Interim School Board tables discussion of early retirement program and of new director districts/terms

The Decorah Community School Board tabled two major issues on Wednesday night, in part due to the absence of Director Ben Lange, who represents the North Winneshiek area.

The Board began some discussion of early retirement options, but decided North Winneshiek representation was needed to help reconcile any differences between the programs historically offered by the two districts. Superintendent Mike Haluska thought an early retirement program could help provide some funding to support the staffing and programs requested in the "wish lists" presented by the Decorah Administrative Team earlier in the meeting. But there was some debate regarding how many teachers might actually be eligible. And Director Brian Petersburg expressed reservations about early retirement programs, saying it was unclear how many might participate and how much would be saved. He also expressed concern about losing the presence of long term and high quality teachers.

Since the North Winneshiek representative was not there, the Board could not address issues related to how the board representation might be aligned after July 1st and what their terms might be. The new board will have five members: one from each of three districts, and two at-large representatives.