By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A student built house at New York Mills School will soon have a new place to call home.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the NY Mills School Board approved a high bid of $92,735 for the two-bedroom, two-bathroom home. The house is 28’x52’ and will be moved from the back of the school by the highest bidder in the near future. 

The high bid was received by Mike and Patty Strayer and was the only bid the school district received this year. The minimum bid was set at $76,500. 

The house was constructed by students in Eric Niemi’s industrial arts class at the school. Proceeds from the sale will offset the costs of constructing the house with the profits being put back into the shop class to purchase additional tools and equipment. 

In other news

• Acknowledged the following donations: $2,000 from the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, $6,745 from the Eagle Booster Club for Dr. Dish Equipment and $3,000 from the NY Mills Lions Club for the girls basketball program.

• Accepted a donation of one percent of the staff development funds for the school district general fund. A state law mandates that two percent of the general education revenue must be reserved for staff development, but the teachers voted to return one percent of these funds for the general fund. 

• Approved an unrequested reduction of a preschool teaching position to .4 full-time equivalent due to a lack of registered preschool students for the 2024-25 school year. 

• Heard a presentation from Kristin Draeger from Lakeland Mental Health about the school district’s mental health services with the company.