The Litchfield School Board met last night and heard a report from Superintendent Susan Burris who reported that all is going well with the start of the school year. She says all three principals and Lyle Hicks from Hicks Bus agree that the year has started well.
Burris also reviewed her goals for 2025-2026 with a focus on connection, collaboration and coherence. She says she was able to take what she learned in her first year as superintendent and tie it into what she feels are the next steps.
Burris also noted that September is School Board Appreciation Month and she thanked the board members for all that they do. Board Chair Alex Carlson spoke about the all staff welcome event which was held the last week of August and Peter and Malinda Larson gave a great message about Peter’s positivity in a challenging situation. The Litchfield High School sophomore has been battling cancer this past year. Carlson also reported that Sunday’s open house at the Litchfield Area Recreation Center was well-attended.
Also last night, in the Consent Agenda, the Litchfield School Board approved of the first reading of a policy regarding student dress and appearance. The first statement in the policy encourages students to be dressed suitably (or appropriately) for school activities and in keeping with community standards.
Students at the School of St. Philip in Litchfield began their school year one week ago and are already in the midst of their annual Marathon fundraiser. The students will be walking around town on October 3rd.
Principal Andrea Dietrich says the students will have a picnic with their families this Thursday evening. She says they can always enroll more students and the benefits of attending St. Philip’s School include more one-on-one time with their teachers and having a religious component to their education.
Dietrich says they have a lot of students who are not Catholic. She says if you would like information about enrollment or if you would like to make a donation toward the Marathon campaign, call St. Philip’s Catholic School at 693-6283.
The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office responded to a motorcycle versus motor vehicle crash on Monday morning at 10:33 on County Road 5 at the intersection of 165th Avenue Southwest – two miles north of Roseland. A 2014 Yamaha motorcycle – driven by Yancy Evenson of Willmar – was southbound on County Road 5. A 2013 Ford Explorer was westbound on 165th Avenue Southwest – driven by Ryan Graupmann of Spicer. Evenson was transported by Raymond Ambulance to CentraCare Rice Hospital in Willmar with non-life-threatening injuries.
Assisting the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office was Raymond Ambulance, Raymond Fire Dept., CentraCare Ambulance, Blomkest Fire Dept., Blomkest First Responders, and the Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad.
Meeker County recently put together a strategic plan with a mission statement of “United to Lead, Driven to Serve.” The vision statement for the strategic plan is “Meeker County serves with integrity and purpose – building trust and partnerships to support the health, safety and well-being of communities where people choose to live, work and grow.”
Meeker County Administrator Andrew Letson says the plan was conceived with input from staff, department heads and the County Commissioners. He says the plan helps to develop goals which will be checked along the way, over the three years of the plan.
Letson says the strategic plan has four priorities – financial stewardship, assets & amenities, quality economic growth and organizational excellence – and there are strategies and goals within each of those areas. He says they want to make Meeker County a place where people want to live, work and thrive.
Letson says he’s been presenting budget information to the County Board as they get ready to develop a levy for 2026 and it’s the most challenging budget he’s had to work on as there are a lot of unfunded mandates being handed down from the state and federal governments. He says the levy increase is likely to be more than 9% as they proactively try to anticipate changes to SNAP, Medicaid, child protection processes and paid family medical leave – resulting in $1.5-million in new costs for 2026, 2027 and 2028.