Rib Lake School District sees positive start to year

The Rib Lake School District hit the ground running for the 2025-2026 school year.

The district received a waiver from the state this year to start the school year a week earlier than normal with the intent to be done earlier next May for the ongoing referendum project.

The ongoing referendum project work was among the top items at the August 27 school board meeting.

“We are rolling,” said district administrator Travis Grubbs reporting that things went smoothly, all things considered, with the start of the school year. Some of the challenges including a switch in the phone system as the district moved to a digitalbased phone system along with the passing bell system having issues in the first week which resulted in manual passing bells.

On the bright side, Grubbs said there were plenty of smiles from staff and students. “People are happy to be back,” Grubbs said.

Even Eddie, the school’s therapy dog did his part to make students feel welcome.

Grubbs explained that a pre-kindergarten student was feeling sad and so he came over and asked him if he wanted to meet Eddie. “Eddie gave him a little lick and it changed his outlook for the day,” Grubbs said, noting that while Eddie is not supposed to be licking students, in this case the interaction changed the child’s demeanor and had him skipping down the hallway to his classroom.

“That is one of the good benefits of having a therapy dog around,” Grubbs said.

As far as the building project and phone transitions, Grubbs said things are moving along well.

He noted that the switch to a digital phone system brought with it increased security. He explained that each room’s phone has its own number, which means that if 9-1-1 is called the sheriff’s department and emergency personnel will be able to know which specific room called in the emergency rather than just the building as it was under the previous system. Grubbs said this will help with appropriate emergency response.

Grubbs provided the construction update noting the concrete floor in the new gym space was poured and is currently curing. He called attention to the massive stacks of insulation boards behind the middle school and said that it was all delivered at once and will be used for the roof of the structure when the crews get to that point.

Last month, the board had chosen to delay awarding the bid for the heating in the bus garage with the hopes of getting more than the one bid that had been submitted. This proved beneficial for the district as Ziembo Plumbing and Heating submitted a low bid of $6,169 for the project, which was a little more than half of the price from the other out-of-area bidder.

In other business, board members:

• Approved the Fund 80, community services fund, budget. This is money that is added to the tax levy for the district to provide community service programs for the district that is outside of the normal 4K to grade 12. It includes operation of the fitness center, the hall of fame, upkeep of trail system, community newsletter printing and postage and youth softball and baseball diamonds, Tannery Creek baseball diamond and the STEP program. The total Fund 80 levy is $22,500.

• Approved awarding the milk bid for the school to Prairie Farms of Woodbury, Minn. Grubbs said they are the provider for the region and has supplied the school milk for Rib Lake for a number of years. “They are the only ones to bid this area,” he said.

• Reviewed the budget update for the 2025-2026 budget. He said they have put together what he described as a “pretty conservative budget.” He explained that the recent state budget did not include any additional general state aid, which he said will mean that any increases for most districts around the state will result in property tax increases. However, Grubbs said there were factors which will reduce that impact in Rib Lake.

• Received a report on the summer school program. There were 86 youths who participated across the two sections of swimming. According to Grubbs, there were 266 students who participated in the summer school programs overall.

• Received a report from the building principals on back to school and the coming year. Elementary principal Jon Dallmann noted that the school-wide goal will be to focus on math in the coming year. “We are typically very strong in math, but we don’t want to forget about it,” he said. He noted that issues at the Department of Public Instruction with getting the statewide assessment software ready to go, has delayed Rib Lake from being able to begin school year assessments.

Dallmann reported an overall positive start to the school year. “I love elementary school because they are all smiles. When you see kindergartners skipping down the hall, it lifts your spirits,” Dallmann said.

High school/middle school principal Aimee Blomberg also reported a positive start to the school year. She noted a big hurdle was using the high school commons and middle school library spaces for lunch at the same time. “It went very smoothly,” she said.

At the high school she noted that student council is off and running and are ready to step up and take a lead on student activities.

• Approved personnel changes including the resignation of Jonah Campbell from high school physical education and health and as varsity football head coach. Hires include middle school leadership advisor - Leah Halmsted, high school student council - Natalie Winkler, head football coach - Austin Edwards, assistant football coach - Jim Dobbs, and high school physical education and health Hannah Lalk.

“We are rolling.”

— Travis Grubbs, Rib Lake district administrator