By Patrick Tepoorten

Activities director for the North Branch school district Becky Leuer, asked and received permission from the school board on Feb. 8, to pursue a Strategic Planning Committee for North Branch hockey.

The committee will include representatives of the school board and administration, high school coaches, hockey association parents, and the city. Its goal will be to create a 5- to 10-year vision for hockey in North Branch, from youth programs through high school.

A large part of determining that vision will include arriving at a consensus on where infrastructure needs are headed over the next decade. The North Branch Hockey Association has long worked towards providing local hockey players with indoor ice, in one form or another. The committee will look at how that plan will become a reality.

Leuer advised the board that, although it is in the best interest of the district to take part in such a discussion, "the district is not in the arena business."

In addition to arena discussions, the committee will also evaluate current programs and participation, and examine the financial implications of proposed improvements.

Leuer also noted that the relationship between the youth association and the high school program has been growing as of late. Association members have been volunteering at high school events with positive effect. "It's been really good," she said.

The school board approved the formation of the committee and board members Kirby Ekstrom and Jeanne Walz volunteered to participate. The committee is expected to be a short-term commitment.

In other district news:

• The school board adopted the Community Engagement Plan put together by representatives of Springsted Inc. (See story above). School board chairperson Kim Salo stated that implementing the plan would require "a team effort for a long time."

• The 2007 - 2008 school calendar was approved with one change. Parent/teacher conferences will be moved to the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. day. The change is expected to relieve pressure at the high school, which currently hosts the conferences only a few weeks before the end of the trimester. Moving the conferences back will give parents and students more time to correct academic performance.

Although the new conference date will cause a conflict at the elementary school, as it will occur at the same time as district assessments, the change came with the endorsement of the North Branch Education Association, the district's teachers' union.

• High School principal Brad Windschill described events at the high school that led to a fire alarm Feb. 5. According to Windschill, what was thought to be smoke coming from a malfunctioning boiler was actually soot mixed with steam. Students were out of class for about 20 minutes as the source of the alarm was determined and the boiler repaired. He described the entire process as very efficient.