2011 march journal magazine

MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION

March-April 2011 Volume 63, No. 5

Superintendent Search TipsStudent Newspapers Feel Budget PinchKeeping School Ag Education Strong

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Our significant knowledge base and experience makes us wellversed in all facets of education law: public employment

and employee relations, student matters, school finance, elections, bond counsel services, construction, real estate,

school board matters, contracts, discrimination and harassment, data privacy, special education, constitutional issues and more.

on Education Law.

KNUTSON FLYNN & DEANS P.A.1155 Centre Pointe Drive, Suite 10

Mendota Heights, MN 55120651-222-2811 (office) 651-225-0600 (fax) www.kfdmn.com

We write the book

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School Leaders’ Legal LiabilityAutomobile

Group Term LifeLong-Term Disability

General LiabilityExcess Liability

The purpose of the MSBA Insurance Trust(MSBAIT) is “to provide for its members and their employees and officials various forms of insurance, including any forms of permittedgroup insturance, for the benefit of school districts which are members of the MSBAand to effectuate cost savings in the procurementand administration of such programs.” For more information about MSBAIT, visit

www.msbait.org.

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Contact:

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CONTENTS MARCH/APRIL 2011 VOLUME 63, NUMBER 5

Calendar

Articles

Divisions

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH TIPS FROM THE PROS

Michael Siggerud, Ph.D.

THE WRITE STUFF

Bruce Lombard

KEEPING SCHOOL AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS STRONG

Bruce Lombard

16TEN CONSTRUCTS FOR SCHOOL BOARDGOVERNANCE AND REFORM

Jerry Robicheau

222011 LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE SCRAPBOOK

MSBA Staff26

12

8

STRAIGHT TALK

Bob Meeks, MSBA Executive Director

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Kent Thiesse, MSBA President

MSBA VENDOR DIRECTORY28ASK MSBA

John Sylvester, MSBA Deputy Executive Director31

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MA R C H 2 0 1 18 .............Township Election Day (no meetings

or activities 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.)13 ...........Daylight Saving Time Begins14 ...........Before Your Board Webinar

(Public Participation at Meetings)17–18 .....MASA Spring Conference24 ...........MSBA Joint Legislative Conference

A P R I L 2 0 1 16 .............MSBA Phase III Orientation9 .............MSBA Phase III Orientation9–11 .......NSBA Convention, San Francisco, CA12 ...........MSBA Phase III Orientation17–18 .....MSBA Board of Directors’ Meeting18 ...........MSBA Insurance Trust Meeting21 ...........Learn @ Lunch Webinar (Following Up

on Negotiations Strategy)

MAY 2 0 1 14–6 .........MASBO Annual Conference16–30 .....MSBA Election Webinar with

Secretary of State19 ...........Learn @ Lunch Webinar (Bid Laws

Dos and Don’ts)19–20 .....MSBA Board of Directors’ Annual

Meeting25 ...........Minnesota School District Liquid Asset

Fund Plus Meeting30 ...........Memorial Day (no meetings)

J U N E 2 0 1 113 ...........Before Your Board Webinar (The 2011

Legislative Wrap-Up)16 ...........MSBA Insurance Trust Meeting

The MSBA Journal thanksthe students of BarnumPublic Schools for sharingtheir art with us in this issue.

COVER ART: Title: Listen With an Open HeartKirsty Laflash, Grade 11

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4 MSBA JOURNAL

Quotes of Note captures some of the more interesting statements MSBA staff have read in local, state and national publications.

Parents pleadingfor programsduring budget cuts“It was difficult to sitthere and hear all thiswhen we know we haveto cut $15.8 million. Ibelieve in every singleprogram and everysingle person we havein this district, so to see any of them cut isreally sad.”Lakeville ChairwomanJudy Keliher

Starting the schoolyear earlier forbetter test results“If a teacher is doing agood job and there ismore time and moreopportunity to learn,that should transfer tothe test.”Winona Area PublicSchools SuperintendentScott Hannon

Adding requirements to charter schoolauthorizers“It’s rather daunting, and I think that’s a good thing,given the history of charter school sponsorship. To behonest, in the 1990s, sponsors. . . largely signed on theline and went away.”Augsburg College Charter School Liaison Chris Brown

Achievement with small class sizes“One of the models Pillager has stayed with and Ibelieve in is small class sizes. It’s been one of thehallmarks for what Pillager stood for. Smaller class sizes made a huge difference for us.” Pillager School Superintendent Chuck Arns

Working with teachers in your district“Why do we live in a world where it’s cool to bashteachers in front of children and parents? I don’tunderstand that. What good does that do us? We ought to be happy we’re getting a pretty good bang for our buck.”Pierz Superintendent George Weber

Freezing teacher pay“Although preliminary statements of holding K–12harmless have been stated, under these circumstances,I do not believe K–12 will be spared a fundingreduction, considering the portion of the state budgetK–12 consumes. Thus, a two-year salary freeze appearsto be the better option.” Kasson-Mantorville Superintendent Peter Grant

OFFICERS

President: Kent Thiesse, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial

Past President: Jackie Magnuson, Rosemount-AppleValley-Eagan

DISTRICT DIRECTORS

District 1: Kathy Green, AustinDistrict 2: Jodi Sapp, Mankato AreaDistrict 3: Linden Olson, WorthingtonDistrict 4: Betsy Scheurer, HopkinsDistrict 5: Marilynn Forsberg, Spring Lake ParkDistrict 6: Kevin Donovan, MahtomediDistrict 7: Roz Peterson, Lakeville AreaDistrict 8: Elona Street-Stewart, St. PaulDistrict 9: Karen Kirschner, MoraDistrict 10: Dana Laine, Frazee-VergasDistrict 11: Walter Hautala, Mesabi EastDistrict 12: Ann Long Voelkner, Bemidji Area

STAFFBob Meeks:Executive DirectorBarbara Lynn:Executive Assistant/Director of Board OperationsJohn Sylvester:Deputy Executive DirectorTiffany Rodning:Deputy Executive DirectorGreg Abbott:Director of CommunicationsDenise Drill:Director of Financial/MSBAIT ServicesAmy Fullenkamp-Taylor:Associate Director of Management ServicesSandy Gundlach:Director of School Board ServicesBill Kautt:Associate Director of Management ServicesGrace Keliher:Director of Governmental RelationsKatie Klanderud:Director of Board DevelopmentGary Lee:Associate Director of Management ServicesBruce Lombard:Associate Director of CommunicationsBob Lowe:Director of Management ServicesKelly Martell:Director of TechnologyCathy Miller:Director of Legal and Policy ServicesSue Munsterman:MSBA AdvertisingKirk Schneidawind:Associate Director of Governmental RelationsMike Torkelson:Elections/Management Services Specialist

The MSBA Journal (USPS 352-220) is publishedbimonthly by the Minnesota School BoardsAssociation, 1900 West Jefferson Avenue, St.Peter, Minnesota 56082. Telephone 507-934-2450.Call MSBA office for subscription rates.(Opinions expressed in the Journal are those ofthe writers and do not necessarily representMSBA policy.)

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STRAIGHTTALKDON’T BE THE ODD DISTRICT OUTDURING ODD-YEAR ELECTIONS

Like most things inlife, the longer you dosomething, the morecomplicated itbecomes. As theLegislature worked toimprove election lawafter the Coleman-Franken recount,many laws werechanged or addedthat will make thisyear’s election cyclemore complicated.The Legislature haspassed several lawsthat now requireelection clerks to

establish absentee ballot boards to handle the process.Besides the extra cost of paying for absentee ballot boardmembers’ time, many more hoops need to be jumpedthrough for school district clerks having any type ofelection in an odd year.

It is this additional cost and the extra legal hoops that haveprompted many districts to move from odd-year electionsto even-year elections. Back in 2005, we had 168 districtswith elections in the odd year and 172 districts withelections in the even year. Five years later, our latest surveyshows a mere 57 districts planning to have elections in2011. Some of the districts most determined to stay in theodd-year cycle were calling MSBA late last year to see howthey could switch to an even-year cycle.

There are pros and cons to each cycle. In even years,districts obviously save a lot of money because the countyhandles the elections and the bulk of the cost, includingpaying absentee ballot boards and recount costs. But ineven years, school board candidates can get lost in thepolitical shuffle. With presidential elections and stateelections, people may not even know who is running forthe school board and either make uninformed choices(such as voting for a candidate who withdrew) or do notfill out the school board part of the ballot at all. In odd-year election cycles, board members usually have theelection stage all to themselves. The media usually does abetter job covering the race and informing people of therace because it may be the only race in town. However, thefederal Help America Vote Act, passed by the federal

government a few years ago, brought bigger costs (forAutomark machines) and more work requirements forschool election clerks (such as public testing of equipmentand new notices for electronic voting). Top that with newrequirements from the state for ballot boards and recountprocesses, and odd-year elections have become much morecomplicated, time-consuming and costly.

MSBA doesn’t advocate for either odd- or even-yearelection cycles. Boards know what works for them the best.And MSBA will be here again this year to go over all of thenew election law changes for school districts havingelections this fall and for those districts trying for bond orlevy elections. Look for our webinar with the Secretary ofState’s Office May 16–30. Make sure to tell youradministrative assistant or election clerk about it.

For those districts thinking they won’t need to worry aboutelection changes because they won’t be having a bond orlevy election until 2012, I also need to give a little warning.Once every 10 years, results of the census seem to catchschool districts off-guard. In years ending in two – as in2012 – the process of redistricting takes place. And becauseof that process, school districts will be very limited to whenbond referendums or special elections can take place. So ifyour district is considering a bond referendum next year,you may want to schedule it for this year or be ready to goright away in 2012 before the election window closes.

