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Public speaks up at discussion with BEA, School Boards Assoc.

By Staff | Oct 30, 2016

Blue Earth Area superintendent Evan Gough, left, surveys the High School Media Center alongside Jeff Olson, of the Minnesota School Boards Association, during Monday’s listening session with the public.

More than 25 people gathered in the Blue Earth Area High School Media Center on Monday to share compliments and concerns regarding the school district, capping off a night of collaboration with the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA).

The BEA School Board, joined by Jeff Olson, of MSBA, and Harold Remme, of South Central Service Cooperative, began the evening with a work session prior to the public forum, where some of the administration’s thoughts were aired to kick off the district’s strategic planning process.

“We need to have a document that gives direction but leaves flexibility to adapt as things change,” Olson informed the board, asking for input from BEA representatives. “With your help, plus surveys and listening sessions with students and people from the community, we’ll create strategic action plans that you can then approve.”

Board member Jesse Haugh was quick to highlight BEA’s “fiscal responsibility,” noting that the district and its taxpayers have produced “very well-rounded” area schools.

Haugh, however, also suggested that BEA, like other districts in Southern Minnesota and rural regions in general, might benefit from more emphasis on vocational education and homegrown career paths something a number of guests echoed at the public listening session to follow.

From left to right, BEA School Board member Mark Maher, Faribault County Development?Corporation’s Tim Clawson, Blue Earth Area Chamber director Cindy Lyon and BEA School Board member Sheila Ripley talk at a strategic planning listening session on Oct. 24.

“We’ve lost focus of two-year degrees,” said Kyle Zierke, of Winnebago’s Zierke Built Manufacturing. “I’ve been asking the district for years, ‘What can you do to get kids career-ready?'”

Zierke went on to acknowledge that BEA is not solely at fault for the nationwide trend of high schools prioritizing the pursuit of four-year college education but challenged Blue Earth Area to delve into its own community needs moving forward.

Tim Clawson, of Faribault County Development Corporation and the Blue Earth Economic Development Authority, was among the guests and said there are likely plenty of local businesses that would help do just that, whether through classroom partnerships or even future job opportunities.

With Olson overseeing discussion and taking comments from groups spread across the Media Center, others called for BEA to explore more instruction of “hands-on life skills,” even including basics like reading a clock rather than relying on digital displays.

Technology, in fact, was a hot topic for much of the open meeting, drawing both waves of support and suggestions of improvement from the citizens in attendance.

Some parents, in alignment with what several board members said in their work session, pinned technology as one of BEA’s strengths, touting the district’s online and in-class initiatives as “above and beyond.”

Others felt that there is an “oversaturation” of technology in school, with some students apparently voicing preference for “just using paper” in the classroom.

There was plenty of praise, however, for BEA’s music and arts program, not to mention “close faculty-student relationships,” the district’s early-release opportunities, community education offerings and provisions for lower-income households.

Among the concerns, or areas of opportunity, raised during the listening session were suggestions for more preparation in regards to college-credit classes, less emphasis on “testing students to death” or merely for statistical results, additional emphasis on foreign-language requirements, improved teacher recruitment and retention, as well as more cohesion within the district’s five communities one person questioned why Winnebago, a town served by BEA schools, was having a separate listening session the same night.

Other comments during the discussion weighed the ups and downs of BEA’s four-block class scheduling, along with whether or not district responses to in-school bullying are “tangible” enough to address concerns of affected students or parents.

Also at Monday’s listening session and the preceding BEA School Board meeting:

Superintendent Evan Gough highlighted the increasing numbers in district childcare programs, namely the Little Giants program, which officially made several hires in October.

Gough also mentioned communications and marketing, including updated logos and state-of-the-art graphic design, as key components not only for future changes to the school’s website but BEA’s brand as a whole.

Board member Mark Maher indicated that diversity training would be helpful as part of BEA’s new strategic vision, especially considering the different kinds of environments students enter beyond Faribault County after graduation.

Outlined plans for further development of the strategic planning process, which includes MSBA consultants meeting with a planning committee, fostering a tangible document for the district and following up on the vision implementation after one year.