BROWN COUNTY – Brown County commissioners will consider laying off two school nurses effective Aug. 28 on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

The board request comes due to the non-renewal of 2020-2021 school health agreements with District 88, New Ulm Area Catholic Schools and the River Bend Education District.

Brown County Public Health Director Karen Moritz said public health will not have enough work to sustain school nurses Tammy Pippert and Elen Stark. In order to ensure economical department operation, the position reductions are recommended.

Moritz added public health would like to reevaluate future department staffing needs during a more typical operational period. If the use of existing staff for the COVID-19 response that results in overtime becomes difficult to sustain, hiring more staff may need to be considered.

Commissioners will also consider:

• A resolution to accept a $10,000 Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs CVSO Operational Enhancement Grant. Counties with Veteran populations between 1,000 and 3,000 receive an additional $2,500 over the annual $7,500 grant. Federal data shows Brown County has 1,685 Veterans.

• A Truancy program update from Brown County Probation which took over the truancy program from human services Oct. 1, 2019. Probation received a $180,000 two-year grant from the Office of Justice Programs to start a new program. The grant required a formal evaluation throughout the process.

According to the report, barriers to attending school include lack of support, substance use, lack of household income and learning disabilities.

Data shows 46% are still in the program, 40% completed it, 8% are in out-of-home placement and 6% are in intensive supervision.

• Receive a Regional Center for Entrepreneurial Facilitation presentation from RCEF Executive Director Bryan Stading. The organization began part-time, late last summer in the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce Office.

Brown County has never contributed financially to RCEF, on an in-kind basis. Blue Earth, Martin and Watonwan Counties do financially contribute.

RCEF provides business and sales & marketing plans, financial assistance & planning, succession, strategic and expansion planing, needs, goals and business assessments, start-up assistance, and management advice.

• The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Aug. 4 in the Law Enforcement Center Training Room. Webex access is available by calling Brown County Administration at 507-233-6600.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.