local education

The St. Cloud area school district has picked Debbie Erickson to fill an empty seat on the school board. Erickson is co-chair of the District 742 bond referendum committee and was a member of the high school task force. She is also a board member of the local education and activities foundation (LEAF).

The St. Cloud area school district is planning to sell the Tech High School building and put in a new building on Clark Field. The school board will review and is expected to pass the plans during their meeting on Thursday night. The district is planning to sell the Tech High School and media services buildings.

Four schools in the St. Cloud area school district were honored by the Minnesota Department of Education on Wednesday. Oak Hill Community School, Apollo High School, Talahi Community School and Westwood Elementary School were among 36 schools recognized for their work using the positive behavioral intervention and supports (PBIS) program.

The Apollo High School athletic field and track will see some much needed improvements this summer. District 742 buildings and ground supervisor Bryan Brown says the rubber track is falling apart and desperately needed to be fixed. The plan is to eventually put turf in on the football field-all of the summer modifications will work towards that goal.

The ROCORI school district is expecting to start fall classes before Labor Day this year. Labor Day is on September 7th this year, which is the latest it can land. ROCORI Superintendent Scott Staska says they are now expecting to start class on September 1st this fall, pending state action in a special session.

Six finalists have been selected for the open seat on the St. Cloud area school board. Hudda Ibrahim, Peter Hamerlinck, Hassan Yussuf, Shannon Haws, Scott Andreasen, and Debbie Erickson were selected as finalists by the school board on Wednesday night.

A new survey says a majority of voters would likely support a bond referendum to build a new Tech High School and update Apollo High School. The survey was revealed to the St. Cloud school board on Wednesday night. 625 randomly selected St. Cloud School District residents participated in the survey.

The St. Cloud area school district has approved a purchase agreement with St. Joseph for the sale of Colts Academy. The district is selling the building to St. Joseph for $2.3 million. St. Joseph could use the building for a possible community center or new city government center.

More classrooms, special education rooms and lunchroom space will be added to Madison Elementary this summer. The St. Cloud area school board awarded a bid to a contractor for $980,815 for renovations and additions to the building. The project is being paid for through the District fund balance.

Eleven people have applied for the open school board seat in the St. Cloud area school district. The seat was left open after Cindy Harner resigned last month. Harner decided to step down after being arrested on suspicion of 4th degree DWI and 3rd Degree Test Refusal.