Amery Board of Ed Annual Meeting & Budget Hearing + Regular Meeting 9-15-25

001order. Uh this is a different kind of meeting tonight. Obviously, um normally we would have convened into close session and then reconvened into open session with our regular meeting, but tonight is our annual meeting and budget hearing. And so we will now convene into our annual uh meeting and budget hearing. Um all of those who are able, please join me in standing for the pledge of allegiance, please. [Applause] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. And we will start off with introductions. and anybody that's here from the community. Um I hope you grab a annual meeting and budget hearing packet outside and there is a an agenda in

002the front cover just so that you can follow along and know where we're at um in that process. So for all those following along there it is. Okay, you can start with introduction. So I'm Becky Schmid. I'm the district administrative assistant. >> Jonathan McBride, director of finance. Shawn Der, our district administrator, Clari Win, school board, >> Wendo, school board, Charana, school board, >> Steve Astro, school board, >> April Zemer, school board, >> Josh, G High School principal, Tom Benson, middle school principal. >> Jessica Diamio, intermediate school principal and district director of curriculum and instruction. >> Megan Challenger, elementary principal. Abby Bhana, director of student services. Thank you. Um, I'd like to remind the everybody that this is an open meeting for the public to be able to participate. Um, and then we'll have the parameters

003and election of a chairperson. Do you go over the little parameters or do we want to >> parameters that the page that you're looking at on your left right there? >> Yep. >> That those are the parameters. So, if you want to read that from the top, it'll cover everything for you. >> Okay. Want to start off to welcome you all to the 2025 annual meeting and budget hearing. The school district of Amory Board of Education welcomes our residents to our annual meeting and budget hearing. We are glad you are here. During the budget hearing, you will learn about the proposed 2526 budget, which is based on estimated expenditures and revenues. These estimates reflect an anticipated decrease in state funding and an increase in equalized property value for the 2526 school year. The 2526 budget

004will change before it is finalized in October. Certification of our equalized valuation and our actual third Friday student enrollment count will affect our revenue limit and therefore change the budget proposed here. The school district of Amory is dedicated to fostering educational excellence and ensuring every student reaches their highest potential. Achieving this goal depends on the active involvement and support of our community. Together, the board of education, administration, and staff remain steadfast in providing outstanding learning opportunities and programs that enrich both our students and the wider community. Guided by our district's strategic plan, we will continue to advocate and innovate in the coming year. Meeting participation parameters. As a resident of the school district of Amory, you are invited to actively participate in the district's annual meeting and budget hearing. To address the assembly, please stand

005and state your name and municipality for the record before speaking. Please limit comments to five minutes or less. Matters pertaining to specific individuals, sensitive subjects, or topics are not allowed for discussion at an annual meeting, but may be tabled for discussion outside of the public assembly. When the annual meeting resolutions are presented, school district residents are encouraged to make motions, second motions, and vote. And with that, we will have an election of the chairperson. Do I have a nomination for a chairperson? I will nominate Char Glenna to be the chairperson. I'll accept the nomination. Are there any other nominations for a chairperson? Are there any other nominations for a chairperson for the annual meeting? Hearing no other nominations for the chair for the annual meeting. Do I have a motion to cast a unanimous ballot

006to close nominations and appoint Shard Lena as the chairperson for the annual meeting? >> I would move to close the nominations and um approve Shard Lennena as the chairperson for our annual meeting and budget hearing. >> Second. It's been properly moved and seconded to close nominations and cast unanimous ballot for Charena to chair this meeting. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. >> Motion passes. Um I will chair this meeting. Okay. And with that, um, we will have the 2425 district financial overview, starting with the treasures report by Larry. As you are aware, the 2025 2026 district budget will change before it's finalized. Certification of our equalized property value in the third Friday student enrollment count will affect our final revenue limit and

007therefore change the budget that we're proposing here. The 2025 20 uh 26 school district of Amory fund 10 operating budget will total 20,729,220 compared to the 2024 25 unudited expenditures of 20,511,534. This is a budget increase of 1%. The levy or property tax for operations for 2425 was 12,623,719. The 2526 property tax levy for operations will be approximately $13,653,578. This is an increase of a,29,859. The increase in the levy is a direct result of a 15.59% decrease in state aid coupled with a substantial increase in equalized property values. This year the estimated equalized valuation of all property located within the school district of Amry is a billion843,318,199. This represents an increase of approximately 7.43% from last year. Based on these estimates, the generalized mill rate will be $741 compared to $7.35 last year, an increase

