December 11, 2015 at 4:00 PM - Superintendent's Weekly Update to the Board of Education

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Kelsie and I have not heard back from any board member regarding back payments for cash in lieu.  Please contact one of us with your thoughts.  Thank you.  

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Last spring I asked Joel and David if high school students would prefer using Chromebooks over iPads.  They surveyed the students and received overwhelming opinion to continue with iPads.  Well, as technology changes so too do opinions.  A survey of high school students last week showed approximately 85% support for going to the new Chromebooks in 2016-17.

We are working on the plan and budget for 2016-17.  It appears we can use next year's allocated $100,000 to go one-to-one with Chromebooks in all grades 9-12.  The students in K-8 will all have iPads.  

The cost of new Chromebooks is about $100 less than iPad minis.  We do believe iPads are still best for our students in grades K-8.  The replacement cycle will continue in future years by supplying a new Chromebook in grade 9 and iPads in grades 4 & 5.

At last week's admin meeting we discussed a few concerns surfacing from parents of younger children using school district issued iPads.  In short they are concerned with the amount of time their children spend on them playing games.  We have a fix...

Next school year David and Michelle will only install the apps needed by classroom teachers in the elementary school.  It no longer requires the school/students to have an apple ID account for each iPad prior to loading apps for the classroom.  

David can even make the app store invisible to prevent anyone from adding apps.  We think the better route is to leave the app store on the iPad and allow parents to use their discretion if any non-school apps should be added or not.  The parents would have to use their own apple ID account.      

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After the Board approves trap shooting as an extracurricular sport on Monday we will register coaches for the 2016 Minnesota State High School Clay Target League Coaches Conference on Saturday, January 9.  This will be a good informational meeting for our coaches of a new sport.

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Jim, Dale, Joel and I attended the visitation for Vernon Barthel.  The eyes of Vern's siblings and children swelled with tears when we told them the District will be doing a memorial at the south wall of the PE-Practice Field.  We told them our thought is to have a plaque made with his picture.  The ceremony would be coordinated with the family sometime later this summer when the PE-Practice Field is complete.    

You can see attached a picture of the flowers we sent the family.  Also, the Royalton School District employees sent a card with about $145. 

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Please see attached MASA's position on early childhood education.

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Please see attached Mary's summary of her attendance at the ASBO International Conference.

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Minnesota School Board Association (MSBA) and non-related hiring consultants send superintendent openings to us administrators throughout the year.  Today I received an advertisement for the superintendent opening in Blackduck.

I have no interest in leaving Royalton School District anytime soon.  Although the Royals Wrestling Club experience has been negative everything else about the District and the people is very positive.  

The reason I share the Blackduck superintendent opening is because of a leadership quality they're looking for, "Has the proven ability to create an atmosphere of trust and respect by being ethical and honest in dealings with the School Board, staff, students, parents, and community."  This is and ought to be the standard for superintendents as well as all members of the school administrative teams and Boards.

Over the Thanksgiving break I had the opportunity to visit with a friend and mentor of mine for several years.  Russ Sethre is a retired Minnesota superintendent now living in Fergus Falls.  I worked with him when I first became a MS-HS principal at 25 years old.  He has taught me many professional and life lessons.

I did not go into great detail about the Royals Wrestling Club and coach situation because I think I was more embarrassed than anything.  He shared some of the following thoughts with me:

1.  As an assistant superintendent in one school he had to go against the recommendation of the superintendent.  Many years later while both were working in different districts the superintendent expressed his disapproval to my friend Russ for not supporting him on the issue.  Russ told the gentleman that he was wrong then and still is today.  And then Russ told him he is glad that he can still look at himself in the mirror, unlike the superintendent.

2.  Russ told me that throughout his career he too has been placed in difficult situations when "doing the right thing" causes you lots of discomfort and stress.  He said most of the time you come out on top, as you should, and other times you just need to move on.  He said this is why superintendents always need to be ready to look for their next job.

I am not entertaining any thoughts of applying for another superintendent position.  It's just unfortunate school leaders and leaders in other work and non-work capacities need to go through this for "doing the right thing."

The superintendent at Mora Schools told me on Wednesday school districts east of him are beginning to question their booster clubs based on the news coming out of Royalton.  Unfortunately,some of them are finding similar concerns as we're experiencing.

You can feel good other schools in the state are watching you closely and learning from your experience.  As a principal in SE Minnesota I was recognized as a leader in curriculum and instruction.  Several other more seasoned principals were jumping on to ideas I shared with them.  I guess as a superintendent you sometimes get known for dealing with the ugly.

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Please see attached the BPM Report for November 2015.  

You will find in the upper left-hand corner titled, "Investment Earnings Detail" the original portfolio interest income estimate was $74,904.90.  Because the expenditures are happening slower than predicted PMA has been reinvesting our dollars to earn more interest.  You will now see the estimated interest income is $85,163.69.

Please know this interest on the bonds is NOT spoken for in the project and cannot be until the end.  Just as the estimated interest income went up it can also go below the original estimate.  The approach Mary and I are taking is this money doesn't even exist.  At the end of the project there may be an unmet need we can use the dollars for.  Another possibility is placing the money into our general fund that we took from to complete the project as planned.  

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Please see attached the construction bills for December 2015.

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Please see attached the weekly bills for your approval.