NICOLLET – The Nicollet Public School board heard parent complaints of bullying and racism at the school’s Wednesday meeting.

Nicollet student parent Bridget Olsen explained bullying and racism problems at the school. She described racial experiences and racial slurs that happen to her daughters most days at school. She is concerned with her daughters and other students’ safety and well-being.

“We have spent many hours in the office. Policies are in place and look good on paper, but there needs to be more accountability and execution of the policies,” Olsen said. “Zero tolerance needs to mean zero tolerance. We need the school board, administration, staff, and the community to step up and take action. The school is not a safe place for Black students to learn and grow.”

“This is not a new issue. How do we break the cycle,” asked Ashley Swenson. The board listened to the concerns and thanked Olsen and Swenson for their comments.

Enrollment Growth Task Force

Superintendent Robin Courrier recommended the board establish an Enrollment Growth Task Force led by K-8 Principal Nancy Remmert and a beginning budget of $10,000. It would be to promote and generate opportunities for open enrollment, enhance programming to support College in the School opportunities, promotional advertisements inviting attendance, and transportation options for open enrolled students.

“The goal is to bring a minimum of ten more students to NPS and we are optimistic that we could bring in more than ten,” said Courrier.

“There are already some teachers showing interest to be on the task force and also hope for community members, students, and school board members involvement,” said Remmert. “It is a good idea, and you need to spend money to make money. We need to get our name out there,” said board member Abbi Carleton.

“I think it is a good opportunity, and we need to consider all options with everything going on,” said board member Mathew Cabanilla.

“I love that you are looking into this because last year we had teachers and community members at different school board meetings, and their ideas did not always work. I could give you their names because they have lots of thoughts and ideas,” said board member Jill Martens.

“Looking at our projected enrollment for next year, we need to do something,” said board chair Adam Erickson.

Strategic planning and survey

Courrier presented a revised schedule for District Strategic Roadmap planning. She said surveys will be sent out on Feb. 13 and need to be returned by Feb. 21. Listening sessions will be held Feb. 20 with committee meetings in March and April. The Wrap Up Inservice open meeting will be held April 23, from 4-7 p.m.

“The reason for this planning is to create a mission and direction for the district,” said Courrier.

The staffing configuration and enrollment projection was presented to the board by Courrier. The K-12 enrollment for 2024-2025 is 306. The enrollment prediction for 2025-2026 is 286.

“We are recommending reconfiguring elementary to include 5th grade. Secondary would be 6 -12, and we would move 5th grade to the elementary wing of the school. Secondary enrollment projections may necessitate reducing secondary staffing by one full-time equivalent. We will have a more definite plan presented at the March Board meeting,” said Courrier.

Choose to be Nice Recognition Breakfast

K-8 Principal Nancy Remmert reported the Choose To Be Nice Recognition breakfast was held Jan. 17. Students recognized by their peers for modeling the behaviors of Teamwork were Ciara Gould, kindergarten; Emma Hewitt and Otto Krueger, 1st grade; Logan Riebe, 2nd grade; Ryder Kettner, 3rd grade; Tristan Smith and Justin Rengstorf, 4th grade; Baelyn Weldon, 5th grade; and Carlos Pena, 6th grade.

Principal Remmert said, “I have asked all K-8 teachers to be intentional in highlighting the contributions made by African Americans to their specific content area. This is work we do all year and are especially explicit during February as we celebrate Black History Month.”

“The staff development plan for 2024-2025 focus areas are: student engagement/improvement, purposeful instruction/Professional Learning Communities Multi-Tiered System of Support, and positive connections,” said Remmert.

Other news

Caroline Stutsman of BerganKDV auditors presented the audit report for the year ending June 30, 2024.

“In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of Independent School District No. 507,” said Stutsman.

Superintendent Robin Courrier said the annual policy updates will be presented to the Board at their meeting in July 2025. Policies needing updating are student discipline, public data requests, crisis management, and student Sex Nondiscrimination.

“The purpose of the updates is to comply with current law and apply correct authority names to our language. The last revision was made January 18, 2012,” said Courrier.

Courrier explained the current configuration for administration is a full-time Superintendent, a full-time dean of students, and a half-time K-8 principal Consultant.

“A recommendation for the 2025-2026 administration configuration will be presented to the board at their March 12 meeting,” said Courrier.

“The School Activities Policy 510 is printed on the back of every program because we have had several complaints regarding student and some spectator issues at sporting events,” said Courrier. The policy is also read before every varsity event as a reminder of district expectations.

Courrier recommends an agreement be created between NPS and Ruth Klossner. It would give Klossner a stipend of $600 to assist with her costs of gas and mileage when she attends events to do photography. Courrier also said that she will write a letter to the boosters asking them to consider an annual gift of $500 to show appreciation to Klossner for her support over the years.

The school hosted the first of three community conversations on February 5. The conversation was facilitated by Briana Williamson of KinectEd. The session explored topics of understanding perspectives, school and community efforts, the role of parents, families, and community responsibility. The next two meetings will be scheduled soon.

The next meeting of the Board is Wednesday, March 12, at 6 p.m.