008of approximately 6. Based on these projections, the school portion of taxes on a $100,000 property will increase by approximately $610. That would conclude my report. >> Thank you, Larry. We'll move on to the fund 73 report. >> Thank you, everybody, and thank you, Larry, for reading those eloquent words. Um so the fund 73 and this is just a little bit of an education point. So uh 2004 the school district of Amir chose two different uh health or health retirement accounts um just based off of all sorts of different factors. One that we call the old group, one that we call the new group. Uh the old group being fund 73 which what we're talking about today and the new group. The difference being is that our new group is funded as we go. So it's

009funded every year at the end of the year along upon the successful completion of another year that is a transfer that is made directly into an account. Once that account is vested people can draw on that account upon retirement. Uh versus the old group HR um it has to be held in a fund or a trust um which is collectively known throughout DPI as fund 73. So we are mandated to do a fund 73 a fund 73 report every single year just to maintain the health of that account. Uh this is also where we do have some expense because we have to do an actuarial study every two years which we are doing right now. Uh that helps do all sorts of different actuarial studies um to figure that out. So the basics are when

010you're looking at this, it looks a little skewed. And the reason it looks a little skewed is because we had a one-time transfer in, transfer out. So that's why we look at that left column there, which was 2324. That's why the revenues and expenditures are so much higher than they are in the previous year, uh, is because that is a correction. So it was just a simple mistake in actual, um, coding. Um, but when I'm doing numbers like this, I put in the actual numbers that the reports say. I don't try to remove things out. So, that is the reason why. Now, when we start talking about surplus and deficit, um, it's a trust fund. It's supposed to go down. It's not supposed to go up very much. And that's simply because as people retire

011off and draw on those funds, those funds should reduce. Now the hard part is with those funds uh a lot of times those retirees are refusing to retire at the age that the actuarial said that they were going to. Uh so what happens is our interest ends up exceeding what the actual dispersements were which was the case this year. Uh so we had quite a few uh people that actually aged out of that plan. Either they hit eight years or Medicare retire or Medicare eligibility. uh so they aged out and as a result we have a surplus in that account which is the reason why we didn't end up actually making a contribution to fund 73 in last fiscal year. I know that's kind of a lot to to kind of go, but essentially this

012is a smaller group. And the reason why I want to just kind of make sure that people know that is because if you are a district uh all these retirements of 250ome staff, no, this is a very this is less than 10% of our actual subset of employees. Our other retirement fund uh is uh 10x that amount. uh and is managed completely and totally differently. Um and it is a completely different beast and monster but that is not actually a trust fund. Um so that money comes in and out all day every day. So um anybody have any questions as far as fund 73 is concerned. I'm sorry I keep forgetting that it is not this is the annual. So fund 73 is doing great. It's healthy. Um we're at what's called the 30-year ADC

013or actu actuarial determined contribution. Um, so that means that we are sitting exactly where the actuarial will say that we should be. So that's a good thing. >> Great. Thanks, John. And now we can move on to revenue and expenditures. >> So the information on these next two p on this next one page, these next two visuals, these are actually the 2425 unodudited just fund 10 revenue sources. Um, so as you can see, there's really just three primary categories that we break out. State and federal, property, tax, and other. And again, if I'm talking too fast, please let me know if you have questions at any time. Um, so last year we took in 8.464 million or 40 roughly 41.53% of our budget came from state and federal sources. the vast majority of that being

014through equalization aid or general aid from the state, per pupil aid from the state. Uh and then some from federal grants like title one uh title one, title 2, title 4. Um so but the vast majority of that is from the actual state, not the federal government, uh which is what you see every year. Um the largest percentage or 47.17% comes from property taxes came from property taxes last year and specifically into fund 10 was $9.615595 million in property taxes. Uh then the other piece of that puzzle is all sorts of different things from uh admissions revenue from football games uh to one-off grants that were written for uh CTE or CTE incentive grants or all sorts of different things. Um if we broke those out, they'd be such tiny little slivers that you wouldn't

015be able to see them anyways. But in collective, it was about $2.3 million in revenues. As far as expenditures are concerned, you can see the big piece of the blue puzzle. Uh that's our salaries. So, our salaries and benefits take up the vast majority of our budget as it does for most school districts. In fact, uh last I checked, the state of Wisconsin was looking to pass legislation that forced us to spend, I believe it was 75%, is that correct? >> Yes. >> At least 75% of our fiscal budget on salaries and benefits for staff. Um so between those two categories we were at approximately 78% uh total last year and budgeted wise we had budgeted for about 81% that difference is just simply unfilled rolls uh or filling roles with people who were at

