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Teacher reassigned to principal post

School board studies options to hire new administrator

Keith Vandervort
Posted 3/31/16

ELY – An Ely teacher has been tabbed to fill the temporary position of 6-12 principal in the Ely School District.

Interim Superintendent Kevin Abrahamson said this week that Megan Anderson, who …

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Teacher reassigned to principal post

School board studies options to hire new administrator

Posted

ELY – An Ely teacher has been tabbed to fill the temporary position of 6-12 principal in the Ely School District.

Interim Superintendent Kevin Abrahamson said this week that Megan Anderson, who currently teaches math, science and social studies at the middle school level, will begin her new duties on April 1. “Technically, she was reassigned, and not hired, for the remainder of the school year,” Abrahamson said.

Unlike a new hiring, School Board approval is not required for a staff reassignment within the district.

Abrahamson said Tuesday he would ask the School Board to approve the hiring of a temporary assessment coordinator at the board’s regular meeting on April 11. He didn’t identify the person, but said she is a retired administrator in ISD 696 and has experience in assessment coordination.

Anderson fills the vacancy left by the resignation of Mary McGrane, who left her post on March 31. Anderson is licensed and qualified to work as a K-12 principal as well as a superintendent.

“I talked to Ms. Anderson quite some time ago about the possibility of filing in on a temporary basis as an administrator if the need was there,” Abrahamson said. “As it turns out we need an interim principal for the next 10 weeks or so due to Ms. McGrane’s resignation.”

Anderson’s duties in the classroom will be covered by substitute teachers for the rest of the school year, according to Abrahamson.

Meanwhile, Ely School Board members and Abrahamson discussed options to fill the vacant 6-12 principal position on a long-term basis during a study session this week.

Abrahamson suggested to the board that with two administrative vacancies in the school district, now would be a good time to look at the administrative configuration.

“If there was any thought to changing your administrative configuration for next year, now would be the time to do it,” he said. “There are two positions open at this time and you could do something creative. I’m not advocating that, but I want to make you aware that you could do that if you felt there was a better way.”

ISD 696 currently has two full-time principal positions and is advertising to fill the open part-time superintendent positions.

Board Chair Ray Marsnik said any administrative changes would be determined by how the superintendent search goes.

As of this week, no applications had been submitted for the superintendent position, according to Abrahamson, who has not indicated if he is interested in remaining in Ely. His contract expires on June 30.

“If we don’t get any applicants, we may have to look at creating a fulltime position where the superintendent would be part of that full-time position,” Marsnik said. “I am happy with two full-time principals and a part-time superintendent, and I would not vote for any changes over in our elementary (school) where we have excellent leadership.”

Abrahamson said the board has nearly a month to accept applications. “It’s not the 11th hour and there’s no need to panic at this point,” he said. He indicated that he wanted to post for the open 6-12 principal position as soon as possible. The board did not object to his suggestion.

As for the temporary position to cover assessment coordination for the remainder of the school year, Abrahamson said the hiring costs fall within the current budget. “We had to be a bit creative but it is going to work,” he said. “In fact, we may even save a bit of money.”

Ely Concert Association

Two coordinators for the Ely Concert Association, Patricia Koski and Virginia Ivancich, requested a break in the cost of using the school auditorium because of a spike in fees under the new building use policy.

The group hosts four concerts a year in the Washington Auditorium, and like all outside groups who use school facilities, are bound by the new cost structure which went into effect last summer.

Koski said the cost to the non-profit group for the events is increasing from $75 to at least $400 under the restructured policy. “We are not a for-profit organization,” Koski said. “We pretty much break even and we bring entertainment (to the community) and we also enhance the music program here at school.”

The Ely Concert Association started in 1980, and with collaboration with similar organizations in Hibbing and Virginia, provides about 15 concerts a year among the three locations for concert association members through one subscription fee.

Four concerts are held in Ely. The last event for this year is scheduled for May 5 and will feature world-renowned accordionists.

In their planning for the series for next season, the group recently received the re-structured fee schedule and was caught off guard by the large price increase, from $75 to $400 per concert. “We run on a very tight budget and we may have to give this up,” Ivancich said.

Marsnik referred to the building-use policy. “It says we should be encouraging the community use of our facilities,” he said. “I think this is something that we can make exceptions for.”

The board directed Abrahamson to work with the Ely Concert Association and find ways to reduce the fees for the upcoming season. Marsnik said the building use policy would be reviewed this summer.