Mondovi Board prepping for new superintendent selection process

by Beth Kraft

With the new year fast approaching, the Mondovi School Board was hard at work drafting interview questions for superintendent candidates at its most recent meeting, held Monday, Dec. 15.

The job posting advertising the superintendent’s position at Mondovi closed on Dec. 19, current Mondovi Schools Superintendent Cheryl Gullicksrud said. The Board plans to review candidate applications and conduct the first round of interviews next month.

The tentative timeline also calls for a second round of interviews in February with the intention of offering up the position to one of the candidates in March.

Gullicksrud announced earlier this year that she plans to resign from her post in June to pursue other interests.

The Board also took action to fill the open middle/high school agriculture education teacher position.

A contract for Darin Gray for the 2015-16 school year was approved by the Board following a 5-2 vote. Gray, who currently teaches tech ed and middle school science at Independence, is slated to start at Mondovi in June.

Gullicksrud clarified that the two Board members who voted against the motion, Lisa Heike and Jean Sandberg, were not contesting Gray’s hire, but rather the terms of his contract.

A newer district policy stipulates that new staff hires receive five years of credit for experience on the salary schedule. Heike and Sandberg felt Gray should be given more credit given his 14 years of experience.

The Board also approved a long-term sub for ag teacher to cover for the spring semester, naming Courtney Deetz to the position.

Current MHS ag teacher Adam Wehling tendered his resignation last month in order to accept a new position at Chippewa Valley Technical College as the Associate Dean of Energy. Wehling has been on staff at Mondovi and served as FFA advisor since 2007.

Also that night, Gullicksrud explained a new Technical Assistance Scholarship (TES) and the Board heard a personalized learning presentation given by several elementary teachers.

Gullicksrud said the new TES scholarship will be awarded to a student who has participated in the most technical education classes, among other factors. That student would receive up to $2,250 per year to be applied toward their college tuition, renewable for three years.

The school needs to come up with a system to determine which student will receive the scholarship each year, Gullicksrud said, noting the standards could be based on those of an existing academic excellence policy.

Also, several elementary teachers informed the Board about their efforts to design different personalized learning structures in their classrooms tailored to students’ individual needs.

First grade teachers Kari Jehn and Nancy Garlick, third grade teachers Katie Bilski and Kayla Williams, and fifth grade teacher Lori Vetterkind discussed their successes with personalized learning set-ups and how they are using team teaching to work to assist different groups of students in their classrooms.

In other news that night, School Board members who are up for re-election this spring were reminded of upcoming deadlines.

Board members Barrett Brenner, David Dregney, Jean Sandberg and Steve Williamson are the incumbents up for re-election on April 7.

Four Board seats are open on this spring’s ballot due to a few new names joining the Board in recent months. Both Brenner and Sandberg were appointed at different times this year to fill open seats on the Board while Dregney and Williamson can each opt to run for another new term.

Those who wish to file papers to run for a seat on the Mondovi School Board this spring must do so by Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. Current Board members must announce non-candidacy if they do not intend to run for re-election by Friday, Dec. 26.

In other business that night, the Board approved the following:

• resignation for Aaron Hass, head high school track coach

• individual contracts for Emily Ruegemer, second semester physical education intern; Brendan McCabe, elementary long-term sub for spring 2015; Paul Bielmeier and Jamie McGuire, co-head high school track coaches; Dan Kirking and Emily Erickson, assistant high school track coaches

• additions/changes to Board policy drafts as recommended by policy committee

• Alumni Fund donation