001Maybe a little honestly learn >> I got it on Netflix tonight. I got my excuse me >> that's one thing that's different. >> Right. Exactly. Exactly. I mean not just I think you're going to like it. >> No. To down to the last minute. Oh, I think >> I I have not seen it yet. Just let me know. >> They're just ready. >> And that's what I'm going to try. >> Ella's dela. Yeah. >> All right. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the board of education meeting. If you will please stand with me for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and [clears throat] to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
002>> Thank you. >> Is there a motion to approve the agenda? Second. >> Thank you. All in favor say I. I. >> Roll call finds us all present with um the exception of Sarah. She will be with us shortly. Um I seek a motion to approve the regular board of education meeting minutes of October 28, 2025 and close session meeting minutes of October 28, 2025. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Now to the good stuff. our student representatives. Um, we have Central High School Caitlyn Marver, George Warner, um, Derek Deona, and A2 Eric Riley. And I hope everyone decides who's going first or rock, paper, scissor. >> Derek, yours is that you're far. >> Dererick, you all the way on the end. You're in
003the middle. And Eric, you on the end there. >> [laughter] >> Who's going first? >> I don't mind going first. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Caitlyn Marver. I am happy to be returning as the school representative for Central High School in my senior year. Just to share a little bit about myself, I am involved in dual credit courses with Lakes Shore College. currently taking psychology this semester and I will be taking accounting next semester. For my plans after high school, I'm thinking about getting into mechanical work and continuing my education at Lakesure College. During the first three months of school, we were pretty busy with a different uh things. It's September September. [clears throat] Our new ninth and tth grade students kicked off the school year by completing a
004day of team building and ropes course activities with the teachers at Camp Lakota. October 7th was a busy day for central students. We had two different activities going on. Our ninth and tth graders did a tour of the UWGB Choen campus. At the same time, we had a pathways to your future event at Central for our 11th and 12th graders. At this event, students got to hear about many different careers and participated in a career fair. In our advisory period, we recently celebrated manufacturing month in October with several activities that ended with a schoolwide food competition to build the best bridge with spaghetti and marshmallows. Just two weeks ago, our junior class participated in mock interviews with volunteers from a number of area businesses. After going through that experience last year, I feel more prepared
005for questions that might be asked in an actual interview. I will close with some upcoming events at Central. Today, we wrapped up our first trimester and we begin trimester 2 next week. We have several holiday traditions at Central that we look forward to, such as door decorating as we approach the holidays. And that concludes my report for Central High School. >> Thank you, Kaitlin. Any questions for Kayla? >> Thank you for your report. >> All right, Derek. Eric, >> I can go next. >> Um, hello. I am Eric Riley. I'm a junior at A2. This is my second year at the school, however, and this is my first time being the rep. Uh the choice to join Etude started when I left a virtual school that I took freshman year and decided to choose this
006one. Um due to reviews I heard from uh my friend's parents who had told that the school was uh equipped with helpful teachers who would try everything in their power to help their students succeed. Uh and then my choice to stay at Etude came from the first year I had there which being a new student in starting my sophomore year. It was a bit uncomfortable. Uh but the teachers and students did an amazing job at removing any fear I had about fitting in at all. Uh I was worried I wouldn't understand because I didn't know how to use Chromebooks or navigate specific social situations. But because of how the school was arranged, none of those fears I had came true. I ended up making a lot of new friends in the advisory I was given
007fairly quickly and the teachers all took time to help me learn uh everything I needed to know about how to use the Chromebooks, what classes were like, and how I was um able to uh continue going after such a big transition. In the end, I've currently been loving the school and haven't questioned a different one, not even once. Uh during the first quarter uh this summer wrap-up, two seniors Juno and Kota attended a world affairs seminar at Carol University global politics. Um it is a week-long thing where they talk about situations. Uh this year's theme was building lasting peace. Um in the same student junior this year, Anastasia represented uh Etude at the Wisconsin Leadership Seminar Kerry University. uh she had learned new leadership skills through community building activities with other students from across the
008entire state of Wisconsin. This year for events so far, we've had a costume dance that contained live music with some student bands uh uh the student bands being the doororknobs and the Buffalo Buds where we also had a studentr run upcoming game night uh on December 12th. In terms of college prep, two of our juniors, juniors and seniors attended of a uh Wisconsin education fair at Lakeland University, two students have successfully completed the CNA classes at Lakeshore College through the Stark College Now program and are currently studying to take the state CNA exam. Three of our students are currently studying humanity classes at Lakeland University and four students are taking classes at W Green Bay through the early college credit program. Uh at in terms of the interns at our school, we currently have five
009interns this year. Uh three of them are for Addie, our humanities teacher, and two of them are Rose, our science teacher. Uh in terms of uh Rose's interns, we have Anastasia, Kalin, and Juno. A basic description is their job is to run our social media page and post things on our events and for special occasions made by the specific students. Uh, something that they wanted me to mention is that they basically just do whatever Addie says and they are puppets and she is the mastermind. [laughter] >> Uh, Juno would like to mention that participating in the ET social media had helped her interact with her with their peers more. >> Uh, for uh, Rose's interns, there's Zach and Jasper. They are twins and their jobs include taking care of the animals, watching over the [snorts]
010plants all around the building and overall keeping the work the science room a steady workspace considering there's many animals there. Zack Zach wanted me to mention that quote bunnies are stinky. Um and then that will conclude it. >> Thank you, Eric. Any questions for Eric? >> Welcome. We appreciate hearing your story. >> Yes. Thank you. Tell your friends thank you for the suggestions because I'll let them know what their suggestions. >> All right, Derek, you're next. >> Hi. Uh, hi everyone. I'm Derek Deona. I am a junior from George D. Warner High School and I will be giving the school report for our school. I did this a couple times previously and this will be the first time I do it this year. Um, I will talk about some of the activities we have been
011involved in and have lined up, including some of our academic activities. Um, we just had eight new students inducted into the National Honor Society. Um, the induction ceremony took place on the 11th and they will be doing service activities throughout the year. Um recently the students of our school have been getting good grades with approximately 38% of the student body making honor roll or high honor roll the first quarter. Um this semester we have a cohort of nine students in the University of Wisconsin pre rising Phoenix program or like the or which is dual credit. um they are the students in that which includes me are preparing for their college exams and finishing their final projects and are building their schedules for next semester. Um we also had approximately 60 students go to the UW
012Green Bay um campus which not the Shbboan one but the one actually in Green Bay. So, um, this was part of an annual series where students go on a college tour in the fall semester and visit local businesses in the spring semester. Um, 50 students visited the John Michael Color Art Center on November 12th. And the student council organized a fall festival in October. Um, the art club, I'm sorry, is working on murals in the stu school hallways and the esports team is gearing up for their competition season this winter. something they have practiced sorry been practicing twice a year for um we also have six students from our school uh are preparing for the junior achievement stock market challenge and that's going to take place at Johnsonville um they've done this the last two
013years I mean I think that's how long the competition has been running so um the mood students who visit the park on Tuesdays and Thursdays planted trees with the Lake Michigan Bird Observatory for a project the organization has been working on. Um our school has also been recently uh did our friendship bracelet week which is something we do every year. Um and also the students in our Holocaust history class went to the movie Cedar theater to see Nuremberg which is relevant to the subject of the class. Um that concludes my report. Does anyone have any questions? took the words right out of my mouth. >> You heard them all questions. >> All right. >> Very thorough. All of you. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> I know it's probably hard to speak in front of
014all of us. We really appreciate it. So, thank you. >> Enjoy the rest of your night. >> Thank you. You, too. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next we have um North High students recogn recognitions uh for their accomplishments. >> Uh Tony Johannes. >> So what we're going to do is we're going to call you can call them up. I got these certificates here. Okay. Come on up here. I'm so shy. I'm trying to avoid the camera. [laughter] Not part of Oh, okay. Uh thank you for this opportunity to recognize some really outstanding math students from North High School. Uh each year Lakeland University uh runs a math competition. It's the largest high school math meet in the state of Wisconsin. Uh every high school in the area sends teams. They've now opened it up
015to across the state and several schools from the Fox Valley also come. Um so it's a very large competition. We were we did very well and appreciate the chance to kind of show them off here. Um, several members of the team are here, but kind of a blessing and a curse. Uh, the other members would like to be here, but they're busy representing North in swimming and basketball and some some other things. Uh, so the team, and when I call off your name, if you're here, please come on up. The full team um was Will Tarowski. Uh, he also took the number one spot for individual scores. Uh, Mason Pond, Griffin Pond, and Truman Pond, they're all swimming. Um, Isaac Anderson was honorable mention within the individual awards as well. Uh, Sam Bruski, uh, Alli
016Tarowski, and then Alex Haney was also honorable mention. >> Parents, if you want to take pictures, you're more than welcome to come up. Thank you. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> We have accountants, mathematics, man. Loving it. Thank you all for coming and thank you parents for being here and supporting your your kids. Uh we love the the accolades that they're getting and how they're representing our district in the community community. So, thank you. All right. Okay, next we have community input. Anybody here for community input? Community input. All right. Next, we have the superintendent report. Dr. Conrad. Yes, sir. So, we'll start out with uh congratulations to Nicole Sundali and Lisa Keeps from our communications team. It's probably I think probably about a year or two ago that I asked them to start with a um
