Sartell St. Stephen School Board Resolves Contract Deadlock, Approves 21 Employee Contracts Before June 30 Deadline

(KNSI) – It was a standing room only crowd at the Sartell St. Stephen School Board meeting where 21-employee contracts left in limbo were approved on Friday evening.

The issue had been over whether to vote on the nonunion and mostly administrative contracts for directors and specialists in one motion or separately. The group tried to approve the deals in one motion four times since Feburary but constantly deadlocked at three-three. Board members Jen Smith, Emily Larson and Scott Wenshau were in favor of separation, while Board Chair Tricia Meling, Jason Nies and Matt Moehrle wanted to approve the contracts in one motion.

After several motions back and forth, the six began to approve the deals one by one. Three contracts were pulled for discussion. They included the director of human resources, a communications specialist, and a behavioral interventionist.

The board approved keeping the human resources contract at the same rate as the 23-24 contract and discussed making the position full-time instead of the current .8 full-time equivalent. The conversation will take place with newly hired Superintendent Mike Rivard after he takes over on July 1st.

The board members asked questions and clarified the communication specialist and behavioral intern posts before giving them the thumbs up. In the end, all the deals received unanimous support.

The contracts would have all expired on June 30th, and some residents were worried there would be operational disruptions if they weren’t approved. The 21 workers in question would have also lost their health insurance.

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