Clearbrook-Gonvick School board meeting January 26, 2026
School board meeting January 26, 2026
The Clearbrook-Gonvick School board met in regular session on Monday, January 26, 2026. The first order of business was the re-organization of the board. Vern Wittenberg was appointed Board Chair with Kayla Walberg the Clerk, Corey Petterson the treasurer. The assignment of committees was completed.
Board salaries were set at $5.00 more over last year at $85 for officers, $80 for monthly meetings for board members, $60 for negotiations and $55 each committee meeting. They have set the board meeting the same as the third Monday each month unless there is a Monday holiday where they must change. They designated Border Bank and The Northern State Bank as the official depositories. The Farmer’s Independent was named the official publication. Official Signature were the Superintendent, Business Manager, Human Resource Manager and Board Chair. They named Knutson, Flynn & Deans as the school attorneys. Mileage rates increased by .25 over last year to .725 unless a personal car is used and then it would be half the rate. The Superintendent was authorized as the LEA Representative. Kayla Walberg was named as the Representative to the MSHSL.
Committee assignments were named: MSBA Legislative – Corey Petterson & Vern Wittenberg MSHSL – Kayla Walberg, BRIC – Corey Petterson, Food Service Hearing Officer – Corey Petterson, Safety/Building & Grounds – Robbie Pond, Kayla Walberg (Randy Bodensteiner, alt), Finance – Corey Petterson, Ryan Solee & Vern Wittenberg, Technology – Vern Wittenberg (Kayla Walberg, alt), Policy – Ryan Solee & Vern Wittenberg, Hiring – Scott Abel & Corey Petterson (Randy Bodensteiner & Robbie Pond, alts),Negotiating (certified) – Corey Petterson & Vern Wittenberg (Robbie Pond, alt), Negotiating (support staff) – Ryan Solee & Kayla Walberg (Vern Wittenberg, alt), Meet and Confer – Kayla Walberg (Vern Wittenberg, alt), Transportation – Scott Abel, Corey Petterson & Vern Wittenberg (Robbie Pond, alt), Superintendent Evaluation – Randy Bodensteiner, Robbie Pond & Ryan Solee
Spotlight on Education was given by Mr. Bettin.
Principal’s report
Josh Tharalson‘s report was given by Ryan Grow. The staff had a session on Martin Luther King Day. Teacher licensure was discussed. The Spelling Bee was won by Jammar Weems who will go on to compete in Thief River Falls on February 4th. He will be attending a conference in Minneapolis from February 4 to 6. Snow Week is this week with a day basketball game on Friday at 1:30 at the school. There will be a school dance from 8 to 11 on Friday night. Parents Teacher conference will be coming up soon.
Superintendent’s report
Ryan Grow presented his report. They still have a custodian position to fill along with softball and baseball coaches. The Steller mental health position was solved with the hiring of Jill Neustel. The state is thinking of taking 250 million dollars out of Special Education funds. That would reduce ADSIS funding and eliminate five positions in the district. One person in the district has been serving for 16 years. It would make a difference for the students.
The air intake on the roof and a rattle in the gym with the new units pumping out more air. These are items that need to be replaced. The remainder of Naylor Electric’s bill has been stopped until the project has been completed.
The sound system in the gym is near the end of life. Digital Jake who does dances in the school, and Mr. Bettin have been looking at what could be done. They will be meeting with the technology committee members Vern and Kayla for options that could be done this summer.
Andy Anderson School Resource Officer gave his report. He does behavior intervention, truancy and attendance. They had 51 calls for service; a couple were traffic outside. 17 of these were ICR reports. He completed DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), with the 5th grade students. They will be having a trip to the Fosston pool on February 13.
They held a youth snowmobile class and 9 to 12 training on stop arm violation education. There have been some stop arm violations with the cameras that are mounted on the school buses. There are severe fines for this.
Committee reports
The Negotiations committee met January 17 and they gave their proposal to the teachers to give their final approval.
The transportation committee has not had a meeting since last year. The behavior write-ups from the bus drivers had been considerably less with the transportation supervisor Tasha Sohler in the building.
Enrollment report. This semester is just starting and students moving in and out. The district is 5 students down to 499.
Consent Calendar
Bills were approved for $1,547.793/31 for non-payroll and $252,568.00 for payroll for a total of $1,800,461.31.
Total cash and investments for $5,913,242.60. Border State Bank – General Checking $312,679.25; Border State Bank Savings $689,734.13; Northern State Bank General Checking $59,734.03; Northern State Bank Savings $2,305,637.91; MSDLAF General Account $1,525,835.34, MSDLAF Construction Account $1,019,621.94.
Some checks sent included: $862,875.00 to Bond Trust Services Corp.; $87,412.14 to Superior Transportation Services, Ind.; $23,257.17 to Kelly Services, Inc.; $14,725.74 to Kelly Services; $14,429.82 to Knutson, Flynn & Deans; $12,142.95 to Clearwater-Polk Electric; $8,867.77 to Lakes Area Turf Services, LLC; $7,147.50 to Thompson’s Sand and Gravel; $5,207.87 to City of Clearbrook; $4,544.00 to Marco; $3,037.40 to ATSR; $3,019.02 to Listroms Disposal, Inc.; $2,337.54 to Peterson Sheet Metal; $1,286.25 to Eidee Bailey; $1,265.25 to Naylor Heating & Refrigeration; $1,252.80 to Bessler Electric; $1,038.35 to Garden Valley.
Donations this month include $500 Music Donation; $25 Volleyball; $5,000 to Football, $200 t Girls Basketball.
Old Business
The roof replacement was discussed. They had received estimates from ATSR and tax impact calculations from Ehlers. Their next step was to have a work session with board members and set up time with a contractor or an independent view for what should be done.
New Business
They accepted the resignation of Calli Larson as Assistant Track and Field Coach. They hired Karra Weems as part time cook at Step 3 for $17.39 per hour starting January 26. They hired Akayla Skajaret as a Floating Full-Time Paraeducator for 5 days a week at Step 16 for $18.46 starting January 26. They hired Lisa Petersen as a Floating Full-Time Paraeducator for 5 days a week at Step 1 for $16.67 starting January 26. They approved a medical leave for Julie Brossart from January 27 to February 6, 2026. She has applied for Paid Family Medical Leave. They accepted the resignation of Ross Faldet as teacher. He had a 4-year extended leave of absence which he will not be coming back.
They adopted the resolution for administration to make recommendations for reductio of program and/or staff if necessary.
Questions from Vance Norgaard concerning working with community and ATSR. Neither were brought up as they were not agenda items at the meeting by the board, so they were not answered. He was told that the only way a citizen of the district can communicate with the board is get on the agenda if you have a pre-qualified question approved by the chair of the board and then you must be at the meeting and if you are limited to 15 minutes to speak and discuss.
Next meeting will be February 23, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.