017a community [clears throat] newsletter and then the summer really start with a community report. Um and they obviously took both of those tasks extremely seriously. uh they've gotten really good feedback from the community on those um publications and then recently were awarded um the top level prizes through Whisper which is the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association for both of those publications and I think kind of the uh the best part of that is they get graded very um objectively by a panel of judges that don't necessarily um know any other categories or any other details. So there it's it's it's merit-based great publications and great work by those two. So we want to highlight them for doing that and they did it at a time when they were moving over to a new website, creating
018a new app, starting this on instate all their work. So congratulations to them. Um, North High Career Expo, second annual, um, Career Expo at North High School, over 1500 students, and 50 employers, uh, community partners. Uh, really just a great opportunities for our kids to learn more about possible careers. So, a neat day at North High is our code event. So, that is December 11th from 6:30 to 7:30 again at South High School. just a neat opportunity. Um, show up, learn about coding. Uh, it's event is sponsored by Acuty. So, we thank them for their partnership. Uh, and really a fun thing for for kids to participate in. SPEF did their all-in for education on November 7th at Pine Hills. It was sold out. So, great event. I gave up my seat. um got an
019extra poker player in there and just a good night for um the students and and obviously for our district as that money flows back to support scholarships and and teachers. So, we're appreciative of that work. Homeless uh support and aware awareness month. So, you saw all the purple flags and everything as you walk in. We certainly serve a large number of homeless students in our in our district. Uh it's really important that they're in our in our consideration every single day, but we take this month to uh put awareness out there about them and make sure that we continue to support them through McKinto. Um obviously those those funds are always on the chopping block as well. So it's really important that we understand the needs of our communities and our students that we continue
020to advocate so that we can serve them to the best of our abilities. Um, and then the last thing I want to talk about a little bit and some of you had the opportunity to attend was just our Veterans Day at South High School and um, such a great event and you could hear a pin drop in that gym um, throughout the entire event. Just really proud of our students. Um, they take it so seriously. They come in and they're so respectful. And it was really led by three Saltai students who just did a [laughter] phenomenal job. Lee Hinan did a great job with the um the band and and our choir was great. Um and so many veterans came up to me afterwards and thank me for the event, right? Which is is not
021the way that day is supposed to go. We should be thanking them, but they're just so appreciative of our district, so impressed with our students, um and so happy that we invite them in on that day. So, really a nice day at South High School. uh we want to make sure that South High gets the recognition they deserve for putting on such a great event for our events. So that is what I have for the month of November. >> Thank you Dr. Conrad. Anyone have any followup questions for them? >> The uh the coding event is that aimed at high school students or a broader >> Yeah, that's everyone >> like middle school. >> Thank you. Thank you, Peter. Anyone else? All right. Thank you, Dr. Conrad. Um, next we have the roots LNRP SASD
022collaboration project. Um, Mr. Fesler, um, Jacob Berer, Amy Lance, Patricia, >> thank you. [laughter] >> That whole group is in here, but >> yeah, >> the poor is here. >> I'm Sam. Mr. President, members of the board and the superintendent and your staff, uh we've asked for a few minutes to bring you up to date in a project that really was kicked off by this board uh about a year and a half ago. In the winter of 2024, um, Lakes Shore National Resource Partnership and the Shabboan Rotary Club Restoration American, the roots acronym, um, came to this board and proposed a reforesta educational reforestation program that would involve uh, your staff, your faculty, and in particular students with our two organizations to look at your properties to evaluate reforestation needs in light of emerald ashbor
023and some of the other losses that you had and like all of the other area in this part of Wisconsin tremendous loss of tree canopies has occurred. Um we proposed to do that using seed money from the state of Wisconsin and then bringing our own financial resources to bear and working with you. So what we've been at for about the last year and a half is actively making something happen here. And rather than my go into a long presentation or our partners from LNRP do that, we'd like one of your own who has really been key and essential to this uh program and you probably know David Miller who is the botany uh instructor and teacher at North who has been key and essential to what we've done. Uh I think you'll be impressed with
024the accomplishments. This is a program that is like none other in the state of Wisconsin. It's a lead program. It's one of the reasons that we received initial seed funding from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to do it. So, David's got a PowerPoint he's put together. Um, and I'm going to turn it over to him and I think you'll find this interesting and a source of considerable pride for the district. David. >> All right. Thanks everybody so much for your time tonight. So, I'll kind of hit the high points of our project here. So, just kind of skipping over, you know, about us. Three of us are represented here tonight. Obviously, Tony, myself, and uh and Sam. Um so um just a quick overview of what we've done to date in the past year
025and a half. We have successfully planted uh to date uh six SASD campuses um starting with Grand Cooper last fall which uh thank you to Mr. Ler and uh Dr. Conrath for joining us. So we'll see some photos of those plantings later on. Um so I really appreciated our the presence we had there as well as the media. Um so then we followed that up by doing North High and Pigeon River last spring. a bigger amount of trees were done there. Uh and then we were fortunate this fall to uh pull off South High and Jackson. We couldn't very well do the north side of town without giving some love and respect and some trees to South High cuz uh there needs to be there need be no rivalries in the world of trees. So
026we've currently planted uh 217 trees in total. You can see all a more itemized list of where we planted what. Obviously Pigeon River being a larger property having more available space, we planted more there. consequently in addition to Jackson. Uh so a really great event that happened uh this this fall. So essentially our process is all the tree species have to first be vetted by the DNR to make sure you know number one they're not ash or anything that's likely to undergo susceptibility of of any sort of pest in the near future. So we we take that very seriously once we get them okay. Um, I then present maps uh of potential locations to uh Joe Wulmer and other folks at uh district uh grounds. Um which then we kind of go back and forth
027like okay, we can eliminate that one. We can this one's okay. We might push snow there. Maybe there's an underground utility there that we haven't foreseen. So we we figure that out. Then we do of course collaborate with grounds of maintenance on the placement, the watering, and the care of the trees. Where's the funding coming from? You might be wondering. Tony kind of alluded to this $25,000 is coming from our DNR urban forestry grant and the other $25,000 which hasn't all been expended today, but 11,000 has been uh spent um and has been coming from the Shabboan Rotary Roots uh community investment fund and they've committed to match that 25,000. So an additional 14 to what's already been expended uh going forward uh as need be. Um, so LNRP also is able to track the
028volunteer hours, which are significant. Um, and if we were to monetize those volunteer hours, that's $25,000 of additional hours and and just manpower hours invested by our volunteers. There is an algorithm for that of how much, you know, I think $15 an hour or something that goes into this. And um so we've so they've kept track of that and that's what's going into us applying for our next grant which we hope to secure uh going forward to keep this process going and keep this keep the train moving so to speak. So, the project funding covers the cost of the trees themselves, the cost of our stump digging, which of course has to happen uh shortly before, not too long before the trees go in the ground because we don't want active holes on the campuses
029for any longer than 1 to two days, especially in elementary school campuses where that hole looks like a fun uh meteor crater or something to a a kid who might really find it intriguing. Um, so also we need to make sure our trees are staked and strapped and secured for the first year to secure them from winds to also prevent vandalism. Um, and to make sure that they do make it through that first year. Um, so our mission of this whole project is really to, you know, first and foremost offset local carbon emissions, slow the effects, if only locally of climate change, right? our the large scientific consensus globally is pointing towards you know fact that our planet is warming at an unprecedented rate um kind of make up for some of the losses we're
030seeing with the EAB emerald ashbor to really provide educational opportunities for students to take pride and have a stake in their in their campuses uh and say you know 20 years from now oh I planted that tree so maybe they're able to bring their kids out to the same campus where they attended to that's really powerful to see how you know generationally we can see um this project kind of take shape. So also there's existing curricula um in the state leaf and keep are two curricula of uh W Stevens Point. we can kind of expand upon those urban forestry curriculum and really as Tony notion just to kind of uh hearken back uh this really is a first project of its kind and we hope to use this as a prototype that could be extended
031well beyond to much larger cities and cities um you know who could really uh take this and run with it. So that's what we want. So, in terms of what you're looking at here, this is my process in terms of how visually I I kind of uh go through. I have a draft map. Once the locations are okayed, we finalize the map. I color code it based on what the tree types are. Um, and that lets our volunteers know ultimately where are the trees going because when I hand them a tree and a map, it's not always a given that the right tree ends up in the at the right hole. So, I we have to sometimes do some switches, but it really allows things to run smoothly and I can kind of get a
032nice overlay of a campus that I might not be familiar with. Now, my home campus, North High, I know it like the back of my hand, but um you know, whereas South was a little bit um you know, more challenging for me to get kind of the lay of the land, figure out what are the athletic fields used for, where should we plant trees, what distance from fences with mowers. I've learned a lot about spacing and size of mowers and uh and you know making sure we don't have too much leaf drop on tennis courts and all the little nuts and bolts that you wouldn't necessarily think about intuitively when you're when you're thinking about how hard can trees really be it takes a lot of work. Um, so this is essentially kind of the
