Orono Schools — Transcript
Monday, March 9, 2026
Student Achievement and Recognition
District Financial and Legislative Updates
School Operational and Curriculum Implementation
Facilities Project Approval
Votes (5)
Motion to Reorder Agenda Items
Moved by Unknown [0:00:30] · Seconded by Unknown [0:00:39]
A motion was made to adjust the agenda's flow to accommodate student recognition (Item 9A, Gideon Fish) immediately after the community discussion, and the construction bid (Item 9C) as the new Item 9A before the principal's report. The reason for the change was noted as someone's birthday, indicating a desire to expedite certain items.
Student Recognition: Gideon Fish, State Champion Diver
The Orono school board publicly honored junior Gideon Fish for his extraordinary achievements in diving, including setting a new school record (533.8 points) and a new state meet record (558.25 points), which is a Minnesota all-time best score. His second consecutive year placing in the top three at state, alongside his accomplishments in swimming, track & field, AP Scholar status, Class President role, and DECA Gold Certificate, were highlighted. Coaches Chad Johnson, Ben Hansen, Josh Johnson, and Gideon's family were also recognized for their support.
Approve Construction Bid for Tennis Court Projects
Moved by Unknown [0:43:20] · Seconded by Unknown [0:43:24]
Mr. Nick Tainter, Director of Business Services, presented on the bid process for replacing and rebuilding middle school tennis courts. Nine sealed bids were received on February 3rd, 2026. BCI Construction from Sock Rapids, Minnesota, was identified as the lowest responsible bidder with a base bid of $798,066. The recommendation included rejecting Alternate 1 (asphalt pavement in lieu of concrete walks) and approving Alternate 2 (removing the east walk pavement to allow for future additional courts). The project aims to improve student safety and allow the current courts to become practice fields.
Principal Report: K-8 Instructional Leadership Teams, MTSS, and Strategic Goals
K-8 principals (Dr. Adam Lamparsski, Ms. Mary Jodel, Ms. Kim Van Isle, Ms. Sarah Hunter) detailed their work on Instructional Leadership Teams (ILTs) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) across their buildings, aligning with the district's strategic goals of scholarship, character, and connectedness. Middle School focused on Tier 1 supports, 'low-burden high-impact' strategies like 'four at the door,' and real-world learning projects. Intermediate School highlighted successful first-year implementation of the Arts and Letters literacy curriculum, demonstrating significant writing growth and engaging end-cap projects. Schuman Elementary reported impressive data improvements in early reading and MAP growth despite being an implementation year for Arts and Letters and Youly phonics curriculum, along with daily Character Strong lessons and student-awarded character recognitions. All principals emphasized the importance of teacher collaboration, parent involvement, and the positive impact on student engagement and behavior.
Recognition of Former Orono Students in Paralympic Games
An announcement was made regarding former Orono students, Meg and Spencer Gustiffson, who moved in 2021 and are now competing in the Paralympic Games. Meg, who is visually impaired, is skiing alpine downhill with her brother Spencer as her guide. They made their debut run on a Saturday, placing sixth with a time of 138.9, with more races to follow. Their mother conveyed that the students still consider Orono home.
Notable Quotes (12)
Uh and I would like to entertain a motion to move item 9A tonight, which is student recognition of Gideon Fish and the coaches um before the consent agenda. So immediately following and then also I would like to move 9C the construction bid as the new 9A before the principal's report. It is somebody's birthday and we'd like to get them out of here.
Um it is my honor tonight to introduce We're going to honor and recognize Mr. Gideon Fish tonight, our state champion diver.
Gideon earned an overall score of 558.25, 25, which is a new state meet record and a Minnesota all-time best score. With his with this outstanding score, Gideon won the state championship.
Gideon is a tal talented and humble competitor who leads through his performance and his character. After overcoming a frightening setback a few years ago, Gideon returned even stronger. Learning some of the most difficult dives and demonstrating remarkable resilience.
This bid process um is for replacing and then rebuilding the tennis courts during the summer of 2026. And as a reminder to our community, the middle school tennis courts have come to the end of their useful life and need rebuilding and careful study of the campus. the middle school tennis courts really should be closer to the middle school.
So on um February 3rd after opening all nine bids, we uh uh the lowest bidder um was BCI Construction from Sock Rapids, Minnesota. They submitted the low base bid um in the amount of $798,66.
Overall um we our recommendation um is to is to approve the lowest bid um by BCI construction 7 $798,66 reject the alternate number one in for the deducted amount of $14,9.99 and approve the alternate two for the deducted amount of $12,416 all to BCI construction
Um, they truly are the guiding light in our on our building. Um, they are laser focused on our strategic goals of connectedness, scholarship, and character.
In this first year of learning we all have to stay together and we all have to implement it with fidelity. every classroom has to stay together and the teachers have been working collaborating so um hard in their PLC groups to stay together to plan together
So, I grabbed some data from our winter assessments for each of our grade levels. And you'll see first in our kindergarten um fastbridge early reading assessment... 72% last year were identified in our low risk category. Um and this year that went up to 89% from one year to another.
We have implemented character strong this year as well as our tier one um character curriculum. And so, at Schuman, we're actually teaching the purposeful people curriculum um through Character Strong every single day.
Um, two former Oro students, they moved in 2021 to Vville, Colorado or 2020 during the pandemic. Um, and they have stayed there since. Um, are in the parolympic games. Um, the Gustiffsons, Meg and um, her brother Spencer. So Meg is a a junior and Spencer is a senior. Um, she is visually impaired and he is her guide. Um, skiing in front of her, talking her through the course.
Ordinances & Resolutions (19)
Agreement for 2025-2027 period.
Outstanding bonds for which a refunding opportunity was found.
Legislation impacting literacy curriculum focus.
New K-5 literacy curriculum being implemented.
New systematic phonics curriculum implemented in Kindergarten.
Curriculum for character development, implemented at middle and elementary schools.
Specific character curriculum taught daily at Schuman Elementary as part of Character Strong.
Winter assessment used to measure kindergarten reading progress.
Winter assessment used to measure first-grade reading progress.
Second-grade assessment measuring student growth from fall to winter.
Teams responsible for continuous improvement plans, professional development, and new teacher mentoring across the district.
Framework for providing academic and behavioral support to students.
DECA project category.
DECA project category.
DECA competition category.
DECA competition category.
DECA competition category.
DECA competition category.
DECA certification for leadership and life skills.