Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton-Portage Township Schools Board members Nels Christopherson, Mike Salmi, Scott Leonard and Brent Burns talk at the end of Monday’s meeting.

HOUGHTON — Houghton-Portage Township Schools Superintendent Anders Hill updated the board on new projects under the district’s strategic plan at Monday’s meeting.

Hill and the district’s administrative team met in December to plot out year two initiatives.

One initiative is to expand career and technical education and workplace learning. High School Principal Tiffany Scullion and Micah Stipech took part in a planning and presentation at the Copper Country Intermediate School District to discuss future CTE programs and certificates.

“The majority of kids over there are Houghton kids, so we really want to have good input when we go to those things,” Hill said.

In response to the district’s safety audit last year, the district also has technicians working on placing additional security cameras on district property. The administration team also met on Friday to discuss a communication plan, Hill said.

As part of the professional development section of the plan, Hill is also pursuing national certification through the American Association of School Administrators.

“I was able to connect with the superintendent from a district by Indianapolis that actually teaches communication and public relations at Purdue University for superintendents, and he gave me some great ideas on things that I can do to support communication in our district,” he said. “So I would have never had that connection if I wasn’t involved in that national superintendent certification.”

In line with the strategic plan’s focus on tech support, the board approved an additional day of on-site Regional Educational Media Center service per week for the rest of the school year at an additional cost of $12,000. The move brings the district back to the historical norm of four days a week, which was dropped to three days a week at the start of the pandemic, Hill said.

The district is also looking at ways to address the space issues cropping up as enrollment grows. Hill is exploring short-term space solutions at the elementary school building. Administrators also met with consultants from IDI and Gundlach Champion last week.

The elementary building was last added to in 1998. Hill said any building expansion project would involve gathering input from the public before coming up with a plan.

“We want to make sure that our entire Houghton Portage-Township Schools and at-large community helps us with this, we want this to be something that people feel they can get behind,” he said. “… Challenges come with success, and space and growth are those challenges.”

In other action, the board:

• Heard a report from Middle School Principal Julie Filpus on the results of a survey mailed to parents last week asking how the curriculum should be expanded. Of 116 respondents, 30% would like to see an additional STEM class. Teachers are working on a nine-week science, technology, engineering and math class that can be built into the schedule, Filpus said.

• Retained the officers from the previous year, including Scott Leonard’s appointment as vice president in November. The board typically maintains officer assignments for a two-year period.

• Approved the dates and times for monthly meetings, which will continue to be at 6 p.m. on the third Monday of the month. The exceptions are February, where it will move to the fourth Monday to avoid midwinter break, and December, where meetings are traditionally held on the second Monday to avoid the hectic holiday schedule.