This year, the timeline for special elections is pretty wide-open. If your district doesn’t have townships and if yourdistrict or cities in your district aren’t having an odd-yearelection, you can hold your special election almost anytime this year. But as for next year, there is a little-knownstatute (MS 204B.135, Subd. 4) that prevents specialelections from happening 19 weeks before the stateprimary. Thanks to the Legislature moving the primarydate into August, the 19-week blackout means specialelections can’t be held after April 3, 2012. If your districthas townships, the window is even shorter, ending Feb. 22,2012. (There is another blackout of 20 days before andafter township elections that still applies.)

So if all this seems complicated, it is. That’s why MSBA isworking with Secretary of State Elections Director GaryPoser to offer training for superintendents, assistants,board clerks and election clerks to make this election cyclea little easier with fewer headaches.

Bob MeeksMSBA Executive Director

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMNCONNECTING CAREERSWITHAGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

IToo often, wecharacterize “ageducation” asbeing courseworkto prepare youngpeople forfarming, orproductionagriculture,rather thanconsidering thevast array ofcareeropportunities andjob openings thatexist in AFNR.

I recently attended a special conferencehosted by the Minnesota AgriculturalEducation Leadership Council (MAELC)titled: “Connecting the GrowthOpportunities in Agriculture, Food, andNatural Resources.” It was a greatreminder about the large number ofcareer opportunities that exist in the areaof agriculture, food, and naturalresources (AFNR). We need to make surethat the agriculture, science, and businesscurriculum and coursework in oursecondary schools is enhancing the AFNRcareer opportunities for our students.

Minnesota currently has agricultureeducation (AFNR) programs in 187school districts (out of 338), with 226AFNR teachers, reaching about 26,700students in grades 9–12, and anadditional 5,500 students in grades 7–8.There are also 176 Future Farmers ofAmerica (FFA) chapters in Minnesotahigh schools, with more than 9,000 totalmembers.

One of the biggest challenges facingpublic school districts is limited currentand future funding resources. Tightbudgets can greatly impact AFNRprograms in secondary schools,especially if the AFNR courses aretreated as “electives,” rather than beingcourses to meet science or othercurriculum requirements, or being partof STEM initiatives that exist in someschool districts. There are manyinnovative AFNR teachers who haveworked with school curriculum leadersto integrate AFNR courses into theoverall course requirements and studentcareer development objectives within aschool district.

The United States Department ofAgriculture estimates that the annualnumber of job openings requiring acollege degree with expertise inagriculture, food systems, renewableenergy, and environment will increaseby 5 percent from 2010 to 2015. USDAprojects that more than 54,000 college

graduates will be needed each year tomeet this job demand -- with 49,000qualified graduates available to meetthis demand (29,000 of those graduatescoming from AFNR programs).

AgCareers.com is a national websitedevoted to posting AFNR jobs andassisting students pursuing AFNRcareers. Its survey found that mostpositions requiring a bachelor’s degreehad a starting salary of $40,000–$50,000per year, plus health care coverage andretirement plans, with some offeringincentive bonuses.

Some of the largest food andagricultural companies in the world arebased out of Minnesota, and have manycareer opportunities available to collegegraduates. Of course, there are alsomany job opportunities available inregional centers and local communitiesthroughout Minnesota that would prefersome AFNR training and coursework foravailable positions. Public schooldistricts need to collaborate with areaAFNR business and industry leaders togain insights on how secondary schoolcurriculums can be enhanced to meetfuture career opportunities and jobopenings. Public school leaders alsoneed to work with 2-year and 4-yearcolleges and universities to explore waysto enhance AFNR offerings forsecondary students.

Too often, we characterize “ageducation” as being coursework toprepare young people for farming, orproduction agriculture, rather thanconsidering the vast array of careeropportunities and job openings thatexist in AFNR. There are going to bemany future career opportunities forour students in food safety and quality,renewable energy, environmental issues,business management, and other areas.Enhancing AFNR programs in oursecondary schools is certainly onestrategy to help prepare our students forthese future opportunities.

Kent ThiesseMSBA President

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8 MSBA JOURNAL

AMichael Siggerud, Ph.D.

SuperintendentSearch Tips

From the Pros

At one time or another, almost all schoolboard members have faced the prospect offinding a new superintendent to manage theirschool district. Although many districts preferto perform searches using their own skill andresources, a growing number have turned toconsultants or recruiters to identify possiblecandidates, contact these potential leaders,encourage them to apply, and provide thedistrict with a viable slate of candidates.

A reason many districts have chosen to ask foroutside help is because of an emerging trend:There are fewer applicants for vacancies thatoccur. The estimates vary, ranging from about a30 percent drop to as high as a 60 percent dropin the number of applicants in comparison withsimilar positions a decade ago. Attractivesuperintendencies that frequently used toattract 50-60 applicants now may see fewer than20. Of these, only a small fraction of thecandidates will typically be suited for the job.The luxury of placing a few advertisements andwatching the applications roll in appears tohave become a thing of the past for many of us.

Recruiters stress five main reasons for thedecline in applications. In no particular order,they are stress, school board behavior,inadequate compensation, family disruptionand privacy.

Stress. Recruiters tell us that the stress associatedwith the position of the superintendent is seenby aspiring leaders as a disincentive forapplying. Increasing pressure to provide moreand better services regardless of the financialdifficulties of districts, the politics of high stakestesting, increasing paperwork and reportingrequirements with fewer supportive staff toprovide assistance, the complexity of schoolfinance, unrealistic expectations of the publicand the relative professional isolation of theposition all play a role.

School Board Behavior. The character orbehavior of the school board in a given districtis shown to affect the number of potentialapplicants. While politics, micromanaging,personal agendas or discord among boardmembers may be discouraging for someapplicants, a school board that functionsprofessionally will be attractive.

Job Security. The lack of tenure forsuperintendents in Minnesota creates a senseof vulnerability with many potentialapplicants. Because superintendents are “atwill” employees, they can be easily terminatedat the end of their current contract. Somepotential applicants consider the political

Title: Bubbles, Artist: Emily Thomsen,Grade 11

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arena that superintendents must successfully navigate toorisky, choosing instead to remain in a setting that is morefamiliar and safe.

Inadequate compensation. Even though your superintendentmay be among the highest paid folks in town, compensationfor superintendents is nevertheless an issue. Many potentialapplicants believe that there is insufficient difference inwages between a principal and superintendent tocompensate for the added difficulty and responsibility.Important to remember is the cost associated withrelocation, the risk associated with selling a home andpurchasing another in the current market conditions, andthe potential loss of a spouse’s income.

Because licenses are not reciprocal, some potential out-of-state applicants cannot be certified without significantadditional investment. Many districts expect candidates willhold earned doctorates, which also creates a financial andtime commitment for prospective candidates.

Finally, retirement programs are not transferable from onestate to another. Out-of-state candidates often findthemselves to be facing significant reduction of theirretirement income potential.

Family Disruption. To obtain an initial superintendency,recruiters say that the applicants must be flexible in terms oflocation, and be prepared to relocate to a rural area ifnecessary. Many potential candidates will mention thedisruption to their family as the main reason they are notwilling to relocate, especially given the lack of stability in thesuperintendency. They cite the potential interruption of aspouse’s occupation, and the lack of school continuity forthe children of candidates, especially in terms ofmembership in activities or sports teams. Especially insmaller communities, some see unrealistic expectationsplaced on the superintendent’s family and the pressure ofconstantly being in the public eye as an unfair burden.

Privacy of candidates. The lack of privacy that results fromMinnesota sunshine laws is discouraging tosome applicants. Because the names offinal applicants are public and potentially published, unsuccessfulcandidates may experience apolitically awkward situation in theirhome districts. The laws also limitthe ability of school boards whochoose not to hire consultantsto engage in discreetconversations with potentialcandidates.

When asked about recruitingstrategies, consultants agree that there is now a greater reliance on

personal contact rather than “passive” advertising to attractpotential candidates. If recruiters are going to produce aviable field of applicants for boards to interview, highpotential applicants must be targeted and convinced toapply. An important part of the work of consultants isdeveloping a profile of the hiring district to both attractcandidates and find the best match for success.

Most recruiters conduct some kind of needs analysis processwithin the school districts that employ them. This is used todetermine which individual and professional qualities in acandidate would have the highest probability of success.This is also an opportunity to find ways to generate interestin the district. Although most still advertise, print brochures,build Web sites or use other means of making prospectivecandidates aware of vacancies, recruiters stress theimportance of establishing a network of sources. Theseinclude former superintendents or other educators familiarwith schools, the professional organizations as a source ofcontact, and other recruiters.

Consultants stress the importance of utilizing their networksof colleagues and friends, association executives or otherrecruiters to identify promising applicants. They use thereferrals as a starting point, and then carefully research thepotential candidates before deciding to contact them. Inorder to be successful, all recruiters agree that personalcontact is essential.

Many use “cold call” techniques to encourage strongpotential candidates to consider applying. Because of theirresearch and groundwork, recruiters can match possibleapplicants with the needs of a school district. They can thentell these prospects that they have these desirable traits orqualities, and would be a terrific fit for a vacancy. Many feelhonored or flattered that their leadership qualities arerecognized. They also use this opportunity to get to knowthe prospective candidate better, to discuss career goals,answer any questions, and talk about the reasons this careeropportunity would be beneficial to them, and identify any

misgivings they may have. The consultants arealso forthcoming with any challenges thenext superintendent in that schooldistrict may face, and why their skill setwill be a suitable match for districtneeds.

Consultants who do national searchesoften rely on advertisements in thepublications of national organizations orcontacts with national professionalassociations to promote a vacancy. Whilenational searches are typical of largefirms, local consultants expressedreluctance to recruit outside of theMidwest. Obtaining accurate, detailedinformation on a candidate from greater

distances is much more difficult without thebenefit of a network of colleagues, and a

devastating cultural mismatch may occur.

