NEW ULM — The District 88 School Board held a work session Tuesday night that included a building update for the first month of the new school year.

Washington Learning Center (WLC) Principal Dawn Brown said the year began with 168 kindergarteners enrolled in the building. This is the largest kindergarten class since 2014. The Eagles 3 pre-school class is 77% full and Eagles 4 is 98% full.

The school has new physical instruments on the playground through an District 88 grant.

Brown said the school is continuing to deal with COVID. Students are being spaced out as much as possible. The school is using the outdoor learning space.

In Jefferson Elementary, Assistant Principal Jonathan Schwaegerl approximately 100 first through fifth-graders come into the school during the summer for targeted services. These are students who experienced the most learning loss due to the pandemic.

With the start of the school year Jefferson students are working on relearning expectations. The school started diagnostic testing early to place students in intervention programs as soon as possible if needed.

In middle school, there is a return of a regular schedule. Last year, the students were limited to moving to different classrooms because of COVID. The school continues to avoid large gatherings. Principal Michelle Miller said athletic and club enrollment is high.

High School principal Mark Bergmann said the school is short a math teacher and a special education teacher. This resulted in some schedule changes for students.

In addition, the ninth grade class is the largest seen since 2006 with 197 students. The school had minimal warning the 9th-grade class would be this large. Bergmann said enrollment continued to grow until the start of school. He said high enrollment is a good thing, but it does mean the core classes are larger, with 30 students in some classes.

The new Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway has 25 students enrolled in the program. Many of these classes are taken at the new CTE center. These classes include advanced welding and fabrication, advanced wood and cabinetry, small gas engine and ATV repair, carpentry and the Eagle’s Enterprise. Students who are not part of the CTE pathway are also able to take classes at the CTE center.

Bergmann said the school restarted the Student Educational Equity (SEE) program. The program helps identify students who are at risk for dropping out of school. Bergmann said students generally drop out of school because they are behind the rest of their classmates. The SEE program helps catch up credits and gives students vocational training and trade options. The students achieve the necessary standards for graduation.

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Superintendent Jeff Bertrang presented current COVID data in the school. Since mid-August, seven staff members and 10 students have tested positive for COVID. The number of staff quarantined since workshop week is five. There are 19 students quarantined since mid-August.

The number of students and staff out as of Friday, Sept. 10, is 13 with four out with positive COVID tests.

The school is working on a voluntary COVID testing protocol. The state of Minnesota has free testing kits for schools. These tests are called CUE tests and provide results in 20 minutes. Training on how to use the test is ongoing. The school is working with its attorney to determine how to seek permission from parents to conduct the test.

Bertrang said the school has the same decision tree for what to do if a student shows symptoms. If a parent takes their kid to get tested, it could take two days to get results, but the CUE test could have resulted in 20 minutes and starting isolation or quarantine protocols if necessary.

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Representatives of the Heart of New Ulm (HONU) gave a presentation on the organization’s work. Jen Mauer said HONU started in 2009 as a research project to eliminate heart attacks in the region. In 2019, the group shifted into promoting general wellness.

“We’ve expanded our vision, we are not just looking at heart attacks,” Mauer said. “We’re looking at healthy eating, active living, mental health, and wellness and substance use across the city and across the county.”

Through 2021, HONU is funded by the New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) Foundation. NUMC funded HONU for the last three years because the foundation believes 80% of health is influenced by what happens outside of the clinic.

HONU has worked with area schools through education programs. HONU has worked to promote the Safe Routes to School program. This program is to encourage more kids to walk or bike to school, but also promoting safer streets. In addition to improving health, more kids walking or biking would limit traffic congestion by the school.

Moving forward HONU is looking for community partners and funding to continue their work. HONU will be writing a grant to the Community Education board to keep some of their action teams going.

The next regular school board meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, in the district boardroom, 414 S. Payne St.