033product that I would hand to volunteers and the communication that I use between myself and the other um and the other players in this. Um, of course, every single planting event starts with a demonstration performed by myself in addition to uh to others, but we have our volunteers there keenly observing. And I I appreciate their uh diligence on usually these cold October mornings or maybe rainy November mornings like we pushed it into November this year. Uh we demonstrate how to stake the tree, how to get it at the right level, not plant it too deep. Um but the volunteers are really the real stars of this operation. these. So, I was fortunate I've been really grateful and blessed to have so many of my own students and my own uh Interact Club um students and
034members to join us because I'm I'm also fortunate to run Interact which is kind of the the student affiliate of Rotary and that's kind of how I met Tony and Jacob in the first place and connected with them. So, we've had some great student turnout probably two dozen to 30 volunteers at each of the events and thank you um you know Dr. Conrath shown there and uh Patrick Niles, principal of grants. We've had some really good public engagement in it and it's something that I we really pride ourselves on. We've had some good media engagement in it, too. Not like that's the reason that you do it, but it's nice to have some visibility of the projects, too. So, thanks to the sun. And our next steps are going to be essentially reapplying for further
035funding from the state. Uh we're also seeking out private donors, organizations to help kind of add to um the pool of resources that we can use to um to go ahead and you know spur the next step on. And we're actively monitoring the tree health and just this fall replaced about seven trees out of the 200 that that didn't make it because inevitably you're not going to have 100% success rate. It's I think to date it's somewhere like 94 95. So, you know, um, and I'll leave you with maybe just a couple quotes. My favorite of which, the Chinese proverb, the best time to plant the tree was 20 years ago. But the second best time is now. And that's of course my timer. So, I don't want to take any more time. Are there
036any qu there any questions? >> That's impressive. >> Okay, >> I can't help but just remind you of one thing. This has not cost your budget uh a dime. um other than David's time which has been substantial but this is something we're doing if you would as an add-on that isn't anywhere in your budget lines at all. We've been fortunate obviously to have the DNR step in but the rest of this is private money and as David says if you monetize the volunteer hours we're north of 25,000 in volunteer hours easily. It may be clo this whole project at this point just with six campuses is probably a value of $100,000 to the district and I've got to think that you have other uses for your resources and you're probably happy that some of this
037is being done for you. So we'll open if you have if there's time you have any questions we'd be happy to try to answer them for you. >> Okay. >> First of all thank you very much. I think this is a just an amazing project. It's so good for the kids. It's so good for the community. So thank you We're we're trying to demonstrate here that [clears throat] in terms of global warming and the environmental issues here that we engage students not just in the talk that we all hear about in the media and with the politics that goes into this. But the these kids are really doing something here. They're engaged and we've started to work with your curriculum folks as well to perhaps roll in reforestation as a bigger issue in some of
038your STEM uh curriculum at all levels. That's a ways to go. But one of the things we told the DNR we'd like to do is work with your We're not going to obviously tell you about curriculum. We're the experts on that. But we would like to work with you on that and see if we can develop the curriculum so that students feel engaged in this. They're doing something. It's hands-on application of what they're learning. >> Okay. Thank you. My my question is, what kinds of trees did you plant and what do you recommend for wet areas? >> I asked this from a I'm being transparent. [laughter] We live on the south side where Fisherman's Creek runs through. And if you look from 12th Street to the Lake Shore Drive, if you look at that, you're
039going to see that most of that was ash. uh we lost threequarters of the woods uh in that area and part of that area is a wetlands. So from a purely selfish perspective experts here, what do you what did you recommend planting when you took the ash out? >> Yeah, so swamp white oak and river birch would be my two top contenders for you in that area. Those were what we planted along the northern exterior of Jackson Elementary, which I hear is very wet now. It was very dry when I was there, so I was kind of just trying to imagine it as looking different. Um, so yeah, swamp white oak is a really good one to look for in wet areas, as well as river birch. Um, you know, they live down in these
040kind of uh um, you know, what we call riparian areas, which are riverside ecosystems. And as the name implies, it grows well in wetlands. Uh, you know, willows are options, but we we haven't planted willows on campuses due to the fact that, you know, any of the branches could the kids could rip them off and whack each other with them. Um, something that, you know, Joe Joe Bulmer was keen to remind me of [laughter] and but wasn't really a contender. And they're messy, too. They're messier. >> But they're [laughter] but yeah, from a resident and a property owner perspective, non from a non-school district perspective, Willows would be a good good option there, too. I appreciate you. >> Yeah. Well, thank you so much for your question. Yeah, >> the bill is in the mail.
041[laughter] >> Say, do you want him to just swing by your house? >> Do you know when I can come with a shovel? [laughter] >> Okay, >> we're good. >> I'm sorry. >> We have people who know things. [laughter] >> We're not mad at you. We're just saying, >> we're there for you. >> Our bill is in the mail. Okay, >> any other questions? >> I'm genuinely excited as a North High Environmental Club alumni. 2006 we were twiddling our thumbs eating popcorn with Paul Ryderman thinking how can we have an impact you know um and to see this project be not only supported so enthusiastically by your passion but by the community being able to take it it's just it makes me a little disappointed in what our impact was back then and really proud
042um to hear about the impact that you're having >> is known as a tree city I don't know if any of you know that it's the it is had that status longer than any other city in Wisconsin and it's now has international status. So although the district I realize is not the very same as the city of Shboen, what we are doing with you here is totally consistent with what this community is trying to do in terms of reforestation and dealing with the tree canopy. We have a beautiful spot. is a positive factor for uh any of a number of reasons, public health, but also property value and and the aesthetics, attracting people and keeping them in this community. So, you're now part of this and uh it's when we use the word collaboration, that's
043key to what we do to get a lot of folks working together uh and and keep the politics out of it and do something that we think is good for young people. So, we appreciate the board's support. um superintendent has been very supportive of this. >> Yeah. Two comments really quick on my end. One, we talk a lot in this district about it takes a village. So, thanks for being part of our village. We really do appreciate that. We don't take it for granted. They take it lightly. And second, David, when kids show up on Saturday mornings in the cold to plant trees, it's because of the relationships you're able to build with them. And that says so much. They don't show up necessarily because they want to plant trees. They show up because they
044want to make you proud because of the relationships you built with them. And that's what our staff does. That's so amazing every day. So, uh, that's noticed and appreciated as well. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> We think David's extraordinary in terms of what he's been able to do here and putting this whole thing together along with our folks. So, he's been key and essential and be very proud of this young man and what he's doing as one of your faculty members. So, we appreciate that support. >> Thank you. I was going to say something, but I'm not. [laughter] >> Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. >> Come come to one of our plannings. We advertise them. We're in process figuring out what the next campuses are going to be. So >>
045they come to one of our planning and they'll make you smile. >> Well, while we have the next individuals coming up, also want to give a shout out to Peter and Leah. They were there at Grant. Don't act like y'all wasn't y'all. If they called me out, you guys been called out. >> So yes, thank you. >> That's a good memory. >> It was Well, because we're eating donuts together on >> I didn't get any donuts. I was too busy working. [laughter] >> You were holding a shovel. >> All right. Next, we have the Shabboary School District report cards and assessment data. Rachel. >> So, we're appreciative of the work that uh Kelly and Rachel put into this. And I'm not going to say much other than um Kelly's been at this for a few
046years now. and uh she has a really good grasp of the data and it's it's I love data myself so it's fun to just go in ask questions dig in and understand this so uh as we go through feel free to ask questions um we like to talk about it we like to help you understand it I think report card data there's uh parts to it that are very relevant and and things that we find beneficial to look at and to understand areas of pride areas of concern and then there's just areas of noise and I think Kelly does a nice job uh both Kelly and Rachel making sense of that for us so we understand what we're what we're looking at here. >> Okay. So with that um tonight we'll be sharing out an
047update regarding our school report card and state assessment data. This is an annual presentation that we give um as a few data points on the agenda tonight. We'll talk about data and how we use it in alignment with our strategic vision. will share out around our state report card for our district as well as our schools. We will share how we compare to our nine peer districts around some key report card indicators. Uh provide a little bit of information around college and career readiness and then how we move forward with continuous improvement. All right. Um I skipped aside. So with that, we just want to ground and anchor around our philosophy for measuring success. Um, we measure success [music] in multiple ways. As Dr. Conrath has said, we really try to use a balanced approach
048of using the school and district report card data in tandem with other data sources like universal screening data, curriculum based assessments, and our college and career readiness indicators. Ultimately, we're going to prioritize the data sources that align most closely with our strategic vision. I've shared with you all before um our strategic vision for student and instructional services. We like to think about this as the heart and mind of all that we do um related to education. And in particular, um, here in the SASC, we're asking all of our educators, all of our administrators, we're charging them with, um, if we're doing something related to teaching and learning, making sure that we can link it to one of these six programmatic priorities so we stay in alignment. Um, a reminder that our students are our data.
