The Crookston School Board met Tuesday evening at the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
MAIN AGENDA
The board approved the 10-year long-term facilities maintenance plan. School Districts must send it to the state by July 31 each year. The state gives each school district money to maintain its buildings, and the Crookston School District gets around $435,000 yearly to repair/maintain the buildings. “We focus on the first two years to see if there is a broken toilet, the lights need to be replaced, or the carpet needs to be replaced or tile. We can apply that expenditure towards long-term facility maintenance,” said Superintendent Randy Bruer. “It is to replace the old and not to put in new. To make repairs within the buildings that you have.”
VAPE DETECTORS AND CAMERAS
The board approved purchasing and installing cameras and vape detectors for the high school. The total cost without installation is $15,766. The package includes four vape detectors and licenses, five cameras and licenses, and an additional $3500 installation fee. “I have heard communications from the public and sometimes from students. Students go home and tell mom and dad that this person was vaping in the bathroom, and by the time you catch up to them, they aren’t caught,” said Superintendent Bruer. “With this new system,
we are going to replace some of the detectors and cameras, so we will have it all recorded so you can’t get away from it.” There will be other things that they will do with the bathrooms and locker rooms, where most of the vaping takes place. “We can detect it as soon as they go off,” said Bruer. “It will be a great improvement to our district.”
Bruer and the administration are working on a bullying policy and what they will do if it happens within the school with anybody. “I believe they have to get a warning, but then it gets a lot stiffer,” said Bruer. We need to put an end to this, and they might be at home if they go past three. It will be a zero-tolerance bullying policy.”
The board approved the 2025-26 school year bread bid with Pan-O-Gold and the milk bid with Cass Clay. Crookston School District Food Services Director Emily Sheresky said they have slightly increased and changed the milk provider from Prairie Farms to Cass Clay. “This year was supposed to be a year of renewal for milk and bread bids, but some of our pricing came in a little higher than we wanted,” said Sheresky. “We took our specs for what we needed and sent it back out to vendors and got our prices back and had to make some adjustments.”
Some of the prices were the same, but some were slightly higher. “The bread vendor that we were currently using came in as the lowest pricing, even though they were a little above what we were looking for,” said Sheresky. “We did get a new vendor for our milk because their pricing was a little bit better, as well as some of the delivery dates and things like that, which would work better for our district.”
The prices are below –
BREAD PRICES-
Whole grain bread, sliced, per 22 slices – $2.65
Whole grand hot dog buns, sliced, per 30 count – $2.70
Whole grain hamburger buns, 4” sliced, per 30 count – $6.19
Whole grain hamburger buns, 3” or 3 1/2” sliced, per 60 count – $12.38
Whole grain dinner rolls, per dozen – $2.70
Whole grain hoagie rolls, sliced, per 24 count – $5.99
MILK PRICES –
One-half pint 1% white milk in cartons – $.33
One-half pint skim white milk in cartons – $.316
One-half pint skim chocolate milk in cartons – $.327
Fat-free flavored milk in 12-ounce bottles – $.955
One-half pint, lactose-free milk – $.59
CONSENT AGENDA
The board approved the meeting minutes from June 23, July 7, 14, and 23, and the retirement of High School math teacher Wayne Folkers and Highland School Instructional Assistants Karla Wahlin and Larie Awender.
The board approved the employment of Taylor Walters as a fifth-grade teacher. Walters is a recent graduate of Mayville State University and one of four applicants for the job. Highland School Instructional Assistants Olivia LaCoursiere and Jonathan Tweet, and paraprofessionals Anna Berwander and Kabie Weisert. They also okayed Ann Riedlinger’s status change from Food Service worker to Instructional Assistant and Trista O’Meara’s status change from Instructional Assistant to Assistant to ADSIS Behavioral Interventionist.
The board okayed the payroll account at United Valley Bank in Crookston, the financial and lock box accounts at Old National Bank. They will also be asked to designate the investment authority and personnel to lease, purchase, and contract for budgeted goods and services as Randy Bruer (Interim Superintendent) and Blake Stoltman (business manager). The official signatories for the district will be Tim Dufault (board chair), Mike Theis (board clerk), Lorri Capistran (board treasurer), Randy Bruer (Superintendent), and Blake Stoltman (business manager).
The board accepted a $5,000 donation from the Crookston Youth Basketball Association for a weight trainer and $198 from the First Presbyterian Church for Middle School student needs.
They also approved an amendment to the District Calendar to reflect the preschool starting date of September 8, 2025. (The updated district calendar is below.)
The next regularly scheduled school board meeting will be Monday, August 25, at 5:00 p.m. in the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room. There will likely be a special meeting before then to approve new hires.
The 10-year long-term facilities plan information is below-
