All students return to classrooms

Students went back to the Barnum elementary and high schools Tuesday, Jan. 19.

“It was great to hear their voices in the halls again,” said Barnum superintendent Mike McNulty in a telephone interview later that day. “I hope that lasts a long time.”

The elementary students have returned to school five days a week, while the high school students attend school four days a week. They participate in distance learning on Wednesdays,

explained McNulty.

“Wednesday is a day for the teachers to do preparation work,” said McNulty. “We don’t have that in the elementary because we have enough staff to do the distance learning.”

He said the school still provides distance learning to families who chose that option.

Three new board members were sworn in at a reorganizational meeting of the board Tuesday, Jan. 5. Those were Louis Bonneville, Beth Dinger and Steph Ferrin. Incumbents Pat Poirier, Colleen Fetters and Tim Peterson did not file for another term. Incumbent Jamie Fuglestad did file and was re-elected. Board members Paul Coughlin, Beth Schatz and Jessica Unkelhauser remain on the board in the middle of their terms.

At the reorganizational meeting, Schatz was elected board chair, Fuglestad was elected vice chair, Coughlin was elected clerk and Unkelhauser was elected treasurer.

McNulty reported that the board had been considering listing a levy for operating funds on the ballot in the November general election but chose not to do that at this time.

“Covid dominated everything this year,” said McNulty. “That was the focus. Otherwise, it has been quiet.”

The board voted to levy the maximum for taxes payable this year, as is the standard practice, McNulty said. The total levy will increase from $790,508 to $934,806, an increase of $144,298, or 18.25 percent.

The school district received Covid funds last year and will again this year, McNulty said.

“Those are for mitigation measures, such as extra cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment,” he said. “The state is also talking about funding for summer school coming up, so the kids can catch up. But nothing is set in stone. There are no exact plans yet.”

McNulty emphasized the importance of practicing prevention methods to keep Covid-19 from spreading, to keep the students in school.

“We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We are hoping that the community cooperates to prevent the spread of the virus so we can keep the kids in school.”

Permission to cut

The board passed a resolution directing the administration to make recommendations for reductions in programs and positions.

“We go through this every year,” McNulty told the board. “Greg (Campbell, the high school principal) and I will be talking about this. I will bring back a list in March or April for a board decision.”

In an oral report about talks between the school districts of Barnum, Moose Lake and Willow River, McNulty said that plans to collaborate with Moose Lake in busing this year were not put into place because of the disruption caused by Covid.

“We will look at it again,” he said. “We have looked at having substitute drivers that would drive for all three school districts. Older drivers are more vulnerable to Covid. We may need substitutes to take their place if they don’t want to drive.”

McNulty said that the group is going to examine combining the food service programs from the three schools to possibly get a better price on food as a cost-saving measure.

It was also said that the school calendars of each school need to be aligned as closely as possible, such as scheduling spring break at the same time.

The next meeting of the representatives of the three schools will be at the Willow River school at

5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Board member Paul Coughlin asked if early retirement has been offered to the teachers.

McNulty replied that early retirement must be offered before Feb. 1.

“It comes down to, do we want to do that?” he said. “We offered it last year and there were two that retired early. I would say that it’s not a doable thing right now.”

Campbell spoke about the American Indian program at the school during the board meeting.

He said the school receives grant funds for the program.

“We took a critical look at how we spend the money from that grant,” he said. “We are taking the proper steps toward using that grant money properly. We found out that there are more American Indian kids in the school district than we were aware of. Now we are getting another $14,000 on top of the $20,000 that we were already getting. We have reached out to anyone identifying as American Indian and asked them to participate. That will help us develop a stronger American Indian program in our community.”