Month: June 2025

Polk County Emergency Management is accepting Initial Damage Assessments for any disaster related costs and damages from the storm event that occurred on June 20 and 21 of 2025.  

Any public entity within Polk County representing cities, townships, county departments or any publicly owned organizations should complete and submit their Initial Damage Assessment forms to the Polk County Emergency Management Department.

The information from the submitted forms will be used to determine if the damage related costs could qualify for any State and/or Federal assistance.  The submitted data also serves as a tool to determine the severity and magnitude of the damages incurred during the storm event that occurred on June 20th and 21st of 2025.  All of the Initial Damage Assessments must be submitted to Polk County Emergency Management by Monday June 30, 2025.

For more information on obtaining and submitting your organization’s Initial Damage Assessment forms, please go to:  www.co.polk.mn.us/IDAP

The Northwest Regional Corrections Center reported the arrest of the following–

Joshua Jerome Johnson, 21, of Grygla, for 2^nd Degree DUI-Driving while impaired and refusal to submit to a chemical test

Reed Darrell Larson, 42, of Ada, for Misdemeanor Domestic Assault

Richard Roy Schwede, 60, of Crookston for Misdemeanor Domestic Assault

Austin Michael Devier, 22, of Grand Forks, for 3^rd Degree DUI

Darrell Ralph Dewall, 67, of Jackson, for Disorderly Conduct/Brawling or Fighting

Jordan Patrick Dvorak, 20, of Grand Forks, for 4^th Degree DUI

Crookston Fire Calls

The Crookston School Board met at Highland Elementary in the large group room on Monday. A couple of items were added to the consent agenda. The first added time was to accept the resignation letter from Nate Lubarski, the Activities Director. The second added item was to accept the letter of resignation from Randal Bergquist, Superintendent of Schools.

After the meeting adjourned, we met with Lubarski to find out about his career change. “My family and I are moving to Duluth, MN. It’s a spot we vacation every summer and a spot that our family really enjoys,” says Lubarski. “There was an opportunity to move my family and work there, and we took advantage of it.” What will Lubarski be doing in Duluth? “I will be working at Duluth East High School next year.” What will Lubarski take with him from his time with Crookston Schools? “I took this job to be around kids every day, which I was fortunate to be able to,” says Lubarski. “I will miss working with all of our coaches and all of our administration staff. Everybody has been wonderful to work with. It’s been an absolute joy to work the last three years in the Crookston School District and lead the activities here in town.” The School Board unanimously approved to accept Lubarski’s resignation.

We also got to speak to Superintendent Bergquist about his plans for the future. “I’m going to Lake Park Audubon School District as the Superintendent,” says Bergquist. “It’s a district I used to teach at over 20 years ago. I’m originally from Moorhead so we have a lot of family and friends from Moorhead and Detroit Lakes, so it gives me an opportunity to be closer to Lake Park Audubon School District.” What will he take with him from his time here in Crookston? I’ve enjoyed my time here in Crookston, especially the students,” says Bergquist. “The community and the staff have been great to me, so I appreciate that.” What has been most memorable about his time here? “Honestly, I’m going to remember most, in the hallways, saying hi to all students,” says Bergquist. “The students are what we go into education for, and quite honestly, every morning, every day, every activity I went to, I got to see students in action and talk to them. That’s what I’m going to miss.” The board unanimously approved of Bergquist’s resignation.

2025-26 BUDGET APPROVED
The board approved the 2025-26 budget with projected surpluses in the General fund of $65,926, expected revenue of $19,411,488, and expenditures of $19,345,561, with $15,929,316 of that going to salaries/wages/benefits. 82 percent of the general fund goes to salaries/wages/benefits.
The Food Services budget has a projected surplus of $19,118 with revenues of $1,171,750 and expenses of $1,152,632.  The Community Ed fund is the only projected deficit, with $428,972 in revenue and total expenditures of $682,088 for a deficit of $253,116. 89 percent of the expenditures are salary/wages/benefits. How did Business Manager Blake Stoltman think the School Board received his budget presentation? “All of the funds that we manage from a budget standpoint were all taken care of and approved for 2026,” says Stoltman. “We had a lot of challenges going into it with a decent-sized deficit spend going in for the general fund, but we were able to reduce it down and make it into a surplus spend.”
The budget breakdown is at the bottom of this page.

