Supt. Einck attends first board meeting at Howard-Winn

CRESCO - “I’ve only been on the job officially for a little over two weeks, and everyone has been very welcoming and helpful,” said newly-hired Supt. Kris Einck. “I feel I am becoming more and more acclimated with the school every day and am very excited to be here.”

He explained he has already been invited to the Kiwanis Club meeting. “They were very welcoming. They also asked many great questions and extended an invitation to be a member, which I accepted.”

He explained Kiwanis is very supportive of the school and youth.

Einck led his inaugural school board meeting on July 18. He comes to How-Winn from South Winn, where he will continue to work one day per week, spending the remainder of the time in Cresco.

He stated, “My expectations for my administration are ‘Our number one priority is student achievement.’”

He has been and will continue to meet with different groups. “I’m in the process of trying to schedule administrative meetings, district leadership team meetings, professional development meetings, TLC meetings, etc. that will cultivate transparency and openness while making everyone know they are an important part of the team.”

He added he has an open door policy. He will receive calls anytime. In addition, he wants open communication and transparency. 

“We work as a team and support each other. There are no hidden agendas, and I do not micromanage unless I need to.”

• In other business, Activities Director Todd Coulter submitted his report. He noted the softball girls finished the season with a 13-10 record. All-conference honors included Kyleigh Foster — first team pitcher; Olivia Ollendick — first team infielder; Nevaeh Howe — second team infielder; and Emily Voyna — second team outfielder.

Baseball ended with a 1-25 record. Conference honors went to Landen Bergan — second team utility player.

He said summer strength and conditioning is averaging 110-120 participants daily.

• Lisa Dursky, the new secondary principal, also submitted her report. She stated, “I’m enjoying getting to know the people and places in our community. My first year I will be renting a house near the fairgrounds with Tim and Becca Ortner as my landlords. This house is not available until July 29, so I’ve been exploring the area by staying in Airbnbs. 

“The first two weeks I’ve been in Decorah. The third week I will stay in New Hampton and the fourth in Canton, Minn. 

“I’m truly blessed to be able to live and serve in such a beautiful place. Thank you for hiring me as your secondary principal.”

• Building and Grounds Director Larry Trende gave an update on the construction of the addition between the K-8 and high school buildings.

This will be the last fall and winter junior high students will have to walk outside to get from one building to the next.

The hall between the buildings should be completed in the spring. The students will have three different routes to get from one side to the other. 

There is currently a gate between the school buildings and Kessel Kids, and the district plans to add another gate directly east of the high school to keep people from driving between the high school and baseball and softball fields. That is the area where students will be walking this year due to the construction.

Trende said things are going well with the construction. Only $20,000 of the $160,000 in the high school contingency fund has been used, and the project is about one-third complete. None has been used for the K-8 mechanical project.

During an exempt work session before the meeting, fund-raising for various equipment not included in the original cost was discussed. Wrestling mats will cost around $55,000; weight room equipment is around $150,000; and extra tables and chairs will run around $50,000. The capital campaign committee consists of Trende, Einck and board members Andy Ludeking and Shirley Sovereign.

“The cooler and freezer are installed at the high school. They just need to be hooked up,” Trende concluded.

• Board members voted to increase Business Manager Robyn Lane’s salary from around $74,000 to $82,000. The average salary in the conference is $84,000 without Waverly included and about $94,000 including Waverly.

Einck added, “I want all our employees to be to compensated [for their work].” 

• Nutrition Director Cheryl Dickman submitted her reports. She announced meal balances were being lowered from $30 to $10 allowable for a negative balance. When asked how many accounts were in the negative, Lane replied, “None! Chad Rasmussen and family and friends have been holding fund-raisers and wiped out all the negative accounts.”

The board approved the change in meal charges and Pan-O-Gold as the bread vendor.

• Cindy Butikofer and Amy Bollman discussed the EMC Insurance renewal. Butikofer said she was retiring, and Bollman is taking over the account.

The premium went down from last year from $294,811 to $273,277, along with a cyber premium of $5,902. The difference was because of Workman’s Comp. In 2019-2020, Workman’s Comp paid out $164,000 compared with $3,966 the year before and $2,790 the year after. Last year, the pay out was $84,335, so the premium, which takes in account the past three years, will likely raise again.

• The board approved the 2022-2023 PowerSchool Contract at $12,741.89; payments to CBS and Emergent Architecture for the remodeling and new addition projects, for a total of $743,957.39; NWEA renewal of $6,887.50; Iowa local government risk pool commission natural gas program participation for $104,110.76; safety equipment completion; and approval of the water main relocation completion.

• Einck said he wanted to make it official for turning down the invitation from Upper Iowa Conference to join them. “New Hampton and Waukon already turned them down. [Former Supt.] Ihns wanted to wait for the new superintendent to be involved in the decision,” he said.

This will be the last year Waverly is in the Northeast Iowa Conference. This will leave just five schools in the NEIC, which makes scheduling games harder, especially for volleyball and basketball.

“It might mean we would be playing three games against each team in the conference instead of two,” the superintendent noted.

Board members voted to turn down the offer. Einck said he would let the UIC know, then joked, “Actually, I can just tell myself as I am the current president of the UIC for the 2022-2023 school year.”

• Resignations for Associates Stephanie Folkedahl and Taylor Vrieze were approved. New hires are Jonathan Berland, Jr. High Cross Country Coach; Kim Lehmkuhl, High School Musical Director; and Darcy Hendriks, High School Musical Assistant Director.

• The next school board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 15 at the NICC Cresco Center.