St. Cloud District 742 Has Openings As School Year Approaches

The St. Cloud School District 742 school year will start next week but they are still in need of more paraprofessionals.  That according to St. Cloud School Superintendent Laurie Putnam.  She indicates after settling their contract with the union they have competitive rates of $20 an hour for paraprofessionals.  Putnam encourages anyone who is interested in making an impact on the lives of young people to apply for the job.  She says they have openings at most every school.  Putnam explains this could be an opportunity for parents to work at the same school their child is going to and go home when they go home.

Get our free mobile app

St. Cloud Schools bus driver routes are all filled.  Putnam says they are excited to have all the routes filled with time to spare.  She indicates filling all the bus driver positions has been a challenge since the pandemic.  Putnam says they also have drivers in training who could handle routes and get students to sporting events as well.

During the summer months some District 742 schools had HVAC work done including Apollo High School, Oak Hill Elementary and Discovery Elementary.  Putnam says both Oak Hill and Discovery's HVAC is fully installed and some finishing work is being done at Apollo.

One of the big changes for all public schools this year is free breakfast and lunch for all students.  Putnam says they are excited and ready to accommodate students with this.

The Minnesota legislature is offering clarification on how police and security deals with students in time of conflict.  Putnam says it still isn't clear how this will look but she's been communicating with St. Cloud Police Chief Jeff Oxton on a regular basis to make sure students will be safe when the school year begins.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Laurie Putnam it is available below.