016a less lesser thing. So natural attrition of I8s that came in at A3s and that sort of thing. Um so that's the bulk of our budget. Um last year purchase services were significantly down over the last year and I know that that's not in here. Um purchase services being mostly in the terms of construction outside services. So what's called object 300. Um so our purchase services because of all the referendum work uh has gone down and that's actually reflected in the budget for this next fiscal year as well. Um so uh purchase services totaled about 1.8 million. Uh then we have our general supplies. Our general supplies, the biggest chunk of our general supplies uh comes in the form of utilities and then ultimately um in I'm sorry, utilities or purchase services uh comes in

017the purchase of uh curriculum, excuse me. So our curriculum purchase is the biggest bit of that and then the rest of it is just doing our our thing our everything. Um, from what I've learned over the last couple years, um, we're actually sitting probably about 4% less than where most people are when it comes to supplies. About 10% of your budget going to the daily operations of your operation is is probably a little bit more in tune, but we've been doing pretty good when it comes to our supplies. Um, our insurance, our insuranceances, we're about 400,000. Now, this is not health insurance. That is covered up in employee benefits. This is what's called our CPI or this is our everyday property casualty insuranceances. Um capital purchases again were significantly down over the previous year because

018we had less things to buy um because of all the referendum stuff. Um and then capital leases, capital leases are up over the previous year and that's simply because we are in our replacement cycle for the Ben Q boards uh that you guys voted on. So that number will actually go the opposite direction for the budget 2627 because that first three-year chunk comes off and then it'll actually be about half of what it is right now. So that's just the very high level overview of revenue and expend and expenses for last fiscal year. >> All right, thanks John. And then we're going to move on then to the Is there any questions on that? Let me let me stop there. Is there any questions on the expenses from 24 to 25? >> I will add

019that it is broken out a little bit more on the subsequent pages once you get to page 11 through the end of the actual proposed budget. It does break those expenses out a little bit more but detailed stuff is always available on requests. >> All right. So then we'll move into the presentation of proposed budget for the um budget year. >> So I I the the first difference for those who paid attention and and uh participated in previous annual meetings, one of the things that I did this year is I added three pages. So I apologize and I added three pages worth of numbers. So I apologize. Um, but last year, uh, last year in December when it was property tax season, um, I probably fielded some two dozen phone calls from Amory taxpayers, um,

020who were just asking me questions about all sorts of different topics related to property taxes. Um, and it it led to some really outstanding conversations and I would encourage anybody who has convers questions, reach out. Again, this information is not certified by the state until the middle of October, which is why it's not voted on, and it's entirely until October. So, I can't really speak in 100% certainties at this point, but I've already fielded a couple phone calls and had some great conversations um in the past couple of weeks. So, what I wanted to do is just provide um a quick little resource here on the next three pages when we start talking about our property tax levy. Why is it going up? What does that look like for my municipality? What does that look

021like for my individual property? And again, I can't speak to each individual parcel that makes up the school district of Amry. Um, but this first page is just a general kind of overview analysis of what does the big picture tax levy look like in the school district of Amry. So, the line that we're talking about today as it come as it relates to the proposed budget is that 2526 category. These numbers again are not derived from anything that I do. These numbers are derived through the le revenue limit worksheet which is the formulaic approach that the state of Wisconsin established in 1993 and hasn't updated since then. So these numbers are generated from last year's annual report, all sorts of different things. But at the end of the day, we had a reduction in our

022state aid, as did almost every uh school of our size in CISA 11 in rural Wisconsin in general, which has led to an increase in what our schoolbased tax levy is, which is that 13,653,578 that you see in the middle of the page. So how did we get to that number? How did the state get to that number? Well, the two biggest things that they look at, number one is your equalized d the equalized property value of your area. And if you're looking in that green and middle side, um you can see Yep. Thank you, Becky. You can see that we went from $1.7 billion to $1.84 billion in just the course of one year. So, what that means is that that's almost $130 million increase in the equalized property value of area. Why that's

023important is because on your property tax statements, the first two items that you see are your municipality and your county. Both of those are tied to the individual assessed value of your home. Your school property tax levy is tied exactly to the equalized property value of the entire area. And that's what we're looking at right there. So, a 7.43% 43% increase year-over-year in that, including some additional tiffs and tids that came off and on through the city of Amory, I believe was the only one who had one last year. Um, and that comes down to the mill rate. And the mill rate is essentially what does this equal in terms of per $100,000 of value on your home. So, it's an increase from $7.36 to $741. And again, I'm speaking pretty quick because of just