049we saw on display this evening already many um points of excellence from our student representatives reporting out around three of our high schools. Our North High School math students being um represented today and then just the previous presentation around that piece related to caring for our environment, caring for our school communities and investing in them by planting trees. Um, so with that, at the end of the day, we're focused on making sure that all of our students leave this district productive and responsible citizens in a competitive world. And with that, I'm going to toss it over to Kelly and she's going to hit the school report card. >> Do you mind keeping that? >> Absolutely. I don't know what it is. >> I will for you, but it's too many things for me. >> Not
050a problem. >> I know. I think you just tell me when you're ready. Okay. So, moving on into our report cards. Um, I'd love to say nothing has changed. Um, but that just isn't the state of the world today. So, you'll remember last year perhaps that the big change was in our actual assessment tools. Ford exam experienced um a uplift or um same thing with ACT. Um so, carrying on from that we have see some impacts in our um report card this year. So, the very first thing updated rating category score ranges. So what has happened here is the overall accountability score ranges that determine a school or district's one to five star rating. We know that to be meets expectations, exceeds expectations. Those those um descriptors have been updated. Um this change is a
051result of the report card standard setting process conducted by a panel of educators and education leaders over the summer. Uh due to these updates, the overall accountability scores for 24 and 25 establish a new baseline and cannot be directly um compared to prior year scores. So just know we're going to show you some of that previous year data, but there's always the caution of things have changed in how these scores have been um have come to be. Um use of two years of achievement data. Typically, in fact, the law tells us to use three years of achievement data, but because of those changes in the assessment tools last year, we are using last, sorry, we're using data from the 24 school year and the 25 school year. Um, so only two years for the achievement
052data. Um, it is a temporary shift. Next year, we will be back um with three. And when I say we, I mean the entire state. um discontinuation of the 23 24 scale adjustment because we like to compare yeartoyear. We did somebody came up with a really great um algorithm to try to compare testing scores from prior to those test tool changes. Um and so we no longer need to utilize that type of algorithm to calculate these scores because the tests are identical from 24 and 25. Uh finally the the norming change um has occurred. Um I'm just going to kind of touch on this. The method of normalizing scores and in the growth and target group outcome priority areas has changed. Previously these were normed or adjusted to align with our statewide distribution of achievement
053scores. Now achievement growth and target group outcomes are all normed to growth. Um what that does is it just shifts what happened to the achievement as a result of some of the scoring changes that happened last year. So those are the changes that we see on the report card. So all this really tells us is we just have to be cautious when we compare things yeartoyear. Um this being kind of a baseline year again for us as a district to say this is where we are. Um and then look to build on that year to year going forward. Okay. So, here you see a picture of our report card. You will see that our overall score um continues to meet expectations which falls in the typical range with the majority of school districts in the
054state. You'll also see the four priority areas listed here. These are what are calculated into our overall score. So first looking at achievement um an analogy we use in education oftentimes talks about how achievement is where our students are on a ladder of their learning um what what spot they are while growth is their movement once they um enter the assessment system. So you know they enter in third grade where are they at by fifth grade? Um same thing sixth to eighth or or or whatever span we are looking for three years of score data from. Finally we look at the target group outcomes. This is kind of what we call our mini report card for our students who fall below the 25th percentile. So these students um what we're doing is we're comparing them
055to the outcomes that all of our students are having. Um again, it's an opportunity for schools in our district to focus on how do we support students that are struggling in those areas. Uh finally, on tact to on track to graduation is kind of the milestones. Um if you look there, we talk about absenteeism. We talk about um graduation rate and then um selected at some point was third grade reading scores and eighth grade math scores. So again, another portion to the puzzle of how our overall score is calculated. And finally, at the very very top, then we take those scores and if you look at the piraphph that's filled in there, you can see um the percentages of what they how they impact our overall score. And I'll just make a point on that
056and I know that Kelly's going to hit it a little bit later on, but just recognizing that top part of the circle, the way that the weights are balanced out there. So, we are receiving 44.7% of our overall score is weighted towards growth in comparison to 5.3% being achievement. So, um, just want to call out that if you have a district or a school with higher, um, percentages of students that are economically disadvantaged, there's going to be more weight placed on growth. So, just wanted to point that out. We'll we'll talk about that a little later on, but wanting to make sure that we recognize that. >> Yeah. Thank you. All right. Going on to the next slide then I um what I did is I took um how the districts in the entire state
057fell in their in their accountability rating in comparison to the economically disadvantaged range. So you'll see that on the right hand side you'll see that for example significantly exceeds expectations. So if they fell between 1% to 20% of economically disadvantaged in their district there were 30 schools. That's how you read that. Um again if you look at the 20 to 40% 10 district or not schools districts sorry about that and then if you look at the districts at 40 to 60% just one district 60 and over just one district and you can follow that all the way down and see how those distributions um fall. The state report card outcomes are closely correlated with socioeconomic status. That is something that we are seeing. Schools serving larger populations of economically disadvantaged students typically receive lower scores
058in achievement, growth, and on-track indicators. This pattern is consistent not just in our district, but statewide and nationally. The correlation does not indicate lower potential in our students, nor does it um say that we have less effective teaching. Um, one thing we do notice that is perhaps unfortunate when I compare last year's spread of how the districts fall compared to the new way of calculating, we do see a greater gap growing between our schools that are um high socioeconomic status and compared to the low. So there's a a larger spread happening between those schools or in those districts. Okay. Now, looking at Shabboanary School District specifically, here is how our schools fell. Um, what I can tell you is we saw 19 of our schools overall scores rise. So, we have we have 19 schools
059with scores that are up. Um, we have five ratings that um that went up for our schools. So, Etude Middle School, Jackson, Longfellow, Jefferson, and Etude High School all moved up a category um with those score changes. And I do have to note we have and I can't remember what school it is, but one of our schools, their score went up, but they just didn't they actually didn't move they they moved the other way just because of that shift with the new um scoring. So, uh they're so proud of their growth and it just didn't quite bump them over the edge quite yet. So, All right, moving on then to where these scores come from. Looking specifically at our state assessment tools. So, ACT is the state assessment tool for our 11th graders. Here you
060will see math, English, reading, science, and composite scores over the years. here. Um, if you're really interested in kind of tracking that four years of of growth, um, looking here, you'll see the composite score is basically includes the writing portion of ACT in addition to these four subject areas. Um, one thing I do always have to remind people when they're looking at ACT data historically is it's a cohort. So this is um essentially this year's 12th graders that we're talking about because they took it last year as 11th graders and and with your thinking then you're you're kind of thinking of class of so this is class of 25 most recently um and then it will be class of 20 uh 24 going backwards and so on and so forth. So just want you to
061sorry 26 I said that backwards. Class of 26 is is represented most recently. um many many things that I as far as what I'm looking for at between our schools and the state average and the district average. Um a shout out to North High School. Um we see that their scores are higher in math, English, and science than the state average even with a much higher economically disadvantaged rate within their building. So that is a celebration for North High School. Going on to forward exam, our tool that we use in both elementary and middle schools. Um, looking here, the most significant change summarized when comparing the data between the last two years. I know sometimes you are asking about what is what does this data look like in comparison to the previous year. Well, what
062we can report is um yeartoyear the elementary school forward exam results are showing an improvement in proficiency overall at our district. Uh the math proficiency increased by 3.7 percentage points for our district uh three through five students rising from 47% meeting or exceeding expectations to 50.7 this year. Um ELA proficiency increased by 2.4 for our third through fifth graders rising from 43.2 to 45.6 this year. Just additionally, we notice that the gap between the area school district and the state in uh from the 23 24 um is is shrinking. Um we see that math was 6.1 and is now 2.1 for ELA. That gap was 7.9 now six. We're excited to see the impact of our curriculum implementation and reading scores. um because we are hopeful that just like Bridges did for us in math
063where we saw some significant achievement scores um going up um we're we're excited to see what our curriculum in English language arts does for our elementary schools as well. Moving on to middle school then uh math proficiency same same idea here math proficiency increased by 1.2 2 percentage points for the district 6th through 8th grade, rising from 42 to 43.7. Currently, ELA proficiency r uh rose from 3 point rose 3.2 percentage points uh rising from 40.5 um to 43.7. Here too, we notice a gap shrinking between the Shawan area school district and the state. In 2324, the gap for math was 10.6. It is now 9.1. For ELA, it was 10.6. It is now 7.9. All right. Um, and we wanted to share this information with you all. This table is um, from a third
