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Pizza sales went swimmingly at Pine Island High School’s first home football game of the season, and at the volleyball home opener, too, board member John Champa reported at the board’s Sept. 6 meeting.

Last year’s differences between the school’s concession stand and Minnesota Health Department regulations seemed resolved.

In 2011-2012 when the problems were pointed out, Pine Island School’s Effective and Efficient Operations Committee took steps, and plenty of them, committee member Champa said. Thorough investigation by the committee led to the conclusion that compliance called for “not being a hot food preparer, but instead a store front for a hot food business.”

After a food inspector concurred with that conclusion, the committee picked pizza, prepared offsite and delivered hot to the concession stand.

“I thought due diligence was done over and over again,” Board Chairman Jeff Leland said.

All that due diligence notwithstanding, a food inspector had, shortly before the Sept. 6 meeting, told board member Randy DePestel that absolutely no hot food could be served at Pine Island football games, because the stand has no running water.

And indoors, volleyball games are out of luck, too, unless a Certified Food Manager is on hand to oversee.

“We thought we had cleared the confusion,” said Champa. “We’d better get to the bottom of this.”

Interim Superintendent Tammy Berg-Beniak said she’d look into it. “And it has to be done soon.”

New K-8 principal hired

Berg-Beniak recommended hiring Jillynne Raymond as Pine Island’s K-8 interim principal. Raymond, a 20-year employee of the Red Wing School District, taught there for 18 years and for the last two years, worked in administration.

The board unanimously approved Berg-Beniak’s choice.

IBM donates $12,000, thanks for volunteers

Twelve IBMers’ volunteer hours brought bonus rewards for Pine Island schools. The bounty came via an IBM community outreach program in which the company matches, with dollars, employees’ volunteer time.

IBM has high criteria: An employee must put in more than 186 volunteer hours. Pine Island’s volunteers topped that easily, earning $3,000 apiece for the district and for its elementary, middle and high schools.

The schools’ hard-working teams include:

•Thom Haze, April Bailey, Rafal Konik (elementary school)

•Chris Cain, Skye Harney, Joan Ries (middle school)

•Eric Barsness, Jennifer Kramer, Joe Peplinski (high school)

•Vernon Pahl, Jim Fall, Dan Weber (district)

In addition, three more volunteers’ efforts won $3,000 for the Pine Island Academics, Arts, and Athletics Foundation. PIAAA, whose workers were Mike Heiling, Jessica Nelson and Alex Cragoe, helps a variety of school activities.

Other business

Board members voted 7-0 to schedule a Minnesota School Boards Association workshop on ways to conduct a superintendent search. The district’s quest for a permanent superintendent will begin early next year, and Chairman Leland will try to schedule the seminar for sometime in November. Cost for the class is $900.

The board voted unanimously to set its truth in taxation meeting (a public hearing on property taxes) for Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. (an hour before the regular meeting) at the school.

•In another unanimous vote, board members passed a motion to invite Pine Island Economic Development Authority Executive Director Karen Doll to their Sept. 17 or Oct. 4 meeting to discuss Pine Island’s economic growth.

•The board voted 7-0 to increase teacher Chloe House’s work hours from 0.8 to 1 FTE. Enrollment in Early Childhood Family Education has increased, too, said Superintendent Berg-Beniak, to 17 or 18 more than last year, to a total that requires a full-time teacher. The FTE will keep the program in compliance with Early Childhood Special Education guidelines, and cost the school $6,000.

•Berg-Beniak also updated the board on the vacant gifted/talented job, recently posted for the third time. “We have an interested candidate who sounds promising,” she said, “and I hope to have a final recommendation at the next meeting.”

•The school’s 2011-2012 ACT scores were the highest in 12 years, Berg-Beniak told the board.

•High School Principal Kevin Cardille asked the board to appropriate $20,000 for high school staff development and presented a plan showing how the money would be allocated.

“Without some funding,” he said, “we will not have staff development this year.”

The board tabled the request until a later meeting.

•Board members approved without dissent the resignation, effective October 12, of physical education teacher Nadeen Lunde. Chairman Leland thanked her for her years (30 or so) of service.

•Board members agreed 7-0 to accept a contribution from the Heiden family of three gallons of paint and the labor to apply it.