The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
More than 50 students, parents and staff members gathered in the East Commons at Carrington Public School on Monday evening, just one week after the school board’s regular April meeting.
The four-item agenda brought forth discussion about the roles and responsibilities of staff in regards to athletics, as well as a conversation about how to financially support students who qualify for national competitions and conferences in co-curricular activities.
“It’s important to meet now, before we send out extracurricular contracts, to make sure roles and responsibilities are defined,” Superintendent Kris Kuehn opened.
“I don’t think that there’s anything broken with how we’re operating,” Kuehn said, noting that he believed there were misunderstandings and misconceptions that led to the special meeting.
“I feel comfortable with where we’re at, with how our programs are being run,” Kuehn said. The main concern was that formal evaluations of coaches hadn’t been done the past two years, mostly due to the turnover of administrators.
“The ball got dropped, and I’ll take that,” Kuehn said. He acknowledged that he had not gone over the duties assigned to High School Principal Chrystopher Bitz in Policy B-540, which relates to athletics. “We still have time this year to do coaches’ evaluations, and do them correctly,” he concluded.
A copy of the N.D. High School Activities Association’s Athletic Director Checklist was handed out to board members and Athletic Director Karla Michaelson. A copy of the checklist can be found at this link, on the NDHSAA website, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gtGQrPp-7I5nHIEV9silc5ZahR7piFcFEDiSxjkU-5o/pub
Board members noted that by adding girls wrestling, girls softball and archery in the past few years, they had in effect added a lot of responsibilities onto the athletic director.
“I’m sure (Michaelson) doesn’t have time to do everything,” board member Randy Hooey said. “If we want to work on this into next year and making (the Athletic Director) a bigger role, I’d be 100% for it.”
“A lot of the athletics, the stuff we’re talking about tonight, wasn’t talked about,” when the board interviewed the new superintendent, board member Angela Kutz noted, adding that by not clarifying the roles and responsibilities, “that’s just setting her up.”
Then Michaelson spoke, “Just looking at this list right now, I can say, yes, the evaluations were done prior to the last two years.”
She highlighted how she understood the duties, and which ones the high school principal was responsible for completing. “On this list, what am I not doing?” Michaelson asked the board. “This stuff is getting done.”
As for evaluations, she was clear, “It’s already written - it is the high school principal’s role.”
“If we have issues that arise, we have nothing to go off of,” if evaluations aren’t conducted, Hooey countered.
“I’ve had no parent come to me this year,” replied Michaelson. “We’re pretty fortunate with the staff that we have coaching our kids.”
“What on this list is something that could be moved off to somebody else’s responsibility?” another board member asked.
Michaelson’s answer was to retain the current policy, with the high school principal responsible for scheduling ticket takers and conducting coach evaluations.
Kuehn said he will ensure that the evaluations for the fall and winter sports get done, as those seasons have already ended. However, the evaluations for the spring sports will wait until a couple of weeks after the season ends.
“We could have answered a lot of these questions before this meeting had to happen . . . I’m big on communication,” Michaelson concluded. As for the new superintendent, “If there’s questions, ask.”
Michaelson then inquired about when the extracurricular contracts would be issued, as Kuehn confirmed that they hadn’t. “Is it because the evaluations haven’t been done that they haven’t been issued?” she asked.
The board clarified that the superintendent is responsible for issuing extracurricular contracts.
They do not need to be brought before the board.
“They should be out by Friday,” Business Manager Kimary Edland answered.
Conversation then moved to financial support for students who qualify for national conferences and conventions. As reported last week, 23 students qualified for FBLA National Conference in Chicago, and a $300 per student financial assistance request from advisor Josey Skytland at the April 12 meeting led to questions about how students should be supported in similar situations.
“What does this look like?” board member Kevin Wolsky asked. “I just don’t know if it’s fair.” Board members explained that students representing other groups, such as FFA, attend national conferences each year without financial assistance from the district.
President Joel Lemer outlined that there is support for FFA from the FFA Foundation, Carrington FFA Alumni and N.D. FFA Alumni Association. He acknowledged that other organizations don’t have the same level of support from outside entities.
“The cost of our national convention is not even close to FBLA,” FBLA advisor Missy Hansen added.
After discussion about the various organizations that have national competitions, such as Science Olympiad, FCCLA and archery, all agreed that there should be a policy set. After all, the advisor’s expenses are paid, when they are supervising students who qualify for national events.
“I’d like to see us set a flat amount,” Hooey offered.
Wolsky agreed with Hooey, “Coming up with a set thing is better for them and us, so we know.”
The topic will be placed on the May agenda, and research will be done in the meantime.
After missing two days of school the past week due to weather, the board opted to extend the school year by one day, using the storm day built into the calendar. Therefore, school will be in session on Thursday, May 26. In addition, all staff will be called in on Friday, May 27 for professional development to make up the second day.
The board then went into executive session to discuss negotiation strategy for the high school principal contract.
Editor’s Note: Superintendent Kris Kuehn told reporter Leasa Lura on Tuesday that he had instructed Business Manager Kimary Edland to send out the extracurricular contracts prior to the April 12 board meeting, but then decided to pull back after board members expressed concern.
