The Superior School Board moved quickly Monday to quell fears after a special meeting was called to consider the school district's current policy on staff gifts.
At issue was a clause allowing for the acceptance of free or discounted travel in exchange for chaperoning students.
"I'm sorry this got blown up the way it was," said Board member Mary Klun. "I just wanted to make sure we weren't violating our own policy."
Klun broached the subject at the School Board's Jan. 10 meeting by asking for clarification of the school district's existing policy on staff gifts. She said the Board held lengthy discussion many years ago over concerns that students could be used as "tickets to get a kickback."
"It was not my intention to put up roadblocks to travel," Klun said.
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Janna Stevens, Superior school district administrator, looked into the history of the staff gifts policy for Monday's meeting. The final sentence of the policy - last updated in May 2006 - protects employees' right to accept free or reduced travel. Stevens believes the clause was added as a result of the discussion Klun recalled.
"There's nothing wrong with healthy discussion," said Christina Kintop, vice president of the School Board. "But I hope the message doesn't get back that this Board doesn't appreciate our teachers or doesn't encourage travel."
The Board voted unanimously Monday to take minimal action on the staff gifts policy. Language was added to encourage the use of local travel agencies, and a second sentence specified that students may be asked to give a presentation to the Board after returning from a trip.
The proposal as originally worded on the agenda caused a stir among teachers. It contained an option to add language expressly prohibiting the acceptance of free trips for staff members.
Kyle Smith, one of four teachers to address the Board Monday, said the intent of the proposal was difficult to interpret and caused alarm for teachers.
"The amount of work and time put into these trips is unbelievable," Smith said. He further cautioned that "complimentary should never be misconstrued as free."
Shawna Anderson, a teacher at Superior Middle School, also spoke against any limitation on free or reduced travel for teachers.
She assisted coworker Sarah Bianchet with a proposal for an overnight student trip to New York City and Washington D.C., but the School Board voted to table that proposal on Jan. 10 and then took up a review of staff gifts policy.
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"Quite honestly, if I have to pay for it and I'm on spring break, I'm going to go on vacation," Anderson said.
Chaperoning is an immense responsibility, she said, but teachers take on that responsibility to allow students opportunities to travel and experience new things.
"It's not seeing the sights," Anderson said. "It's seeing the kids see the sights."
Building update
At its committee of the whole meeting Jan. 2, the Superior School Board awarded more than $100,000 in bids for work on security upgrades at Northern Lights Elementary School. Two of the companies winning bids are based in Superior and the other two are based in Duluth.
Stevens said every effort is being made to keep work local as the school district moves ahead with its $92.5 million referendum, and she was happy local bids had been approved for work at Northern Lights.
Salary settlement
The Board approved a nearly $52,000 salary settlement for administrators at its Jan. 10 meeting. The settlement returns step increases to the administrator salary schedule.
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"I think it's a big step that we put the steps back in place," said Board member Robert Morehouse. "It's a good schedule too."
The new schedule more closely mirrors salary schedules approved for teachers for the 2016-17 school year. Morehouse said the changes provide fairer wages to administrators and clear up issues that had made it difficult for the school district to manage its budget from year to year.
