Several motions were approved by the Northland Pines school board recently, including continuing the school calendar related to COVID-13 and bids for the Land O' Lakes elementary school.
District Administrator Scott Foster indicated he is planning for school to either close for the rest of the school year or be allowed to open for a short period in May. “In discussions and input from many other school districts they feel the Governor may call off school for this school year since there are a number of states that already have done so,” Foster said. “My hope is we could return for a short while, anything that would allow seniors to be together for graduation.”
Foster felt kids are struggling not with school work but with personal emotional feelings of “not being able to interact with other kids in their classes.” Foster gave credit to his staff for doing a fantastic job of visiting students who may be struggling. Employee compensation and benefits related to the shutdown will continue with approval of the school board with employees available to meet, work, complete any professional development.
Custodians will be working at lease two days per week to clean, do maintenance and assist in the food distribution program.
The board opened two bids for the Land O' Lakes roof, one for $179,000 from W&L Insulation & Roofing of Stockbridge and the other for $164,300 from Custom Foam of Mauston. The funding will be placed in the 2020-21 budget.
Virtual learning will continue as before with Friday's off through May 1 with staff preparation day which will meet the President's and Governor's timelines. The board also waived the service learning requirement of 10 hours for graduating seniors. “Seniors are my biggest concern,” Foster said, “followed by continuing food distribution. Hopefully we'll have more answers in this challenging time when the board meets April 27."
