Despite the excitement that has marked school board meetings lately, the Austin Public School board is going to be fairly quiet Monday.

The Pacelli High School boys swimming and diving team will be part of Austin High School’s team starting next year, as both schools will enter into a co-operative agreement that board members are expected to approve. Pacelli students are already part of AHS’s Boys Tennis, Girls Swimming and Diving, Wrestling, Boys and Girls Hockey and Boys and Girls Soccer teams.

Board members will also do a first reading of revised Harassment and Violence, and Instructional Curriculum policies. District officials say only slight changes have been made to each policy. One of the key additions to the Harassment and Violence policy is the addition that people cannot be discriminated against due to genetic information, such as an illness.

Sumner summer ending soon

Board members aren’t the only district employees at work Monday. Sumner Elementary School teachers will be back at work Monday, receiving Language Arts training before school starts Aug. 1.

“The staff is really excited,” said Sumner Principal Sheila Berger.

Teachers will receive training for the Mondo reading program, a researched-based reading method for small learning groups.

District officials reviewed and updated the Language Arts curriculum for all Austin schools this year, adopting the Common Core Language Arts.

Minnesota Department of Education officials are expected to mandate Common Core standards at schools statewide by 2013, according to Jon Alberts, Austin’s educational services director.