Superintendent says district settled last bargaining unit, recommends rehiring former director

Superintendent Michael Carey on Sept. 22 told the Cloquet Public School District school board that the district has concluded its round of bargaining unit negotiations for the year and recommended rehiring a former director after interviews.

Carey said the district "did, settle our non certified admin support association contract this last week," describing the settlement as the final outstanding negotiation launched in spring. He said the agreement was reached on the previous Friday and would next be communicated to the bargaining unit and incorporated into the district’s contract documents before appearing on a future agenda.

On staffing, Carey said the district interviewed four candidates for a director position with a seven-person committee and "we're recommending that we rehire our former director Brock Wilton. He expressed some interest in coming back and so he ended up being the top candidate in terms of the committee's overall." The superintendent framed the recommendation as the committee’s top choice; the formal hire requires board action at a subsequent meeting or via the consent process when contract terms are complete.

Why it matters: The settlement concludes this year’s bargaining cycle for district employee units that launched in the spring. Rehiring a former director would restore a familiar administrator to a leadership role; Carey said the candidate expressed interest in returning and the committee ranked that candidate highest among four interviewed.

Next steps: Carey said the tentative settlement and the recommended hire require follow-up steps — communication with the bargaining unit and updating contract paperwork for final board consideration.