Title: Serpent VaseArtist: Jule Fischer, Grade 10

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sConsultants cite the lack of reciprocity with licensesand retirement programs as further detriments tosuccessful national searches.

A strong, honest working relationship between therecruiter and the school board who retains him or heris essential to doing an effective search. Recruiters usedistrict profile information they have developed as wellas their experience and skill to help school boardsdevelop realistic expectations of candidates. Becausethe school board members rarely have the time orexpertise to make thorough examinations of potentialcandidates, consultants do that work for them, free ofthe constraints of sunshine laws or claims ofprejudicial hiring practices. They allow the board toremain free from the complications or legal pitfallsassociated with attempting their own searches, givingthem the opportunity to be unbiased employers.

To be attractive to potential applicants, school boardscan enhance the appeal of their vacancy by beingmindful of a few important points:

• School boards who deport themselves according tohigh professional and ethical standards, and who workin an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, areappealing to potential candidates. On the other hand,quality candidates will avoid boards that bicker,micromanage, are not supportive or are otherwisecontrary. School boards must do their part tominimize any stress associated with thesuperintendency that might be unnecessarilygenerated as a result of board behavior.

• Considering the cost and necessity of moving,incentive packages proposed to attract potentialcandidates must be sufficient to outweigh the counter-incentives associated with moving and the relativeinsecurity of the superintendency. Compensationmust be sufficient to accommodate relocation costs,losses from real estate sales, potential loss of spousalincome, or the higher cost of living associated withresidency in certain areas of the state.

• Salaries offered to school superintendents in theMidwest region are generally lower than other parts ofthe nation; to attract candidates from a pool that is notlocal, salaries must compete favorably with thoseoffered in other sections of the United States. Thecompensation packages offered to out-of-stateapplicants must also satisfy the losses experienced bycandidates with retirement packages from other states.Alternative, transferable retirement options or deferredcompensation may help overcome this problem.

• The impact on the private lives of families moving toa new town can be substantial. Finding ways to addressthe needs or concerns of an applicant’s family is

important. Be prepared to demonstrate why yourcommunity is inviting and attractive for the families ofpotential applicants.

While many school boards may find it hard to justifythe expense of hiring a consultant to search for theirnext superintendent, recruiters point out severalconsiderations that may not be initially obvious tomany school board members:

• The time commitment required for conducting asuccessful candidate search might be greater thanoriginally anticipated.

• Boards must obey the Minnesota sunshine laws, aswell as other statutes concerning employmentpractices. Given the political risk assumed by potentialcandidates if their candidacy is revealed, many aremore willing to explore possibilities discreetly with aconsultant (who is not as restricted by these laws)than an actual public employer. Board members whoattempt to recruit candidates on their own may faceother risks, including charges of cronyism, bias,favoritism, or personal agendas, or the promotion of acandidate that does not reflect the common selectioncriteria of the other members of the board.

• Most school board members do not have the benefitof a network of colleagues that will work with them toidentify and suggest potential candidates. Recruitersrely heavily on their network of associates, many ofwhich are current practitioners, to identify highpotential applicants. They also frequently collaboratewith other consultants and their networks to find thebest candidates for a particular position.

• Recruiters use various needs assessment techniques,such as surveys, group processes, or interviews toinvestigate the school leadership needs of acommunity. Using the results of this consensus-building process to create a profile of desiredcharacteristics, consultants will work to find theperfect fit among potential candidates.

• Some boards are highly collaborative while othersare more traditional. Recruiters depend on their ownexperience and personal knowledge to predict who islikely to perform well with a given board. The “bestfit” might not be a candidate with characteristics aboard thinks they want, but rather a person with aleadership style that has functioned well for them inthe past.

Mike Siggerud currently is a member of the Moorhead SchoolBoard. Dr. Siggerud is a former vocal music teacher andadministrator with the Moorhead Public Schools, and nowserves as an adjunct instructor at Minnesota StateUniversity, Moorhead. This article summarizes the findingsfrom a series of interviews of Minnesota recruiters conductedby Dr. Siggerud.

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Tony Sjolander, LEED [email protected]/977-3500 - dlrgroup.com

MARCH/APRIL 2011 11

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Title: Beth and the Wild Horses, Artist: Emily Thomsen, Grade 11

12 MSBA JOURNAL

In 2009, the sagging economy and ongoingascension of online news had a hand in nearly300 newspapers folding nationwide. As schoolboards continue to make difficult cuts during thecurrent state budget crisis, could high schoolstudent journalism programs and newspapersfollow a similar course?

While there’s currently no hard data to suggeststudent journalism is in peril, here are sometrends:

■ A 2007 study revealed 74 percent of highschools nationally had a student newspaper.

■ According to the California Department ofEducation, there are nearly 200 fewer highschools with journalism programs than there were10 years ago – a 14 percent drop.

■ In a survey concluded in September 2009, theNew York City High School Journalism Programfound that only about 50 percent of high schoolsin the five boroughs of New York City had highschool newspapers or journalism programs.

What about Minnesota?“I don’t think anybody has good data; the lastsurvey that I know of was probably done eight ornine years ago at the University of Minnesota,”said Lynda McDonnell, executive director ofThreeSixty Journalism, an outreach journalismprogram based at the University of St. Thomas

that works with high schoolers. “The MinnesotaNewspaper Association surveyed school districts. IfI remember correctly, they found that about 53percent of the state’s high schools (of those thatresponded) had some sort of student publication,but many times they were published infrequently.”

Some anecdotal evidence hints that someMinnesota journalism programs are feeling thepinch from the state budget crisis.

“Journalism programs are hurting just likeeverything else,” said Logan Aimone, executivedirector of the Minneapolis-based NationalScholastic Press Association. “Not eliminatednecessarily, but they have fewer travel funds ordon’t have as much support in the way ofequipment.”

McDonnell said high school journalism programsand school newspapers have suffered for tworeasons.

“One is budgetary,” she said. “There are certainlymore schools that don’t have a print publication,and if they are doing a publication they do itonline. And secondly, I’ve heard teachers say thepush to get back-to-basics for standardized testinghas really harmed a lot of extracurricularactivities, including high school journalismprograms.”

Aimone said he understands that school boardsneed to tighten their belts in such times, but findsit unfortunate for the students to feel the pinch.

TheWriteStuffAdvocates opine on thestate of Minnesota highschool journalism

j

Bruce Lombard

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 13

“We’re seeing a lot of reductions in (student journalism-related) travel as school districts are trying to reduce themoney they spend in sending students to workshops andconventions,” Aimone said. “I recognize that is a necessityto balance the budget. Unfortunately, some of theseopportunities are the kinds of things that really spark aninterest in some students that may not find a place in otherparts of the school curriculum or co-curricular activities.Our state convention or the national convention (whichwill be held in Minneapolis in November 2011) are thekinds of opportunities that are really exceptional, andhopefully as many students as possible get a chance toexperience them.”

Lori Keekley, an English and journalism teacher at St. LouisPark High School, said her school paper (The Echo) isfunctioning well regardless of any budget issues.

“I haven’t (noticed any budget cuts) but that doesn’t meanwe haven’t been affected,” she said. “I think the school seesthe value of journalism and it doesn’t hurt that (New YorkTimes columnist) Thomas Friedman is from St. Louis Park.”

Electronic ageAs with traditional newspapers, there has been a trend forstudent newspapers to produce on online edition.

A 2009 Chicago Tribune article reported that several schoolnewspapers in Illinois now publish online only.

“These days, the pressures of tighter budgets, thinnerpapers and slumping ad sales are as central to the lessons ofjournalism as beat reporting and editing,” the report states.

Aimone said the rise in online publications is fueled by twoprimary factors. The first stems from a lack of funding.

“They make the choice to go online because their budgetrequires them to do so,” he said. “The cost of producingthe printed paper has forced them to reduce the numberof pages or reduce the frequency of publication. In orderto have a publication at all they do it online.”

Aimone said the second factor in increasing onlinepublishing is to simply enhance or complement the printversion.

“(For example), maybe (the print edition is) producedonce a month or every three weeks,” he said. “And then inbetween those editions they’re producing content online,maybe with their sports stories or a live chat or photoslideshows. There are ways of using the medium and takingadvantage of things that can’t be accomplished in print.”

McDonnell agreed more schools are using a combination ofthe two publishing mediums.

“I don’t have any data, but my sense is that fewer highschools have print publications, or they print lessfrequently, and if they are doing work it’s more oftenonline,” she said.

And there is an option for high schools that want to havean online publication, but can’t afford it. McDonnell saidthe High School Journalism Web site at www.hsj.org hostshigh school newspapers for no charge.

“I bet there are two or three dozen Minnesota high schoolsthat have their editions posted through that server,” she said.

McDonnell’s program also trains Minnesota teens injournalism during summer camps and after-schoolprograms. ThreeSixty operates an online magazine atwww.threesixtyjournalism.org and launched a quarterlyprint publication for and by teens in the fall. Teachers canrequest 30 or more copies free of charge by e-mailingAndrea Salazar at [email protected].

You can also find more student newspapers on the SchoolNewspapers Online Web site. Eight of the 266 papers arerepresented by Minnesota schools.

Keekley predicts online publications will continue to grow,but not overrun the traditional media avenue. “I do seemore of the transition online but I am not sure it will takethe place of print; not every student has access totechnology equally,” she said.

Keekley said her journalism class at St. Louis Park Highstarted doing a print-online combination six years ago.

“We’re doing the online and print edition out of one class,which is very difficult,” she said. “If you are doing it right,you are doing double the work with the same amount ofkids you had before.”

Keekley must be doing something right with her program.Last May, Keekley was named the 2010 Journalism Educatorof the Year by the Minnesota High School Press Association.

“It was wonderful,” she said. “I was nominated by LaurieHansen (the student journalism adviser at Stillwater AreaHigh School and the 2008 Educator of the Year) and Iunderstand my students were also involved. That was verytouching.”

