wo teachers submitted letters of resignation to the Rugby School Board at their Jan. 9 meeting. Renee Jaeger, resource teacher, resigned at the end of the 2012 year, contingent upon approval of the early retirement incentive.

“I have enjoyed my teaching career in Rugby,” said Jaeger in the letter.

Joel Braaten, high school English instructor, has decided to retire from public education at the end of this school year.

“I would like to thank the Rugby School Board and administration for the opportunity to teach here these past two years,” said Braaten. “I feel very fortunate to have been involved with the students, parents, and staff of the Rugby community. You have an excellent school, and I have been proud to have been a part of it.”

Both resignations were accepted. The board approved Jaeger’s application for benefits under the Retirement Incentive Policy in place in the district. The retirement incentive for Mrs. Jaeger is $34,020. The board directed the business manager to draft the retirement incentive contract.

The board was presented with calendar options for the 2012-2013 school year and after reviewing them, unanimously approved the first reading of option 1 with school start day on Wednesday, Aug. 29, with the added possibility that a spring break day could be added. Christmas break would be Dec. 21 through Jan. 2.

Some changes were made to the junior/senior high school daily class schedules. The changes were the result of the work of the curriculum committee and the North Central Distance Learning Consortium. Mr. David Zwingel, principal, presented the changes to the board, the primary one being switching from the current seven 50-minute periods to seven 45-minute periods plus a 30-minute Student Responsibility Block (SRB). The SRB which makes all teachers available for grades 7

one to the 7+1 concept of scheduling.

After some discussion, the board voted to adopt the proposed junior/senior high school revisions.

Mr. Lind provided the board with a recommended job description for a new high school principal. Zwingel has resigned his position as principal effective at the end of the school year. The job description and expectations were reviewed by the board. The board then voted to approve the job description and notice for the Rugby Junior/Senior High School principal position and to post the opening effective immediately.

Susie Schmaltz updated the board on a meeting held when North Dakota First Lady Betsy Dalrymple was in Rugby in December. At that time, Dalrymple met with some members of the Rugby community including Schmaltz about Imagination Library. It is a program that promotes reading. Every child in the school district may sign up to receive a free book delivered to their homes. It was started by Dolly Parton. Schmaltz would like Rugby residents to sponsor this program, however, it has a big commitment in that it costs $25/year/student. She did say that schools that are using the program have shown an increase in student reading skills. So far, the program is i