The Albert Lea school board started out a new year Monday evening by swearing in Election Day winners and discussing how members would be involved in various committees.

The board swore in new member Mark Ciota and returning members Sally Ehrhardt and Jill Marin. Both Marin and Ehrhardt have been on the board since January of 2007. Jeshua Erickson, who also won on Nov. 2, took his place on the board in November because he had filled a seat vacated by Bill Villarreal.

Superintendent Mike Funk on Monday proposed an idea about how committees could work. He said he’d seen another school board in the state have monthly school board meetings where members report interesting findings from their committees. Currently, the Albert Lea school board meets twice a month, once for a workshop and once for a meeting. Funk brought up the idea for discussion to see if the members were interested in a system where they would be more involved in their committees.

“Some board members can get more involved in what they’re interested in,” Funk said.

He said he wanted to talk through the idea before members decide what committees they’d like to be involved in. Funk also mentioned some changes to some committees. He said the negotiations committee would have less responsibilities since Jim Quiram started as director of human resources for the district. Funk also said the policy committee would need members who are invested in policies because many will be reviewed in the coming year.

“Policies need some serious revision,” Funk said.

Member Bill Leland said the board might consider having more than one member be a part of the technology, budget advisory and district curriculum committees because of their importance to the district.

New members Erickson and Ciota asked what their role would be in committees, and Funk said board members join committees to learn more about what is going on in the district so they can help advise the board as needed while making decisions.

When talking about the public relations committee the board discussed again writing guest columns in this newspaper to better reach the public and communicate what’s going on in the district.

Board members volunteered for various committees and positions on the board, all of which will be finalized during the Jan. 31 board meeting.

In other action, the Albert Lea school board approved a contract for different copy machines that was presented by Finance Director Lori Volz. The new contract will save the district a little more than $23,000 by switching companies.