Keekley said the day-to-day working with the students iswhat she likes best about her job. “You are helping themproduce something that they’re proud of. (You get to see)the reaction that they have when somebody comes up andsays ‘I saw your photo, or I saw your design, or I read yourstory and I really liked it…’ Journalism is something I’vealways had a passion for and I’ve had quite a few studentsgo through that have that passion, which is easilytransferable (to other things).”

Journalistic meritAimone said that journalism programs positively impactmore than just the direct participants.

“I feel strongly that schools benefit a lot from journalismprograms, not just for the kids who are involved in theschool paper and the school yearbook, but for everyone,”

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14 MSBA JOURNAL

he said. “You see the kinds of things that can happen,whether it’s letters to the editor or coverage of goodstories of teenagers doing great things, talking aboutwhat’s going on in their lives and the issues that theyface. I think that adds a lot to the fabric of the schoolcommunity. It’s really important, just like sports andmusic and school plays and all those other things thatmakes a high school experience what it is.”

Aimone adds: “I definitely feel for schools that aremaking ends meet any way they can, but I hope theyrecognize that journalism programs in any form arereally valuable.”

McDonnell said that student journalists absorb manyskills from the process of reporting.

“We always tell (our ThreeSixty) students it gets youout of your own head,” she said. “You have to learnabout research, about focus, about asking questions,about organizing material in a logical way, aboutwriting in a way that’s appealing to an audience.”

McDonnell said her students say they don’t get muchexperience in their high schools writing very lengthyor complex pieces.

“I think this is one of the costs of the emphasis onstandardized testing,” she said. “To do it (journalism)well, you have to do all those things well. This iswhere student journalists and the students whoconsume the media they produce learn and practicethe First Amendment, freedom of speech, andfinding the limits of responsibility, privacy and goodtaste. Those are really important issues. The stakesare real in high school and it’s unfortunate that’s oneof the things that gets lost when the student media islittle more than daily announcements.”

Keekley seconded McDonnell’s sentiments on theFirst.

“One of the most important parts (of studentjournalism), in addition to covering your school, isteaching students about the First Amendment,” shesaid. “What I would love to see is responsiblejournalism without prior review.”

Keekley also recognized the teamwork aspect ofstudent journalism.

“Students write for deadlines,” she said. “When you’relate for a deadline in an English class, it’s different injournalism because you have other people (whodepend on you). If you miss a deadline (for theschool paper) it impacts other students in your classnegatively.”

Keekley said that teamwork component will stay withher students long after they finish school.

“They always go out with understanding on how towork as a team, how to work with adults, how to work

with other students and how to truly work on thatteam…and they can take that anywhere and besuccessful,” she said.

McDonnell adds that students get excited aboutjournalism because “it is a way into the world” forthem.

“They have important stories to tell,” McDonnell said.“One of the reasons we started this online magazineis that there are not many ways to tell it to the publicin a responsible way. We are denying teens anopportunity to practice those rights in a meaningfulway. I think it’s unfortunate that many schools don’thave that opportunity.”

Gopher State greatsMinnesota’s schools have a strong tradition ofturning out their fair share of print and broadcastjournalists.

Keekley already mentioned St. Louis Park HighSchool’s big name, New York Times columnist ThomasFriedman. Another Minnesota native, David Carr (aprivate school product), also works for the Times as amedia and culture columnist.

Some other notable Minnesota-born journalistsinclude:

■ Harrison Salisbury (1908-1993): AttendedMinneapolis North High School. Won multiplePulitzer and Polk awards while reporting for theUnited Press and the New York Times.

■ Harry Reasoner (1923-1991): Attended West HighSchool in Minneapolis. Worked for Minneapolis Timesand CBS radio, and founded TV news magazine “60Minutes.”

■ Aaron Brown: Attended Hopkins High School.Former broadcaster for CNN. Currently hostsprogram on public radio and teaches at Arizona StateUniversity’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalismand Mass Communication.

■ David Bloom (1963-2003): Attended Edina WestHigh School. Worked as NBC’s White Housecorrespondent. Died suddenly at age 39 whilecovering an American infantry division during theIraq War.

■ Michele Norris: Attended Washburn High School.Worked for ABC News, wrote for several prominentnewspapers and currently hosts “All ThingsConsidered” on National Public Radio.

McDonnell’s ThreeSixty program is already in theprocess of trying to add to that prestigious list.

“Over the last seven or eight years, we’ve had seven ofour students go to work in newsrooms either here in

The

Writ

e St

uff

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 15

the Twin Cities or elsewhere in the country,” McDonnellsaid.

ThreeSixty Journalism’s mission is to “bring diverse voicesinto journalism and related professions by using intense,personal instruction in the practice and principles ofjournalism,” and to “strengthen the civic literacy, writingskills and college readiness of Minnesota teens.”

McDonnell, who worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press as areporter and political editor for 20 years before taking theThreeSixty job in 2002, said her program works with acouple hundred high school students a year.

“We do summer camps, after-school programs, some schoolpartnerships and an online magazine,” she said. “We serve awhole range of students, but our particular focus is anoutreach to those with low income and people of color.”

McDonnell noted that any student from any school districtin the state is eligible to take part in the program.

Aimone’s National Scholastic Press Association providesjournalism education services to students, teachers, mediaadvisers and others throughout the United States and inother countries. Aimone is a product of high schooljournalism himself. He was a member of his Washingtonstate high school’s newspaper and yearbook staffs, and alsotaught journalism at the secondary level for 10 years.

Keekley – who started out teaching high school journalismin her native Indiana – also had a stint at the NationalScholastic Press Association before landing the job at St.Louis Park.

FuturamaAimone said he is hopeful about the future of high schooljournalism.

“I hope the future is one in which journalism is really strongin every school and where schools recognize that having thatkind of a forum for students to express themselves, for themto not just practice their writing skills but also practice theircivics, is a bright future,” he said. “But I can’t predict thefuture so I don’t know what it entails. Who thought just afew years ago we would see services like Facebook andTwitter? None of those existed a decade ago. Who knows in2015, 2020 or beyond that what we’ll have? Will everyonehave a portable device? I don’t know.”

Aimone said there is a place for a school newspaper and ajournalistic school yearbook in every school. “I think thatthose schools that support journalism definitely have a richstudent life, and that is a way to showcase not just thewriters’ or the photographers’ or the designers’ talents, butalso the story of the schools – the good things, the struggles,the happy and not-as-happy moments that make up school.”

Bruce Lombard is MSBA’s Associate Director of Communications.You can reach him at [email protected].

Title: Silva, Artist: Hans Halverson, Grade 12

Related linksNational Scholastic Press Associationhttp://www.studentpress.org/nspa/

ThreeSixty Journalismhttp://www.threesixtyjournalism.org/

High School Journalismhttp://www.hsj.org/

School Newspapers Onlinehttp://www.schoolnewspapersonline.com/

Minnesota High School Press Associationhttp://studentpressblogs.org/mhspa/

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16 MSBA JOURNAL

FFact: The number of family farms in Minnesotahas dropped drastically over the past threedecades.

As a result, the number of students participatingin agriculture education programs is going by thewayside in Minnesota’s public schools, right?Well, that’s fiction, actually.

Presently, 187 agriculture, food and naturalresources (AFNR) programs are offered inMinnesota’s secondary schools. That’s up fromthe 182 AFNR programs around during the2005–06 school year, but down from 254 in1985–86.

The numbers from 1985–86 would suggest adecline; but Joel Larsen, an agriculturaleducation specialist for the MinnesotaDepartment of Education (MDE), thinksotherwise.

“That is not the whole story,” Larsen said.“Remember, there have been many schoolconsolidations during and since the mid-1980s. Fifty-four school districts have consolidated since 1985.”

In addition, the number of students who havetaken agriculture-related programs has risenconsiderably despite the drop in programs. In1985–86, the student sum was 12,766. In 2008–09,that number had risen to 27,942.

Larsen said the Sparsely Populated AgriculturalEducation in Minnesota (SPAEM) program hashelped reintroduce agriculture programs inseveral northwest Minnesota schools during thepast two years.

Larsen and his colleagues – in and out of theMDE – across the state are working to keepagriculture an essential component ofMinnesota’s public education system. Larsen isjoined in this mission by advocates like KentThiesse, the new president of the MinnesotaSchool Boards Association and one of the state’sleading experts on agriculture; NatashaMortenson, teacher and head of the Morris AreaSchool District’s Agriculture EducationProgram – a program recognized as one of thebest in the state, and most recently, the nation;and Al Withers, a longtime employee at the

Bruce Lombard

KEEPING SCHOOL AGRICULTUREPROGRAMS STRONGStakeholders help maintain agriculture education’s relevance

Title: The Good Ol’ Days, Artist: Zackery Slater, Grade 12

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 17

Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and aproponent of impacting younger students through thepromotion of ag literacy.

Larsen, Thiesse, Mortenson and Withers represent just asampling of the myriad people working industriously tostress agriculture education’s importance and maintain itsrelevance.

“Many times when we think about ‘ag education,’ we onlythink about farming or production agriculture,” saidThiesse, a Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial School Boardmember. “We do not think about the fact that theagriculture industry encompasses all food and fiberproduction, manufacturing and distribution, as well as arapidly growing renewable energy industry in the UnitedStates. We need strong ag education for careerdevelopment, as nearly 20 percent of the jobs in Minnesotaare related to the broad definition of the agricultureindustry.”

Thiesse currently serves as the vice president andagriculture loan officer for MinnStar Bank in Lake Crystal.In 2003, Kent retired from the University of MinnesotaExtension Service, after a 28-year career as an extensioneducator in agriculture and 4-H youth development.