024for for uh being respectful of time, but if you have questions, please let me know. So, the next page that I added this year is the how does that actually come into our individual municipalities. So, the first section in blue, this is just a breakout of the actual equalized property value estimates for each of the municipalities that make up the school district of Amory and what that looks like this year compared to other years. in the middle that is just more just again that tax levy that mill rate level there and then the purple the purple is what is the actual aortionment of your individual municipality so for instance if you are in Alden you only had you had an 8.69% 69% increase in total equalized property value year-over-year, but you actually year-over-year have a

025decrease in what your level of aortionment is coming from the Department of Revenue. So, how does that impact individual taxes? That's really hard to say because I am not an assessor and I am not with the Department of Revenue. But at the end of the day, these are kind of some numbers that could definitely help some members of the public who are trying to kind of lock down what the impact is going to be for them. And again, call me at any time. I'm at extension270. I'd love to talk. So, um, the next page, these are go ahead. >> Um, I just want to point out that, um, next to the columns, there's a percent and then there's the triangle and there's the delta sign and that means the ch the percent change. Just for

026anybody who's looking at this or may want to look at this and not with us, that that means just the percent change. >> Change. Go ahead. >> Yep. So then the next the next slide or the next page um these are a couple visuals that um you know if you were following along during referendum time and everything um that we've seen before. So this is just kind of what are the different pools that make up the total schoolbased tax levy. Um so community service referendum approved debt the revenue limit tax authority and then fund 38. So, those are all those things that make up the big number. And then that bottom one again is how to is how that's broken out and into the middle grade. Um, we toyed with playing with putting examples in

027here, but the problem is is the example looks really just it's not complicated, but on paper it looks overly complicated. Is that fair to say, Becky? So, what I would rather do is just have people if you wonder how to calculate this for your individual property, just call and ask and I will walk you through it and it'll make a whole lot more sense than seeing it on paper. So, moving right along here then um so skipping over to page 11. So, this is kind of overall our budget. Now, this is what is called the approved budget adoption format. So, this is pretty highle topics and this breaks it out on the uh on the expense or on the revenue side. It breaks this out by what we refer to as our sources. On the

028expense side, it breaks it out into what we call functions. So, it gets a little bit kind of confusing there in how the how it's separated out. Um, I'm not really a big fan of it. Um, but it is accurate. So, we have audited information from 2324, unudited information from 2425, and then the budget proposal for 2526. So for the vast majority of the areas without going line by line by line, for the vast majority of the areas, we have either a slight increase just for CPI or inflation of 1.2%. Um, for some areas, we have some pretty serious decreases in year-over-year budgeted uh expenses. And those areas are very simple. Right now, our bus fleet is doing good, so we don't need to buy a bus, so we're not going to buy a bus.

029Um, so that line item has come off. um we've decided that uh just because of all the athletics and referendums that we don't need as much in capital expenses this next year. So those capital expenses are are being pulled as well to help kind of just mitigate some of the other rising costs that have happened. Um so the fund 10 budget is a uh net positive budget by approximately $100. So we are budgeting to $0 this year um as is the goal every year. Um but we are also not anticipating many one-time large expenses. Of course, you cannot budget for every potential scenario. But uh the reality is is this budget I think is actually doing very good. So when we come down to so for revenues um just to kind of cap that off

030in fun 10 um in revenues I'm we are not anticipating anything major changing in either direction from anything outside of the general aid uh negative and the uh uh property tax positive over the last fiscal year. Um we are anticipating roughly flat level of funding coming from the federal government at this point. Um we are also uh for the special projects come grants coming from the state we are also anticipating that being relatively flat with maybe just a small CPI bump in there as well. So again nothing too crazy. Um I think the state coming off of the bianial budget I think they're not really jumping jumping to kind of get into more grants and everything like that. Um but I do know that we have a lot of eager people in the district that

031are ready to apply for those grants as they pop up. Um, so fund 10, uh, that's just kind of the general recap on fund 10. Um, fund 21 is always an interesting one, um, because the budget for fund 21 is that's not taxpayer money at all. So really the budget is pretty loose and usually based off of last year's expenses and revenues. Um, but fund 21, and I just want to make sure I reiterate this enough times, is not taxpayer funded whatsoever. So these are our angel funds. These are our booster clubs, our any number of different organizations. A lot of our scholarships live here, but these are donationbased and not controlled by the board. So, these are 100% controlled and uh self-controlled. So, those numbers can wildly vary depending on how those organizations want

