By Theodore Tollefson

The Hastings School Board voted to begin the school year with a mask mandate in place for all twoyear- olds to eighth graders within the district. The mandate will take effect immediately and masks will remain optional, but recommended, for Hastings High School.

The board voted 6-1 in favor of the Health and Safety Measures for 2021-22 that will put the mask mandate in effect for Independent School District 200. In addition to the mask mandates, the Health and Safety Measures plan includes rules on social distancing, a 5 percent positivity rate in the district that will mandate masks for everyone if that rate is reached, and a 14-day scale tracing case numbers and positivity rates within Hastings to help guide the board’s future decisions on changes to health and safety measures.

In addition to these measures, the board has also grouped together moderate and substantial levels of community transmission listed by the CDC COVID Data Tracker as a way to measure community transmission within Hastings.

“We don’t have a right to spread illness. We have an obligation to protect public health,” said Stephanie Malm, school board clerk on her decision-making process for the Health and Safety Measures plan.

“Using local data is important to me and what we’re seeing with transmissions in our community,” said Kelsey Waits. “From that standpoint I would vote to use the latest scale from the CDC for our own.”

If COVID-19 transmissions continue to increase as they have been throughout the month of August all across the United States, the Hastings School Board will consider voting on making masks mandatory for all students and staff in each building if the data they use to track transmissions supports the need to do so.

Masks will be mandatory for all students of all ages on school transportation following current federal guidelines on masking on board public transportation.

The Hastings School Board also voted to use three categories of transmission rates instead of the four that the CDC uses to track and categorize the infection and transmission rates in the United States. The three transmission rate categories that Hastings School District will use are Minimal/Low, which categorizes zero to 19.99 average case count in the district and city of Hastings over the last 14 days per 10,000 people. The second category is Moderate/Substantial which categorizes 20 to 49.99 average case count in the district and city of Hastings over the last 14 days per 10,000 people and if the district is in this range, will mandate masks for all two-year-olds to eighth grade students in the district. Finally, the category of High Transmission rate which will count for an average case count of 50 or more in the district and city of Hastings over the last 14 days per 10,000 people. This will enforce a mask mandate for all people who work and visit district buildings.

To start the school year, Hastings Public Schools will return to a normal school schedule district-wide. All kindergartners through 12th graders will return to normal daily schedules and be in their schools five days a week. Pre-K will also return in-person full-time and before and after school services/child care will also return.

Changes in athletics ticket sales Hastings High School Athletic Director Trent Hanson presented a change in ticket sales for Hastings athletic events for the 202122 school year. All ticket sales for sporting events and other extracurricular activities will be paid for without cash for this year.

“This is to increase health and safety for everyone at athletic events,” said Hanson. “We are taking what we learned from 202021 events and aligning with other schools in the Metro East Conference that are planning to go cashless with ticket sales as well.”

There will also be season passes available for online purchase for anyone who wishes to attend multiple Raiders sporting events throughout the school year. Further details on how to purchase these season passes is yet to come.

Public comment

Seven people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. Three of the people who spoke asked for the school board to put a mask mandate in place for everyone. The other four people expressed anti-mask sentiments, bringing forth information and data for the school board but not disclosing the sources or where they had received their information from.

Items voted on

Aside from the 2021-22 school year Health and Safety Measures, the board voted on multiple additional items for their meeting. The board updated their policy on public and private personnel data, updating definition E which defines personnel data under district employment.

Staff recognition parameters were also updated on what staff can earn in the 21-22 school year for yearly markings they achieve. The board also updated the order of regulation for their meetings, the definition of public participation in board meetings to include all local taxpayers, complaints about individuals brought up at school board meetings and further data privacy considerations for district employees.

New hires

The Hastings School Board announced and approved 15 new hires throughout the district. The new hires include two non-public nurses, eight new athletic coaches, two new hires for Pinecrest Elementary, two new hires for Hastings Middle School and one ECSE teacher.

