Ironwood Schools team wins state award

By MEGAN HUGHES

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Ironwood - The Board of Education for the Ironwood Area Schools learned on Monday evening that the school's Team with the Intensive Interventions For Literacy group was selected to receive the education excellence award from the SET SEG Foundation, a state group.

K-12 Principal Melissa Nigh said the team is the same group that went to Lansing last year to present success with literacy interventions for second graders.

Regarding SET SEG's decision, Nigh said of its officials, "They wrote that this is an incredible achievement, as only 10 programs were selected from a record-breaking number of applications from schools across Michigan."

She said the award comes with a trophy and a $2,500 cash award and added that it's not yet clear whether any stipulations are attached to how the money is used.

According to setseg.org, "School Employers Trust (SET) is a non-profit company that was created after a monumental shift in school funding happened in 1965. SET, which began in 1971, served as an employee benefits association focused on offering comprehensive and affordable employee benefit solutions to Michigan public schools and their employees."

The site continues, "Two years later, its partner organization School Employers Group (SEG) was formed to administer compensation and fringe benefits for SET. As schools were faced with more challenges related to insurance, SEG evolved and grew into a company that provides workers' compensation and property/casualty services for Michigan public schools.

Since then, SET SEG has expanded to include philanthropic interests.

Nigh also briefly praised the success of the school's online courses.

"It was the first time since we started that we had a 100% completion rate and a 100% passing rate," she said.

She attributed the success to the school's efforts to make sure these online courses were not going to waste, requiring students and their parents to sign a contract stating that if a student did not complete or pass the course, the parents would be required to pay for the class in full.

Superintendent Daniel Martinson also commended the board in honor of January being School Board Appreciation Month.

"I want to say thank you all for all of your hard work," said Martinson. "I look forward to working with all of you."

December school attendance was good, said Martinson, with numbers consistently in the 90% range. Enrollment-wise, the school is down four students, for a total of 760 from the month prior.

"I know that we have had more than four leave, but we also had some students join in," said the superintendent.

He explained that there are occasional cases in which families change their education plans, which can sometimes play a role in the numbers. "They can be here one day and signed up, and be gone the next day before we get them on a regular schedule," said Martinson.

The board also held a reorganizational meeting prior to its regular meeting.

The following members were re-elected into the same board roles: Caroline Delich, president; Amanda Sprague, vice president; Marilyn Carey, treasurer; and Carolyn Mieloszyk, secretary. Also serving on the board are Brenda Agee, Aaron Ruotsala, Adam Graser and Michael Gotham.

The board voted to approve the existing bylaws as presented and set regular board meeting dates as follows: Feb. 24, March 17, April 28, May 19, June 23, July 28, Aug. 25, Sept. 22, Oct. 27, Nov. 24, and Dec. 15. All meetings will be at 6 p.m. in study hall 207 of the Luther L. Wright High School unless otherwise decided by the board.

The school's designated depository remains the Gogebic Range Bank.

In other reorganizational action, the board:

- Voted to approve that the school board president appoint members for school committees.

- Approved the treasurer and secretary as signatories.

- Approved that the secretary be designated to coordinate school elections, with the Gogebic County Clerk as the primary election coordinator and the respective city and township clerks running the school elections.

- Voted to continue using Dean Law Office P. C. of Ironwood as a local counsel; Thrun Law Firm, based in East Lansing, as extensive legal resource counsel; and Makela, Pollack and Ahonen, PLLC of Ironwood as auditor.

During the regular meeting, the board heard an update from Food Service Director Johnny Ursini. He spoke about how the prices of eggs likely will increase, as a new state regulation requires all eggs being sold in Michigan to be cage-free. According to Ursini, this affects only eggs in the shell, which are used by Ironwood Area Schools primarily for preparing meals for students with dietary restrictions and for hard-boiled eggs.

The board also:

- Recognized students of the month as follows: Croix Mukavitz (grade 1), Connor Kauppi (grade 4), Nathan Jaunzems (grade 12), and Maleah Maki (grade 12).

- Heard the personnel report. Principal Nigh informed the board that she will attend a Feb. 27 Marquette job fair to promote positions at Ironwood Area Schools.

- Adopted the Legal Reference Note of the Michigan Association of School Boards as presented.

- Approved the MASB, MASB Legal Trust Fund, and MASB Legislative Relations Network members as presented.

- Approved the finance committee and building and grounds committee reports.

- Approved a student for graduation, based on meeting the Personal Curriculum (Michigan Merit Curriculum) requirements, as indicated in an individualized education plan.

- Heard updates from the assistant principal and athletic director. Scholarships will go out in February.

- Acknowledged a $3,000 donation from Jim Sertich that went toward sound system improvements.