NW RIC ORGANIZATIONAL BOARD MEETING/June 1, 2026

NW RIC ORGANIZATIONAL BOARD MEETING

June 1, 2026

NW RIC Office

6 p.m.

 

NW RIC Board members present included Matt Nordin, Kelsy Helling, Cari Dostal, Tera Nordby, Mark Johnson, Rozlynn Johnsrud, Mindy Dunrud and Kurt Stenberg.  Also, present Director Kim Johnson, Assistant Director Becky Levenhagen, School Psychologist Jeremy Sollund.  Superintendents Derek Gieske, Jeff Lund and Wade Johnson joined virtually.

 

Chairperson Nordin called the NW RIC Board Meeting to order and established a quorum was present.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the agenda as presented.  Moved by Stenberg seconded by Nordby.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the April 7, 2026 regular business meeting.   Moved by Nordin, seconded by Helling.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the 2026-27 School Calendar.  Moved by Dostal, seconded by Stenberg.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the resignation of Megan Irlbeck, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher, effective June 30, 2026.  Moved by Nordby, seconded by Nordin.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the leave of Megan Johnson, Speech-Language Pathologist, from September 21, 2026 to December 23, 2026.  Moved by Dunrud, seconded by Nordby.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED employment of Jenna Hinrichs, Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant (SLPA), effective August 25, 2026.  Moved by Johnson, seconded by Nordin.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the employment of Jodi Bendickson, DAPE Teacher, Teacher of the Physically Impaired, and Assistive Technology Teacher, for up to 10 days for the 2026-27 school year.  Moved by Nordin, seconded by Helling.  Motion carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the employment of Deborah Davidson as a .52 FTE Teacher of the Blind/Visually Impaired for the 2026-27 school year.  Moved by Dostal, seconded by Nordby.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the Agreement for Services with Anna Woinarowicz, Autism Consultant, for up to 25 days for the 2026-27 school year.  Moved by Dunrud, seconded by Johnsrud.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the negotiations agreement with Becky Levenhagen, Assistant Special Education Director, 3% for the 2026-27 school year and 2% for the 2027-28 school year for salary and benefits.  Addition of MN Paid Leave language and addition of district 403b match language.  Moved by Nordby, seconded by Nordin.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the negotiations agreement with Kim Johnson, Executive Director, 3% for the 2026-27 school year and 2% for the 2027-28 school year for salary and benefits.  Addition of MN Paid Leave language and addition of district 403b match language.  Moved by Nordin, seconded by Nordby.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the FY 27 Roll-Over Budget.   Moved by Dostal, seconded by Nordin.  Motion Carried.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the May board bills in the amount of $28,613.25 and June board bills in the amount of $55,915.68.  Moved by Nordin, seconded by Dostal.  Motion Carried.

 

Grygla K-6 Online School question and answer session was held.

 

Special Ed Director reported on Staffing updates, MDE monitoring Update, August back-to-School Schedule:  CPI Training – August 18, 19 and 20; New Teacher Training – TBD;  NW RIC Fall Workshop Days – August 25, 26, and 27;  Regional Paraprofessional Training – August 20th – remote;  NW RIC Staff work in districts or office – September 1, 2, and 3.  Cash Flow and Cash Expenditures.

 

BE IT RESOLVED to approve the Designation of an Identified Official with Authority for Education Identity Access Management.

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Professional Educator Licensing Standard Board (PELSB), and Office of Higher Education (OHE) required annual designation of an Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) for each local education agency that uses the Education Identity Access Management (EDIAM) system.  The IOwA is responsible for authorizing, reviewing, and recertifying user access for their local education agency in accordance with the State of Minnesota Enterprise Identity and Access Management Standard, which states that all user access rights to Minnesota state systems must be reviewed and recertified at least annually.  The Identified Official with Authority will authorize user access to the State of Minnesota Education secure systems in accordance with the user’s assigned job duties and will revoke that user’s access when it is no longer needed to perform their job duties.  The director recommends that the Board authorize Kim Johnson, kjohnson@nwric.com, and the EDIAM user ID of kejohnsonnwric to act as the Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) for the Northwest Regional Interdistrict Council (NWRIC), ISD #382-52, effective July 1, 2026.  Moved by Johnson, seconded by Nordby.  Motion Carried.

 

Motion was made by Helling to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Stenberg.  Motion Carried.  Meeting adjourned.

 

The next regular NW RIC Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 3, 2026, at 6 p.m.   

Place:  NW RIC Office