This morning, Jeff Johnson of KYMN Radio announced that he intends to retire this fall.
Johnson, who purchased the station in 2008, has worked at KYMN for the better part of 37 years. During his tenure he has held many roles, including sports director, news director, and sales. He was the voice of Carleton College football for several years on this radio station. When he took the reins as owner and General Manager, he also assigned himself the role of Morning Show host, where he has become a familiar voice to thousands of early-rising Northfielders.
As the owner, he said he has always sought to give the Northfield Community a voice and ensure that KYMN was always connected deeply to the community. He credited his radio mentor for instilling that philosophy in him.
“Working for Wayne Eddy for 15 years you learn – Wayne really instilled the idea that you serve the community. Anybody can play music if they want to or say something dumb on social media, but being responsible, and being responsible toward the community is certainly something I learned from Wayne.”
Johnson has an agreement in place to sell the radio station to the current KYMN News Director, Rich Larson, who intends to keep that same commitment to strong, Northfield-centric programming.
Johnson said he intends to sign off sometime this fall. He will stay on at the station for now, helping Larson work through the ownership transition. After that, he said, he would like to leave Minnesota during the cold weather months, but he will never be far from Northfield.
“KYMN will always have a place in my heart, and I’ll never be too far from it. And I will be a listener from here on out. I’m going to be around here right through the summer, through the transition and maybe after Defeat of Jesse James days, start thinking about following the sun somewhere. I will not be a stranger.”
Hillmann says attendance issues due to ‘shifting societal norms’
The New York Times recently published a story shining a light on the problems school districts across the country are having with consistent student attendance in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Times, chronic absenteeism has doubled since 2020. Consistent attendance as defined by the Minnesota Department of Education, is attending 90% of school days in one year. In a 173-day school year, such as Northfield’s, that translates to missing no more than 17 days a year.
On Monday night the Northfield School Board heard a presentation from the Director of Instructional Services Hope Langston on the state of attendance in Northfield, and the numbers show that Northfield is experiencing the same issues as every other district in the country.
The latest numbers show that 80% of students miss less than 17 days of school. That compares favorably with most districts across the country who can average anywhere from 81% to 68%. On the whole, the country is averaging 72% consistent attendance.
Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said there are several reasons for the change since the pandemic, but the biggest one is the shifting of societal values. Just as more people are considering quality of life, and the amount of time spent working when evaluating their job, many families are looking at the amount of time their kids spend in school, and do not necessarily value attendance the way they used to. Families have been told if their child is not feeling well, they should stay home. Many families are taking vacations at a time that better aligns with their own needs, rather than when the school calendar allows for it. School districts, he said, are left to make adjustments to what may well be the new normal.
“We want every student in school every day. Of course we want that. That’s what our goal is. But society is resetting itself right now. And remember, public schools are a microcosm of society. You could read a similar article about the advent of remote work, not necessarily being at my place of work, but working from somewhere else. And so, everybody is resetting what these norms are.”
The Northfield School District, of course, still takes chronic absenteeism very seriously. There is a system in place to check on kids who are missing more time than they should that Hillmann characterized as “relentless,” and said they will always work to find out why a kid is missing too much school.
“When we see a student who is missing more than they should, we have family engagement navigators. We have attendance folks who follow up with them individually. And then if we see students who have this ongoing piece, we have another layer of support for them to be able to help. Is there something else that is causing them not to be as well? How can we help make sure that they continue their educational journey?”
Despite the troubles and the increased absenteeism, Dr. Hillmann said that from day-to-day, 93% of Northfield students are in school, which is far out ahead of the national average.
KYMN News 4/10/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
