction consultant company."

From there, Traetow said the board would have to pass a resolution at the Nov. 10 meeting to certify the district’s intent to seek voter approval for the building projects. Further information on the proposals, edited from what was presented for a vote last year, will be coming.

In other news:

-- The Fairmont School Board has canceled their second meetings of October and November. Oct. 13 was their lone meeting this month, and their lone meeting next month will be Nov. 10.

--The resignation of Abby Ehlert as a high school administrative support assistant was accepted, effective Oct. 21.