Tennis, co-op efforts take center court at meeting

Cracks filled with knee-high weeds zigzag across the tennis courts at Carlton's South Terrace Elementary School. Although there are nets, the courts are in such a state of disrepair it would be almost impossible to play a game of tennis there.

With the school district battling ongoing budget woes, repairing the tennis courts has not been a priority for a school board that is working hard to simply keep the schools open and fully staffed.

Ed Kavanaugh gets that. The Carlton grad has been on the school board, sent his kids to school there and has seen the budget struggles that came with declining enrollment. But he still wants to see the courts regain their former glory.

During Monday's regular Carlton school board meeting, Kavanaugh proposed that he (and others) raise the funds to redo the courts from private donations, something they've been quietly investigating for about 12 months.

"Our group in no way wants any funding from the district, we know the situation well enough," he stressed to the board. "But the people I represent have money. There's a whole new set of people involved and driven to get that developed - they're what I call the old pickleball people. They have time and they have passion for pickleball."

So far, Kavanaugh has talked to two local construction companies about the project, which would require digging up the existing asphalt, putting in new, then hiring someone to do the final surfacing. The courts could be striped for tennis and pickleball, like they are at Churchill Elementary in Cloquet. The fences are in great condition and could be reused.

What Kavanaugh wants from the school district is a dedicated fund that people could donate to, and he wants the district - which owns the tennis courts - to call for bids so his group can get a handle on costs. He has some pledges already, just waiting.

"I recognize that it seems absurd that the school district is doing some major cuts, yet I'm asking you to get bids for new tennis courts," he said, noting that using school funds would be offensive to people. "We would need to identify that this is a group of grassroots people who believe in the district and want to have this facility."

Board members Sue Karp and Ann Gustafson responded very positively to Kavanaugh's presentation, while Sam Ojibway and board chair Julianne Emerson didn't disagree.

"It's hard to say 'no' when others are paying for it," Emerson said.

Board members did not vote on the proposal but suggested Kavanaugh come back next month for an update. They are also talking with the city of Carlton about the project, and Kavanaugh has talked with the township and the county.

Co-op agreement approved

Also Monday, Carlton school board members unanimously approved a formal contract outlining the Carlton-Wrenshall Cooperative agreement, including sports and co-curricular activities.

It is the first time the two schools have had such a comprehensive agreement, superintendent John Engstrom said. Drafting the agreement was the top priority for the cooperative committee, he said. Other goals included adding more sports to the current collaborative sports already underway, and adding co-curriculars.

"The proposal that you see before you, I think, does a great job of achieving two of those three goals," Engstrom said. "It definitely is an improved version of the existing cooperative agreement. We did not add any sports, but certainly paved some groundwork for that to happen." They did add some co-curricular activities, he said, praising committee members for having good meetings and discussions with their counterparts in Wrenshall.

The agreement outlines the following sports and which school will act as host:

At Wrenshall: Football, including Raptors cheer squad.

At Carlton: Softball, boys and girls cross country, boy and girls track.

The agreement also includes a cooperative arrangement for the following activities, although host schools have not been designated: One- and three-act plays, Knowledge Bowl, robotics, science fair, Business Professionals of America (BPA), Math League and Gay-Straight Alliance advisor. The districts will also attempt to form a pep band with students from both schools and purchase duplicate trophies when cooperative teams win awards.

In other matters Monday, Carlton school board members approved a transfer of $202,000 from the designation transportation fund - money raised from the sale of buses in 2019 - into the General Education fund as a strategic response "to the unassigned fund balance continuing to decrease," business manager Norman Nelis told the board.