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Northfield Public School District board meeting, Sep 14, 2026

1 h 56 min · 0 public speakers

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 53:46

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 56 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Northfield school board approves superintendent's 2026⁠-⁠2027 focus areas 1:45:12

  • The board heard improvement showcases from the middle school principal and the high school principal on highlights from last year and focus areas for this year. 13:04
  • The superintendent presented the policy committee's recommended changes to eight policies, and Claudia Gonzalez-George said the item would come for individual action at the September 28th board meeting. 1:37:54
  • The board approved the superintendent's 2026⁠-⁠2027 focus areas. 1:45:12
Item by item (9)
  1. Opening and agenda 5:55
    • A district staff member said the table file consisted of consent agenda personnel items, including appointments and changes in assignment. 6:23
    • The chair said a board member was joining virtually, so all votes would be by roll call. 6:53
    • Claudia Gonzalez-George said nobody had signed up for public comment. 7:48
    • The motion to accept the agenda passed. 7:48
  2. Announcements and recognitions 7:55
    • A district staff member said September is school board recognition month and thanked board members for their hard work and leadership. 7:59
    • The staff member also shared student honors and sports results, including a 55⁠-⁠14 football win over Faribault. 12:04
  3. Middle school improvement showcase 13:04
    • The middle school principal described three goals for the year: revitalizing the school's pride culture, studying a homeroom with a staff vote planned by May for the '27-'28 school year, and a new teacher development and evaluation process. 13:34
    • Ben Miller asked how the 80% academic goal would show up this year, and the principal said the school was well above the state average on statewide assessments but had plateaued, and that improving instruction was the best way to address the goal. 32:10
    • Amy Goerwitz noted that 733 families had opened the first Sunday message and asked whether the school had figured a percentage, and a staff member said the middle school has a little over 900 families. 46:46
  4. High school improvement showcase 52:27
    • A high school administrator said 89.5% of students attended school 90% of the time, up from 62% in the '21-'22 school year. 55:29
    • A high school staff member said 91% of students were at or above benchmark for earned credit, and another staff member said the attendance goal is to move to 92%. 1:01:08
    • Jenny Nelson noted 206 parents took part in the parent caregiver survey and said that would be around 17% based on student enrollment. 1:29:29
  5. Policy committee recommendations 1:37:54
    • The superintendent said 7 of the 8 policies involved substantive changes, largely driven by new mandates from the 2026 legislative session, and that Policy 624 involved non-substantive changes. 1:37:54
    • The superintendent said the changes cover accommodations, prohibitions on grooming, the READ Act, open enrollment and immunization records. 1:41:37
    • The chair said the policies would be an item for individual action at the September 28th board meeting. 1:43:22
  6. Consent agenda 1:44:23
    • The chair said personnel items from the table file were added to the consent grouping and no items were pulled. 1:44:23
    • The motion to approve the consent grouping passed. 1:45:12
  7. Superintendent focus areas 1:45:12
    • The board considered a motion to approve the superintendent's 2026⁠-⁠2027 focus areas as presented. 1:45:12
    • The motion passed. ~1:46:07
  8. Construction update 1:51:58
    • The superintendent said the south lot was paved and striped and that soil corrections were needed where soil was in less good condition than hoped. 1:52:28
  9. Upcoming events and adjournment 1:54:36
    • The chair invited the board to the ribbon-cutting for an ice arena on Wednesday, September 16th, and listed the next regular meeting for Monday, September 28th, at 6:00 PM. 1:54:36
    • The chair said a workshop was being planned to help onboard the new superintendent. 1:55:27
    • The motion to adjourn passed. 1:56:10

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

What was said

What board members said, in order

I just wanted to see how, how you were thinking about those and I have a question for Rico. Rico, I, I have a question about how the ALC process kind of affects the credit earned benchmark, because isn't there a sense that the students who aren't earning enough credit get siphoned off by the ALC?Amy Goerwitz · Treasurer1:34:53
Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Northfield School District Board of Education Regular Meeting 09 14 2026”