Agriculture has always been a big part of Mortenson’s life,too. She grew up on a farm in Benson and later became astate officer for the Minnesota FFA Association (formerlythe Future Farmers of America). As early as ninth grade,Mortenson knew she wanted to become an agricultureteacher. Now she is going on her 10th year as an ag teacherat Morris Area, and is also the treasurer of the MinnesotaAssociation of Agriculture Educators (MAAE).

Mortenson said one of the biggest challenges her field ofteaching faces is to stay relevant within the educationalsystem. “A lot of people look at career and tech educationand don’t necessarily think it’s important in a lot ofschools,” she said. “That’s where a lot of the fight is,fighting to keep it. To me, in a state that’s so agriculturallybased, I don’t know how people could get rid of it.”

Withers grew up in the farming community of Jackson andheld several jobs in agriculture, working for local farms,nurseries and the AGCO Corporation. As the director ofMinnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC), aprogram under the MDA, Withers is on a mission to helppromote agriculture literacy, chiefly among elementaryschool students. Withers publishes two agricultureeducation magazines – the “AgMag” and the AgMag Jr.” –and several other resources to help enhance the agricultureIQs for K–12 teachers and students.

The “AgMag” is produced and distributed three times eachschool year and is geared toward fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students. The primary target of the “AgMag Jr.” isfirst-graders. Withers plans on publishing two issues of the“AgMag Jr.” for the 2010–11 school year.

“Society wants to box agriculture into ‘that program’ downthe hall in the high school,” Withers said. “I’m always

reminding everyone of the bigger picture. We’ve got awhole society out there that isn’t part of agriculture. Theonly way you’re going to help them be part of agriculture isto integrate it into K–12.”

STANDARDS, CREDITS AND CUTSLike a lot of “non-core” subjects, many agricultureprograms have to contend with the annual budgetchopping block menace.

“The biggest challenge facing agriculture education is thetight funding situation that exists in most public schools,

Ag Programs by the NumbersIn 1985–1986 there were 254 AFNR programs serving12,766 students, with an FFA membership of 11,414.

In 1995–1996 there were 192 AFNR programs serving19,811 students, with an FFA membership of 8,820.

In 2005–2006 there were 182 AFNR programs serving19,659 students, with an FFA membership of 8,850.

In 2010–2011 there are 187 AFNR programs

2008–09 DataAFNR enrollment in agri-science courses for credit towardgraduation

Total – 4,175 Male – 2,432 Female – 1,743

Defined as Animal Sciences, Plant Sciences, NaturalResource Science, and Biotechnology.

Concentrators (defined as AFNR students who havecompleted 240 hours of instruction or more)


Total enrollment in AFNR Courses (may be duplicated)


ANR Enrollment by AFNR Pathways

Animal Systems Total – 8,667

Plant Systems Total – 8,266

Agri Business SystemsTotal – 5,500

Natural Resources & Environmental SystemsTotal – 5,431

Power, Structures & Technical Systems Total – 8,753

Food Products & Processing SystemsTotal – 5,410

Data provided by Joel Larsen, agricultural educationspecialist for the Minnesota Department of Education,and Julie Tesch, executive director of the MinnesotaAgricultural Education Leadership Council.

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18 MSBA JOURNAL

Keeping School Agriculture

Programs Strong

along with a shortage of highly qualified teachers inagriculture,” said Thiesse. “Due to the tight funding,and the stringent requirements of the No Child LeftBehind (NCLB) law, many school districts have eitherreduced or eliminated secondary agricultureeducation programs, because those are ‘elective’courses that are not part of NCLB.”

Agriculture education programs are staying ahead ofthe NCLB game by offering science and economicscredits in their courses.

“Schools are focusing on academics versus career andtechnical education,” Larsen said. “If career andtechnical education courses are to continue, theymust provide academic credit or enhance studentlearning and student achievement.”

Larsen said that academic credit in science is offeredin about 67 percent of Minnesota agriculture-relatedprograms, while credit for economics is offered inabout 10 percent of the programs.

“There are many academic standards that feed rightinto what we are doing (at MAITC) like life science,earth science, geography and those sorts of areas,”Withers said. “We try to make our materials fit to thestandards.”

Mortenson said that being able to offer science andeconomic credits is a great benefit for agricultureeducation.

“Ag programs are pretty lucky that they can offerscience and economics credits,” she said. “NCLBdoesn’t focus on career and tech education, it’s prettylimited. The science and economics credits havehelped us stay relevant with NCLB and thosestandards.”

Mortenson said having agriculture classes offer thosecredits has also helped reduce the big class sizenumbers for the standard science and economicscourses.

She also acknowledged the considerable downsizingand cutting of agriculture-related programs acrossthe state. “A lot of programs that are still in existencehave fewer teachers,” she said.

Mortenson said she teaches overload classes, somewith as many 25 students. “Class sizes are big but youhave to use the same amount of resources, which isdifficult in tech education when you are dealing witha lot of supplies and lab work,” she said. “Ag edprides itself on hands-on activities, and that isdifficult with the tight budgets.”

Mortenson said her school district is very committedto utilizing Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroommaterials. Morris Area’s first-graders use Ag in theClassroom every single month.

CONTEXTUAL HEALINGWithers said his primary focus at Minnesota Agriculturein the Classroom is to provide contextual learningopportunities to K–12 teachers and their students.

“We’re not asking teachers to stop everything andteach agriculture,” he said. “We’re asking them to useagriculture as a vehicle for learning geography,history, science, the environment and reading. We’rereally all about integration and using agriculture as avehicle for learning for real life.”

Withers said that his aim is to help K–12 kids andteachers become literate about where their foodcomes from and how agriculture is a vital part ofsociety and their own daily lives. “Those are theunderlining principles of Ag in the Classroom andagriculture literacy,” he said.

He and his Ag in the Classroom colleagues across thenation develop curriculum and classroom materials,conduct workshops and offer grants to help K–12teachers become more comfortable bringingagriculture into their classrooms. “We’re not trying tocreate farmers and we’re not charged with developinganybody for a career track,” he said. “We’re simplyproviding contextual learning using agriculture.”

Withers integrates agriculture-related themes intoseveral subjects, whether it be into geographycurriculum or into a DVD presentation on renewableenergy. “We target different subjects to try to turn theteacher on to wanting to teach agriculture in theclassroom,” he said. “Maybe that bulb will go on insome students. Regardless, all of them will have alittle better understanding about agriculture’simportance.”

Title: Cowgirl Missy, Artist: Emily Thomsen, Grade 11

401572_MarApr_11:_ 2/22/11 3:46 PM

Withers said that 95 percent or more of the K–12 kids are histargeted market for Agriculture in the Classroom. “It doesn’ttake a rocket scientist to figure out where’s your future inimpacting learners,” said Withers, hoping that more agricultureleaders “get out of their box” and grasp this concept.

“If everybody wants more public awareness and everyonewants more literacy, what better way to grow than (reachingout to) 95 percent of the K–12 kids?” he said. “Quitefrankly, one of the challenges over the years is that formany principals and K–12 teachers, when they hear theword ‘agriculture,’ it results in two things: they’ll say ‘Idon’t teach agriculture’ or the elementary principal willgrab the materials and say ‘This looks great…I’ll make sureto get it to our ag teacher.’ I tell them, ‘You know what,none of that is written for the ag teacher. Look at ourmagazine: it’s all about Minnesota geography, history andscience…and it’s for your sixth-grade teacher to use in theMinnesota unit.’”

AG ADAPTSMortenson has experienced some changes in agricultureeducation over the past 10 or 15 years, with the mostnotable being its push toward science.

“The biggest change is agriculture becoming very science-based, with genetically modified crops and food science,”Mortenson said. “It wasn’t like that when I was in highschool; it was much more production-based (back then). Ifeel like I teach a lot of science. I’m able to offer a few ofmy classes as science credits.”

Mortenson said agriculture education is something that’sneeded to fill in space for students who don’t necessarilythrive in their core classes. “(Those students) are able totake the concepts they learn (from agriculture education)and use them in a hands-on way. I feel that we are essentialto students’ success, especially those students who areinterested in technical careers or agriculture. I want themto see that agriculture is not just farming. We’re here toenhance and support the core classes, which is just asimportant as having those core classes.”

Mortenson said she tells students there are an abundanceof career opportunities out there for the taking, such asprofessions in marketing, food science and productdevelopment, among others. “There are so many jobopportunities in agriculture. I’m concerned that we areobviously not the focus right now in education.”

OTHER AG APPLICATIONSAgriculture education is much more than just cattle andcrops. Mortenson, for instance, also teaches robotics andelectronics in the classroom. Her students learn electronicdesign, soldering, electrical wiring and roboticprogramming. The students build robots and programthem to perform tasks.

“This is important for the students to learn because thescience and technology behind planting crops and the

manufacturing aspect of it is a huge part of agriculture,”she said. “There are several robotic applications in foodproduction. They need to have people that can run, fix, setup and program robotic arms. There are a lot of jobopportunities in that realm.”

Along with building robots, Mortenson and her studentsalso helped construct the school’s first greenhouse. Thegreenhouse will be used primarily for student cropproduction, both hydroponically and in soil. “I want toteach the kids as many ways to garden on their own, so theycan figure a way to do their own gardening, no matter ifthey are in Minneapolis or Morris,” she said.

The students’ produce will either be donated to theschool’s food service program or sold at the local farmers’market. “It’s a great project,” she said. “Agriculture is wideopen for kids.”

Mortenson said that the FFA is another integral part ofagriculture education.

“These FFA kids are able to take what they learn in class, goand do career development events, and compete and showtheir skills,” she said. “It’s all career-based. FFA memberslearn leadership development, which is so important fortheir careers in the future. The involvement theyexperience is amazing and it connects them to thecommunity.”

LENDING A HANDSo, what can school board members do to boost agricultureeducation?

Thiesse said the first thing school board members andadministrators must do to support agriculture education isto understand the breadth of today’s multifacetedagriculture industry and the future career opportunitiesthat exist for their students.

