The GFW School Board held a regular meeting on Monday, July 15, 2024. A summary of the meeting is below.
Watch the meeting on YouTube:
School and Community Recognition
The board recognized the employees of Dashir who handle facilities and maintenance for GFW Public Schools. Brian Weir, Laura Palmer, and Max Rehschuh were in attendance to receive the recognition. “I can’t think of anyone who is working harder in our district right now than this team,” said Dr. Horton. “You help us do all the things that help us do what we do. When our students and staff walk in the buildings you keep us safe and you find ways to keep our facilities shining bright.” The team has navigated through some challenges with boiler issues and other facility challenges, but they are a group of dedicated problem solvers who help the school district make a district in student's lives.
Dr. Horton shared updates on the building project with everything still moving forward on time and on budget despite challenges from the recent rainfall. The additional costs of handling drainage and additional moisture will be handled by the contingency fund set aside for issues like this. There could be slight delays in baseball and softball fields depending on ability to have grass grow and take root with two years of growth. Updates will continue throughout the project.
The district team is at work preparing for back to school packets and upcoming professional development as well as fall and winter community education and ECFE offerings. Dr. Horton also expressed appreciation to the GFW community for his four years as superintendent as he begins in his new role and prepares for a smooth transition for the next superintendent.
Julie Elmer shared updates about the school board filing period which opens on July 30 and runs through August 13 for the November election. There will be three seats on the ballot for the upcoming election.
School Board Reports
Board members shared updates from committee work including updates on the work taking place on the new school site.
The executive committee has been preparing for the superintendent hiring process and transition.
The community engagement committee is working with the logo and mascot vendor on redesigned files and updated renderings for consideration.
Superintendent Search
Jeff Bertrang of the South Central Service Cooperative shared updates with the board on the search process including a district profile that was compiled from surveys on the status and opinions about the district. There were 129 surveys completed with parents being the largest group participating along with staff and board members who shared input on what the community is looking for when it comes to attributes for the interim superintendent.
Some of the strengths of the district that were identified included quality programming, caring staff, strong sense of community, and small class sizes. Challenges were shared and included retaining highly qualified staff, student discipline and behavior expectations, transparency about the facility project, better communications, and the challenges that slow population growth in the area could have on enrollment.
The characteristics identified by the community for the next superintendent included being a good communicator, a good listener, having a strong school finance background and experience with school facility building projects. Community members shared that they wanted to see the next superintendent supporting students and staff, be approachable and available, and strong on finances. Bertrang shared that when they looked at the candidate list they looked for the top three priorities of having superintendent experience, experience with school finance, and experience with building projects instead of candidates who could learn the role as they go. “They are going to have to hit the ground running,” said Bertrang.
The timeline has been slightly adjusted with recommendations of candidates happening on July 15, interviews taking place on Thursday, June 18, approval of a contract on July 22 at a special board meeting and an anticipated start date of August 1.
There were a total of ten applicants with others who were interested but didn’t apply and two who applied after the fact. All candidates were vetted by the search team and updated with the timeline. Before the board approved the slate of candidates, they were only identified as candidates A, B, and C. Bertrang shared comparable qualifications for each candidate and recommended that the board approve the slate in order to get names and move the process forward.
The three candidates were recommended to be interviewed by the board and approved for the next phase. All of the candidates have prior superintendent experience in Minnesota, strong financial backgrounds, and have been teachers, principals, and administrators in their careers. The board discussed some of the priorities and possibilities including whether or not candidates may be open to staying on for future years.
Candidate A is Pat Divine who was recently at Waconia Public Schools before he retired and took a role as an online school director there. Candidate B is Frank Norton who was previously the interim superintendent at Red Wing Schools with experience in additional districts in roles throughout his career. Kelly Smith is Candidate C and has experience with Baker Tilly and Belle Plaine Schools as well as a background in teaching.
The candidates will be interviewing with staff members, the board, and will take a tour of the facilities. The board will make the final determination after the interviews and will approve a contract at a special meeting on Monday, June 22. More updates will be made to the superintendent search page on the GFW website.
Consent Agenda, Resolutions and Action Items
The board approved the consent agenda.
The board approved the slate of candidates for Interim Superintendent
The board approved updates to the 2024-25 school year calendar with a minor change with the fifth grade start date adjusting to be with the other elementary grades.
The board approved the Long-Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) plan as required by statute. The district will be maintaining buildings but not making major investments with the construction project taking place.
The board approved fundraisers for fiscal year 25.
The board approved the 2024-25 Employee Handbook.
The board approved a resolution on write-in vote counting.
The board approved the acceptance of donations.
The board approved future meeting dates for superintendent interviews, contracted approval, work sessions, and regular meetings.