032to spend those funds. special education. The one that I that I like to mention in special education is by law every year general fund has to buy any negative balance in special education. It's called an operating transfer. So the beginning fund balance for fund 27 is always zero and the ending fund balance is always zero because by law it has to be. Um so in fund 27 um again just like in fund 10 in fund 27 um we are just ex expecting just your typical inflationary increases uh in all areas whether that is in uh regards to revenues and expenditures. Um primarily again in that federal spending side of things, we already know what our allocations are. Um they're just not going above and beyond if that makes sense. So we're not going to budget

033for those. But if you look at the the bottom line for this is your total expenditures are approximately $2.8 $8 million in special education. Um, which is an increase over last year as it was the year before, but the needs of our students are starting to morph and more things are happening as a result of that. So, special education is definitely one that we're looking at. Um, and I'm just going to I'm going to put a little slice of hope in here. That is also one that the state of Wisconsin during this bianial budget has said they're going to work towards increasing our categorical aid reimbursement from the state for special education. So what that means is that the number at the very top of this where it says transfer in whatever number that comes

034in at if it's 30% which is what's budgeted this is what it'll look like. if it comes in closer to that 40 42% that the the the governor signed off on, um that number means less money coming from the general fund into fund 27. Again, it's kind of one that we're waiting to hear exactly what that's going to impact because they haven't released last year's numbers. So, they haven't released until the first part of October what last year's reimbursement rate is. So, they're not going to confirm what it's going to be this year until then. So once we move into the actual budget adoption in October, I'm hopeful that that number is a little bit more secure and that we can kind of do that. But that would be wonderful because our students definitely need

035it in that area. So the other the other funds we're just going to touch on really briefly. The debt service fund again um this is one where it's money in money out. Um so this is where our referendum leaves. So our budget is our budget is exactly what our debt schedule is. Um, and if you'd like a copy of our debt schedule, I'd be happy to provide that for you as well. Um, the next funds, fund 46, 48, and 49. Um, so this is one where the number started really, really high at 40 plus million all the way back in 2223, and now it's projected to be at $0. Well, that's because work is being done. So once the work is all done and signed and sealed and delivered, that fund will be at zero

036and that'll be a whole lot less work for me to do. Uh because that project's wrapping up. So that's a good thing. Um food service, food service is uh food service is just projected to be stable as always. Um we have done a really good job of just maintaining those finances over the years and we'll continue to do that. Um the big thing that I like to remind people about fund 50 though every year is that lives outside a general fund. So again not taxpayer money. It is in the form of parent parents supplying meals and USDA grants and stuff but these are non- taxpayer funds. So fund 50 lives outside of that. And then finally we have our community service funds and our community service funds. Um this is uh both our community education

037but this is also our daycare. So as you can see leaving this year we are in a negative fund balance but I am projecting that to turn around this year um for some because of some items that we have actually we have actually done already that will set that into motion or actually have already set that into motion uh including just good oldfashioned tightening the belt uh but the other side of it is reduction in staffing to meet our actual license licensing requirements. So, that's just kind of the really quick and dirty. Um, I don't like using that word, I suppose, but that's really just kind of the quick overview. Again, um, once we hit October, this becomes a little bit more finite finite and a little bit more detailed. Um, for now, this is

038just kind of the the general overview that we give at the annual meeting. So, I would be happy to answer any and all questions to the best of my ability. One thing that was we've talked about um that I just think you should speak to here is these these pages that have the graphs and the information on them. How much of that do do we control? >> Almost none of it. So when we start talking about our revenue limit worksheet, which is the primary function and that's how we derive what's coming from state aid and all that sort of stuff. When you actually look at that formula, the parts that we're responsible for are minuscule. There about five or six things that we input. Uh and those are things that are forecasted out using amortization

039schedule. So for instance, our debt service. So like I can tell you for for certain that this year is the peak of fund 20 of fund 39. So next year that number starts to fall off and stabilize. So this is our stabilization year per amiritization schedule for the referendum debt. So that will no longer be having any sort of upward impact on the levy. It'll continue to have it downwards. But when we start talking about the actual revenue limit tax levy that's down in that left corner of what's up there right now. Um that is the number that DPI in the state of Wisconsin says needs to come from the taxpayers. Um so that's using all sorts of different things. a three-year rolling average of our third Friday FTE count. Um, any sort of exemptions,