See SCHOOL BOARD Page 3

Resident Melissa Millner was one of four people who requested to speak in support of keeping masks optional for students. Each speaker presented information to support their requests and were passionate about the need to keep masks optional. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Over 100 people showed up to the ISD 200 school board meeting to express their support for or against masks. Seven people spoke, each allowed five minutes to present their information. Each of the speakers were respectful of the time limit and the crowd was respectful of the comments for nearly the entire time. Sadly, the crowd waned as the night went on and there were only a dedicated few around when the decision was ultimately made.

Photo by Bruce Karnick

From Page 1

The two non-public nurse hires are Marianne Hart and Megan Wojcik. Both began their time at Hastings School District on July 1, 2021 and will have their employment with the district end on June 30, 2022. Both Hart and Wojcik will be earning $33.68 an hour.

The two new hires for Pinecrest Elementary are Michaela (Burr) Hoffman, a social worker, and Mikayla Domonkos, a SAC assistant. Hoffman began her time with Hastings School District on Aug. 28 and Domonkos will start on Sept. 8. Hoffman will be earning $62,971 a year while Domonkos will work five hours a day earning $15.05 an hour.

The two new hires for Hastings Middle School are Shayla Kasel, a grade seven and eight social studies teacher, and Ann Martin, a paraprofessional. Kasel began her time at HMS on Aug. 26 and Martin will begin on Sept. 8. Kasel will be earning $45,034 a year while Martin will work 5.75 hours a day earning $17.84 an hour.

The eight new hires for athletics coaching roles are as follows: Kay Beebe will coach B squad volleyball for HHS, earning $3,832 a year. Beebe began her coaching role Aug. 16.

Jason Matsch will coach cross country for HMS, earning $2,267 a year. Matsch will begin on Sept. 9.

Nick Odman will coach football for HMS, earning $2,520 a year. Odman began his time as coach on August 31.

Kel O’Leary will coach Girls C squad soccer for HHS, earning $3,233 a year. O’Leary began their time as coach on Aug. 16.

Jaxon Schiller will coach ninth grade football for HHS, earning $2,073 a year. Schiller began his time on Aug. 16.

Tim Slapnicher will coach girls JV soccer for HHS, earn- ing $3,822 a year. Slapnicher began his time as coach on Aug. 16.

Kent Swanson will coach football for HMS, earning $2,520 a year on Aug. 31.

William Utecht will coach ninth grade football for HHS, earning $2,073 a year. Utecht began coaching on Aug. 16.

Rose Miller-Andrist was hired as the lone ECSE teacher for the district. Miller-Andrist will earn $50,315 a year. Miller- Andrist began her role on Aug. 26.

Retirement and resignations

There was a total of three resignations and one retirement from this month’s personnel report. Danielle Anselment, a student recess and lunch aide at JFK Elementary resigned from her post on June 4. Adriane Platt Resignation, a paraprofessional at McAuliffe Elementary resigned from their post effective on Sept. 8. Jared Zetwick, a custodian at HHS, resigned from his post on July 29.

The one retirement was Janice Niederkorn, an admin support assistant at HHS who retired on June 4.

Leave and assignment changes

Hastings School District has two leave and two assignment changes announced and approved from the August personnel report.

The two leaves of absence are Kendra Berg, an art teacher from HMS, who will be on leave from Feb. 11 through May 18, 2022.

The other leave of absence is a HHS custodian, who will be on leave from Sept. 9, 2021 through Jan. 3, 2022.

The two assignment changes are Ron Behnke, who will have his role changed from Lead Computer Technician in the district to the District Wide Network Engineer Supervisor. This change took effect on Aug. 23. Casey Likes will have their role changed from Accounts Payable Clerk District Wide to the Special Services Office Specialist. This change has yet to take effect and does not have a set date either.

The Hastings School Board will meet next at 6 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Hastings Middle School library.

Resident Joe Stoffel was one of three people who requested to speak in support of making masks a requirement for students. All three speakers presented heartfelt messages with information supporting their request to make the use of masks mandatory while inside school buildings. Photo by Bruce Karnick