The Big Lake School board met on Aug. 27 and outlined some of the expectations for going back to school this fall. Coming on the heels of the special board meeting, which discussed the district’s approach to the COVID-19 challenges, this meeting focused on business as usual, as much as business-as-usual is possible this year.

Recognizing Brad Schnitzler

Brad Schnitzler recently retired from Big Lake schools after teaching in the district for 36 years.

Schnitzler was raised on a farm in west Minnesota and was the oldest of eight kids. His dream was to go to college and to become a biology teacher. He said that no matter what plans you make for your life as a young person, however, life always has something different in mind.

At his first teaching job at a private Catholic school, Schnitzler was told that he could make a good amount of extra money if he agreed to coach the boy’s basketball team. Schnitzler was not a very athletically-inclined person, and he said he knew nothing about playing basketball. But, he agreed to be the coach. When the basketball season came around, he was given a team of boys to coach- and the girls, too. The two teams praticed together and Schnitzler coached both.

Schnitzler stayed at the Catholic school for two years before moving on to another school. There, he was asked to be the girl’s volleyball coach. He took the job, although he knew nothing about volleyball either. He also coached the girls’ basketball team. Finally, the school asked him if he would be the head coach for the brand-new girls’ softball team, which some students were hoping to start. Schnitzler went along with it like a champ.

Finally, Schnitzler came to Big Lake. He says he was nervous about his future there- many districts in western Minnesota had been in decline for awhile. Teachers were getting laid off, different districts were combining, and Schnitzler was uncertain how long he would get to stay in Big Lake. But it all worked out, and Schnitzler is now retiring after a grand total of 44 years as an educator.

The school board applauded his service, and asked what he did with his first Monday as a retiree. Schnitler said that he slept until nine.

Student Enrollment

Student enrollment at Big Lake schools is down- but not significantly. The pandemic situation has caused some families to explore other schooling options, such as homeschool and online school. Enrollment ended up being around 50 students less than what the board had budgeted, but they were hopeful that a few more students might enroll at the last minute.

Big Lake Online, the online school program being offered by Big Lake starting this year, had 534 students enrolled at the time of the board meeting, 21 of which were students who were completely new to the district.

Kindergarten enrollment was down from last year. The board assumed that some families decided to wait one year to enroll young students, to see what would happen with the COVID-19 situation. That being said, kindergarten enrollment was not down significantly. This year, 224 kindergartners enrolled, as opposed to 237 last fall and 224 for the year before that.

COVID-19 Funding

The Big Lake district is set to recieve some government funding to help with COVID-19 related purchases. The district will apply for $766,686 from the COVID Relief Fund (CRF). This money is to be used on pandemic-related costs that were not accounted for in the school’s budget already. The money must be spent by Dec. 30, but the board predicted no problem in spending the funds.

The school is also applying for CARES Act funding, which would need to be spent within the next two years.

The school also applied for a grant from Sherburne County to support emotional learning. This grant would be for $85,000 and would need to be spent by Dec. 1.

In all, Big Lake schools will be collecting an average of $340 per student, which is a good deal under the state average of $464 per student.

Other Board News

The parking fee for students would be waived this year, but students would still have to apply to receive a parking pass.

Big Lake received their face masks and face shields provided by the government, and they are ready to distribute to staff.

The district also received saliva tests for staff. These tests will not be mandatory, but they are available to staff members who feel they may have been subjected to COVID-19.