064party. It's called the ECRA group. And what they do is they provide data and analytic solutions for school districts. They essentially take all of the school report card data. They will allow us to kind of identify some peer school districts. We we've identified nine peer school districts which you see across the top bar listed. Those school districts were identified because they have an enrollment between 3,900 and 18,500 students and their percentages of economically disadvantaged is 45% to 68%. What we want to share here is that when compared to our peer districts, we have the second highest level of economic disadvantage, the second highest percentage of multilingual learners within our peer district group, and the fourth highest percentage of students with special needs. And we simply point that out to share that um we are here
065to meet the needs of all of our learners. And with that being said, we still outperformed our comparison group average. So if you're looking at that second column there where it says or third comparison group average, if you look at those um in comparison to our school district in Peach, we outperformed all of those indicators um all 11 of them. So that is a celebration quite honestly. And then moving ahead to our college and career readiness data. You have seen this before. We've shared this in great detail when North High School and South High School come and provide an update related to their college and career readiness um report card and how they're doing related to that. We just want to share a few highlights rel related to this. So this table is reflecting our
066class of 2025. 781 students are represented in this data and you will see that 79% of the students from the class of 2025 graduated career ready. So looking across where in that magenta color where it says career ready two indicators if you go across to 2025 you see that 79% over 57% of our graduating class were actively engaged in two or more sanctioned school activities. Again, we saw um that represented and highlighted by our student representatives reporting out earlier today. And 60% of the class of 2025 seniors took an advanced standing course on this slide. Um what this represents is data collected for 314 students. that identified as part of their postsecary survey that they want to go on to a 4-year college and nearly 80% of those college B students met the college readiness
067accountability measures. What we wanted to close with tonight is just recapping some of the highlights. We like to think about this as academic return on investment. So, we continue to demonstrate year-over-year growth. Kelly highlighted that we had 19 schools increase their scores u related to the school report card. Five schools improve their accountability category. 10 schools increased their report card by three plus points. And then I just highlighted some of those college and career readiness indicators and how our class of 2025 um is performing as well as some of those demographic pieces and how we did related to our peer districts. Um in the end we celebrate our uniqueness here in the SASD. We continue to leverage all the resources we have responsibly and we fight hard for student success here in the Shabboan area
068school district. We see it every day on display. The way that our students show up, our staff and our families work alongside of us to ensure that students are receiving a high quality education here in the SASD. [laughter] >> Moving ahead to next year, um these are actually the same points from last year because we are staying steady in our work. We continue to build collective teacher efficacy through our PC work. we continue to build out our equitable multi-level systems of support and that's really about making sure we have a strong universal curriculum in place for all subject areas and we're identifying students that might need additional support through tier 2 and tier three. So that's really about making sure we have strong systems to get students what they need when they need it. And
069then we continue to engage in continuous improvement work within all of our schools, setting goals that are aligned to our overall district goals. Any questions or comments? Mayor, >> um, how much do you It's hard to quantify, but how much do you think that DPI's change? My understanding was that the standardized tests that elementary school kids took were essentially rating kids at about a year ahead of their actual grade level. I don't know if that's true or not. So, um, is the I'm not being very articulate here. just how how bad is a way of looking at um is this change or how good uh in terms of actual measurement um understanding that you know not every child tests well but um does that make sense? >> I think so. I think what I hear
070you saying is your question is about we knew that there was a shift with our achievement scores that was positive. Almost every district said, "Wow, look at us. We've done much better." Uh that was last year's assessment information, right? Um I think with the reworking of the report card, the the DPI and these educators that came together were really cognizant of we while the there was a shift with achievement that makes a few more kids in every building look proficient. We also have to talk about how does that impact growth? How does that impact our overall score? How is that? And that's where that calibration that that point I had made. Um, let me just kind of back up to it early on when I first started talking about the state state report card and
071um, the pieces that had changed. Um, that last point about norming is really what they worked hard to make sure that um, these are still reflective of the students that are in our building and really where they are performing. So the report card kind of absorbed that and and calibrated it back to um what is what is typical. >> That's really hard to explain to the public. >> It is in general. Okay. >> Yeah. So it was a I have no idea why they did that from a political standpoint um because it's so hard to explain to the public. We always explained that to our board in the past from a standpoint of we'd look at um our star scores etc. and they correlate those scores to advanced and proficient and depending on the grade
072level you'd see it where kids would have to be like 68th to 78th percentile nationally in order to be advanced or proficient in Wisconsin. So it the Wisconsin mark was well above the national mark uh of average. Right. So it that that never mattered, right? Like we could they would maybe use that against schools to say, "Well, only 30% of your kids are reading advanced or proficient." And that was a high bar. Uh but we knew it was a high bar. That's what it was. When she came in, when Underly came in and dropped that, she took a lot of heat for it. I don't think she did a good job of explaining one because it's really hard to explain. Then what came of it was as a result of that suddenly everyone's report card
073scores would have gone through the roof. So last year DPI just said if we don't correlate these back uh so that everyone's report card score isn't high, the legislators are not going to be happy with us and they're going to take over control and we're going to lose control of this process. So that's exactly what they did. they just correlated it back. And that's really dangerous when you start playing with numbers like that, right? Like they they can't really explain how they do that. They just do it so that about the same number of schools meet expectations, exceed expectations, etc. So that was that was scary last year. Uh they got I think pummeled for that for a lack of better words. So then they got a group of people together uh over the summer,
074educational experts went through this, decided on this new scoring uh method, which I think is fine, but in the in the end it just continues to correlate along free and reduce lunch lines. We know that from STAR. We know that from way back when we used to do MAPS tests. Initially they said right if a student scores lower you should see greater opportunity for growth which is nice to think that way but in the end when the data was calculated at a national level the students that were scoring higher had higher growth expectations. Uh so when we had to hit target growth that that number changed. So what really gets difficult with this is that growth piece it it counts for so much of our score. We look every single year at districts that score
075better than us. They have it's because they have better growth than us, but they never have better achievement than us. So that makes no sense. And that's the question that we keep asking DPI. It's the question we keep asking CES is how can these how can these districts have better growth than us if they never get better achievement? How do we get better achievement from a similar similar population of students if we're not getting credit for growth? And there's never a good answer for that. So that's the really tricky piece for us. Um, and it's why I always like that slide where we just here are our comparables, here are the averages, we're scoring better. Uh, I think that makes us feel pretty good about where we are. Um, and then we like to do
076it with individual schools too and see if see if we see any outliers where we have individual schools that are falling below uh comparable schools with comparable demographics. So that that's a sign we might have a concern and something we need to look into. [snorts] >> Okay. >> So I understand all the economic impact of it. I think I'm not honestly sure I understand the recalibration and all of that. >> Yeah. >> It just seems like a lot of back and forth that it's going to be very hard to explain. That being said, the thing that often happens locally is not a comparison with true comparables. It's the comparison with what else is happening in county. Um, and I know it's not part of your report, but at some point is that we going to
077have that explained to us or how to address that with the public to say yes, we're not co we're a much bigger district. We have many challenges. They don't have Yeah, we can certainly >> that's where that's where the comparison tends to happen. >> We can certainly do that. I'll tell you when we worked with the policy forum uh their suggestion on that was stop talking about they said why would you why would you do that? Why would you have that conversation? We said well because that's what's going to show up in the paper and they don't give it any credibility. Don't give it any merit. That's not an applesto apples comparison. And they had some people on their staff from the journalism world that just said don't don't go there. don't give it credibility.
