Announcement of a tentative contract agreement with Local 284 of the SEIU, approval of a resolution of termination for four probationary teachers and acceptance of several resignations and retirement notices were among the action items on the agenda at the regular meeting of the Becker Board of Education Monday night.  The board also heard a report from teachers on a combined art and science project at the Becker Middle School, and a review of other activities by BHS art teacher Jo Svaren.

 

A group of SEIU members appeared before the board during the public comment portion of the meeting.  Spokesperson Deb Lannoye addressed the board, thanking them for their efforts in the negotiation process, which resulted in the tentative agreement at a meeting that took place shortly before the board session Monday.  Supt. Dr. Stephen Malone thanked the board and union negotiators for their work on the contract, and said the final version of the agreement will be presented to the board for approval in the near future.

 

Four BMS teachers gave a presentation on a multidisciplinary STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) project by sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade art and science students at the school which resulted in a large scale model of the periodic table of elements.  The presenters included art teacher Tracy hare, science teachers Jenn Feierabend and Maria Hed and technical education teacher Charlie Zimmer, who described the work of the students in finding and identifying the characteristics of each of the elements, and the work involved in selecting color schemes and the use of laser inscribing tools to create the individual tiles in the large-scale display.  The work will be on permanent display in the BMS Media Center in the near future.

 

Svaren described a number of art activities involving Becker students in recent weeks, including having several artists included in “Celebrating Art,” a national publication of student artworks sponsored by Blick Art materials, 20 Becker students with entries in the Granite Ridge Art Festival held at BHS, which resulted in eight “excellent” ratings, six “superior” and four “honorable mentions” in the competition. Becker students also joined with art classes from Foley and St. Cloud Apollo and Tech High Schools in a collaborative effort again this spring.  Ninth-grade art classes also took a field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Art last week, Svaren said.

 

The District Art Show began with a gala reception at the Becker Public Library on Thursday afternoon.  The artworks will be on display there through Thursday, May 28.

 

The board approved without comment a resolution relating to the termination and non-renewal of contracts for four probationary teachers at the Monday meeting.  The board also accepted the resignations of BHS band instructor Jessica Gilbertson, BPS special ed. teacher Alysson Jager and BPS paraprofessional Sandra Norgaard and the retirement notices of Director of Transportation Kenneth Abraham and Secretary Linda Nebben.

 

The board approved a recommendation to accept a bid from Ebert Const. of $178,400 for a canopy at BHS.  A change order will be issued which will result in a reduction of around $10,000 in the cost of the project, Malone said, which remains within the original available budget.

 

A resolution for a “reduction in force” change in the position of light duty mechanic to assistant mechanic for a total of 690 hours per year was approved, as was a resolution to approve membership in the Minnesota State High School League for the 2015-16 school year.