ELY- The Ely School Board voted 4-1-0 to hire Anne Oelke, Washington Elementary School principal, as the new superintendent for ISD 696. School board member Tom Omerza voted in opposition and board chairperson Ray Marsnik was absent. The meeting was run by vice chair Rochelle Sjoberg.
The superintendent vote drew a crowd to the board meeting and the district staff had to bring extra chairs into the room to provide seating for the attendees.
The terms of the contract for Oelke for next year split her time between acting as the principal of Washington Elementary and acting as the district superintendent. The current superintendent position is part-time and currently filled by John Klarich, a veteran Minnesota education professional with five decades of experience as a teacher and superintendent. Ever since last summer, Oelke has been serving a superintendent internship under Klarich to gain experience in the position.
Public comments
Three attendees spoke in the open forum portion of the meeting about their concerns regarding the superintendent vote. Ely high school math teacher Tim Omerza spoke about being surprised by the superintendent item on the agenda.
“Most of us found out about it relatively recently,” Omerza stated. “I think I heard about it (at the) beginning of last week. So, a lot of concerns started to percolate around.”
Omerza remarked that he and some of his colleagues passed around a survey they put together last week, receiving 19 responses as of May 8. All of the survey takers “either thought it wasn’t a good idea or they didn’t have enough information.”
Parent Andrea Kannas addressed the board on her concerns, especially about how little she knew about the matter and how late she found out. “I want you to know that I, as a parent of three kids in the schools, (there was) just a lack of communication in general, to really understand how this is the most beneficial option.”
Ryan Anderson reminded the board that Oelke’s position next year, splitting her time between acting as the principal of Washington Elementary and acting as the district superintendent, had not been successful in the past.
“We’ve tried this before,” Anderson remarked. “We went down this road 16 years ago, and we tried to put an administrator (in as superintendent and principal) who was wonderful and did a great job … just like our administrators do now … It wasn’t a success. And it was hard for us to see that because that person was an amazing elementary principal.”
Mentorship arrangement
During the school board discussion, Klarich addressed some of the comments regarding the perception that the superintendent vote was sudden, unannounced, and insufficiently vetted. “At the work meeting thing that was last July,” Klarich explained, “that’s when there was a motion to move into this arrangement eight nine months ago, so the information was out there.”
Klarich noted that by reducing staffing from the current three administrators, to two, the district will save money. “In this district, we have declining enrollment, and we have to look forward. We have to cut in places where it will not (negatively) impact the children.” With his retirement and with Oelke filling the part-time superintendent position, Klarich said the savings would be $70,000, equivalent to what it would cost to hire a new teacher.
Klarich also had praise for Oelke’s performance during her internship with him during this school year. “(Oelke) has been doing her regular duties and her superintendent duties. Remember, I only was here physically two days a week and then remotely one day a week … But she was in the firing line. She had to make decisions that had to be made while actively being trained in and mentored into this. And so far, it’s worked out perfectly. She’s proven herself under fire on the days that I wasn’t here.”
School board member Tom Omerza explained that his no vote was not based on his opinion of Oelke, who he approved of for the position. Instead, he said he favored tabling the vote for two weeks so the district could reach out and do a better job communicating about the new superintendent with parents, students and staff.
In other business, the board:
• Approved the April 2023 financial report, April 2023 receipts of $773,242 and disbursements of $586,787.
• Accepted the resignation of Tracy Johnson from her Paraprofessional position effective at the end of the work day on June 2, 2023.
• Accepted the resignation of Jane Dandron from her Paraprofessional position effective at the end of the work day on May 26, 2023.
vAdopted a resolution relating to the termination and non-renewal of the teaching contract of Cathy Braun, a probationary teacher.
• Approved hiring for a full-time sixth Grade Middle School teaching position.
• Hired Harry Carlson for the temporary part-time custodian position for the 2022 - 2023 school year, for the period of May 8 to June 5, 2023.
• Approved the use of school facilities and school tours for the upcoming all-classes reunion for Ely Memorial High School.
• Approved a letter of support for a school resource officer for the Ely Public Schools as requested by the City of Ely Police Department. The Ely police are applying for a grant to defray the cost of salary and benefits for the new position, as reported in the April 21 Ely City Council report in the Timberjay.
• Approved the purchase of a new school bus.
• Accepted the donation of a piano from the Ely Folk School, $500 from Burnside Electric and $500 from Don Stocks for the gold program, $200 from Jeremy and Allison Pace for deficient lunch accounts.
• Accepted an $80,000 grant from Lake County Power for chemistry lab improvements.