078We certainly can. Um >> only if the public wants to know, you know. >> Yeah. They're going to I mean Shabboan press already ran that article, right? Um and it is what it is. And I I thought I emailed the press actually after their coverage and I said I think you did a really fair job of reporting a really complex report card and a really complex year four report cards. Um, I appreciate what my colleagues do in those other districts. I appreciate how those other districts score. I think if we ever wanted, and we've done this in the past with other uh districts in the county, I think it's really interesting to look at their cohort data year to year and grade span testing and see where a kid in third grade in a neighboring
079district ends up in 12th grade and what their growth looks like. Compared to us, it's not so hot. um in a lot of cases and we've shown that to you in the past too. I like to call them out for it but um it's interesting to look at it through that that perspective um and just see what they get for growth because it's not often that impressive but they're graded on their accountability. If you don't have any free reduced lunch kids in your uh in your building your report card's going to be what 90 some percent achievement. >> Yeah. Um, so they come in achieving at grade level, they stay achieving at grade level. Um, and that's where it lands because growth is never taken into account in those districts. So if the measurement of
080the report card is, if I'm understanding this correctly, skewed a lot of emphasis on growth and you're a district that's already high performing your p your [clears throat] opportunity for growth is limited. >> So wouldn't that make your work hard? >> Yeah. So if you have low free and reduced they it's a sliding scale, right? So the higher the free and reduced lunch, the more >> you're going to get um scored on growth. >> They don't they're not on growth at all. >> So they don't get scored on growth. They just get it on achievement. >> Okay. >> And that's ludicrous across but it is what it is and it keeps those districts happy because they don't ever have to show growth. an an example we brought to you. I think it was last year
081for those of you that were with us last year, we brought you South High School in comparison to another school which we we knew which school we picked and it was that very thing. South had achievement far far exceeding this other high school. Um but Cell's growth wasn't as high as the other high school. In fact, those numbers almost completely just switched. But because both of them were in the same economically disadvantaged range, they both had that same percentage of weight with achievement and growth. So the school that had more growth had a far better report card score than South >> even though South had far more students proficient. >> Right. And that school not only it was their attendance was atrocious compared to cell that's a that school's that school does really well for
082the kids that it serves. I I'm not knocking that school at all. But the scoring is >> it just was very >> is ridiculous. So they don't have kids coming to school. They don't have kids graduating. They don't have kids advanced and proficient like we do. But yet the kids grow. And the reason they have a good growth score is because you're looking at the bottom quartortile and you're comparing it to your top the other 75% of your kids. So the bigger the gap that you have from your top students to your bottom students, the bigger the less you're going to have for growth. So the more homogeneous the population, the better you are uh for growth. And that's what we're seeing. the growth calculation is nearly impossible to understand. It's like eight pages long
083value added formulas. Um so that's really complicated. So you just try to look at themes and figure it out through that realm. And what you see is that if you have a homogeneous group, there's not a heck of a lot of difference between the groups of kids that they're comparing. So growth stays um pretty high in those in those districts. So it's an interesting piece to look at. That's why we don't take much away from from that. But like I said, we do really like to look at our comparable districts, comparable schools to ours, and say, how are we shaping up compared to them? And if we see we're we're at or above where they are, we're feeling good. If if we have schools or a district falling below that, that's a that's a reason
084for concern. >> Thank you. Um, thank you both. I really like the slide of programmatic priorities and that you started with this and that the district, your team is so intentional that there is this guide, there is a map and you're using the programmatic priorities to build our district and um everything we present our kids and expect from them. And um to me that that's like the highlight of the slideshow really saying this is what we do and this is why we do it. Um so thank you for including that there. >> Do we anticipate given all act 20 and like the amount of reading plans that are out there and all of the growth that's being tracked in that space that we'll see an increase in our own growth scores in the se next
085several years? >> Go ahead. >> Yeah. I mean, we're always hesitant to say like with what we predict the future, right? But what I what we know >> as far as what research says is that for ELA, we we're in the process of implementing a new universal curriculum um for our elementary schools. We made a huge investment in that. We're making sure that we're delivering that across the district and all of our elementary schools in a systematic way. We're checking fidelity there, right? So, I feel like that is our tier one that should capture the majority of our students and it should have an impact. We've seen that happen with our math um curriculum implementation of bridges. Another piece is that to your point with those reading plans, capturing those students who may fall in
086that tier two and just need a little extra support on top of the tier one. And then we are um engaged in some pretty intentional work with a representative team this year around our tier three and going through a process of vetting our tier three interventions to make sure that they're all evidence-based, right? Um we they are already, but we're really refining that work. They're saying like these are the things that a representative team with pupil services staff, reading specialists at the table, administrators at the table, interventionists at the table are saying that research and evidence backs up that this is effective for those tier three students, right, who need that most intensive support and remediation of skills. So when we take those things um all into consideration, yes, I I would predict that we're
087going to see an impact um in our students demonstrating proficiency at a higher level and that being reflected in our forward data. That is the hope, right? And we know that that is work that will take some time. We're talking about a two to threeyear process, but we feel pretty confident that we're on the right track there. >> Is does that kind of answer what you're looking for? I'm gonna stop my data day RTI brain. Um, but I really appreciate it. I have worked in schools that consistently scored in the 90s and focused on growth as a special ed teacher only for it to not matter because achievement was overweighted in those districts. And it's just such a flip of the coin that it feels like at the end of the day it really is
088how are how are we doing in the classroom? How are we doing on multiple points of data? So, I appreciate that this is a snapshot and also that you framed it in a way that helps us to understand where we're at compared to others that are similar to us. >> And I'll just I'll make a point to that, Ally. Um, as I transition from my previous setting, we had some pretty intense conversations about that waiting aspect, right? Um, so in some districts, yeah, it looks a lot different and um, I had to get some hard lessons around the school report card and that waiting and the impact on a district like our districts, right? And why it's so important to use comparables um, that look somewhat like your school district and to use Mosful measures
089of success, right? And not just one. So we we pointed that out at the beginning of the presentation. We appreciate you as a board recognizing that there are many lenses and filters through which to look at our schools, our students, and overall success. >> You had texted me months ago with a school district that was an outlier, right? And I think that's one thing that we always look at, too. That's the first thing I go to when these come out is just running a a state list of all schools, all districts, trying to find um outliers. And I'm drawing a blank on the the woman's name from California. She should have been Arie Duncan. They picked the wrong person. Um she was great. She still is great. And that's what she did, too. She did
090a study and she just pulled out in the state of California. Uh and it was districts across the board. that their demographics look very different, but data showed that they did things better than their comparable districts. That's what we're always looking for, like state and nationwide. We don't want to look at gimmicky things. We don't want to look at the next like we want to see districts that have put it in play and have gotten to that that next level and try to learn from that if we can. Um, in some respects, I think you look at that that data and you look at our comparables and we stick out. Uh we don't those comparables are not good comparables anymore. They were maybe five years ago, but now from a free and reduced lunch perspective,
091Green Bay, um Aloy, you know, there's only three or four on there. That makes sense. So, uh it's it's really it's neat to see that. I think it's a feather in our hat when you look at it through through that lens. And we also have our our eyes on a couple other districts and schools that are doing some pretty impressive things that we want to learn from. So, it's it is beneficial from that standpoint. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> All right. Thank you, Rachel and Kelly. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Kelly. >> And I do appreciate Kelly and all her work putting together the data and analyzing it. You know, I love my spreadsheet. Yes, you do. We've been color coding and spreadsheeting for the last month or so. Right after >> All right.
092referendum facilities update. [snorts] Dr. Conra, real quick, just want to put a fivem minute update on there. Mark, feel free to to jump in if I'm missing anything, but um we're getting closer each uh really each each week, every other week when we meet to discuss this. So, uh right now, feeling good about where we are from a budget standpoint. No attachments, just a kind of an oral uh presentation tonight. Feeling good about where we are. um about $3 million over budget at this point. Um and that takes into account a couple things. One, it doesn't take into account uh about a $6 million contingency that we have in place. So, I feel really good that we're within our uh our contingency. Um and two, it doesn't take into account the current labor market. Uh,
093and what we are hearing from um, CD Smith and Bray and Quashes is that they're getting more phone calls about these two projects uh, than they ever imagined they would, meaning that the labor market is soft and that current bidding is well below what averages have been. So, construction companies are looking for work. Long story short short and if they had put this budget together with the most recent what they had seen from like the most recent bids we'd be in line good to go but they're still using their averages which take into account a longer period of time. So we're feeling really good about our budget uh with those with the contingency and with the um the labor market being what it is, the construction market being what it is. Um, we are moving
094forward with prepping the roofs for solar. So, the roofs will be solar ready as long as uh the solar bits can come in where we where we need them to be and we're working on that. Uh, as we as we speak, the geothermal, as we talked about last time, just really proved to be too difficult for us given the sites that we're on. That was unfortunate. Um but also helps us stay within within budget there. Um so those really are the big moves. Um and I think we're hoping next board meeting we have the interior laid out. They're working on putting together a video for you. Right now you can walk through um and check everything out. They're working on putting a video together for us so that we can show you a video of
095what the interior space will look like as well. But um we are down to talking about doorork knobs and uh talking about color patterns of carpet and things of that nature. So it's really fine-tuned. As I've been out at the buildings, uh you walking I walked into Urban Library the other day and just asked her about how she feels about the plan. And I think people feel and understand that we really have tried as hard as we can uh to get staff input on this and and honor their wishes. Uh and really from a budget standpoint, we've we've been able to do that, too, which isn't always uh easy. So, we feel great about where we are. Uh interested to move forward and and the phasing piece is a little tricky. That's really going to
096be the next thing is just biting off how we're going to put the construction pieces together and phase the buildings in. Um but really feel good about where we are from a design process and from a budget process, which state. I talk with a lot of colleagues throughout the state and we're pretty fortunate to be where we are because there are some that are not in nearly as good a shape as we are. So, I feel good about our CM selection uh and the process that that they've taken us through thus far. Mark, anything I'm missing? >> No. >> All right. Any follow-up questions for Dr. Conrad? >> All right. Next, we have the community tax information communication. >> Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to uh live let Hei give her two cents on this as
097well, but I just wanted we talked about this last time. I just wanted to bring it forward one more time with updates on where we are with the other districts. So, uh Usberg voted that they were in, but they wanted four districts to come along with us and we ended up with three districts. So, it's Shboan, Shbboan Falls and Usberg said, "Yeah, we want to move forward with it." the other districts, uh, most of them said, "We don't want to pay, uh, to have this information disseminated through a postcard, so we're going to do it through our parent newsletter process." Um, so moving forward, I think we probably have two options. One is we can send the postcard, well, three options, right? We can do nothing. we can send the postcard uh but it's just
098going to come from the SASD or uh three we can use our parent newsletter to get it out which runs on a monthly basis. We could do our community newsletter but that's not going to go out probably until January. Um so those are kind of the options that we have. I feel bad giving you any kind of uh guidance on this or any suggestion because I think uh my ability to to guess the the pros and cons of this possible fallouts versus benefits are no better than yours. Um so I'm going to let you guys have this discussion and figure it out. Um, I will say I'm a little bit surprised that some of the other boards didn't get on board and maybe that I just from the meeting with the superintendent and the school
099board representatives. Um, I'm a little bit surprised. Um but look looking ahead if we've got four options. Do nothing. Um the parent communication letter and then the um the postcard. That's number three. Number four would be the community newsletter. You said January. Um I think it's still important to get it into the community newsletter that somehow property owners are seeing this information whether they have kids in the school district or not because it's the property owners who are paying the taxes. That's who it's affecting. So, if we're not sending the postcard, which I understand, and I understand that's another cost and then our name is the only one on it, um, possibly. I like the idea of including this in the community newsletter, even if it's a month after they receive their textbook, six weeks.
