In an efficient meeting on Monday, the Ely School Board approved a long list of finance- and personnel-related agenda items, including the termination of their IT services agreement with Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital.
The cancellation, moved by Erin Moravitz and seconded by Hollee Coombe, was a “money-saving effort,” said Tony Colarich. The move will save the school district approximately $30,000.
The district will now take care of the services “within house,” assisted by a media specialist and in partnership with Voltz Technologies.
Prior to the termination, the district made use of support from both Voltz and EBCH. Now, due to increased efficiency in the ticketing process and the switch from iPads to Chromebooks — meaning all devices are on a single system — the district can make the transition.
In the event the district runs into temporary network or infrastructure problems, the hospital will offer services based on an hourly rate.
Additionally, the board briefly discussed updates on the athletic facilities project, although director of facilities Tim Leeson was absent. Recently, project leaders took additional time to gather further information from other districts, with the goal of determining how best to spend the $5 million project grant.
Superintendent Anne Oelke gave further information on the district’s finances.
“Our study session coming up on June 23 will be a discussion about adopting our budget, and we’ll go into a special meeting to adopt the budget so we get the deadline before June 30,” Oelke said.
She also described a new summer project related to technology. The district will have the opportunity to “take advantage of” category 2 e-rates.
“It’s a 70/30 split. So they cover 70% and we have to cover 30%, which is a huge savings for us for updating our Wi-Fi access points and stuff in the buildings. Voltz will be working on that this summer,” Oelke added.
The board also approved a number of quotes from various companies, securing necessary products for the upcoming school year. These include Pan-O-Gold Baking for bread, Prairie Farms for milk products, Edwards Oil for propane and Phil Hegfors & Son Construction for snowplowing services.
Eight personnel changes also gained board approval during the meeting. Four summer staff were hired, including Jennifer Kerntz for the school age extended school year teacher position, as well as LeaRae Richards, Abby Maki and Jacki Tolbert for school age extended school year program paraprofessional positions.
The board accepted resignations for various staff members, including an employee holding the special education teaching position, an ECFE parent educator, and two staff members who served in the paraprofessional role.
In other business, the board:
• Adopted the resolution to place Suzanne Zobitz on a 1.0 FTE unrequested leave of absence and reinstate her to a 0.80 FTE for the upcoming school year.
• Approved the letter of understanding between Zobitz, the Ely Education Association and ISD 696.
• Approved the superintendent evaluation process and went into closed session with Oelke, the summary of the evaluation will be released at the next school board meeting.
• Accepted a $100 donation from the Kiwanis Club of Ely for the fall musical, and a second $100 donation, dedicated to the eighth grade from Ely PTO.
• Approved $180,647.85 in annual premiums from Vaaler Insurance for 20252026.
• Approved Minnesota School Boards Association dues, amounting to $7,291 for 2025-2026.