“The science and business aspects of agriculture offer verygood opportunities to interlink agriculture education

MARCH/APRIL 2011 19

The Best of the BestJoel Larsen, agricultural education specialist for the MinnesotaDepartment of Education, ranks the best ag programs in the state

Small schoolsAFSA (Academy for Science in Agriculture), Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Mountain Lake, Randolph, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Sleepy Eye, Springfield, Tracy Area, Wabasso,Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

Medium-sized schoolsBelle Plaine, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, Jackson CountyCentral, Kingsland, Morris Area, New London-Spicer, Perham-Dent, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, RedwoodValley, Sibley East, Waseca.

Large schoolsFoley, Forest Lake Area, Grand Rapids, Hutchinson, Marshall,New Ulm, Princeton, Red Wing, Stillwater Area.

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20 MSBA JOURNAL

curriculum with STEM initiatives within secondaryschool coursework,” Thiesse said.

Withers said he has been exhibiting his materials forschool boards for more than 20 years. “A lot of schoolboard members are also involved in agriculture,” hesaid. “They want to see some movement and want theirteachers doing more agriculture-related instruction.”

Mortenson said school boards can take advantage of thescience and economics in their curriculum to enhancetheir core subjects and support agriculture education.

“Not every kid is interested in the same thing; we can’tput every kid in a bucket,” she said. “School boardshave got to give kids options and utilize those agprograms or any tech ed program to offer their classesfor science credit because kids are learning in adifferent way from a different perspective. Sometimesthat’s what it takes for it to click for them.”

Mortenson said school board members just need tosimply provide support for teachers and kids in theiragriculture programs, such as allowing them to doactivities locally or go to out-of-town contests andconventions that allow students to grow. She addedthat school districts that don’t have agricultureprograms should try find ways to work together toshare programs and teachers in order to find ways togive kids opportunities.

“Our school board in Morris is just amazing. Icouldn’t ask for a school board that supports me anymore than they do,” she said. “That’s been importantto the success of our program.”

And the Morris school program has definitely had itsshare of success. On December 1, 2010, Morris AreaHigh School was one of only six agriculture programsnationwide that received the National Association ofAgricultural Educators Outstanding Middle/SecondaryAgricultural Education Program Award.

AG IN THE CLASSROOM IN YOURCLASSROOMWithers said any teacher can request any quantity ofAgriculture in the Classroom materials free of chargeby calling him at 651-201-6688 or by visitingwww.mda.state.mn.us/kids.aspx. The Web siteincludes convenient online order forms for schoolteachers and leaders.

A random day could have Withers filling orders forsuch school districts such as Murdock, Inver GroveHeights, Burnsville – and South Orange, New Jersey.Withers said they distribute to a number of out-of-state schools. He added that the growing home-school market has become another destination forhis free materials.

Currently, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade teachers in540 Minnesota schools are using the “Ag Mag.” The

“Ag Mag Jr.” is being used in approximately 300schools for first graders.

Withers said that the Anoka-Hennepin School Districthas placed MAITC in their fourth-grade curriculum.“They have 120 fourth-grade teachers; it’s all part oftheir curriculum,” said Withers, noting that hepersonally worked with the district’s curriculumreview committee to gain program acceptance.

All materials for MAITC are also online as adownload option for teachers and students. Anythingthat Withers develops at the MDA is consistent withthe academic standards.

Withers hopes his efforts continue to bolsteragriculture literacy among younger students and totackle what he perceives to be a troubling trend –that most current teachers and students have ageneral lack of understanding about agriculture.

“Twenty years ago, there were a lot of elementaryschool teachers that came from the farm,” he said.“They knew a little bit so they were comfortable ifthey wanted to do a farm unit. Now you have a wholebunch of teachers that didn’t come from the farm.We have to provide better materials or more trainingfor them to even want to bring it into the classroomand be comfortable with it. Doing more in the areaof teacher education is Minnesota Ag in theClassroom’s No. 1 priority.”

RESOURCESMinnesota Agriculture in the Classroomwww.mda.state.mn.us/maitc

National Agriculture in the Classroomwww.agclassroom.org

Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Foundationwww.maitcfoundation.org

Minnesota Agriculture Education Leadership Councilhttp://www.maelc.state.mn.us

Minnesota FFAhttp://www.mnffa.org/

Bruce Lombard is MSBA’s associate director of communicationsand can be reached at [email protected].

Title: Kailee Jo, Artist: Cassandra Anthony, Grade 11

Keeping School Agriculture

Programs Strong

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 21

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22 MSBA JOURNAL

TThe call for reform in our educational system isnothing new. There have been calls for some formof educational reform during the last severaldecades. It would be quite possible to align much ofthe educational reform movements to what wasevident at the time in American society; forexample, Sputnik and the need to push for morescience in the ’50s, social justice and individualfreedoms in the ’60s, world awareness in the ’70s,economic issues and global competiveness in the’80s, standards and accountability in the ’90s, and 10years into the 21st Century a strong resurrection of acall for the need to have more teaching of science,technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Further, as the demographics of our schools havechanged there is yet another reform initiative: theneed to close the achievement gap for students ofcolor. This initiative, although associated mostly withurban school districts, is a reform relevant to alldistricts. None of the above reform initiatives havebeen completely replaced by a new one. Instead itseems as if the voices of the new ones are louderthan the reform that was popular at the time.Moreover, much of a new educational reformmovement can be associated with changes in thestate and national political climate. It is not theintent of this article to argue the merits of thesereform movements. Most, if not all, would have

some relevance in our educational system.

THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD INEDUCATIONAL REFORM

With all these calls for reform, we school boardmembers are in the quandary of wondering if we aretruly the last bastion of local governance or agoverning body reacting to the latest call foreducational reform – a call that usually comes withlimited if no new resources. It is no wonder weschool board members have difficulty understandingour role.

Much of the literature addressing school reform isfocused on the role of building leadership andeffective classroom teaching. Absent, however, inmuch of the literature relating to educationalreform efforts are the role and responsibilities of theschool board. This absence could possibly beattributed to the fact that there is uncertainty as towhat our role is. Some might argue that a schoolboard is more of an impediment to school reformthan a supporter or initiator. They might offer, assupport of their position, that school boards spend adisproportional amount of time on budgets, laborrelations, implementation of policy that is driven bystate and federal requirement, and othermanagement issues. It should be pointed out that, asimportant as these functions are, the questions

Ten Constructsfor

School BoardGovernance & Reform

Jerry Robicheau

Title: Vase with Roses, Artist: Katie Fetters, Grade 11

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 23

remain to many: Are they the most important priorities andhow are they related to reform efforts?

Sustained educational reform requires a systems approach.This systems approach will require that as school boardmembers we examine our roles and how we govern. We needto consider the paradigm we govern under, and what needsto be changed to effectively institute changes in how wedeliver education to today’s and tomorrow’s students. Schoolboards have unlimited power to implement change. We areelected by our communities to do so. I believe we areempowered to institute change. A self-assessment of how aschool board governs and addresses change is critical in anenvironment of educational reform. It appears logical toconclude we cannot govern in the same old way; we need tochange our paradigm. I am proposing we consider how welook at systemic change and how we approach ourgovernance. The ten constructs listed below are posited as away to change that paradigm.

TEN CONSTRUCTS FOR SCHOOL BOARDGOVERNANCE IN SCHOOL REFORM

In an effort to assist school boards in their governanceduring the educational reform initiatives, ten constructs areoffered for consideration. These constructs are applicationsfor good governance and could be a guide for the schoolboard during these challenging times today and in thefuture. The constructs are not listed in priority order. Theyneed to be considered as a whole. Construct one is no moreimportant than construct 5. Conversely construct ten is noless important than construct 3.

These constructs are my reflection and collected knowledgefrom more than 40 years in public education as a teacher,school administrator, superintendent, college professor, andschool board chair. I do not profess to have any specialinsights. My purpose in offering these ten constructs is toshare a perspective gained from years of observation,research and readings, and most recently participation on aschool board. MSBA offers inservices on these governanceroles, and includes these constructs in its Phase Orientationtraining series. And though many boards use a majority ofthese constructs, it is always good to review them. Further, itis to hopefully initiate a dialogue about what the role ofschool boards is in school reform efforts.

Construct 1:We need to govern ethically. We need to be themoral compass of the district. We will need to embed ethicalstandards in all policies approved. Moreover, we need toexamine the ethical and moral purpose of any mandate weare asked to implement. If it does not meet an ethicalstandard we need to challenge that mandate. We need toexamine the policies we are approving to determine if theywill benefit all students and to understand what social justicewill be accomplished. We need to see that the good of thewhole and not the privilege of the few are addressed in everyschool board action.

Construct 2:We need to govern collaboratively. Theleadership and operation of the district can no longer be “usversus them.” The operation and decision outcomes need to

be a reflection of “all of us.” There is too much at stake notto be collaborative. Stakeholders need to be at the table tohold a proactive discourse on what is in the best interest ofthe students. This collaborative governance must includeparents, students, teachers, staff, and community. No onegovernment agency can function in isolation from the othergovernmental agencies. Collaborative governance will andshould result in more proactive outcomes. Along withcollaboration is empowerment. We need to empower ourstakeholders to be partners in this process of school reform.

Construct 3:We must keep the focus of all decisions onaddressing student achievement. In education there isnothing else. All decisions and recommendations must haveas their foundation to answer the following question: Howwill this improve student learning? To frame decisions in anyother framework or anything less would be a disservice tostudents. This focus on student achievement includes howthe achievement gap can be addressed. It is not just an urbanissue. It must be a statewide initiative.