100>> Can I just ask about the uniformity? So if if it if falls both oper and digital communication um is it a you know is it the the same general look and feel and language? Is it going to be clear space to space that this is a unified statewide agreed upon you know set of data or is it userian and sasized? >> Yeah. Part of what got sideways here was some boards wanted different things added or taken off and then you end up with boards voting on like no we approve this and now Falls wants this change and Plymouth wants this change. So you get into that mess. So I think there'll be a little bit of modification at each individual district. Um but for the most part everyone is they're unified on the numbers.
101It's it's really some people want a call to action where they put their legislator's name on there and say, "Call your representative and and state senator to complain." Um, other districts didn't want that because they didn't want it to be political. They just wanted to say, "Here's the facts, Jack, and be done with it." Um, so there's a little bit of uh change going on there. Some districts are uh going to put it on social media, others don't think that's such a good idea. So, you get into all that, but I think generally speaking, the numbers will be the same across all districts. >> What was the cost of the postcard if we took it ourselves? >> I think it was going to be around 6,000 uh total. >> I like the idea, Heidi, that
102you brought up idea number four. Um putting this in the community newsletter. I think it would be a great way to get the information out there. It's an excellent little path. Um it would be my hope maybe in the future that this, you know, that other districts might consider a postcard. Um but I think right now I like that idea, the community newsletter in January. How is that delivered? >> Mail, >> every door direct. So what's the difference in cost between that and >> we're doing it anyhow. So it saves us >> we're already sending >> additional >> if you need >> there's no digital >> um >> so you're getting the same coverage before. Yeah. >> Yeah, you're getting this. It's just timing isn't great. And I can push Nicole to get that up,
103but it's really hard for our printers to turn that around there. I don't like it would be really I I'll push to get that out as early as I can. If that's the direction that the board goes in, um I don't Sometimes it gets in the way of printing for kids, too, and I don't like that. teachers have to get what they need when they need it. That's our first priority. So, we'll work through that. We'll get it out as quickly as we can. Um, but getting it out before Christmas is probably tough. >> So, that misses a lot of people who have already paid. So just so I understand there's a consensus maybe I don't understand um for the parent newsletter as well as the community newsletter to convey essentially the same information. Okay.
104I think that's probably, you know, these days it's really it can be kind of tricky to um be the only one. And um uh the the dynamics are just really pretty interesting and you know the old injury to one is an injury to all which I think is a pretty informing kind of way of looking at things. You really need all to to to be involved or mostly everyone in order to in order to give that whole process the power that it should normally have. So I I I think postcard at this point is probably although I'm intrigued by user um but I think that uh it's probably a good idea [snorts] to to forego the postcard. That would be my sense of it. much as I love postcards coming out with salient information to
105get people all riled up. But oh well. >> Yeah. >> Um what's the status of the county putting information on the tax bills? >> Um I can just speak to that. Um the um the county situation for is a little different than it was for example Green Bay which was sort of the leader in getting that line on on the tax bill. The city of Green Bay does its own tax collection whereas the um city of Shbboen and all the municipalities rely on Shuen County. So all these various tax bills are prepared by the Shuen County treasurer. It's our understanding that she has some concerns. Um, and I think it will be a process that will just take some time. Um, and you know, we have some ideas and plans on on how we can
106go forward with it. It sure isn't going to happen for the tax bill this year, the one that's coming out. Um, so um, you know, we just kind of have to hang fire on that one for a little bit, but I don't think It's a dead issue. But >> just last question is is that become is it becoming more will that be the norm throughout the state? Do you think eventually is it is there a tipping point at which Okay. Now >> I have no idea. >> I believe the uh Wisconsin public education network put on a workshop >> on this as well. So I think there's a number of districts looking into it. >> Okay. >> Is there a digital means? circling back to the parent letter and no postcard, but is there um
107is there I want to show that we've due diligence to try and get information out before the tax bills hit. Is there any digital mechanism we can use? Um even if it's just notifying parents, you know, there's a digital newsletter that goes out before, but is you know, could we do a combination of things to Yeah, if you see it, >> we tried >> it'll go out in the newsletter I to parents and and that'll be in a timely >> a more timely fashion. >> Boy, anything beyond that? >> I don't know. >> Right. That's the problem, >> right? You want to open this up for discussion on Facebook when it's so hard for people to understand and we can't sit and respond to thousand comments that that you know I think we're just trying
108to keep it really simple of the state sitting on a ton of money and they're not passing it on to taxpayers and as a result your taxes are going up and you're paying for kids to go to voucher schools that have always been there in the first place um and not having a conversation about it just those are very factual pieces of information and that's what it is. Um so that was our thought there. I would just hate for us not to take any if there were lowrisk options to say before the bill arrives that we try to notify you instead of >> right >> and how how would we get all the property all the property owners in like how >> how do you get that group >> postcard's the only way >> right
109it has to go to addresses [snorts] >> that's not that hard >> that's the easy part >> well it's just but we're not going to send it as a postcard So, you know, like digitally, how do we get all the >> I wish there was a trusted third party nonpartisan that would put together, you know, a video even just showing the bar graph of >> the amount of increase, the 4.2% to the 3.8 and I probably don't [snorts] remember these right, but like to the zero% increase in state aid to show us that, you know, this is now falling on property [snorts] owners. Um because I think that there there still is that just lack of understanding um even of how property taxes work. There are homeowners that just have never thought of this before
110and then some who are really invested in waiting for it. But being able to point to here's the math going. >> Yeah. I will tell you where I think this is going and I could be off. Uh but today we had a bill sent to us um where they're going to try and it's perfect timing, right? So they're going to try and not allow us to get aided on referendum debt and Mark feel free to jump in. But what's what happened here, right, is Milwaukee got a big piece of this pot and that's not what they meant to happen. >> So now they're backtracking on Oh boy, people are upset. We're starting to hear it. So now they're they're going to shift that blame to Milwaukee. They're not going to take ownership for the budget
111that they've passed and that they did. They're going to just say, "Look, we're putting an amended bill in because Milwaukee went and did this and we didn't know that and they were late and they they knew uh everyone knew that Milwaukee had that referendum out there and that they were going to take a bigger chunk of state aid. They should have known. Um, and as a result of that, Milwaukee got a big chunk of that money. We got less. Now they're saying, "We don't want to we want to write a bill so that that can't happen again." So, they're going to blame it on MPS. And what's going to happen is now next year, we're not going to get aided the same way that Milwaukee just got aided. So, that it's going to bite us
112twice. >> There's not like a local journalist that might be better able to explain that to the general public. >> Yeah. But who reads the paper? There might be a journalist, but nobody's reading it. They're going to fight over the narrative on this one. There's just going to be a huge fight on the narrative for this. That's what's coming. Well, I I I I would >> I know people don't read newspapers as much as they used to, but >> letters to the editor are still >> paid some attention to and um press releases um I mean those are alternatives, lowcost, no cost um uh pieces that we could take a look at. So >> that's a good point. >> Yeah. Okay. I don't know if it falls in here, but we're talking about the budget
113and so forth. And I I've reached the frustration point where I don't know when I read things if it's true or not. I don't know if anybody else is having AI anxiety, but I am. So, I have to look up everything. Did the appropriation for special ed change >> down into the 30s or not? >> Yeah. So, right, what happens is some sufficient versus some certain. And um We knew it was never going to cover the 40 or 42%. Like that's never happened in the past. They didn't make it some sufficient. So, we knew that wasn't going to happen in the future. They came out right now and it's at 35% is the reimbursement rate. That number will go up. That's normal for them to do. However, it's lower than we expected, right? That 35%
114is lower than we expected. We expected it to be under the 40. Uh, but I think we were probably looking for about 38 and I think you just took next year's budget and dropped it from about Yeah. >> 41 to >> So they they they put in money expecting 42% reimbursement. We had 40% in the budget, went 2% back. Now they're predicting it'll be we'll actually get 38. So we're going to be 2% short this year. And then if we look at a 4% increase starting at 42% for next year, now we're looking at 4% from a 38, which only really gives us a 2% increase. So it's we're always behind because they just never take into account how much special ed costs are increasing. They just never catch up to it. And that's why
115we can't [clears throat] get ahead until they say you will be reimbursed at X%. Will school districts ever be able to budget properly? >> Mark, off the top of your head, do you know what that equates to dollar-wise? I don't sell wise but um >> you know close to a million probably for 2% swing anyone else so I think the consensus is to send a community um information in the community letter but also the parent letter correct those two outlets would come out first. >> All right. Appreciate that. >> Thank you. >> When does the parent newsletter go out? >> That one goes out monthly. >> So, are we going to miss December's or will we be able to catch December? >> We'll get December's >> and then the community will go out in January.
