Five days in and what  have I learned?

Word of the year: RESET (Thanks Mr. O’Brien)

 

Back-to-Learning

First and foremost, all the staff and community members I have met appear to be excited for the start of a new year of learning. Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Nori have been very patient with my constant interruptions of their work to answer questions about policies and procedures. Mrs. Revering and Mrs. Peppersack have also been very supportive with helping me learn the ins and outs of daily operations at the high school. Mitch Toso has given me a refresher on computer operations and the state of technology in the district. 

.Preparations for Back-to-Learning are keeping Ms. Johnson and Mr. Radtke very busy, but they also took time to meet with me and provide input on the status of the district and the potential for continued success. Mrs. Eggert provided great input regarding the onboarding process for all new employees. Facilities are taking shape to be ready for staff and students arriving soon. Thanks to Mr. Rewitzer and all the custodial staff.  

The high school hallways have been buzzing with student athletes and coaches beginning practices for fall sports. New and veteran teachers have been sighted coming in to prepare their classrooms. Thanks to Coach Johnson and the Panthers Boosters for providing me and other District Office staff with some Panthers bling. Congratulations also on a very successful fundraiser the other weekend! Mr. Noga has been keeping me informed on progress on the new athletic field facilities.

Happenings

As I write this, members of the Leader in Me Leadership Team are doing professional learning with Beth. I would like to invite Board members to attend the two days of training with all High School staff on Monday, August 29 and Wednesday, August 31.

I had the opportunity to meet individually with four board members this week and plan to schedule meetings with all of  you over the next two weeks. Please feel free to call or email me to set up a meeting. 

Auditors from Eide Bailey were in the District on Wednesday. It does take some time for them to develop their report but they did not report any glaring concerns before they left. They did assure me that barring any major and unforeseen catastrophe this fiscal year, the District will not be in Statutory Operating Debt status at the end of the fiscal year. 

Minnesota school finance is complex. The goal of fund accounting is to maintain accountability and track how funding is used by a governmental unit (School District) rather than monitor the profitability of a company. This informational video provides a high level explanation of how it works. If link doesn’t work copy and paste the URL: https://vimeo.com/217885244?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=31388445

 “We need to make the positive so loud that the negative becomes almost impossible to hear!” – George Couros

Have a great weekend!

Peter E. Haapala

Interim Superintendent