Wrenshall seeks to fill several open posts

Having come through the crucible of making cuts and adopting a budget for the new school year, the Wrenshall School Board began tackling a host of open positions at its meeting in Holyoke on Monday.

Currently, due to retirements, resignations and roughly $320,000 in budget cuts, the district is without a licensed boiler operator, lead custodian, head cook, school nurse, information technology specialist and a business manager in charge of the district’s budgeting.

The board approved the hiring of a lead bus driver at the meeting. The district has until the start of the school year on Sept. 5 to either fill positions or cover them via contracted services.

The board approved a contract with the McGregor school district for business manager services at $40 per hour plus mileage and a prorated portion of benefits for time used serving Wrenshall.

“The business manager position is a temporary (solution),” superintendent Jeff Pesta said. “We have end-of-the-fiscal-year and beginning-of-the-fiscal year services that are critical to the function of the board, and we did not have internal capacity to move forward immediately.”

He said the district was working on building toward a long-term solution to replace its business manager who was let go at the end of June, a casualty of cuts with a salary north of $80,000 — a figure the board thought it could reduce with a new hire.

After some discussion, the board agreed to post openings for a boiler operator and lead custodian.

“One of the most critical things we have going on is there isn’t anybody responsible for the overall physical operations of the building,” Pesta said. “There are (custodians) doing their jobs but nobody is responsible, and that’s not a good situation to stay in long-term.”

Board member Ben Johnson wondered if the board’s building and grounds committee needed to meet prior to approving job postings.

“I don’t know how fast or if it’s critical we get these postings out,” Johnson said.

Pesta and board member Erik Ankrum, chair of the building and grounds committee, urged expediency.

“Exploring the pool of applicants, I don’t believe that should wait,” Pesta said.

“I wouldn’t hesitate, at least on the boiler operator, just to make sure we have that in place for when we need to have boilers back up,” Ankrum added.

The board is contracting with a licensed boiler operator who works for the Carlton school district. After Wrenshall inquired earlier this summer, Carlton declined to share any of the aforementioned services, Pesta told the board. Carlton did agree to the one conditional arrangement.

“However, if we were to contract with the individual who they employ as a separate job, very specific to boiler operation, they would be fine with that,” Pesta said.

Districts are required to have licensed boiler operating services year-round.

Regarding the school nurse, Pesta said he’s in the process of asking area schools about sharing services. If that doesn’t prove fruitful, the district will look for a registered nurse working on a tiered license who can oversee a health aide “that would provide direct services for students,” said the superintendent.

Last month, the Wrenshall board approved a $4.95 million budget for the 2023-24 school year. The budget comes with a surplus of $48,272, with hopes that it could surpass $100,000 with strong enrollment. The open positions are already mostly included in the

budget.

Scoreboard

The district has fundraised $26,882 toward a new scoreboard and shot clocks for the gymnasium. The goal is $40,000.

The Minnesota State High School League is requiring shot clocks for varsity boys and girls basketball games in the upcoming school year.

“It’s been phenomenal to see everybody come together,” said board member Johnson, who has overseen multiple community events aimed at raising money.

The board got its first look at scoreboard possibilities with manufacturer Daktronics sharing several options. The scoreboard reflects the cooperative agreement between Wrenshall and Carlton, using the Raptors nickname in the design.

The scoreboard and shot clocks will be ordered soon and installed in time for the school year, Johnson said.