NEW ULM — The District 88 Board of Education Thursday approved a temporary easement and permanent recreation trail to help build a roundabout on North Highland Avenue, two bids for parking lot improvements. It also held readings of revised policies and heard a staff development presentation.

The temporary easement for the roundabout at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and Oak Street will be installed to help mitigate impact on traffic and to allow for space for construction, Superintendent Jeff Bertrang said.

Because of the roundbout’s design, the temporary easement will offset the sidewalk and recreational trail on North Highland onto New Ulm High School’s property during construction of the roundabout. The temporary easement will also be supplemented by a permanent easement of the sidewalk and trail.

“It’s to help with the roundabout to get taken care of, and to re-adjust where the sidewalk and path go,” Bertrang said.

In addition to the approval of the temporary easement construction for the roundabout, the board approved two parking lot summer project contractor recommendations.

Bertrang said the recommendations are the last two before maintenance projects begin this summer.

For districtwide parking lot maintenance and improvements, the board approved a quote of $13,887.50 from Quality Asphalt. For a parking lot replacement project on the northside of the lot at Washington Learning Center (WLC), a quote of $47,135 was approved from Ground Zero.

The board also conducted the first reading of changes to four policies. The changes to policies are as follows: 413 Harassment and Violence, with updates to reprisal language; 524 Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy, with updated language to reflect the school district’s move to a 1:1 student to device ratio; 712 Video Surveillance, added sections that deal with video surveillance storage; 903 Visitors to School District Buildings and Sites, with added language that PSEO students may use computers within schools.

The board heard a staff development presentation and was briefed on the staff development committee’s work during the 2018-2019 school year. Committee members are comprised of staff and educators from WLC, Jefferson Elementary, New Ulm Middle School and New Ulm High School.

Similar goals across schools within the district reflect that staff have placed heavy concentration on the expansion of curriculum — particularily in math and reading — and the improvement of MCA standardized testing scores with a 3 percent increase goal in math and reading.

Staff development committee members told the board a personalized learning curriculum was implemented with school staff and educators this year with plans to implement personalized learning curriculum for students next school year.

Personalized learning is instruction that offers curriculum and learning environments to meet individual students’ needs. The classroom experience is tailored to learning preferences and the specific interests of different learners.

A common goal for schools districtwide is also the strengthening of community relationships and involvement, committee staff told the board. Career and technical education programs and the high school’s student-run business Eagle Enterprises are at the forefront of strengthening ties with the community.

Gage Cureton can be emailed at gcureton@nujournal.com.