001I saw that. I tried to watch too. I do too. You need a minute probably. Thank you, Jamie. Did you hear that? It's like oh, okay. It's It's up, Tom. Thank you. So, you can We'll get someone else's. But, thank you. I was doing it. Makes me feel bad. That's as good as it's going to get cuz it's not my doing. Oh, that. 2 minutes and if Jamie's not here, we'll go ahead and get started. All right. It's It's 4:35 >> [sighs] >> at the wire. Uh and I'm calling this special board meeting for Monday, April 13th, 2026 to order. At this time, I am looking for a motion to approve the agenda. Make a motion to approve the agenda. I'll second. I'll order. Corey made the motion and Amy seconded. Any discussion? There's no
002discussion. All those in favor, say I. I. Opposed. Agenda approved. >> [sighs] >> Moving on. New business. The referendum results discussion. So, the referendum did not pass. Uh it fell short by 88 votes of 452 in favor of and 540 against. Um I know that a lot of other districts had close votes on their referendums as well, either in favor of or against. Um Unfortunately, that comparison does no good for our district. Um but I think it shows that there were a lot that wanted it to go through. Um and it just fell short of convincing enough people [snorts] of the necessity of it. Um I wish things were as easily tangible as saying, you know, we need boilers and roofs just as much as we need teachers and other staff in the school district.
003And I know that there's a lot of thoughts about the mishandling of money and that's understandable. But, this isn't something that happened overnight. Um and unfortunately, a lot of people, especially the board, are stuck dealing with something we didn't necessarily create to begin with. And um unfortunately, we can't just not have staff in the school or we cannot just expect people to work out of the goodness of their hearts. Um they also have bills. They also have things they need to take care of as well. Um and I know there are discussions in regards to leadership and whatnot, but truth be told, um even if we have different leadership in the district, we still have to pay them. And there's a good chance we'll have to pay them more than what we are currently paying
004them. I'm not saying that means we don't make changes. Not saying it means we don't restructure things. It's just saying that we're not going to be able to do it for free. And there are going to be looking at cuts having to be made. But, I think more importantly if the board pushes forward to view this as a reason for go to another referendum ask in the fall that when they approach it, they show they have a plan. That they show that they're going to do something besides just not make cuts. That they show how they're going to appoint a way forward so we aren't going to referendum every 3 years necessarily or that we're trying to make things better within the district. I think that was like I said before one of the strongest
005issues we had with uh more people wanting to vote for it because they didn't feel there was a clear plan going forward. So, if the board chooses to do so in the fall, I would hope that they would have a plan to reflect the extra thought that's being put forth into it. And going ahead we're looking at roughly a 1.6 million deficit for this upcoming year. Now mind you, at the start of this school year in the fall, it was 700,000 short. By the time we hit January, it was 1.6. And the school had done nothing in regards to hiring any more, spending any more. It was simply the cost of things went up and the money coming in from the state and federal government went down. It jumped that high and we did nothing
006to even make it jump that high. So, I don't even know what's going to happen between now and fall. Hopefully some lawmakers get together and realize that schools need their support and try and push some more funding this way. But the point is is we're looking at only having to make 700,000 and going down to a bare bones situation. There is no possible financial way no matter who we got rid of, how we restructured, that we're going to be able to cut 1.6 million. It's not possible looking at all the numbers. Which means whatever fund balance we have left, we're going to end up eating into and there's a good chance we're going to end up potentially in a worse situation after the next year, maybe two if we're lucky than we were last year.
007As going into this year, we actually had a strong direction. We're looking at turning things around. And now with the costs and revenue decreases, it's yeah, especially without a referendum. So, I'm hoping [snorts] that if the board comes like I say this fall and ask for a referendum again that they have that plan put forward so we get all of the support that the school can muster up. Um cuz they're going to need it. Any other comments or discussion from the rest of the board in regards to the referendum results? The only thing that I'll say is I've seen the great things this community can do. I've seen how it can come together and I hope it shows that once again. On the resignation of the finance director I don't think there's much discussion in
008regards to this. Um I just wanted to comment I I wanted on this agenda because um if you see on there obviously her last day is May 5th. I have been in touch with CESA. We have talked with them in the administrative group. Uh they're working up a quote. They think they would need to be in the district uh 2 days a week. Um they are willing to get us through the end of fiscal year and the audit. And maybe potentially looking into consulting them as well. But um right now I'm waiting on a quote for 2 days a week to get us into a transition after Laura's departure. You don't know the cost of that yet, though, I assume? >> Okay. >> They're working on something. We our team met with them and went
009through duties and went through um you know, uh they're familiar with Bear, they're familiar with Marquez, um they're familiar with our auditor. So, um I don't know if any of you guys want to comment, but they they they seem very confident, very understanding, and I know I just know it's going to be a huge hit to our budget regardless just cuz CESA's never cheap. You know, so >> Yeah, and I just I don't know what it is at this point. Like they said two 2 days a week they felt for this transition. Um I don't know about consulting in the future. That would be a short-term. Yeah, the first one will be a short-term to get us through the end of fiscal year and the audits. And then the second one, I mean, we could
010post you know, we could post the position. Um but they do all also offer consulting services. I would just have to get you numbers on that. Yeah, I don't think was that listed in the up to the packet? >> and I worked with Brandon. I tried to I tried to get some numbers from him, but without them speaking to us and knowing what their duties would be, he he couldn't come up with the number. And we just did that now last week. Okay. Well, sorry. You say you're going Laura, but we wish you the best. And we'll see you still two more times this month, right? So. Thank you so much. >> right. We'll see you the first part of May, maybe too. I mean the first part of May. >> [laughter] >> We'll be
011Laura's in the after life. All right. So, yeah. Look forward to seeing those numbers. Um hopefully you can have them by next week. You have I was hoping to have them for the count. Um and I mean you know who knows, maybe we'll be we'll find something that they've got experience with other districts. >> They are currently working with other districts. And maybe they could help point us in a better direction with some other things as well. All right. Uh I put forth the motion to accept the resignation of finance >> Can we do that in this meeting? Yeah, we can. of finance director. I'll second that. Motion by myself seconded by Corey. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Thank you again, Laura, for all your work. It's much appreciated.
012All right. At this time, I'm looking for a motion to convene in the closed session under Wisconsin State Statute 19.851 C E F G to consider employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercise responsibility, consideration to financial, medical, social, or personal information, and to confer with legal counsel who is rendering oral or written advice. I'll make a motion to go into closed. Second. Motion by Kelly, seconded by Corey. In this closed session, we are going to be discussing uh referendum staffing considerations and decisions which falls under B and uh or sorry, not B. Yeah, well, it could fall under B fall under C and fall under F >> [snorts] >> of 19.85. Any discussion? Corey, take the roll. Corey, yes. Jamie. Yes. Tom.
013Yes. Amy. Yes. Kelly. Yes. Polly. Yes. Katie. Yes.