District welcomes new superintendent

There's a new superintendent in Wrenshall following unanimous school board approval Monday.

Retired Deer River superintendent Jeff Pesta was approved for a part-time role. It's what the financially strapped district could afford and what Pesta, 58, wanted to work.

"I wanted to continue to work part-time," he said. "It's like scratching an itch. Working through challenges, solving problems, that's something I still want to do."

Pesta replaces Kim Belcastro, who spent 11 years in the role, including a tumultuous period late in her tenure that left her fending off repeated attacks from board members who were subsequently voted out last November.

"He's picking up the keys tonight from me and moving into the office," Belcastro said during the board meeting, which included Pesta in the audience. "I hope you enjoy the staff and students here as much as I have over the years."

In her last meeting, Belcastro reported a projected enrollment of more than 330 students for 2023-24, a positive figure given that the number is north of the budgeted for 325. Struggling with declining enrollment, the district has been forced to make $312,000 in cuts in advance of the next school year. The board is expected to approve next school year's budget at a special meeting June 26.

Pesta has attended recent board meetings and seemed to appreciate the work of the current board, which features three newly elected members.

"From what I see it appears this board is committed to moving forward together," he said. "They have their priorities set and I see a commitment to not going backwards."

Pesta will work roughly two-and-a-half days per week in the part-time role. He owns a year-round cabin in Hinckley and plans to reside there when he's on site at the school. He'll also perform duties remotely, he said.

"There are things that you have to be on top of every day, but you can do them in different ways," he said. "There are other things, relationship-building, direct contact with staff, that I have to be here enough to be effective."

Details of the one-year contract approved Monday include:

• An annual salary of $39,034, along with an additional $25,000 district contribution into a tax-sheltered annuity plan.

• Should the board contemplate not offering a subsequent contract, it must notify Pesta no later than Dec. 15.

Pesta served in the U.S. Army before embarking on a career in education that started with teaching science and later entering into administration, first as an assistant principal and later as a three-time superintendent at Kenyon-Wanamingo, Hastings and, finally, Deer River.

After retiring from Deer River, Pesta opened a consulting business aimed at helping districts on an interim basis.

Wrenshall had wanted a full-time superintendent, but the budget crunch forced it to go part-time with the role. Pesta acknowledged his term might be a transitional phase for the district.

"Whenever they're ready to move to something else I'm going to help them do that," Pesta said.

Pesta's resume includes leading successful referendums, multi-million dollar construction projects, restoration of fund balances, and even endeavors to reduce enrollment losses caused by open enrollment.

He's already identified a couple ways he'd like to improve the Wrenshall district. First, by making the district more transparent. He said he had a difficult time locating budget information for the district - information he believes should be widely available.

"When I get together with the board and we have our first retreat I'm going to share with them candidly that these are things somebody who's been monitoring you for the last year couldn't find with direct access," he said. "I shouldn't have had access to personnel records, but budget information? That should all be where anybody can go get it themselves."

Additionally, he'd like to see the board take more of a governance role and become less hands on. During the meeting Monday, he heard how board members were traveling around the state to pick up things such as used band lockers.

"The goal would be to get back to where the board isn't so actively managing things," he said. "But that will be sorted out by getting to know them and establishing a structure that allows them to get back to that."

Pesta comes to the district with no personal ties to the area. He cited geographic location as one of the reasons he took the job.

"Being by Duluth, this area, is just wonderful," he said.

Shot clock fundraiser is Saturday

The Wrenshall school district is hosting a bags and live music event at Bricks on Saturday. It's the latest fundraiser aimed at purchasing a new scoreboard and basketball shot clocks for the gymnasium. The Minnesota State High School League has mandated the use of shot clocks beginning in 2023-24 and districts are required to have them in order to play home games.

The bean bags tournament begins at noon Saturday with live music starting at 7:30 p.m. Entry is $20 with all proceeds going to the purchase of the equipment.

"We still have $15,000 to go," board member Ben Johnson said. "We've over halfway there."