Lake Superior School District track athletes and coaches were on hand at last week’s school board meeting to present the trophy that they won at the state track meet earlier this month.. Head Coach Ryan McIntyre and other members of his coaching staff joined several athletes who competed with distinction, setting a number of school records. Seniors Ian Thorpe, Lamar Gordon, Grace Swanson, Karly Holm and Jenna Marxhausen contributed not only their talent, but their leadership skills in helping guide the team to a successful and exciting season.
Leah Bott, Agricultural Science teacher at William Kelly High School, representing a number of district educators, expressed concern about the scaling back of plans for classroom technology in the wake of some of the funding instability that the district has faced with regard to school improvement projects. Bott said the Smart Board technology that has been in class rooms for the past 12 years is so old that it can no longer be upgraded. A new system called Newline Edtec was piloted in one classroom this year and proved to be a very effective teaching and learning tool. Projected costs for the technology updates are around $98,000. The teachers who attended the board meeting said that they were willing to see sacrifices, if necessary, in other areas of the school improvement plan and that “the classroom is where the priority should be”. This sentiment was echoed by several Board members. The Newline technology is interactive touchscreen technology that is useful for distance learning and has shown to improve student engagement and enhance collaborative learning opportunities in the classroom. It will also help students learn how to use the digital tools that they will encounter in their higher education and career experiences. Jay Belcastro acknowledged that, prior to the availability of State funds, there was some talk about cutting back on classroom technology but thanks to the influx of support from Saint Paul, money for technology improvements should, for the most part, be restored.
Molly Gadsby, Nurse at William Kelly School, gave the board an overview of the State mandated policy for Narcan administration in schools. Each school will have a number of doses of Narcan that can be given to anyone suffering from an opioid overdose. District staff will receive training on the administration of Narcan and funding to cover the costs of this program come from Opioid Settlement money and from Lake County.
Superintendent Jay Belcastro is planning on moving the district to get back to a strategic planning process. With the challenges imposed by the Covid crisis over the past two years, some of the long term planning that is typical of school districts has taken a back seat to more emergent needs like the needed shift to online and virtual instruction. The strategic planning process will include focus groups made up of staff, students, parents and other community stakeholders.
The school year ended with both students and staff looking forward to the culmination of work that will be done this summer to revamp and upgrade district facilities. Residents of the Lake Superior School District should be proud of their support for world class educational facilities.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for July 18th in the Two Harbors High School Community Room at 6:00 p.m.
