New carpet to replace tile in main lobby of the school

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Henning School students will no longer need to purchase a season pass or pay to attend a game at Henning School. 

During its regularly scheduled meeting last week, the Henning School Board approved a change in the 2025-26 fee schedule that will allow all Henning students free admission to all Henning Hornet and Otter Tail Central athletic events held at Henning School. The idea was spurred by school superintendent Melissa Sparks who said a handful of other schools have tried a similar proposal as a way to increase student attendance and school spirit at home athletic events. 

“I found three school that do that for students, which I think would be a nice thing for our kids,” said Sparks.

Previously, Henning School students were required to buy a season pass for $25 or pay $3 for each athletic contest they attend. It was not immediately clear at the time of the meeting how Henning students would be identified for admittance to games, whether they would be issued a special pass or use their student id, but the school district will investigate the best way to move forward with the plan. 

During the discussion of the proposal, several school board members said allowing students to come free to athletic events would also likely increase concessions which will also benefit the school district down the road.

In other news

• Accepted the following donations: $4,000 from the Ottertail Lions Club for school supplies, $2,500 from the Sons of Norway for Norwegian Culture Classes for All Ages Grant, $10,000 from West Central Initiative as part of the Improving Library Community Programming Access Grant and $1,500 from the American Red Cross for a scholarship.

• Accepted the following resignations: Kayla Lueders as teacher, Naomi Horn as junior high volleyball coach and Randy Misegades as junior high baseball coach. 

• Approved the hiring of Chelsie Kloeckl as an internationalist and Shandra Kurth as head cook. 

• Approved the business manager service agreement for the fiscal year 2026 with Freshwater at a cost not to exceed $46,200. 

• Approved a milk bid from Ten Finns Creamery for the 2025-26 school year for $30,250. The bid was approximately $800 below the next lowest bid from Prairie Farms. 

• Approved replacing the tile the main lobby and gym entrance not to exceed $8,685. Prior to the meeting superintendent Melissa Sparks received a quote from House 2 Home in Battle Lake to install a walk-off carpet to replace the current tile. Board members Kim Haugen and Andy Eckhoff said they would like to see the school district get more than one quote for a project. Haugen also asked about the longevity of installing carpet over the current tile system. 

• Appointed Kim Haugen as the Henning Public School Board representative for the OT FSC Governance Board for the 2025-26 school year.

• Heard an update from superintendent Melissa Sparks who said the school district has added three new students since the June board meeting, bringing the total new students to 12. She said the school district is not aware of any students leaving the school district at this time. 

• Heard the school district will offer Math League to students in grades 7-12. This will be similar to Math Masters that is offered to students in elementary school up to sixth grade. Competitions are primarily virtual and follow a format similar to Knowledge Bowl. 

• Heard from school board member Terry Oscarson about last month’s school board decision regarding not banning phones during the school day. She said some school districts in the area are considering a full ban. Sparks said the more she reads about banning phones in schools the more she would like the school district to reconsider its decision from last month that allowed students to use phones in passing time and during times like lunch/second breakfast. However, several school board members in attendance said they would like to enforce the school policy of allowing cell phones during passing periods, second chance breakfast and lunch this year after hearing that the school policy wasn’t widely enforced last year. 

• Approved there application for cooperative sponsorship for dance of the 2025-26 school year with Wadena-Deer Creek. 

• Held a closed session for preliminary consideration of allegations against an individual subject to the school board’s authority. 

• Heard construction on the replacement of the high school gym floor is underway. School custodians are currently removing portion of the gym floor, like the large hornet at mid court and the Hornets name under each basket to save for a potential future project.