May 11, 2026 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting of the School Board

Discussion:  The Board of Education of Hermantown Independent School District No. 700 met in regular session on May 11, 2026. Chair, David Hokanson, called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M.

Discussion:  Members Present: Eric Griffith, David Hokanson, Jodi McShane, Ashley McFarland, Matthew Munger (virtual due to out-of-town work obligations), Tim Peterson, Wayne Whitwam, Superintendent, Candace Nelis, Director of Business Services

Visitors: Sarah Turcotte, Jason Wilcox, Bill Wietman, Kammi Wietman, Lynda Nikko, Ginger Flohaug, John Muenich, Grace Billman, Lindsey Beier, Lori Sinnott, Gretchen Appelwick, Brent Chouanard-Nguyen, Kristal Berg, JoAnne Bates

Discussion:  Muenich. Recognized Theresa Taraldsen for the amount of volunteering she's done for the One Act Festival. Recognized Tyler Homstad and the success of the high school track and field team. He is doing a great job of advertising both the boys and girls accomplishments this season. The Robotics team hosted a successful craft fundraiser last weekend at the high school. 
Wietman. Thanked Dr. Muenich, the school counselors, Mr. Pothast and teachers for their work on MCAs last month. Celebrating Ms. Post on her retirement after 30 years in the district. 
Appelwick. Elementary made it through MCAs and schedule shifts successfully last month. We celebrated our entire staff last week during Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you to the PTO for their generosity. 
Berg. Learning Garden project has started and should be completed in mid-June. Kids Zone registration opened today, and typically fills quickly. 
Whitwam. Thanked the community for all of the donations to help celebrate our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week. 
Griffith. Attended the Hermantown Music and Arts Show. Stated it was awesome to see what our students put together for our community. 

Discussion:  No Visitor Business.

Discussion:  Middle School Vice Principal Ginger Flohaug updated the Board about the district's MA Billing since taking over last Spring. She has doubled billing from April 2025 to April 2026. Credits a focus on educating paraprofessionals on what are billable minutes and qualifies for MA billing and what that means. Gets documents at the end of every month and checks for accuracy and submits to Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative. Two-week time study done every two years. 

Discussion:  Received correspondence from Stop the Data Center regarding an ad put out about how the school could use funds if the data center was built and tax implications regarding the data center. We receive the same amount of tax funding either way, however the District’s net tax capacity would increase. We will collect taxes if the data center is built, we are not abating their taxes.  

Discussion:  Next meeting we will need to take a look at Open Enrollments and see if we want to accept any and/or close any grade levels. 

Discussion:  May 17 legislation is done. Minnesota voters will decide on the Permanent School Fund constitutional amendment during the November general election. It seeks to boost annual distributions from the state’s Permanent School Fund (fed by mining, timber, and land sales), increasing payouts by about $35 per pupil. It will require a yes vote from a majority of all voters casting a ballot in the election. Not a lot of other movement. Bonding information will come out in final hours. 

Discussion:  Did not get the YST Grant. They had about $5 million in asks and only $1million to give and they were trying not to give second-time money. 

Discussion:  No Committee Reports.