---

   Northland School Board held their regular monthly meeting Wed., Mar. 12. During the meeting the board approved two donations for Prom. One in the amount of $300 from Boy River Hobo Club and the other from First National Bank North in the amount of $100.

   The board then heard various updates, with board member Tyler Seifert sharing information from a meeting he attended with Deer River regarding co-op arrangements with the wrestling program beginning with the 2025-2026 season. Seifert stated the meeting was very positive and Deer River was excited to welcome Northland students into their program. Cost would be very minimal for the first couple of years with Northland students wrestling as the Warriors and using current singlets and warm-ups. Deer River representative stated they are due for new singlets and warm-ups in two years and would then change the team name to the War Eagles to coincide with current team name for the track and cross country co-op teams. 

   Some of the expenses the district may see would be $100 per year application fee for the co-op and if any student athletes were to make it to a competition where the team would incur extra expenses Deer River would divide those out per student athlete. Otherwise, Seifert mentioned for the first couple of years putting transportation costs to Deer River for weigh-ins and scrimmages on parents.

   One questions Superintendent/High School Principal Mary Yakibchuk had was how this would affect the relationship and current co-op with Hill City since all current sports are co-oped with them. Seifert stated Hill City was invited to attend the meeting and Athletic Director, for both schools, Carter McLaughlin attended the meeting with Seifert. Currently Hill City is declining to participate as they don’t have any students interested. Seifert stated Northland currently has three students who wrestle in the Community Ed program that will age out. Therefore, by co-oping with Deer River this will open a high school program and also a middle school program. Seifert will bring more information to the board as the possibility of the co-op develops.

   Dean of Students, Stephaney Williamson also shared an update regarding the new cell phone policy implementation. The policy will be put into effect on Mar. 25, which is the beginning of the fourth quarter. Williamson stated a phone locker was displayed during parent/teacher conferences the beginning of March along with information on the policy. Therefore, phone lockers are ready for deployment and processes for management of the system have been established.

   Williamson also shared behavioral referral data stating junior high referrals were down in February to 53, with the most frequent being tardy/skip. However, high school saw an increase in referrals to 31 compared to 19 during January. The most frequent was also tardy/skip with technology and tobacco/vape rounding out the top three. There was discussion that some of these issues would hopefully be eliminated with the new cell phone policy going into effect. 

   In other Board action:

   • Approved an agreement with Itasca Area Schools Collaborative for Early Childhood Administrative Support Services.

   • Accepted the resignation of the following individuals: Wanda Schear as Food Service Cook, effective immediately; Lori Sizenbach as High School Leadership Co-Advisor, effective June 3; Denise Stefan as High School Leadership Co-Advisor, effective June 4 and Cheri Parkinson as Preschool Teacher, effective June 4.

   • Approved the hire of Larry Williamson as Bus Driver, effective Mar. 4.

   The board has scheduled the following meetings: the regular meeting, Wed., Apr. 9 at 5:30 p.m.; a work session, Wed., Apr. 23 at 5:30 p.m. and a policy committee meeting, Mon., May 3 at 10:00 a.m. and all meetings are held at Northland High School.

---