The Northfield School District is considering adding a professional grant writing position to its staff.
Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said as the district has been going through the budget reduction process over the past two years, he heard over and over again that there are grants available to school districts for specific reasons. In the past those situations have not readily applied to what Northfield Public Schools have been doing because, he said, grant money does not typically supplant money the district has already been using.
However, the K-12 Education bill that was passed by the Minnesota Legislature this year offers some $230 million in competitive grants for items and programming in directions the district has already been moving. There are opportunities, he said, to either accelerate the progress of programs they have already been working on, or possibly even save money for the district’s general fund budget.
To that end, on Monday night, the Northfield School Board talked about adding the grant writing position, and changing the way the district has gone about things in the past.
“What we know is that when you’re looking at these specific grants from the Department of Education and a number of other ones as well, there is a skill to this. Right now, what we’ve been doing is kind of a patchwork of grant writing, with some folks from the community who have helped us out on occasion, some local or some of our existing staff doing that work.”
Hillmann said the district has generally worked with community partners like Northfield Promise and Healthy Community Initiative or relied on help from members of the community when applying for a grant, but there could be an advantage to bringing in a professional.
“There are some districts that don’t even bother applying for grants from the state because they know there are a number of districts who do have grant writers and they just don’t feel that they can compete. And so, we do think that this scenario would give us a competitive advantage. It could bring some new dollars into the district. It could help us accelerate our vision of preparing every student for lifelong success, and it’s a possible win for the district in a number of different ways.”
He also said that many of the grants that have been made available offer a certain percentage to be allowed for administrative costs, meaning that there is a possibility that the position could be paid for by the grants it generates.
The position, he said, could have other responsibilities as well, adding that there can be significant reporting responsibilities attached to grants that the position could handle.
The school board discussed the position at the meeting on Monday night and could be asked to vote on the creation at the next regular meeting on August 14th.
Night to Unite brings communities, public safety professionals, together
Party registration for Northfield’s Night to Unite is officially open.
Northfielders will celebrate the Night to Unite, formerly known as National Night Out, on August 1st this year, with neighborhood parties throughout the town.
A statement issued by the city said, “All registered hosts will receive a free party kit that includes activities for kids, compliments of the Northfield Police Department and the Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention.”
Night to Unite is an annual event held on the first Tuesday of August, which is meant to build community and promote safety in Northfield. A statement issued by the City of Northfield said, “When families know one another and communicate frequently, it can have a positive effect on the whole community.” The event is also meant to build positive connections between residents and law enforcement.
Police Chief Mark Elliot has spoken about Night to Unite in the past and called it “a really good opportunity to get to know your neighbors. That way you can make connections with the people who live around you and really look out for each other. That’s how we make our neighborhoods safer.”
Parties can receive a visit from representatives from the Northfield police department, the fire department, emergency medical services, the mayor, or city staff.
Registration forms in both English and Spanish can be found online on the Night to Unite page of the Northfield city website at northfieldmn.gov. They are also available at the Northfield Police Department
The deadline to register is July 21st. For more information, call the Northfield Police Department at 507-645-4477.
Ag Department receives $12.5 million to issue grants
Rice County has issued a statement supporting a survey put forth by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
The statement said MDA is looking for input from entrepreneurs, manufacturers and business owners about the needs of the state’s food business.
As part of a new initiative called the “Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program” the United States Department of Agriculture has awarded the MDA $12.5 million to invest in aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, and wholesaling and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including fruits and vegetables, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture and other food products. The program does not include meat or poultry due to existing programs for those products.
This is a significant investment by the federal government and the State of Minnesota. Most of the money will be distributed as grants, the rest will be used to provide business assistance.
As MDA works to develop a four-year plan to make this new initiative truly relevant to the needs and opportunities in Minnesota, it is asking for input via a 10-question survey. The questions ask about how people perceive the food producing industry, how they purchase their food, where they would like to see more investment, how they would like to see taxpayer support funneled to the food producing industry, and what geographic part of the state do they believe should receive support. It also offers an opportunity to sign up for notifications on the survey results.
For more information, or to take the survey visit surveymonkey.com/r/MNRFSI.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
