By Aaron Vehling

The North Branch School Board will lose a long-standing member when board chair Mary Jo Ahlgren moves out of the district in June. The move is career-related.

Ahlgren has served on the board since 1991 and served as chair from 1997 to 2001 and 2003 to present.

ìWe know people move on,î Superintendent Bob Stepaniak told Ahlgren at the Thursday night (May 12) board meeting. ìYou should know that we are grateful for all your hard work.î

Board member Kim Salo agreed. ìThis will be a great loss,î she said. ìI have learned a lot of from you.î

Ahlgrenís spot will be open for appointment for a one-year term this summer and is expected to be filled before the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.

Also at the May 12 meeting:
ï The board dedicated a bulletin board in the Main Street School. The bulletin board is from the USS St. Louis, a cruiser on which Hank Brooker of North Branch served in World War II.

ìI spent 43 months on the St. Louis,î he said. ìI was on there during the (battle of) Midway.î

Superintendent Bob Stepaniak said the plaque and dedication is a small way to ìhonor a generation that served the country so well so many years ago.î Brooker served on the North Branch school board from 1961-1976 and 1985-1999.

ï The two Stacy boys who were involved in an accident May 8 with a Hummer H2 at the intersection of CR-19 and CR-30 in Stacy are both back in school, said middle school principal Todd Tetzlaff.

ï The board approved bids for voice and video systems in the Sunrise River School.

ï Taherís contract was renewed. The company is the current food service provider and the district opted to maintain that relationship. Finance director Randi Johnson said Taher has served the district well and had a lower bid than Chartwells, the sole competing bid.

ï Activities director Becky Leuer presented a plan for a cap on how much a family would pay in activities fees. The suggested cap is $500 for grades 7-12, including both fine arts and athletics. The family is responsible for keeping track of how much they are spending on activities. Leuer noted that it didnít take much to meet the cap. If a family has two students who participate in two or more activities, they could easily reach the $500 cap, she said.

Board member Donna Setter said she appreciated a cap. ìItís a good opportunity for larger families.î

Leuer said that it would also benefit those smaller families whose kids are involved in many activities.
The school board voted unanimously in favor of the cap.

(For information on staff adjustments and building projects in the school district, see the other North Branch school story in this issue)

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