Construct 4:We need to govern strategically. We need to havea “road map” addressing how to proceed and what is neededto improve our educational system. School boards mustestablish goals and action steps to achieve those goals. Oncewe set goals and action steps, we need to follow that roadmap in striving to address student achievement. Schools area series of parts of a whole system. Finance, enrollment,personnel, curriculum/instruction, and facilities are thecomponents of the whole system. They cannot functionseparately, as they are interconnected. An action taken inone part of a system causes a reaction throughout the wholesystem. Governing strategically forces the school board tothink systematically. Consequently, this road map mustinclude all parts of the system and what role each has inimproving student achievement.

Construct 5: Individually and collectively, we need to be thevoice of education. Our voices need to be heard locally, atthe state level, and nationally. We need to be the voices togather support to ensure that education reform is not just anew “political movement.” We are elected officials andtherefore must be politically active. Our collective voices doinfluence the educational agenda. Our voices are the voicesof students, parents and the community we represent.

Construct 6:We must be responsible and not just accountable.It is our obligation to take responsibility for the policies weset and ask administration to implement. With responsibilitycomes accountability. When we as school board members areheld responsible to work toward educational reform, we willalso be accountable.

Construct 7:We must think entrepreneurial. We need to thinkand govern creatively and innovatively. It is time for us toconsider how we can work differently, more effectively, andmore efficiently. We need to approach governing by knowingthat the status quo, however effective it was in the past, is notgood enough in today’s environment. A new way can oftenand should lead to a better way.

Construct 8:We need to be culturally competent.

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24 MSBA JOURNAL

Ten C

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Demographics in our schools have changed and willcontinue to become more diverse. School boards needto appreciate the dynamics this presents in theclassroom. As policy makers we need to provide thetools teachers need to teach in a multicultural learningenvironment. This is also necessary in addressing theachievement gap.

Construct 9:We need to govern transparently. Decisionsand positive discourse need to be held in public, andthe public must understand why a decision is made.Transparent governance will engage morestakeholders in the ownership of improving oureducational system. This is more than operating underthe Open Meeting Law requirements. It requiresongoing communications – inviting and engaging thecommunity into a “school board world.” It meanseducating the public on the intricacy of the operationof the district. It means putting material inunderstandable language.

Construct 10:We must govern as a team of the wholeboard and the superintendent. Individual voices canbe and are contributors to the public discourse.However, it must be in a constructive manner.Maverick voices on the school board without supportcan sometimes lead to disenfranchisement of thecommunity and divisiveness among the board. Withthis divisiveness comes dysfunction. With dysfunction

come incomplete decisions and attempts to advanceindividual agendas -- none of which will advance theimprovement of our educational system.

CONCLUSION:

These ten constructs for school board governance areoffered as a way to place us school board members in aleadership role in educational reform. School boardsmust be a strong voice in the conversation on schoolreform. These ten constructs will give us the platformfor our voice. Of course, with any proposition thereare no guarantees of success. However, it is too criticala time for school boards not to take a positive step,and challenge and change the way we “do governance”and move into a new paradigm and consider the tenconstructs. If we do not change the way we govern, weas a school board have nothing to lose, but ourstudents do!

Jerry Robicheau serves as chair of the Faribault School Boardand is a professor of educational leadership at MinnesotaState University, Mankato. He can be reached [email protected], or [email protected].

Title: Untitled, Artist: Kirsty Laflash, Grade 11

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 25

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History in theMAKING

January 13-14, 2011Minneapolis Convention Center

More than 1,500 school leaders gathered at the Convention Center for MSBA’s 2011 Leadership Conference.

Here are some memories that we captured. Enjoy!

M S B A

26 MSBA JOURNAL

Above: Members of MSBA’s 2011 All State SchoolBoard are: (seated) Cathy Miller of North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale; June Hendrickson of Hibbing;Jane Hamre of Fertile-Beltrami; (standing) KevinDahlman of Dassel-Cokato; Kenneth Anderson ofBuffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart; Judi Brandon of MankatoArea; and Michael Domin of Crosby-Ironton.Right: Kent Thiesse of Lake Crystal WellcomeMemorial was named the new president for MSBA atFriday’s Closing Session, taking over from PastPresident Jackie Magnuson of Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan.Below: MSBA’s three sessions of 20-minute Round Tables drew the largestattendance ever to hear 16 different speakers on various topics Friday morning.

Abo bully disp

Belo Fina

Above Left: General Session speaker RossBernstein showed how boards can be thecoaches that turn their students into champions.Above Right: New Minnesota Departmentof Education Commissioner BrendaCassellius greeted conference attendees.

90TH ANNUAL LEADERSHIP C

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MARCH/APRIL 2011 27

.

Above: Singer Rachel Szurek and the SpringLake Park Jazz Ensemble brought theconference crowd to their feet with theirrendition of “At Last.”

Above: Students from Watertown-Mayer took time after their workshop onbullying prevention to tour MSBA’s exhibitor area and check out the school busdisplay.

Below: It was a packed room to hear from Minnesota Department of EducationFinance Director Tom Melcher on the funding situation for schools.

Above: Friday keynote speaker HowellWechsler talked about the links betweennutrition, health and safety and their effectson learning.Below: Como Park High School MarineCorps JrROTC from St. Paul Public Schoolsstarted off the Leadership ConferenceGeneral Session by presenting the colors.

P CONFERENCE SCRAPBOOK

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ActuaryHildi Incorporated(Jill Urdahl)11800 Singletree Lane, Suite 305 Minneapolis, MN 55344952-934--5554, Fax [email protected] Iwaarden Associates(Jim Van Iwaarden)10 South Fifth Street, Suite 840Minneapolis, MN 55402-1010612-596-5960, Fax 612-596-5999www.vaniwaarden.comwww.gasb45opeb.comjimvi@vaniwaarden.com

Architects/Engineers/Facility PlannersArchitects Rego + Youngquist inc.(Paul Youngquist)7601 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 200St. Louis Park, MN 55426952-544-8941, Fax [email protected]&RPlanners/Architects/Engineers(Paul W. Erickson)8501 Golden Valley Rd., Suite 300Minneapolis, MN 55427763-545-3731Fax [email protected] Group Architecture,P.A.(Judith Hoskens)201 Main Street SE, Suite 325Minneapolis, MN 55414612-379-3400, Fax [email protected] Group KKE(Jennifer Anderson-Tuttle)520 Nicollet Mall, Suite 200Minneapolis, MN 55402612-977-3552, Fax [email protected](David Leapaldt)808 Courthouse SquareSt. Cloud, MN 56303320-252-3740, Fax [email protected]

ICS Consulting, Inc.(Pat Overom)5354 Edgewood DriveMounds View, MN 55112763-354-2670, Fax [email protected], INC.(Fred King)5801 Duluth St.Minneapolis, MN 55422763-546-3434, Fax [email protected] Playground ComplianceProgram (in partnership withNational Playground ComplianceGroup, LLC) (Tim Mahoney)PO Box 506Carlisle, IA 50047866-345-6774, Fax [email protected] Architects(Bryan Paulsen)209 S. Second Street, Suite 201Mankato, MN 56001507-388-9811, Fax 507-388-1751www.paulsenarchitects.combryan@paulsenarchitects.comPerkins + Will(Steve Miller)84 10th Street S., Suite 200Minneapolis, MN 55403612-851-5094, Fax [email protected], Inc.(Rick Wessling)18707 Old Excelsior Blvd.Minneapolis, MN 55345952-474-3291, Fax [email protected] Architects and Engineers(Scott McQueen)305 St. Peter StreetSt. Paul, MN 55102651-227-7773, Fax [email protected]

Athletic Sports Floors/SurfacingMSBA Playground ComplianceProgram (in partnership withNational Playground ComplianceGroup, LLC) (Tim Mahoney)PO Box 506Carlisle, IA 50047866-345-6774, Fax [email protected]

AttorneysKennedy & Graven Chartered(Neil Simmons)200 South Sixth Street, Suite 470Minneapolis, MN 55402612-337-9300, Fax 612-337-9310www.kennedy-graven.comnsimmons@kennedy-graven.comKnutson, Flynn & Deans, P.A.(Thomas S. Deans)1155 Centre Pointe Dr., Suite 10Mendota Heights, MN 55120651-222-2811, Fax [email protected], Sorlie, Rufer & Kershner, PLLP(Mike Rengel)110 N. MillFergus Falls, MN 56537218-736-5493, Fax [email protected], Roszak & Maloney, P.A.(Kevin J. Rupp)730 2nd Ave. S., Suite 300Minneapolis, MN 55402612-339-0060, Fax [email protected]

Construction Mgmt. & ProductsBossardt Corporation(John Bossardt)8300 Norman Center Drive, Suite 770Minneapolis, MN 55437952-831-5408 or 800-290-0119Fax [email protected] Group, Inc.(Pete Filippi)101 1st Street SELittle Falls, MN 56345320-632-1940, Fax 320-632-2810www.contegritygroup.compete@contegritygroup.comDonlar Construction Company(Jon Kainz)550 Shoreview Park RoadShoreview, MN 55126651-227-0631, Fax [email protected] Consulting, Inc.(Pat Overom)5354 Edgewood DriveMounds View, MN 55112763-354-2670, Fax [email protected]

Kraus-Anderson Construction Co.(Mark Phillips)PO Box 158Circle Pines, MN 55014763-786-7711, Fax 763-786-2650www.krausanderson.commark.phillips@krausanderson.comMSBA Playground ComplianceProgram (in partnership withNational Playground ComplianceGroup, LLC) (Tim Mahoney)PO Box 506Carlisle, IA 50047866-345-6774, Fax [email protected]

Educational Programs/Services Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and Blind(Linda Mitchell)615 Olof Hanson Dr.PO Box 308Faribault, MN 55021-0308800-657-3996/507-384-6602Fax [email protected]

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)The Sand Creek Group, Ltd.(Gretchen M. Stein)610 N. Main Street, #200Stillwater, MN 55082651-430-3383, Fax [email protected]

Energy SolutionsJohnson Controls, Inc.(Arif Quraishi)2605 Fernbrook Lane N., Suite TPlymouth, MN 55447763-585-5043, Fax [email protected]

Financial ManagementMSBA-Sponsored Administrationand Compliance Service (A&C Service)Administration and ComplianceService(Paige McNeal, Educators Benefit Consultants, LLC)888-507-6053/763-552-6053Fax [email protected] MSBA-Sponsored Lease PurchaseProgramTax Exempt Lease PurchaseProgram(Mary Webster, Wells FargoSecurities, LLC)800-835-2265, ext. 73110612-667-3110Fax [email protected]

28 MSBA JOURNAL

MSBA’s Vendor Directory helps connect school districts with the products and services they need. The directory is always at yourfingertips. You’ll find it printed in the back of every Journal magazine as well as on the MSBA Web site at www.mnmsba.org.Most listings in the Web version of this directory include a link so you can head instantly to a Web site or e-mail address. Thedirectory includes everything you need to know to contact a company quickly—phone numbers, fax numbers and addresses—inan easy-to-read format. If you have a service or product you would like included in this directory, please contact SueMunsterman at 507-934-2450 or [email protected].

