Observer REport: Northfield School Board Meeting, 11.24.25

Meeting Video Recording

1. Call to Order by Board Chair Claudia Gonzalez-George at 6:00 pm. All board members present.
   
2. Agenda Approval/Table File approved unanimously (see Board Packet and Table File)
   
3. Public Comment
   1. A community member leading “Be Smart” secure gun storage initiative shared an update. They shared that they presented at the Zoom GVP PTO meeting and then read a fact to the full board regarding the increase in gun-related injuries and deaths in the lead up to the holiday season.
      
4. Announcements and Recognitions
   1. Dr. Hillman shared that the MM School Board Association released their Honor Roll for their January Leadership conference. Congrats to Corey Butler for receiving the Director’s Award for doing over 100 hours of training at MSBA. Maggie Epstein will also receive Emerging Leadership certificate for doing phase 3 and 4 of program. 
   2. Dr. Hlilman shared that Noel Stratmoen, longtime NPS School Board member, recently passed. He asked to hold Lois and entire family in hearts, and it will be hard to imagine Northfield without him! 
   3. Board Member Jenny Nelson shared that last week attended an FFA meeting with students (47 members) and participated in a breakout session run by students. Officers educated attendees on the 14 committees they have! She expressed hope that the community can continue to support the FFA. 

5. Items for Discussion and Reports 

1. 2026-2027 School Calendar
   This item will be up for individual action at Dec. 8 meeting. Dr. Hillman shared the draft calendar from the table file (6^th draft). He outlined the process about working with Meet and Confer committee of staff to ensure they meet all requirements for the calendar. The challenge is that Labor Day is as late as it can be in a given year. After that later start, however, it remains pretty regular, but ending later on June 11. As is typical the 4^th quarter is longer than normal which is acceptable to teachers given the number of field trips that happen at the end of the year. Dr. Hillman expressed a desire to bring the 2027-28 calendar to the board in early 2027 to get back on track with adopting two calendars at one time so that people can get calendars as early as possible for their planning purposes.
   
   No questions were posed by the board.
   
2. High School FTE Request
   Dr. Hillman shared additional detail on the request from the High School. He reminded everyone that prior to budget prioritization process last spring the district had a contingency fund to use to fund staffing requests as needs arose. The High School admin team is seeing the need for a full time Dean of Students to provide leadership for attendance team, etc. This would mean that they would need to backfill 0.2 total FTE ($7,582) for the two classes that Dr. Sean DuBe is teaching.
   
   Nelson asked: What factor or factors besides attendance contributed to needs? Dr. Hillman shared the increased volume of the student needs when they no longer have three admins available for those 2 periods in which Dr. DuBe is teaching, attendance team to move ahead with interventions, and increased absence of admin support with 0.4 FTE.
   
   Board Member Amy Goerwitz questioned the amount and whether it was correct. Director of Finance Valorie Mertesdorf said she would double check and report back.
   
   This will be an item for individual discussion at December 8 meeting.
   
3. Lease-Purchase Agreement for Loader.
   Mertesdorf apologized for the late notice, but this particular leasing company has stricter protocols regarding needing a board resolution beyond the general approval of the capital budget. This would replace existing loader from 1992. The lease is for 8 years. Mertesdorf noted that this is a substantial piece of equipment and allowing for this out of capital budget helps. Also, as a government agency the district has access to state contracts where they have gone through all bidding process and contractual obligations, which is the case for this particular company. Will be ~$35K for each year.
   
   Miller: Do we have the loader in hand?
   Mertesdorf: Yes, and the company was a bit surprised that the paperwork wasn’t done. So this is backtracking on the paperwork a bit.
   Miller: Would it be helpful if we could approve this tonight?
   Mertesdorf: Yes, but also very clear with the company that December 8 would be the day.
   
   Nelson: At financial breakdown, at end of each year, there was a buyout price. What would be a reason why we would want to buy out early? Interest rates? Or are we contractually obligated for 8 years?
   Mertesdorf: Probably only time to consider would be interest rate but need to be careful since this is through a state contract. But also could be because there would be a windfall in the capital budget.
   
   Miler moved the Lease Purchase Agreement to items for individual action. Unanimously approved. Gonzalez-George asked for clarification on process regarding a general approval or a resolution by board roll call; the latter was deemed the process to follow for this instance.
   

6. Committee Reports
   Nelson shared update from the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources CTE Committee included in page 6 of the Board Packet. In general she heard feedback on successful classes and areas for improvement, as well as ideas to boost success after graduation. The only new thing reported at the board meeting was that Nelson noted that at the meeting the MS was also discussed and asked to update the board packet to reflect this and reupload to website.
   
7. Consent Agenda approved unanimously without discussion.
   1. Minutes
   2. Gift Agreements
   3. Overnight Field Trip Requests
   4. Northfield Swim Club Contract
   5. Personnel Items
      
8. Items for Individual Action
   1. Policy Committee Recommendations: motion passed unanimously 
   2. Ratification of Employment Action: motion passed unanimously
   3. Resolution for Lease-Purchase Agreement for Loader: motion taken by roll call and passed unanimously
      
9. Items for Information
   1. Construction Update No. 19
      
10. Future Meetings
    1. Monday, December 8, 2025, 6:00 p.m., Regular Board Meeting, Northfield DO Boardroom
    2. Monday, December 15, 2025, 5:00 p.m., Board Work Session, Northfield DO Boardroom
    3. Monday, January 12, 2026, 6:00 p.m., Organizational Board Meeting followed by the Regular Board Meeting, Northfield DO Boardroom 
    4. Monday, January 26, 2026, 6:00 p.m., Regular Board Meeting, Northfield DO Boardroom
       
       The board took a five minute recess at 6:27 PM after which they began their closed session on Labor Negotiations Strategy as permitted by Minnesota Statute 13D.03 to discuss labor negotiations. At this point all outside attendees were asked to leave. The observer did not remain until the official adjournment of the meeting after the closed session.
       

Submitted by Alyssa Melby, Observer, League of Women Voters