School board hires facility consultant
Before adjourning into a work session Feb. 6 the Staples-Motley School Board awarded the contract to lead an assessment to develop a long range facilities plan for the school district to Foster, Jacobs & Johnson (FJJ), Inc., Duluth.
The board heard presentations from three companies at a Jan. 30 work session. The other companies were Widseth Smith Nolting (WSN), Baxter; and Foss Architecture & Interiors, Fargo, N. Dak.
The discussion following the presentations narrowed the choices to WSN and FJJ. WSN had asked for more information before preparing a fee estimate for the work the school board was requiring. That fee proposal was presented at the Feb. 6 meeting.
The fee from FJJ was $22,900. The fee from WSN was $59,000.
Bruce Lund asked why there was such a gap between the two fees.
Bryan Winkels said he thought WSN was trying to have all contingencies covered.
Greg Frisk reminded the board that at a previous meeting Superintendent Mary Klamm had disclosed that her brother was a principal partner in FJJ. He also noted that Lynn Dyer, one of the education consultants for FJJ, is a graduate of Staples High School.
“I think the public should know and I don’t think it’s detrimental,” said Frisk. “In fact, I think it’s a plus. They know this district.”
Dave Hoemberg voted against hiring FJJ but the motion passed 5-1.
At the special meeting the board also agreed to change the date of the regular February meeting to Feb. 27 because of scheduling conflicts.
Work session
Joe Hill from Giant Worldwide led the board in an exercise to discover their individual styles of leadership.
Giant Worldwide offers leadership training and is a partner with NJPA (National Joint Powers Alliance) in Staples. Supt. Klamm, board chair Mary Freeman and Staples-Motley district principals Chris Halverson, Kathy Johnson and Mike Schmidt have been part of a cohort with administrators from other school districts in NJPA’s service area who are engaged in this continuing training.
Hill gave some background on the training and asked the board to assess how they think they function using six criteria: synergy, communication, alignment, relationship, capacity and execution.
His main focus was on what he described as “Five Voices.” They are:
o Nurturer
o Creative
o Guardian
o Connector
o Pioneer
Each voice has different characteristics and each person can speak with each voice at varying times as necessary. However, most people have one or two “foundational voices” that they use most of the time in their work and home relationships.
The point of the exercise was that if you understood your own “foundational voice” and that of others in your group or, in this case, on the board, you will be better able to communicate and come to decisions.
“In any group, I think you need a mixture,” Lund said as the board discussed the exercise. He added that people sometimes have to be a situational leader, speaking outside of their main voice because the situation demanded something different.
“As a board we need to function as well as we can so the district can function as well as it can, not that we all have to agree all of the time,” Lund said.
“Trust and relationships are key to functioning as a board,” Winkels added.
Chad Longbella noted that his father had been clerk of the Staples School Board for many years. His father ran the School Board Code of Ethics in the Staples World newspaper once a year every year he served as clerk. It was a reminder to the community of how the board should operate.
