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   The Northland School Board held their regular meeting on Wed., Feb. 12. Board Chair Marc Ruyak began the meeting by reading a statement for the staff and citizens that were in attendance: “Good evening. I just wanted to take a minute to acknowledge that there is justifiable concern surrounding criminal charges filed against a former employee of our district. As many of you are aware, a former employee was charged with criminal sexual conduct involving a minor. I want to be clear that what allegedly happened took place at the individual’s home. The alleged behavior did NOT take place on school grounds, on school property or on the school bus. 

   These allegations are extremely concerning and we are saddened by the allegations, nonetheless. 

   I also want to assure everyone of a couple of things:

   1. First. We take pride in having a strong onboarding process complete with criminal background checks and a robust interviewing process prior to hiring anyone.

   2. Secondly. We take any concerns surrounding employee conduct seriously and if a concern is brought forward we investigate and take appropriate action.

   We are a safe place for all of our students. 

   I am frustrated by the overuse of social media by some adults in our communities. Too often it is easy to throw stones on social media without knowing any of the relevant facts. Those who have bad or incomplete information can cause damage to the reputation of individuals or districts and it is unfortunate. I would rather those individuals show up at our board meetings so that we can hear them in person and address their concerns. 

   I would like to reiterate our sadness over the recent events and say again that we are proud of our district, the staff, the students and the efforts of everyone to keep our students safe and provide them an education that allows them to maximize their potential.”

   Some citizens arrived late to the meeting and were invited to stay after where Ruyak would re-read the statement so all individuals could hear the statement.

   After the reading of the statement the board approved some overnight field trips along with hearing staff reports. Dean of Students Stephaney Williamson shared a brief update regarding behavior referral data by stating junior high behavior referrals increased during the month of January to 68 from 16 in December. While high school behavior referrals decreased to 19 from 32. The most common behavior infraction was due to being tardy or skipping class followed by defiance/disrespect/disruption/disorderly. Williamson also informed the board she is currently working with administration regarding the new cell phone policy and the process for a successful start.

   Elementary Principal Janessa Green shared her report which included growth results in reading and math after winter benchmark testing. In reading most students in kindergarten and first grade are at a modest growth which is between the 15th and 40th percentile, while second - fifth grade is in the typical (40th - 75th percentile) growth category. Math results showed kindergarten and first graders in the typical growth category, while second through fifth graders had 33% in the aggressive category (above 75th percentile); 29% in the modest and 28% in the typical.

   Green also highlighted second grade this month and shared their class motto which is “We are a class of good friends. We treat others as we want to be treated. We value kindness, hard work and honesty. We do our best. We take risks, encourage each other, make mistakes and forgive ourselves and others as we learn and grow each day.” Green then shared an update on the LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training stating they are currently on unit three, session five out of a total of eight units, with each unit having seven sessions. The teachers, and Green, are learning a lot of helpful tools that they are excited to implement in the future. Finally Green highlighted elementary referrals for January sharing they were up to 15 from 10 the previous month. However, when looking back at previous years, the same time period last year saw a total of 58 referrals which Green stated she felt the new procedures put into place this year are working well.

   Superintendent/High School Principal Mary Yakibchuk shared that new busses are arriving. The new mini-bus has arrived with the new 77 passenger bus with under-carriage storage will arrive in the next couple of weeks. She also informed the board there are multiple applicants for open positions with interviewing to begin shortly.

   Yakibchuk then gave an update from the budget committee, stating they have been able to reduce the budget by approximately $250,000. With retirements, moving of staff to different positions, job sharing and elimination of open positions Yakibchuk doesn’t expect any other changes to staff. On the agenda there were also some reductions approved that helped reduce the budget. Those were: terminate the agreement for services with Hill City Public Schools for shared services of Early Childhood Coordinator Brandon Otway effective June 30; approve an agreement to share services of Social Worker Karissa Benoit with Hill City Public Schools effective 2025-2026 school year and approve closing the nine month custodian open position. Yakibchuk also mentioned what a huge loss it will be to loose Otway, as he is always willing to step up to help out Administration and has developed the early education program into what it is today. Also, she mentioned that with the new sharing of Benoit the district will only have access to her during the mornings instead of all day.

   Another item on the agenda was the approval of the 2025-2026 district calendar. Yakibchuk commented on a few of the breaks stating Christmas break will be another two full weeks for students due to the way the holidays fall and to avoid having a two day week. Also, with where Easter is, she stated it only made sense to have an actual spring break this year. The district calendar was approved unanimously.

   In other Board action:

   • Approved the 2025-2027 master agreement between ISD #118 and the Principals’ Association.

   • Approved the Memorandum of Understanding between ISD #118 and NREM regarding ECFE compensation.

   • Accepted the Resolution of Concurrence from the American Indian Parent Advisory Committee, where it states that ISD #118 is compliant with MN Statutes, Sect. 124D.78 and are meeting the needs of American Indian students.

   • Accepted the resignation of bus driver Chris Stoppelman effective Feb. 7.

   • Approved the hire of Chrissy Nihart as prom advisor for the 2024-2025 school year.

   • Accepted the intent to retire from Shem Daugherty, social studies teacher, effective June 4 and allowed him to participate in the post-retirement healthcare savings plan.

   The board has scheduled the following meetings: a work session, Wed., Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m.; a policy committee meeting, Wed., Mar. 3 at 10:00 a.m. and the regular meeting, Wed., Mar. 12 at 5:30 p.m. all meetings are held at Northland High School.

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