Minnesotaâs first case of COVID-19 was identified on March 6, 2020. Since then, Itasca County has seen 3,141 cases, 46 deaths, 221 hospitalizations, 49 intensive care unit stays, and 9,297 first vaccinations.Â
âWhat a year,â said Kelly Chandler, Itasca County Public Health division manager. âWe did not know in March 2020 how COVID spread; now we know it is primarily airborne. We know that good hygiene, including hand washing, is important, but even more important is masking to prevent the droplets carrying the virus from spreading to others.
âA year ago, we did not know that you could spread COVID prior to showing symptoms. Now we know you can spread it two days prior to showing symptoms or even without showing symptoms at all.
Â
The Greenway School Board met for the first time since a special election was held at the beginning of the year to vote in three new board members. The current board now consists of Chair Bob Schwartz, Bill Hoeft, LaNea Randall-Johnson, Carissa McIlwain-Nelson, Ryan Johns and Mary Kay Jacobson. New board members got right down to business as the board went through a revision of the ISD 316 budget.Â
Revised Budget
District Business Manager Randi Jurgansen presented board members with a revised budget for fiscal year 2021. The projected ending balance of the budget is $2,505,100. Jurgansen explained how the district operates out of nine funds that can be classified as either nonspendable, restricted, committed, assigned and unassigned. Much of the districtâs funding is based on the amount of students it serves. In September 2020, the district started the school year with 1,021 students. As of Feb. 16, the total number of students was at 997.Â