I attended the St. Cloud Area School District 742 Board meeting on January 28, 2016, at 7 p.m. The meeting took place at the St. Cloud City Hall and chaired by Dr. Les Green. Other board members present were Al Dahlgren, Debbie Erickson, Bruce Hentges, Bruce Mohs, Jerry Von Korff, and Dennis Whipple. A local high student, along wither her mother, and service dog read the mission statement of the school district. The student and her mom discussed the process of acquiring a service animal and their experience working with the high school and school district in regards to using a service animal in school. The School Board had approved a new policy regarding service animals in school at the meeting on January 13, 2016. The consent agenda was the next item covered in the meeting. The consent agenda is numerous agenda items packaged together as one item on the agenda. These items include meeting approvals, payment of bills, new hires, medical leave, resignations, retirements, awarded grants/donations, and construction bid approvals. The Board approved the consent agenda unanimously. The meeting then moved to information items. …show more content…
Joanne Dorsher spoke first. She is the President of the District 742 Local Education & Activities Foundation (LEAF) Board of Directors. Ms. Dorsher presented an update on LEAF’s activities and its fundraising event. She also discussed uses of the grant money over the past year. Over the 2014-2015 school year, the granted total amount was $184,496.00. One program funded was a mobile summer reading program for preschool aged children. After the meeting, I asked Ms. Dorsher if the books included those written in Somalin or Spanish. She informed me that the books are mostly in English. The program is working on adding more Spanish language books. She also told me that there are only a few children’s books written in Somalian, so the program does not currently provide them. The next presenter was the Director of PK-12 Curriculum, Lori Posch. She covered the framework the school district had set up for professional development. The three main goal areas are assessment and use of data, best practice instruction instructional strategies, and student engagement. Ms. Posch reviewed all the staff development day and content that has taken place thus far during the 2015-2016 school year. The last presenter was Dr. Marsha Baisch, the Assistant Superintendent. She spoke briefly about the previous topics of the school board work session held on January 13, 2016. The topics were entitled, Status of the Board Integration and Equity Committee and Equity Vision Card. The February work session topic is Social Emotional Interventions and Support. The meeting then moved to reports by the Superintendent and standing committee chairs. Superintendent Willie Jett presented information cover several areas. He recognized several school staff members who were retiring. Mr. Jett also recognized two teachers who won awards for being exceptional teachers. He then acknowledged the hard work the paraprofessionals in the district do with challenging students. Mr. Jett then discussed the future of Early Childhood programs in the district. The District is currently rethinking permanent location plans due to the bond initiative failing. Mr. Jett discussed this failed initiative and how the School Board must use this time to listen to the community members before coming