Le Sueur-Henderson board summarizes secretarial contract outcomes; community members press for translator pay and staff explanations

A board member read a prepared statement before the public forum explaining legal limits on discussing personnel and student records and outlining the district’s recent secretarial-contract negotiations.

The statement said district negotiators and employee representatives met several times beginning April 29, 2024, and that the final agreement provided a 3.5% increase each year of a two-year contract ("an overall increase of 7%"), higher starting pay for new hires, longevity payments for staff with more than 20 years, and increases in the district’s contribution to health-care plans. The statement also described steps the district said it took to address interpreter workloads, including hiring a part-time position to reduce translation duties.

On interpreter compensation, the board’s summary recounted an offered enhancement of "65 cents per hour" for a designated secretary performing Spanish-language translation and interpretation effective July 1, 2024, with an annual review of workload and a sunset clause for the 2023–2025 contract period. According to the statement, the union presented a counteroffer described in the statement as "$7 per hour," and the parties ultimately agreed to drop the interpreter/translation provision from the final contract.

Several community members used the public forum to press the board on how those negotiation outcomes affected frontline staff.

"My heart is hurting," said Jen Hovic, a middle- and high-school teacher, urging adults to stop "publicly shaming individuals on social media" and to present "both sides of that story" before amplifying complaints. She said the district should model behavior it requires of students.

A speaker who identified herself as Norma urged the board to consider reinstating an employee who had performed translation duties, telling the board that Spanish-speaking families depend on the staff member’s work and that "everybody loves her."

Parent-volunteer and Facebook group moderator Kelsey Wagner said she appreciated an earlier safety meeting with administrators but raised specific concerns about the district’s handling of the secretary/translator position: "65 cents extra per hour is great but when they're doing two jobs ... you're hiring two separate people for it," she said, questioning whether the district’s approach was fair. Wagner also said staff reported that the board "disregarded the voice of their teachers and overruled an 80% vote of no confidence" regarding the superintendent contract and asked the board to explain that report; the allegation was raised in public comment and not rebutted at the forum.

The board’s prepared statement emphasized that privacy laws and ethical obligations limit what the board can disclose about individual employees or students and that when matters are not public record, "our only course of action is to follow the law and protect individual's rights to privacy." The statement also urged the public to use official policies and procedures to raise concerns about staff or student matters.

What happens next: the board said the negotiation summary was the most the district could share publicly about those contract talks. Public commenters requested additional transparency on staffing decisions and the interpreter role; the board did not provide new public details about the specific personnel matters discussed during negotiation, citing privacy constraints.

Sources and provenance: Board statement and negotiation summary read before public forum (board statement, SEG 041–SEG 226); public comments from Jen Hovic (SEG 277–SEG 349), Norma (SEG 351–SEG 385), and Kelsey Wagner (SEG 386–SEG 521).