By Lori EhdeWhile students and teachers are wrapping up another year of learning, School Board members and administrators are preparing for the start of a new school year this fall.Much of that planning has to do with making sure all the positions are covered.This year, the district is working to fill six full-time positions and several additional coaching and part-time positions.Current second-grade teachers Bonnie Kirchhofer and Carol Goehle will retire at the end of this school year, and second-grade teacher Scott Jacobson also will not return this fall.The district may fill only two of those positions, depending on enrollment and state funding.Discovery Time preschool teacher Jane Gropel is also retiring, and Early Childhood Special Needs instructor Rhonda Winter moved from Luverne this year. The district has offered the 70 percent ECFN position to Tessa Lyle, but the Discovery Time position is still open.High School Choir Director Beth Behal is taking a three-year leave of absence to start a restaurant in Sioux Falls, so that full-time position will need to be filled during that time.John Oksness, who teaches science and chemistry and also is head boys golf coach, will retire this year. Those teaching positions and the golf coaching position will need to be filled.Other coaching positions that will need to be filled include head volleyball coach, head wrestling coach, and head boys hockey coach.Luverne’s Personnel Committee is comprised of Superintendent Vince Schaefer, High School Principal Gary Fisher, Middle School Principal Stacy Gillette and Elementary Principal Melody Tenhoff.Depending on the position, knowledgable teachers or staff members are occasionally brought in on the interview process.Schaefer said hiring to fill positions every year is an intense process. "There’s nothing more important than hiring," he said. "We take it very seriously and try to find the right match for our school."School Board Personnel Committee members Dan Kopp, Steve Toftleland and Colleen Deutsch are called on to assist in hiring decisions on administrative positions (principals and superintendents), when necessary.
