NYM School to seek in-person speech option
News | Published on February 4, 2025 at 4:10pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
It may not be easy, but Adam Johnson said he is hoping to transition the New York Mills School District to an in-person speech language pathologist format. While the school board agreed with Johnson’s approach, both sides said finding the right person will be a tough task at hand.
During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the NY Mills School Board approved advertising for a new speech language pathologist. Currently the school district contracts speech pathologist services with eLuma, but the virtual nature of the current arrangement, and the overall cost for a virtual speech language pathologist, has made the school district look at other options.
“That was the biggest thing. eLuma was good. It was super helpful, but you are staring at a computer screen,” said Johnson. “It’s a tough position to fill, but we will get it out there.”
School board member Kristina Ehnert said eLuma is very expensive, especially since their interactions with students are done virtually and not in person. She said the cost of hiring a speech language pathologist to meet with students in person should be close, if not even a bit less, than the cost of the arrangement with eLuma She agreed with Johnson that having a person face-to-face, and not through a computer screen, would be good thing for NY Mills School students.
Elementary principal Judith Brockway also spoke out in favor of finding a person to fill the position to meet with students face-to-face. She said eLuma is in high demand and students/staff members need to work around the company’s schedule to fill open time slots. That means NY Mills School may not always get the most convenient times to work with students within the school district.
“You have to go with their schedule and if you don’t get yours (schedule) submitted first you don’t get the best schedule,” she said.
While the school board agreed to advertise for the position, Johnson warned it will be a challenging position to fill. Nonetheless, he said the school district cannot fill the position if it doesn’t actively seek applicants.
In other news
• Heard an update from band teacher Cary Armagost about the 2026 band trip to Disney World and Florida.
• Acknowledged the following donations: $500 from Viking Coca-Cola for the scholarship fund (forwarded to Footprints), $1,000 from the Wolf Lake baseball club for the trap team and $2,500 from the NY Mills Lions Club to the booster club for a malt machine.
• Approved the following resignations: Grace Christenson as a paraprofessional and Doug Salo as a fifth grade classroom teacher and drivers training teacher effective May 31.
• Approved the following appointments: Heidi Swenson as a long-term substitute teacher and Carol Tornquist as a long-term substitute teacher.
• Approved setting February 10 as a school board workshop at 5:30 p.m.