Wrenshall: School Board leans toward inquiry

After more than 50 people showed up at its last meeting, the Wrenshall school board held its regular June meeting in the commons area of the school instead of the cramped library. A microphone was deployed so a similar-sized audience could hear what was being discussed Monday.

But when it came time to talk about the current controversy consuming the board, the microphones went unused and the mumbled conversation that ensued was difficult to hear even on a playback of a recording.

The Monday meeting began like many of the board’s meetings do these days, with items added to the agenda. And this time, it wasn’t something small. Chairwoman Misty Bergman said the board would consider, as the last item on the action agenda, hiring an investigator concerning the “allegations” discussed in closed sessions on June 7.

That meant the board did, indeed, approve an action after the closed sessions but did not reveal it to the public at the time. It’s a violation of the state open meeting law and Bergman, when asked, refused to discuss what had changed in six days that moved the board to finally adhere to state statute.

The plan is to investigate, according to people in the district with knowledge of the situation, a threat made by an employee regarding superintendent Kim Belcastro. The second non-public discussion was about allegations made by that employee about Belcastro.

Board member Cindy Bourn said more allegations have surfaced but didn’t elaborate on whether they would be added to the investigation. When asked if the investigation contract would cover both items discussed in closed session the week before, Bourn said, “I believe” that was the case, as discussed with John Edison, the district’s attorney from the firm Rupp, Anderson, Squires & Waldspurger.

Bergman said Edison recommended the company for the contract with the district, Terch & Associates, based in Duluth. Board member Nicole Krisak said the contract had been given to members just before the meeting and she wanted time to consider it.

Board member Ben Johnson understood what was part of Krisak’s concern: a conflict of interest question concerning Justin Terch, head of the investigative firm. Terch, according to the board conversation, is a member of the Carlton County Republicans. Bourn serves as a vice president in that group. She said the conflict was determined to be moot, according to Edison, because, apparently, she had limited contact with Terch.

Tony Sheda is a chairman of the political group and Bill Dian is also on the executive roster posted by the group. Sheda is a district resident who has been outspoken about activities surrounding the controversial appointment of Dian last August, a watershed event that has dispirited many residents and employees of the district. Bourn eventually became the alternative to Dian after a petition was successful in negating the appointment of Dian.

Bergman told the Pine Knot News on Tuesday that the district’s attorney, Edison, “recommended using Terch & Associates for the investigation based on his law firm’s previous experience with Mr. Terch’s investigations for other Minnesota school districts. Another reason Mr. Edison recommended Mr. Terch is that Mr. Terch works in the area and would not need to travel from the Twin Cities metro area.”

Terch is a Cloquet resident.

“I do not know of any board member who has had contact with Mr. Terch,” Bergman said. “Mr. Edison reached out to Mr. Terch on behalf of the district. I am not going to comment further on Mr. Terch because this situation is not about him. Simply put, he was recommended to the board by legal counsel as a qualified and experienced outside investigator.”

Terch said he had no comment and referred questions to the district.

Bergman did not elaborate on how it was decided there wasn’t a conflict. She was asked if even the whiff of a conflict was enough to reconsider who should be hired to investigate matters relating to the district. She did not respond.

During the meeting, board member Jack Eudy opined that options for an investigator are limited in the area and that he was sure “politics” wouldn’t enter into an investigation. He said he was sure there would be a “professional” job done.

Krisak said the board should still try and find out if, indeed, there are other options. She said she remains fully in support of an investigation, “I’m just not sure about the person.”

“I just want to discuss it, that’s all,” Krisak said.

The board eventually unanimously agreed to table the item to pursue other options and perhaps have conversations with potential investigators. The contract that was tabled called for an investigation to not exceed a cost of $10,000 unless more costs were authorized by the board.

In the closed sessions on June 7, it was stated that the board was discussing two instances of allegations against an “employee.” The investigation contract language uses the term “district representative.” When asked about the discrepancy and the meaning being construed that board members are being investigated because they are the sole representatives of the district, Bergman did not respond.