MSBA’s VENDOR DIRECTORY

401572_MarApr_11:_ 2/22/11 3:47 PM

MSBA-Sponsored MNTAAB (MN Tax and Aid AnticipationBorrowing Program)MNTAAB(DeeDee Kahring, Springsted, Inc.)800-236-3033/651-223-3099Fax [email protected] MSBA-Sponsored P-Card(Procurement Card) ProgramP-Card Program800-891-7910/314-878-5000Fax 314-878-5333www.powercardpfm.comMSBA-SponsoredSchoolFinances.comSchoolFinances.com(Jim Sheehan, Ann Thomas)Sheehan: 952-435-0990Thomas: [email protected]@schoolfinances.com PaySchools(Patrick Ricci)6000 Grand Ave.Des Moines, IA 50312281-545-1957, Fax: [email protected] Asset Management, LLC -MSDLAF+(Donn Hanson)45 South 7th Street, Suite 2800Minneapolis, MN 55402612-371-3720, Fax [email protected]

Food Service Products & ServicesLunchtime Solutions, Inc.(Chris Goeb)717 N. Derby LaneNorth Sioux City, SD 57049605-254-3725, Fax 605-235-0942www.lunchtimesolutions.com [email protected], Inc.(Monique Navarrette)5570 Smetana Dr.Minnetonka, MN 55343952-358-2188, Fax 952-945-0444www.taher.com [email protected]

InsuranceMinnesota School BoardsAssociation Insurance Trust(MSBAIT)(Denise Drill, John Sylvester, Amy Fullenkamp-Taylor)1900 West Jefferson AvenueSt. Peter, MN 56082-3015800-324-4459, Fax 507-931-1515www.mnmsba.org [email protected]@[email protected]

PlaygroundsMSBA Playground ComplianceProgram (in partnership withNational Playground ComplianceGroup, LLC) (Tim Mahoney)PO Box 506Carlisle, IA 50047866-345-6774, Fax [email protected]

RoofingFour Seasons Energy EfficientRoofing, Inc.(Darrell Schaapveld) 1410 Quant Ave. NorthMarine on St.Croix, MN 55047651-433-2443, Fax [email protected]

Software SystemsPaySchools(Patrick Ricci)6000 Grand Ave.Des Moines, IA 50312281-545-1957, Fax [email protected], Inc.868 3rd Street South, Suite 101Waite Park, MN 56387800-236-7274www.skyward.com

TechnologyPaySchools(Patrick Ricci)6000 Grand Ave.Des Moines, IA 50312281-545-1957, Fax [email protected]

TransportationHoglund Bus Co., Inc.(Jason Anderson)PO Box 249Monticello, MN 55362763-271-8750www.hoglundbus.comsalesmanager@hoglundbus.comNorth Central Bus & Equipment(Sandy Ethen)2629 Clearwater Road SouthSt. Cloud, MN 56301320-257-1209, Fax 320-252-3561www.northcentralinc.comsandye@northcentralinc.comTelin Transportation Group(Jamie Romfo)14990 Industry AvenueBecker, MN 55308866-287-7278, Fax [email protected]

MARCH/APRIL 2011 29

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401572_MarApr_11:_ 2/22/11 3:47 PM

30 MSBA JOURNAL

AdvertisersATS&R...........................................................................Page 21

DLR Group KKE ..........................................................Page 11

Four Seasons Energy Efficient Roofing, Inc. .............

Kennedy & Graven Chartered ....................................Page 11

Knutson, Flynn & Deans, P.A. .......................................Page 2

MSBA Board Training..................................................Page 32

MSBAIT...........................................................................Page 2

MSDLAF+ .....................................................................Page 21

North Central Bus & Equipment ...............................Page 29

Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A. .................................Page 25

Skyward, Inc....................................................................Page 7

Taher, Inc........................................................................Page 7

Named

2009 & 2010 Best Print

Publicationby the Minnesota School

Public Relations Association

Cited for“Comprehensive Coverage”“Impressive Student Artwork”

Brought to you by YOUR MSBA

401572_MarApr_11:_ 2/22/11 3:47 PM Page 30

MARCH/APRIL 2011 31

ASKMSBATOUGH ISSUES AROUND NEGOTIATIONS

Q: Should the schoolboard communicate withthe public aboutnegotiations?

Yes. Not only arenegotiations sessionspublic meetings under thePublic Employment LaborRelations Act (PELRA),specifically, MinnesotaStatute (M.S.) 179A.14,Subd. 3., but also schoolboards are negotiatingwith public tax dollars.Consequently, membersof the public have thelegal right to attend all

negotiations sessions and are entitled to know how their taxesare being spent. MSBA advises districts to provide their ownregular negotiations updates to the public from the initialbargaining proposal by the union throughout the processuntil final ratification. Doing so has historically beenbeneficial to management because the public is not surprisedand tends to support management positions; because suchtransparency often results in the initial union proposals beingmore realistic; and because the union’s members, also beingmembers of the public, are provided with all the informationinstead of only selected bits and pieces. The most commonmethods are updates to the full school board at its regularlyscheduled meetings, and updates provided in regular schooldistrict publications to the public. The school board should becautioned, however, to be certain that it is communicatingonly the facts and that no editorializing is taking place.

Q: Are negotiations sessions public meetings?

State law says, “All negotiations, mediation sessions, and hearingsbetween public employers and public employees or their respectiverepresentatives are public meetings except when otherwise provided bythe commissioner” [of the Minnesota Bureau of MediationServices (BMS)]. In addition, if the full school board, aquorum of the school board, or a committee of the schoolboard is negotiating for management, the sessions will beopen under the Minnesota Open Meeting Law (OML).However, the OML does permit school boards to closemeetings to discuss “negotiations strategy” relative tobargaining units certified by the BMS (M.S. 13D.03). Thus,while a school board can close meetings to discussnegotiations strategy pertaining to the teachers’ bargainingunit (or the principals’ bargaining unit or the

paraprofessionals’ bargaining unit, etc.), it cannot close todiscuss strategy pertaining to negotiations with thesuperintendent and any other employees who do not belongto organized bargaining units. Without question, theMinnesota Legislature intended for collective bargaining to bedone “in the sunshine.”

Q: What negotiations services does/will MSBA provide itsmember districts?

MSBA makes the following resources and services available toassist member districts during the negotiations process, but,due primarily to its overriding focus on local control, MSBAwill neither provide negotiators nor urge its member districtsto settle at certain amounts.

• MSBA staff are available for consultation. More than 30,000calls/e-mails are answered by MSBA staff each year.

• The MSBA Service Manual provides member districts withmodel Master Agreements for all employees. These modelagreements provide sample language to be used whendeveloping proposals as well as when responding to them.

• The MSBA Management Services Newsletter is providedelectronically each month and is available in the “MembersArea” of the MSBA Web site (www.mnmsba.org). Numerousarticles over the years have dealt with issues pertinent tonegotiations.

• “PEERNet,” MSBA’s comprehensive database, and MSBA’s“Green Sheet” teacher salary settlement data are also bothavailable in the “Members Area” of the MSBA Web site.

• MSBA offers two negotiations training opportunities eachodd-numbered year. MSBA’s “Bargaining Basics Seminar” isspecifically designed to familiarize beginning negotiatorswith the bargaining law and PELRA, and to offer a review ofbasic collective bargaining strategies. And “AreaNegotiations Seminars” are designed for more experiencednegotiators and provide a great deal of relevant and valuabledata and information.

• MSBA offers to analyze existing Master Agreements for afee. This service is aimed at helping school districtnegotiators craft sound agreements by reviewing thosedocuments from a strong management perspective, bypointing out strengths and weaknesses, and by providingsuggested changes and the rationale for making them.

Please do not hesitate to take advantage of the expertise ofYour MSBA staff and the resources and services MSBAprovides.

MSBA Deputy Executive Director

401572_MarApr_11:_ 2/22/11 3:47 PM

John Sylvester

1900 West Jefferson Avenue, St. Peter, MN 56082-3015

NON-PROFIT ORGN.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 47

MANKATO, MN 56001

Phase III Orientation:Building a Better Board

Why attend Phase III?• Good governance doesn’t just “happen.” It takes training and experience.• We urge our students to be lifelong learners. Board members need tolead by example.

• MSBA’s Phase Orientation Series is the foundation of a board member’sgovernance training.

• Sessions provide networking opportunities so you can meet yourcolleagues and learn from each other.

• Strengthen board consensus-building and decision-making skills.

MSBA Board Member Training

Phase III sessions are scheduled for April 6, April 9 and April 12.Please visit www.mnmsba.org for locations, program details and registration information.

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

401572_MarApr_11:_ 2/22/11 3:47 PM

2011 march journal magazine

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