Red Wing School Board briefs

Leave requests denied

After a lengthy discussion, Red Wing School Board voted 5-2 to accept longtime English teacher Jillynne Raymond’s resignation. The matter had been pulled from the consent agenda at the Sept. 17 board meeting, and was sent back to the personnel committee. It was again on Monday’s consent agenda, but Board member Dennis Porter asked that it again be pulled for further discussion.

Raymond originally requested a year of unpaid leave after she accepted an interim assistant principal position with Pine Island School District in early September. When she learned that the personnel committee recommended Sept. 10 denying the leave request, Raymond turned in a letter of resignation Sept. 11.

During its Sept. 27 meeting, the personnel committee again recommended denying Raymond’s leave request, citing the fact that she took a position with another district.

Before Monday’s vote carried, Board member Steve Anderson made a motion to accept Raymond’s leave request, which had also been pulled from the consent agenda. Board member Dennis Porter seconded the motion, but it ultimately failed 2-5.

In a separate action, Anderson also pulled a sabbatical leave request from English teacher Susan Horvat from the consent agenda. The personnel committee had recommended denying her request as well.

The board voted 6-1 to deny Horvat’s leave request, with Anderson voting no.

Health insurance rates renewed, clinic moving forward

The district’s health insurance premiums for 2013 will go up 5 percent. Finance Director Brad Johnson said “that’s good news,” considering insurance provider Health Partners had guaranteed a rate cap of 9 percent for this year.

“We sort of expected to see 9, so that was a positive thing too,” Johnson said.

In addition, the district is moving forward with the employer-sponsored health clinic, which was outlined in the teacher’s current master agreement, approved last month.

Johnson said the district is looking at spaces that could be rented to house the clinic. In addition, Health Partners is narrowing down physician candidates.

“Things are moving along,” Johnson said.

Personnel changes

New hire: Alyssa Edholm, special education paraprofessional at Sunnyside, effective Sept. 25; Kristin Kronbeck, cook at RWHS, effective Sept. 19; Gary Pariss, cook at TBMS, effective Oct. 1.

Reassignment: Mark Langenwalter, custodian at TBMS, effective Oct. 1.

Resignation: Kevin Clemens, custodian at Burnside, effective Oct. 1.

Meeting watch

Monday’s meeting lasted about two hours. All board members were present. Two agenda items — a closed session to discuss consideration of charges against an individual subject to the district’s authority and a recommendation regarding a personnel issue — were deleted at the beginning of the meeting.

— Compiled by Sarah Gorvin, staff writer

Tags: red wing, school board, government