Sartell school board approves 21 staff contracts after debate

SARTELL — Sartell-St. Stephen School District 748 staff members breathed a sigh of relief Friday night as the school board unanimously approved 21 contracts that had experienced delayed approval earlier this month.

“Having these contracts approved gives me a large sense of relief,” Board Chair Tricia Meling said.

The dilemma arose after three board members — Emily Larson, Jen Smith and Scott Wenshau — decided they wanted to vote on each of the 21 contracts separately rather than as a collective.

“These are nonunion contracts; they’re at-will employees and should be considered individually,” Larson said.

When the three other board members voiced concerns about their colleagues' wishes, they cited worries about singling out one employee or changing the staff management precedent from the superintendent evaluating staff to the school board.

When the board met on June 26, Larson, Smith and Wenshau did not show up, forcing the board to reconvene on Friday to vote on whether to approve contracts before the contract's July 1 expiration date. On Friday, the three members who wanted to vote on each contract individually stuck to their goal, refusing to vote on them as a collective. Eventually, the other board members — Meling, Matt Moehrle and Jason Nies — agreed to vote on the contracts individually.

As the evening progressed, the school board approved all the contracts as written except for the director of human resources. Smith expressed concerns about the position being allocated for 0.8 full-time equivalency instead of 1.0, citing concerns about such a prominent position not being completely full-time.

Interim Superintendent Tom Lee said the position has always been available at 0.8 FTE to help staff members better balance their professional and personal lives, saying it has never caused an issue. Lee said the employee has been responsive whenever called upon and has completed expected duties despite being at 0.8 FTE.

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The board members agreed to extend the director of human resources position under the same terms as the 2023-24 school year until they meet with the new superintendent. Smith said she’d like to get the new superintendent's insight on the time requirement needed for the crucial director-ranked position, claiming most districts their size have directors at 1.0 FTE.

Mike Rivard, former assistant superintendent at the St. Cloud Area School District, will become the district's new superintendent on July 1.

Larson, Smith and Wenshau ran together in the 2022 election as the education advocacy group Kids Over Politics started gaining traction. Kids Over Politics allegedly aims to remove politics from education. However, according to the group’s website, one of the ways it accomplished this was by removing pride stickers, which signal a safe space for LGBTQ+ students, from areas that do not serve an official purpose for the school’s LGBTQ+ student organization.

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.