116Anyone else? All right. Next we have item ENF. Um, do you just want me to take those right away? Mark, you want to come up? >> Yeah. Just a brief explanation here. So um so we had heard from our bond council that they were recommending that um we ratify you ratify the action you took uh during the committee the whole just little bit of a language thing there. They they said typically those actions are taken at a regular school board meeting and there isn't real clear direction what constitutes a regular school board meeting because our committee the holes are regular. It's the full board. They feel it would feel better if you ratified the action that was taken during the committee what we call the committee of the whole meeting. So, um we think too
117it's prudent that we just follow their recommendation and um you'll see on the the first motion you're ratifying the action of the committee the whole you're also ratifying the action of the board president and clerk when they signed those documents on the uh the first borrow here in 2025. And then the second motion is you're um ratifying the parameters that you approved for the uh referendum borrow that we'll be doing uh pretty soon as we get into [snorts] 2026. So um just kind of procedural but just kind of covering to make sure that nobody can come back and say uh that there was no action during the regular board meeting. So should have received my email. We retained our double A1 rating. So felt good about that as well. >> Yes. Yes. Any questions before
118we take these up for a vote? >> All right. I'm seeking a motion of the school board to ratify the November 11th, 2025 action of the committee of the whole approving um the resolution establishing parameters for the sale of not to exceed $9,500 on general obligation promisary notes in 2025. to further ratify the November 19th, 2025 action of the district president and the district clerk approving the details of the sale of general obligation promisary notes of 2025. >> So move >> second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. I'm also seeking a motion of the school board to ratify the November 11th, 2025 action of the committee of the whole approving the resolution establishing parameters for the sale of not exceed $9,500 general obligation privacy notes 2026. Is there motion? >>
119So move. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> I This is just weird, but with these two, could we just also call for the nays? >> Sorry. >> Just to just in case. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Were there any nazs for item number E? Let the record reflect no. And is there any days for item number F? Let the record reflect no. Thank you, Mary. >> All right. Thank you, Mark, Dr. >> All right. Curriculum and instruction committee. Okay. >> Our first item is uh a trip from South High School to Luxenberg and I would move for approval. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Class size report is in your information is for discussion only. >> Um unless anybody
120has an objection. I would like to do item first readings 3 through 17 together. Is that okay? >> Yes. >> I would like to move for approval. First readings of items 3 through 7 through 17. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Motion carries. >> And then we have number 18 which involves a deletion. I move for approval. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> And item 19, first reading of another deletion of education board policy 5710. I move [snorts] for approve. Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Okay. Human resources. Leah. >> All right. Um item number one, appointments. I seek a motion to approve the appointment
121or I move approval. >> All right. >> Sorry about that, guys. >> No, it's okay. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Item number two, a leave of absence. I move approval for that as well. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Item number three, separations, is for your information in your packets. Um, item number four, um, I move approval for the retirements. Second, >> or excuse me, any discussion? All in favor say >> I. I. >> Motion carries. >> And then I would, unless there's any objection, I would like to take items number item numbers 5 through 12. Uh, the first readings of the policies. I move approval um of those policies. >> Second. >>
122Is there any further discussion? All in favor say I. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Next we have facilities recreation committee leader. >> Okay. The legacy grant information packet company financial report. Move acceptance. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> Motion carries. >> Three, community recreation department financial reports. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Item four is for information. >> Thank you, Peter. Next, we have the finance and budget committee. Sarah. Um yes. So um I would like to lump one through three fund 141 capital project uh statement of cash flow and revenues and expenditures report. The committee is recommending approval. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion's carried. >> Number four, budget revisions
123and transfers appropriations. That'sformational. >> Also nutritional service um isformational. Six fund balancing designation. Uh the committee is recommending approval. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Let's see here. I would like to love seven through 14 the first readings. Um committee is recommending approval. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Motion carries >> and then um gifts. The committee is recommending approval of the gifts. Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Committee of the madam vice president. >> This just for procedural purposes. >> Thank you. Special board committees and assignments. Legislative round table. Dr. Conrad. >> Yeah. Obviously a lot to talk about there. Um I my honest honestly my when they come
124and they ask us for feedback on bills right now my first question is does it apply to voucher schools? And if the answer is no then it can't be good. Um and that's just it's just dead on arrival uh in my opinion and should be if it doesn't apply um to voucher schools. So there's a number of things out there right now. probably the largest one being anytime a student's removed from a school from a classroom, we need to send a letter home. Um, the devil obviously is in the details on that one. But when I asked why voucher schools wouldn't need to do that as well, the response was, well, they already do it. So, there's obviously a lot of trust that voucher schools just are doing what they need to do, but not
125so much trust for public schools. So I assured them that we do it too facitiously and um you know we kind of went from there. So it I think it was a was a good conversation. We we tried to keep those relationships um cordial and inviting but at some point in time you got to call a spade a spade and and call that stuff out. So that's where we are right now um in discussing a lot of those bills. I don't know that they have legs. Some of them I think are just more to get people worked up and talking. Um but um some of those are a little scary as well. I think they're targeted at specific students. I think they're they're meant to to produce fear, which is never good for schools or
126for kids. And I'm just waiting on a response from our legislators as to why they feel uh something would be good for and necessary for public school students but not for voucher students. That's hard to understand. That's where That's where we are. >> Lots going on there, sir. Thank you. >> All right. Um, next we have the Shuen Public Education Foundation. Denise. >> Yes. Um, as Jake, Dr. Conrad, >> Jake is good. Jake is good. >> Um, mentioned earlier, they the all- in for education uh event was a good success. A great success. They actually um reached their highest level of revenue to date. They raised about $29,000. Um they are moving into the review process for the teacher grants. Um there were 18 grants received, 13 non- tech and five tech grants. And uh
127they're looking at a budget of close to $30,000 in order to satisfy a make those awards. Um they are working before the the end of year holiday to prepare for midyear school supply drives and getting additional resources out to schools that need them. Um and they are moving into 2026 um looking to increase the board of directors and add some additional folks to their to their team. They're having their annual meeting [snorts] first will take place on Wednesday, January 14th at the yach club at 4:30 and there will be um an honorarium at 5:00 for the friends of education. [clears throat] >> Thank you, Denise. Next, we have human growth and development citizens, excuse me, advisory committee. >> [snorts] >> Um the last committee's action was primarily a content review focused on the middle school
128curriculum um units of anatomy and physiology and puberty. Um the primary focus was on key vocabulary and scope and sequence of when um content is taught both from grade to grade and from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. and we'll continue to focus on some of the design and delivery aspects in the future and continue to dive into topic by topic um from a content perspective and our next meeting is in January where I believe we'll be starting to dive into more information about reproduction and pregnancy. >> Thank you. >> All right, next we have the future meeting dates. Um let's make a consensus. One meeting [snorts] or two? >> One. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. One meeting that is shall be >> unless anybody opposes this. I don't want
129>> Sarah was wanting to. >> Oh yeah. >> We can zoom you in on one. >> One big meeting. Will it be snacks? >> Yes. [laughter] >> The double one on the n. >> Yes. Sorry. Yes. >> [laughter] >> We'll definitely have some snacks for you. >> Decaf and regular coffee for sure. >> Water. [laughter] >> There's water and coffee. >> Sugar. [clears throat] >> Hey, we're on the budget here. Okay. >> All right. I'm seeking a motion to adjurnn to close session per Wisconsin state statute section 19 section 85 section 1 section C to consider employment promotion compensation performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the board of education has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility for the purposes of consideration of modification to an administrative contract under section one excuse 111 um 24
130of Wisconsin statutes for admin administrative staff member for the 26 27 school year. We do a roll call vote. Sorry. >> We need a second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Now we will start with that with the roll call. >> I I >> I chair votes I. We are adjourned. Thank you everyone. Have a happy Thanksgiving to those that are not remaining back. I do accept an invite.