040whether they're one time or recurring exemptions. Um, and I would be happy and once we get to the actual budget, that's one of the things I present on is what our actual finished revenue limit worksheet is. The revenue limit increase from this year is and and again I will say it as my opinion is a direct implication of two things. Number one is the state system not being not being very friendly to rural communities uh and benefiting urban areas more so than your rural areas. Uh and that's back all the way 32 years back to 19 1993. Um, and just again properties continually to advance forward and that equalized property value jumping so high again. Again, I'm not an assessor. I have no power or authority. Neither does anyone here over assessments over when they're

041conducted, how they're conducted, everything like that. Um, but those factors together are ultimately what leads to a higher tax levy. And again, I did an analysis based off of the estimated equaliza or equalization or general aid throughout all of CIS 11 and the middle border conference. And if we take all 41 districts that are as that are in there, the average of those is a negative 5% from coming from the state. That is a direct result of the bianial budget um requests just completely being essentially ignored for the most part. Did that answer your question? >> Yep. And and in the last numbers of months, Sean, John, you've talked about um that very thing where the there's a budget brought to the state and the state has a surplus. >> Yeah. >> And they have

042said, "Sorry, you're going to have to take go take that increase from your taxpayers." >> Correct. >> Yeah. It's it's one of one of the things and and I I have it here and I would welcome anybody who who who is genuinely curious about it. Um the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction releases it's called the summary of 2025 act 15 2025 2027 state banial budget. It's a super good read. Um it's not it's not boring at all. Um, but what this essentially is is DPI puts together at the end of the bianial process, they basically put together, and if you want to bring it up on the screen, Becky, you don't have to go into anything really detailed, but essentially what it does is it breaks out each of the individual requests that either the

043agency, the governor's office, or the joint committee on finance, what the initial proposal was, and what action was actually taken. So this very first one that's on here was increasing the general equalization aid and revenue limits. So adding an additional 332 million GPR and 672 million over the course of about a billion dollars over the course of two years to what is accessible to give to all these school districts in the form of general equalization aid or uh through revenue limit increases. And why that those numbers are important is because we have a $4.9 plus billion surplus in the state. So they were asking for a billion dollars in the form of general aid. Why that's important is because had this one been changed, our aid percentage would have increased and our property tax levy

044would have decreased. So you can see on here what the agency's request was ultimately what the governor's request is and then what the joint committee finance was. And as you can see, what they decided to do coming out of that committee was to keep it completely and totally flat uh year-over-year for the next two years. So what that means is without any change in the formula, that means that our revenue limit will continue to go with inflation. But what we're getting from the state depending on the equalized property, the value of the area could go. And this this document, it's not really a document, it's more of a book, goes through all of the requests. And one of the things that you'll see as a recurring theme throughout this entire book is that the joint

045committee on finance did not recommend moving forward with any of these. So the question is then ultimately, so where did the budget surplus go, right? Did it come back to the taxpayers or what? So, but that would be the interpretation of not just me, but the Wisconsin Association School Business Officials as well. Thank you for the question. Nope. Any other questions? Okay. And then the hearing on the proposed budget, which is the community's time to ask the questions or essentially >> the board's time, any attendees here, our um district staff, anybody that has any questions for that for John, that would be the time to ask. Now, I'm just interested to know what the enrollment looks like this year. I know it's probably not directly towards you, but I think it's in the back of

046your the enrollment is those are 24.5 numbers. I know it's not third Friday. >> We don't have third Friday this year yet, but >> yeah, that I mean that's Friday. So, we don't have it for another few days and then it won't be it'll be another week or so until we know we >> students. Say that again. >> Are we up enrollment or where are we sitting at? I guess I I I believe we're pretty flat to be honest. >> Well, I can just generally speak to the fact that probably one of the biggest issues is that we're graduating or we did graduate a class, excuse me, of 121 students and we're bringing in a 4K class of 64 students at this time. So that right there we're going to have a deficit just from

047the exchange of those two classes. So, as far as other enrollment, we we won't know that until Friday. >> But for terms of the the budget, it's not just last year's, it's three-year rolling average FTE for third people count. So, if we're looking at that number, our last year's was 1351. And so my my for budgetary purposes I believe that number will probably be somewhere around 1340ish without knowing what the third Friday count's going to be on Friday. >> Yeah. Like you look at what what what's leaving and what's coming in and then you know it's hard to tell exactly who how how much you increase in each grade. I know I'm up I'm up nine kids from what I anticipated I would have if you rolled everyone over from the year before if you

048said okay I'm going to have every class move over. This is what I'm expecting to have. I've had nine more kids join me this summer than left. So that went up but um I can't speak for any other building. >> Any other questions comments on the budget? Okay, then we'll move into the resolution portion. Um, those resolutions are found um in your packets on page 10. And so I would encourage everybody that's here in the community to follow along. Um, also like I said, feel free to make those motions, second those motions. didn't come from anywhere um to just say your name uh if you're going to make the motion or second it so that we have an accurate um log of the minutes please. So we'll first move into the uh the approval of