SOLAR FOR SCHOOLS PROGRAM –
Anna Peterson, Northwest MN Coordinator at Clean Energy Resource, presented to the School Board, along with Peter Lindstrom, from CERT’s, on the Solar Energy for Schools Program. The program has been successfully applied for by over 100 Minnesota schools. The CERT’s Grant covers 50% of a solar array project for eligible applicants. Each array is roughly the size of a tennis court and can be installed on school roofs or the ground adjacent to the schools. Peterson explained one of the excellent reasons why we are located makes this project easy to approve. “Right now, through the Minnesota Department of Commerce, they have a grant available that pays for up to 50% of that program, and then you can pair it with Ottertail Power, which also has a grant that pays for 50%,” says Peterson. ” It’s a pretty nice program for the school. It also has an educational component for the kids. So, it’s kind of a win-win for everybody.” The School Board approved of the Solar For School Project unanimously and there will be more to come as grant applications are already underway.

FOOD SERVICES DIRECTOR REPORT
The board heard from Crookston School District Food Services Director Emily Scheresky. She told the board that they served 95,697 breakfasts in 168 service days, an average of 570 breakfasts per day, at Crookston High School, Highland, Washington, Cathedral, and Our Saviors. They also served 148,382 lunches in 170 service days, an average of 873 lunches per day.
Scheresky said the high school breakfast average is up 10 meals per day compared to last year, and lunch was down about 20 meals per day from last year. At Highland School, breakfast averaged around 75 percent of the students, and lunch had an average of 88 percent of the students. Scheresky also informed the board of the new food service company that will be the leading vendor this year. “We will be going through Sysco, out of Fargo, ND, for our primary food vendor,” says Scheresky. ” Performance Food Group and US Foods will be our secondary vendors.” She also reminded the board just how important getting families to apply for the Free and Reduced Program is. “We also discussed the new verbiage for Free and Reduced Meals application,” says Scheresky. “It’s now called the Application for Educational Benefits, and I am just stressing to parents and staff alike that this application is more than just getting free meals for students.” All students, Scheresky says, still get one free breakfast and lunch a day in Minnesota, but filling out the application gives the school and students more benefits. “The application can also benefit the students in the sense of Headstart tuition, internet, rebates, things like that.”

The breakdown of meals served at each school is below.

CONSENT AGENDA –
In the consent agenda, the board approved the May 19 meeting minutes, and current bills. The board accepted the resignation of Kindergarten teacher Megan Wright. The board approved the employment of Lisa Conzemius as Middle School Principal. Conzemius has been a teacher for 32 years and was a principal at Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley school the past two years.  She was one of five to be interviewed.
Christina Zimmerman was approved as a kindergarten teacher. It will be Zimmerman’s first job after graduating from Minnesota State Moorhead.  
Rachel Thompson was approved as a special education teacher at Highland School. She is a recent graduate of Mayville State University, and this will be her first teaching job.
The board also approved a status change for Heather Rosu from a preschool aide to a paraprofessional.
The board accepted the following donations – $500 from the Crookston Running Club for boys and girls track equipment, $277 from the Crookston Eagles Auxiliary and $250 from the Minnesota Association of the FFA to the FFA program, $1,192 from the Crookston Masonic Lodge and $100 from Judy Ellingson for the Sixth Grade Itasca State Park field trip, $12,000 from the June Shaver Endowment for the June Shaver scholarships, and $1,000 from Red Lake Electric Coop for scholarships.

MISC ITEMS-
The board approved Minnesota School Board Association membership for the 2025-26 school year for $5,840. The board also approved continued membership of the Minnesota State High School League

The next Crookston School Board meeting will be Monday, July 28 at 5:00 p.m. at the Crookston High School choir/orchestra room.