By Aaron Vehling
North Branch softballís crumbling wooden dugouts will soon be a thing of the past.

The North Branch School Board approved $15,000 for new cement softball dugouts Thursday night at its regular meeting. Superintendent Rodney Reisnouer said he went to the dugouts to assess the situation last week and was appalled at their deteriorating state.

ìThe wood at the bottom is rotting,î he said at his first meeting as superintendent, ìand the shingles are falling off the roof. The dugouts are in really bad shape.î

The money comes from about $2 million leftover from the construction of the new Sunrise River School. Legally, the money must be spent on capital projects and cannot be used to pay for new teachers or programs.

The estimated cost originally for the new dugouts was $37,000. District administration rejected following through with building the dugouts until they could find a more reasonable price.

High school softball coach Larry Brodin said he is glad they approved the construction of new dugouts.

ìIf this is what was planned, it will be nice,î he said.
The current dugouts have been here about 20 years, he said.

ìWeíve gotten used to them,î he said. When the team played in the Rum River conference, he said, most schools had cement-blocked dugouts with storage units.

In the 2005-2006 academic year, North Branch will be part of the North Suburban conference.

Evaluation
In a story last month Reisnouer discussed creating a superintendent evaluation tool which he said would ensure that he is on the same page with the school board and the community.

On Thursday night he presented the board with the evaluation.

ìI am operating under the assumption that you want a leader and not a manager,î he said.

Among some of the expectations he included in the evaluation of himself are focus on goals and annual outcomes through written plans with the school board; build effective relationships with parents, students, staff and the school board; work tirelessly to improve education for children and youth; gain confidence of community and improve support for public schools.

Appointing a new board member
The district is no longer accepting applications for a seat on the board. The interview for the three people who applied will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 4. The seat was vacated by former board chair Mary Jo Ahlgren, who moved out of the district last month.

The school board voted in February to move elections from odd years to even years as a cost saving maneuver. As a result, school board elections will be held next year.

Also at the meeting, the board:
ï Awarded Terryís Disposal the contract for garbage services.
ï Awarded Kath Oil the contract to provide fuel to the district.
ï Set the Truth in Taxation meeting for 7 p.m. Nov. 29 with a continuation meeting, if needed, at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 8.
ï Renewed its membership in Schools for Equity in Education (SEE). The organization is dedicated to ensuring that schools are adequately funded.

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