049the proposed 2526 tax levy and the resolution is be it resolved that there shall be levied upon the taxable property of the school district of Amory the tentative sum of 13,653,578 for the purpose of defaying the operation and maintenance of the public schools for the 2025 2026 school year. The projected mill rate shall be 7.41. Is there a motion to approve the proposed 2526 tax levy? >> I so move. >> Motion by Larry White. Is there a second? >> Second by Gwen Dell. [Applause] Is there any discussion on the approval of the proposed 2526 tax levy? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor of approving the proposed 2526 tax levy, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> All those opposed, please signify by saying no. Motion passed. The approval The resolution

050is passed. The approval of uh the proposed 2025 2026 tax levy as presented. Resolution B for schoolboard salaries. resolution. Be it resolved by the electors of the school district of Amry that the yearly salary for the members of the Amry Board of Education be $3,000 and the district is authorized to reimburse members of the Amry Board of Education for actual and necessary expenses when traveling in the performance of duties. Is there a motion for the resolution? >> I'll make that motion. >> Motion by Josh Gold. Is there a second? >> I second it. >> Second by Tom Benson. >> It's been properly moved and seconded for the school district of Amory Board of Education for $3,000 salary and the addition of traveling expenses when necessary. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote.

051All those in favor of the resolution for the school district of Ary for the board of education for $3,000 salary and stipened, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. The resolution passed is approved. The school district uh board member salary will be $3,000 with the potential for reimbursement. Resolution C, accident insurance for students. Be it resolved that the board of education of the school district of Amory may provide for accident insurance covering students in the district and that the cost and expenditures for said insurance is hereby authorized. This is pursuant to section 40.30 subsection 19 of the Wisconsin statutes. Is there a motion to accept that resolution? >> I'll make that motion. >> Motion by April Zemer. Is there a second? >> Second. Second by Gweno. >>

052Is there any discussion regarding uh providing insurance for our students? >> I just want to quickly add for those who are unaware this policy has been phenomenal resource for our families for sports injuries, PE injuries. Um, I can tell you looking at loss ratios over the last 10 years, they are not making money off of the school district of Amory, but it is a huge resource for those families, especially the ones that need them. >> So, and I do think that's we um actually approved this subsequently at another board meeting um our carrier, but again, this is kind of Wisconsin statutes, so kind of have to do that. So, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor of the resolution to cover students in the district for um

053accident insurance, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. Resolution passes, the school district will provide accident insurance for our students. Resolution D, the 2026 2027 annual meeting date. Be it resolved that the board of education of the school district of Amory be authorized to hold the 2526 annual school district meeting on Monday, September 21st, 2026. And again, this is in accordance with section uh state statutes 120.08 subsection 1 of Wisconsin statutes. Is there a motion uh to approve this resolution? I'll >> make that motion. Steve Aro. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Guo. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve and resolve the annual school district meeting be held next year on Monday, September 21st, 2026. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed

054to vote. All those in favor of setting the annual meeting date for the school district of Amory next year, Monday, September 21st, 2026, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> All those opposed, please signify by saying no. Resolution pass. The annual school district meeting date for next year will be 20 uh Monday, September 21st, 2026. Thank you. Is there any other business that can legally be considered at this time at the annual meeting that anybody can bring forth? Hearing none, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the annual meeting for the 2025 20 or 2024 2025 school year. >> Sure. Can I just can I just quickly add >> Yeah. just since it's on here. Um if you have questions at all, members of the public, um please reach out to me via phone.

055I would love to answer those questions and in in any way that I can. Um email this time of year gets real wishy-washy just because it's really busy. Um but I will always take a moment out of my time to help educate someone or listen to different things. So I would just like to encourage people if you have questions, feel free to give me a call. >> Thank you. John's a nice guy to talk to. Doesn't invite her anything. All right. Again, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn the annual meeting. >> A motion to adjourn the annual meeting. Second, >> Josh Gold with a second by Tom Benson. All those in favor of adjourning the annual meeting can signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed to adjourning the annual meeting can signify by

056saying no. Motion passed. The annual meeting is adjourned and we will move along into our regularly scheduled September board meeting uh for our regular monthly business. And with that, we will start with the consent agenda items. >> I reviewed the uh um vouchers for the month and found everything to be in order. So, I would make a motion that we approve the consent agenda items. >> Second. It's been properly moved and seconded to accept the consent agenda items as presented. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. All of those opposed, please signify by saying no. Motion pass. The consent agenda items for this month are approved. >> Moving on to administrative and committee department reports. Mr. Gold, you're up. Well, it

