In a beginning-of-the-year organizational meeting held on Wednesday, the Austin School Board elected new officers for 2001.

Thursday, January 04, 2001

In a beginning-of-the-year organizational meeting held on Wednesday, the Austin School Board elected new officers for 2001.

In unanimous votes, Dave Simonson was named as chairman, Bev Nordby as vice chairwoman, Bruce Loveland as treasurer and Richard Lees as clerk.

In other business, the Austin Daily Herald was chosen as the district’s official newspaper for the year. Also, Wells Fargo, US Bank and Sterling State Bank will be the depositories for the district’s checking accounts for 2001.

Those same banks, as well as Home Federal Savings & Loan, Security State Bank, First Farmers State Bank, The Farmers and Merchants State Bank, Dain Bosworth, Merrill Lynch and the Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund will be used as depositories for the investment of school district funds.

In another action, Simonson presented the board members with a list of possible positions on various committees. "Each one of you should put down your desires and we’ll take a look at them and assign accordingly."

Simonson also asked each board member to write a letter describing the function of the committees on which they serve, and what actions have been taken by the committee in the past year.

The board scheduled a Jan. 15 goal setting informational meeting to discuss the Baldrich criteria for excellence, which has been implemented in other districts, including Rochester. If accepted by the board, this new system will be used to set goals for the 2001-2002 school year.

Board member Larry Andersen said that the system is such that "everybody in the district felt ownership, based on everyone’s involvement and participation."

In a final action, the board approved the expelling of four Austin High School students. Three were found in violation of the district’s safe and drug-free school policy, while the fourth was found in violation of the district’s drug- and alcohol-free policy.

In compliance with a legal obligation, the district will offer the four a two hour per day tutorial session at a different site than the high school.