After a first year in which board members believe she “exceeded any expectations,” the Kenyon-Wanamingo School Board has granted Superintendent Beth Giese a three-year contract and increased responsibilities.
The three-year commitment should allow Giese to complete the work she has begun to get K-W out of a formidable fiscal hole while promoting growth and student achievement, and she will continue to play a significant role as an Administrator at the Elementary School as well.
While a three-year contract is the maximum allowable for a Minnesota Superintendents, Giese said she wished she could have agreed to a ten year contract, so great is her excitement for the path K-W is on, as shown in the incredibly positive morale she sees among students and staff.
Board Member A.J. Lindell, who helped to negotiate Giese’s contract as part of the Negotiating Committee, said that he and other committee members were so blown away with Giese’s performance that they wanted to be sure to secure her services in the long-term.
“We brought Beth in on a one year contract, a prove-it year, but she has far exceeded any expectations that any of us had in terms of turning this District around from a financial perspective while also preserving the culture and unique character that is Kenyon-Wanamingo,” Lindell said.
While the board approved a proposal to merge the elementary school principal and dean of students positions, Giese will provide key services only a licensed principal can, including matters of student and staff discipline, as well as teacher evaluations.
The merging of the principal and dean positions is one of several cost saving measures the board approved to get it closer to the goal of $500,000 in savings, along with reductions to the assistant special education director’s position and English as a Second Language instruction.
Both positions are currently contracted by Kenyon-Wanamingo through the Goodhue County Education District, allowing K-W to easily “right size” staffing levels. Giese said that these reductions should still fit K-W’s needs, while cautioning that may change in the future.
“I would warn you that EL services are one of those things that can ebb and flow in a district,” Giese said. “We are so fortunate to belong to GCED because if we need some extra time or we get an influx of students coming into the district, we would also need services.”
Kenyon-Wanamingo Public Schools remains on track to emerge from Statutory Operating Debt status a year earlier than first expected, under the updated fiscal recovery plan which has now received conditional approval from the Minnesota Department of Education.
While the MDE will continue to watch closely to ensure that K-W fully implements its plan, Giese said that it has received praise from Department staff, who have hailed it as a model for dozens of other Districts trapped in SOD status to follow.
Many other school districts in Greater Minnesota are indeed in need of a positive fiscal role model, as their budgets struggle under the burdens of declining enrollment, stagnant state funding, significant unfunded mandates and major structural expenses.
As a veteran school administrator who previously served as Superintendent at St. Francis and Cannon Falls Public Schools, Giese was hired as Superintendent on a promise to use that experience and knowledge to find ways not only to find fiscal savings but to grow enrollment.
After years of stagnant or declining enrollment, Kenyon-Wanamingo Public Schools saw a significant increase this year. Board Members expressed optimism that under Giese’s energetic and charismatic leadership, positive trends would continue to grow.
Though the District won’t receive a corresponding funding boost under the state’s per-pupil formula until next year, Board Chair Tonya Craig praised Giese for her ingenuity and creativity in addressing the short term fiscal picture.
“Every week, every month, you’re being creative in finding new ways to save money or bring in more revenue,” Craig told Giese.
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