Author: Jim Bayer

The Eden Prairie School Board Sept. 13 unanimously approved a two-year contract with the Eden Prairie Education Association (EPEA), the union that represents most district teachers, that includes a 2.75% pay increase each year. The contract is effective July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023. Other impacts of the contract include: no increases in the district contribution to employee health insurance. teachers married to another Eden Prairie Schools’ employee, and who elects family health insurance, will receive a district contribution towards family health insurance equal to two times the district contribution for single coverage. sets hourly rates for teacher training…

Eden Prairie Police received a report at 7:53 a.m. Sept. 14 of the discovery of the body of an adult male along Hennepin Town Road, north of Pioneer Trail. The body fits the description of missing Mike Elhard, according to press release. The location of the found body is less than a mile from Elhard’s residence. The initial investigation did not indicate foul play, the release said, but police are conducting a full investigation with assistance from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner’s office will determine the cause of death…

EPLN published a follow-up article to this story with additional information on Sept. 14, 2021. Community residents and Eden Prairie police are searching for an Eden Prairie man who left his home for a run at 10 a.m. Sept. 13 and had not returned home as of about 8:30 p.m., according to his wife. In a Facebook post at around 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13, Kristi Elhard reported that her husband, Mike, 39, left on foot wearing running shorts, a running shirt, a black visor and black and white Brooks running shoes. He was not carrying his wallet or an I.D.,…

Sixteen 14U and 16U girls fastpitch softball teams played in the Mandy Matula Memorial Fastpitch Tournament Sept. 11 at Miller Park in Eden Prairie. Tournament proceeds benefit the Mandy Matula Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor of Matula, who played softball at Eden Prairie High School and the University of Minneosota-Duluth, and mentored young players with the Eden Prairie Fastpitch Association. Matula was a victim of domestic abuse in 2013 at the age of 24. The event raised $4,000 for scholarships that are awarded annually to Eden Prairie softball players. Photos by Jim Bayer

Twelve high school marching bands from Minnesota and South Dakota, including the Eden Prairie Eagle Marching Band, gathered at Eden Prairie High School Sept. 11 to compete in the 29th annual Prairie Colors Marching Band Festival. Eden Prairie’s 80+ member band is comprised of 9th through 12th graders and includes a drumline, brass and woodwind sections, color guard and frontline. Bands from Champlin Park, Anoka, Andover, Minnetonka, Rochester Lourdes, Hastings, Waseca, Brandon Valley, Grand Rapids, Marshall, and Eastview joined Eden Prairie. Proceeds of the event support the Eden Prairie High School Marching Band. Photos by Jim Bayer

Eden Prairie’s school board will vote Sept. 13 on a contract agreement ratified by members of the Eden Prairie Education Association which represents most of the district’s teachers, according to a district representative. A separate agreement also includes the Eden Prairie Preschool Education Association, which represents the district’s preschool teachers, according to Brett Johnson, senior director of communications and community relations. Details of the agreement are not included in the meeting agenda published on the district’s website. The contract agreements are the only agenda items on the brief business meeting. Board vacancy on workshop agenda The board likely didn’t expect…

I was reading a touching story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today. It was about an adopted woman who discovered that her biological father was one of the people who fought terrorists aboard a doomed airplane on Sept. 11, 2001. Then I read the reader comments. “We have forgotten. We have forgotten that feeling of all Americans being on the same side. We have forgotten all the kindness shown to others in the aftermath of this horrific attack. We have forgotten how to be a united country.” “Could we not relive 9/11 every two minutes? Yes, it was awful. And…

More than 2,000 students and staff will walk through the doors of Central Middle School (CMS) Sept. 8 and be greeted by a completely renovated building with new classrooms, a new gym and a whole new grade level. Sixth graders who would normally be the big kids on the block at their former elementary schools will now be the youngest in a school of 1,900 students. Sixth grade students will be required to wear masks indoors as part of the district’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy. The building’s design and students’ schedules will limit contact between them and 7th and 8th graders…

Central Middle School (CMS) students who participate on high school sports teams this fall and the rest of the school year likely will be late for practices and need to leave school early to go to games thanks to the change in school hours this year. Leaving school early to attend practices or games will be left to the 30 to 40 CMS students who participate in high school sports, their parents and their teachers to figure out, according to Brett Johnson, senior director of community relations and communications. Otherwise, Johnson doesn’t expect a lot to change for CMS students…

Beth Fletcher, who was elected to the Eden Prairie School Board in Nov. 2020 and elected vice chair, has announced her intention to resign her board seat early this school year due to a move to Atlanta, Georgia. In her letter to Superintendent Josh Swanson and board members, Fletcher said that “…a very sudden and amazing opportunity was offered to our family and we have accepted.” Fletcher said her actual resignation date is still up in the air. “My official last day has yet to be determined,” she said, “as this is all happening very quickly, and we don’t know…