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Wednesday, December 11, 2024
HomeNewsEducationLake Superior School District has a New Superintendent

Lake Superior School District has a New Superintendent

The Lake Superi­or School Board ap­proved a recommen­dation at their meeting last week to hire Gina Kleive as the Superin­tendent for the LSSD. Kleive steps into the position held by Jay Belcastro who retired earlier this month. Belcastro has served as an educator and Ad­ministrator for 32 years and has been the LSSD Superintendent for the past 4 years. Gina Kleive started working in the Duluth School District in 2006, was hired as Assistant Prin­cipal at Two Harbors High School in 2022 and moved into the position of Principal when Julie Benson re­tired earlier this year. She begins her tenure as Superintendent on June 11th. The Board also approved the rec­ommendation to hire THHS Assistant Prin­cipal Michael Emmer­son to replace Kleive as Principal.

Two Harbors High School’s new Principal Michael Emmerson. (photo by Rick Evans)

Tanner Spawn, Busi­ness Manager for the district, presented the initial budget for fis­cal year 2025. Readers will likely remember that the District is fac­ing a budget shortfall of around $500,000. The School Board voted to approve the initial budget as pre­sented. The Board also approved a res­olution authorizing the application for the acceptance of Agency Funds for Educational Projects from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation (IRRR). While it is uncertain what will be awarded to the district at this time, the hope is to re­ceive some grant fund­ing to help cover some financial needs in the coming year.

The School Board is considering an In­ternet Acceptable Use and Safety Poli­cy regarding student cell phone use during the school day. An increasing body of research shows that students do better aca­demically and socially when phones are put away during school hours. Both student engagement and aca­demic scores improve when students are not distracted by their electronic devices and teachers are free to teach and support stu­dents when they are not having to moni­tor student cell phone use during class time. While no action was taken on this policy at last week’s meeting, the School Board is considering its adop­tion.

As the school year has wrapped up, dis­trict staff are gearing up for Multi-Tiered Supports Training. MTS provides educa­tors with knowledge to help effectively ad­dress student needs in the areas of academic intervention and prog­ress, social emotional interventions, differ­entiated instruction and small group / col­laborative instruction practices, to name a few. Staff will also re­ceive training in sup­port of the Carnegie Math curriculum.

Special Education and Title 1 programs are planned for the summer. Information can be obtained by contacting the District office. Community Education is offering a variety of learning op­portunities for the sum­mer including swim­ming lessons, summer basketball camps, ele­mentary football camp and Drivers Ed classes in both Two Harbors and Silver Bay. Check the Ripple for more information. Commu­nity Education Direc­tor, Bruce Remme, indicated that there is a need for help with staffing childcare pro­grams for the summer. There is also a need for one bus route driv­er for the coming Fall.

The next School Board meeting is scheduled for July 16 at 6:00 at William Kel­ley School.

Rick Evans
Rick Evans
My wife, Marsha Kinzer (a proud DEHS Greyhound, class of ‘77) introduced me to the North Shore on vacation in 2012. It became our regular escape when the stress of our careers in education became overwhelming, and it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the breathtaking scenery, the nice people, and “salad” containing Jell-o and marshmallows. So you can either blame or thank my loving wife for my being here, because when we needed to choose a retirement hometown, Marsha advocated hard for her beloved Duluth, and here we are, six months later. Yes, this will be my first northern Minnesota winter. Yes, I welcome thoughts and prayers. Government, public policy, and social justice weighed heavily in the curriculums I taught at the high school level over a thirty-eight year career. In addition, we were a laboratory school focused on critical thinking in conjunction with technical and scientific writing. So when I found myself adrift on the great ocean of retirement and spied a raft, I jumped at the chance to take up what I’d left behind…minus the bad teachers’ lounge coffee. My position at the NSJ allows me to combine my passions for government and writing, and it’s helping me to feel less out of touch in new surroundings. When I’m not being “Cubby” (Marsha’s favorite new nickname for this green reporter) I enjoy pointing at eagles and saying, “Look, honey. There’s an eagle.” I’ve had an active side hustle as a professional musician for almost as many years as Charlie Parr. As a guitarist/singer/songwriter, I graced the stages of clubs and festivals around southern Wisconsin, including an appearance on A Prairie Home Companion. Should I even mention A Prairie Home Companion, or am I the only one here old enough to remember what that is? Look! An eagle!
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