local education

The St. Cloud area school district and its teachers have reached a tentative agreement on a two year contract for this school year and next year. District 742 and the St. Cloud Education Association (SCEA) made the announcement on Thursday.

The Sartell-St. Stephen school board approved a special election and ballot containing a $105.8 million question for a new high school and facility updates district wide. The sample ballot comes with one question and highlights in all capital letters at the end: "By Voting "Yes" on this ballot question, you are voting for a property tax increase."

The Sartell-St. Stephen school board wants to bond $105.8 million over 25 years for a new high school, and for updates to buildings across the district. A special election public vote will be held on May 24th for the new school and updates to alleviate space crunches in the district due to growing enrollment.

The Sartell-St. Stephen school board is leaning towards a May 24th special election vote for a new high school and facility updates across the district. The board originally discussed a May 31st vote that would have required mail ballots.

With facility study details emerging and ongoing implementation of student technology, new Sauk Rapids-Rice school board chair Mark Hauck is ready for a crucial year.

The Central Minnesota Builders Association has given $10,000 to local high schools to help their building and technology classes. The Central Minnesota Builders Association hopes the money will help students learn about the variety of jobs available.

The St. Cloud area school district is continuing efforts to diversify its teachers and support staff. Numbers released by the St. Cloud area school district say they have 10,100 students and 4,497 are "non-white."

There was over $8,600 in student school lunch debt in the St. Cloud area school district last year. School lunch debt was brought into state news headlines earlier this month when it was revealed that the Anoka-Hennepin school district was resorting to debt collectors to recover $160,000 worth of overdue lunch money.

After a string of college campus shootings shook the country earlier this month, local colleges are emphasizing being prepared for "active shooter" situations. Central Minnesota campuses are stressing emergency preparedness and mental health services following the shooting deaths of nine students at a community college in southern Oregon.

With an enthusiastic sense of humor and a huge smile, there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know 1st grader Austin Opsahl at Mississippi Heights Elementary. Austin has down syndrome and is a student in the essential living skills programs. One of his favorite parts of school is getting to see friends and play football.