The Pine Knot News asked Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake if law enforcement has been involved in the allegations. She said Wednesday that “we do have one report from May 20, 2022, from Wrenshall schools reporting a threat made. The reporter wanted (it) for (a) matter of record, so nothing further was done on our end other than the report for documentation.”

On Tuesday, Bergman responded to a few of many questions asked of her by the Pine Knot News.

“There are allegations against superintendent Kim Belcastro and against technology director Jamie Hopp,” she said. “The status of those allegations is that they are under review. I am not aware of any law enforcement involvement in any of the allegations.”

Official contract

Also added to the agenda was the approval of Michelle Blanchard’s contract as principal in the district. The one-year contract was approved. It had been vetted by Edison and Belcastro, and business manager Angela Anderson sat down with Blanchard to hammer out the details. Because Blanchard receives no health care coverage through the district, the value of that was added to her base salary for a total of $88,324. Blanchard also requested a notice by April 1 if the board planned any administrative changes that would alter the principal job description or moves to eliminate it.

Budget

The board approved a deficit budget for the next fiscal year of about $1.1 million. Anderson, the business manager, said “it’s OK,” when the number came up. She said the deficit includes costs for building projects at the school that fall into next year’s budget. Those costs would eventually be covered by district taxes. About $950,000 of the deficit budget is under those building costs, so the approved budget “looks worse than it is,” Anderson said.

Public comment

There were several pleas made during the public comment portion of the meeting for the board to do a better job in its work, especially when it comes to the reputation of the school following several incidents of discourse from members with the public. Some were teachers, some were parents or residents. They also didn’t use a microphone, but could be heard loud and clear.

They all received plenty of applause as the board took the words in without comment.

Second-grade teacher Niki Rowland is in her 11th year at Wrenshall. She said the school has historically been referred to as a “hidden gem” in the era of open enrollment. “Our school is no longer viewed this way,” she said. She said comments and actions from the board were changing perceptions and the district “deserves better.”

Teacher Suzy Berger said she’s heard “racist, homophobic, inappropriate and unprofessional” comments from school board members and has felt “disgusted and ashamed” about it and the fact that she wasn’t speaking out against it.

“I’m done being complicit,” Berger said. “Our students deserve role models that will stand up for what is wrong with our school, and it starts with me.”

Sports teams

There were also calls to support fully joining with Carlton in all sports. This spring, there have been discussions about a more robust sports cooperative under the Raptors name, the latest being a possible baseball pairing. It was spurred by the budget crisis in Carlton and its efforts to pare costs. Speakers on Monday said there should be no hesitation in combining the remaining sports, which would be volleyball and basketball. They urged forgetting about alliances and producing more competitive teams.

“Combine, and get this over with,” Wrenshall baseball coach Aaron Lattu said.

Volleyball coach John Peterson echoed those sentiments, and brought several of his players to the meeting as support as well.

The Raptors football program will be without a varsity team in the fall because of a lack of participants.

Questions unanswered

There are many questions that have been posed to Wrenshall school board chairwoman Misty Bergman, who also acts as the media contact for the district. In the past two months, the Pine Knot News has adhered to a policy the board discussed about no one talking to the media except for Bergman. While Bergman has answered a few questions, she has ignored many more.

Bergman provided some answers on Monday about the proposed contract and status of the “allegations” regarding two people. She said she was unable to answer others based on data privacy laws and privileged discussion with the district’s attorney, John Edison.

The Pine Knot News reached out to Bergman to clarify why she wasn’t answering questions that did not seek personal information or had anything to do with the allegations.

“You are not answering questions that don’t call for personal information, or have anything to do with the two cases of allegations, based on the advice of the district attorney?” the Pine Knot asked. “Including clarifications of statements made in public meetings or procedural questions? We’d like to get the reasoning correct.”

She did not respond.