District to partner with college for student teachers

Cloquet public school board members began their meeting Monday brainstorming possible incentives to promote job growth within their district following staffing shortages and resignation letters. Signing bonuses and more benefits for part-time employees were a few of the ideas talked about during the Monday, Aug. 8 meeting.

Another way the school district hopes to gain more employees is through the elementary education program now offered at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. The school district has agreed to provide students in this program with student teaching positions.

This will not only help the district with its staffing shortage, but also help create a more diverse staff.

Around 25% of students in the Cloquet school district have Native American heritage. By partnering with the FDLTCC elementary education program, the school district hopes to match this percentage in their staff as well.

Childcare changes

Board members also approved a rate change for the Li’l Lumberjacks and Li’l Thunder child care programs beginning Sept. 1.

Beginning Sept. 1, Li’l Lumberjacks and Li’l Thunder will convert from hourly to a flat rate of $50 a day for infants with no half-day option; $45 a day for toddlers or $30 up to 6 hours, and $40 a day for preschoolers, or $25 up to 6 hours.

Currently, the rates are $4.80/hour for infants, $4.30/hour for toddlers, and $4.05/hour for preschoolers with a 4-hour minimum.

The changes were based on recommendations from First Children’s Finance to work toward making both programs financially solvent, according to the staff report.

In September, the Li’l Lumberjacks and the entire Kids Corner program are hoping to move into a new facility at Pine Tree Plaza after extensive renovations inside.

In response to a question from the Pine Knot News, Community Ed director Erin Bates said that’s the best case scenario, but work is not yet complete on the facility, which was most recently a furniture store. Finding a new location took a year and a half.

As reported in the April 29 Pine Knot, there is an ongoing child care crisis, Bates said, pointing out that the list of child care providers in Carlton County has gone from five pages to two in recent years. If they didn’t make the move, Li’l Lumberjacks and Li’l Thunder — which will remain at the college — would likely have closed.

In other matters Monday:

• Board members discussed the district’s switch in technology companies and the issues that have come from this.

“It has not gone as smoothly as we would hope, and we are still seeing some ongoing issues,” said superintendent Michael Cary.

The school district’s decision to change technology providers from Cisco to Ubiquiti resulted in some connectivity issues. Many of these issues have been resolved, but they are still working on fixing the video phones that the secretaries use to permit people into the schools. Cary stressed the importance of having this fixed before students and staff return from summer break.

• The board discussed a new policy that would affect volunteers and staff. One school board member said volunteers and staff should be responsible for letting their supervisors know if they are charged with a criminal offense occurring after the initial background check, as well as keep their supervisors updated on the outcome of the charge. District officials plan to work out more details and create a policy sometime in the future.

Pine Knot News editor Jana Peterson contributed to this story.