057has been a great start to the school year so far at DHS. Your staff are doing a great job. Veterans are leading the way. So, things have been great there. Um, we look forward to all of you being able to take a walk through our common. We have our digital signage up now. It's it's really kind of kind of put the finishing touches on the the common area and uh it's really a nice thing to see. Our sports teams are doing a very good job uh wrapping up all festival activities from this past weekend. We had kids participating in number of events. did a great job there. Um started our um fast fridge screeners for reading and math. That's a new addition to the high school. Um that started today. We've got a week of

058screening going on. Um homecoming starts next Monday. >> Wow. >> Highlighted by the game getting moved to Saturday, September 22nd. >> Um 27th. >> 27th. Thank you. Yeah. >> The game is at 1:00. Okay. And then um October 1st, the following Wednesday, we have our first round of practice testing for ACT for grades 9 through 11. And next time we're here, we'll be talking fall sports playoffs already. >> That's crazy. >> Yeah. >> How did that happen? Um you want to reiterate a little bit, um Josh, for those people that don't know why our homecoming game is now on Saturday? >> Because we have an extreme shortage of officials and we couldn't find officials. uh crew had stopped at the end of at the beginning of the season and there's just not enough football officials

059out there or sports officials and anything. So, we exhausted all efforts including splitting up multiple crews to try to cover it and um that's what had had to happen. >> I'm so sad. Maybe that's what I'll do in semi-retirement. I'll take the test. Go start off appreciating some football. >> Sure. I would I would take you. >> So, anybody that's listening in the land out there, if you are uh interested in any kind of sports activities, sign up, take the test. I think you have to take a test, right? >> Yep. >> I get they won't just let me out on the field with you. >> Okay. All right. So, take the test and let's get some new officials. >> Thanks. >> Y >> All right. at the middle school like uh Josh said that

060we're in the middle of sports and activities. Our cadet bands both and high school bands did an beautiful job marching in the fall festival parade and it's always fun. I want to commend Miss um RHS Lundren and Mrs. Sunderland and all the band-aid parents that make that happen. >> The bandaids. I love that. >> Bandaids and the kids did a wonderful job. Uh we're also involved in a lot of of uh middle school sports, football, volleyball, cross country, drama kicked off their meeting, uh getting kids signed up for that activity. Uh we're participating homecoming as well and we're excited to participate in the homecoming parade that will be coming up the Friday before and we'll have a Warriorway celebration following that. We have teacher inservice coming up on September 29th. It's really our first full

061day of inservice training and we're going to be working on some interventions on uh student behaviors as well as uh our new edgy climber program and making sure staff are able to better use it to analyze data and make good decisions on how our kids are performing and how we can respond to it. And then we're also doing an Aristotle training which Aristotle is a program that uh where the computer monitor teacher can monitor what everyone's using in the computer at one time and it kind of keeps you so that kids can be working on something they can see everyone's screen to see what they're doing and staying on task. Uh student leadership training we have students that are applying to become like our student council to get involved and we'll do a training on

062September 30th. Parent teacher conferences are coming up, believe it or not, in just a couple weeks, October 6th and the 9th, and you'll be getting invites out soon, uh, for parents to sign up for their pick a times. Um, the last day of our first term, which is we're on six week terms and 12week trimesters, is October 15th. our eighth graders participating in kind of an annual um anti-bullying team building activity out at Ox Lake and Wapo and that will be on October 17th and we're pretty excited to see how that goes for them. Um just like John Josh Josh said uh and we're all involved in our screening on Fastbridge for reading and math. We actually had our our our reading English language arts meeting with the teachers today after school and kind of

063going down over which kids we're concerned about who's scoring below certain thresholds and then what additional screen tests are we going to do to make sure that we're giving the right interventions. Um that's trickier than you think because does the kid reading is it a comprehension issue? Is it a fluency issue? all kinds of different strategies that you have to take a look at and then you respond to them all a little differently. Um, on the next one, I think it covered everything. Um, the next one, um, except for maybe picture retake day is October 8th. I don't know how that got in there. Did you put that in there? >> That's good information though. Picture retake day. October 8th. >> Yeah. You need your pictures being retaken. Josh probably had to take six of

064them before they That's right. >> That's it for the middle school. >> Yeah. No, thanks though for putting that in there cuz I know there were parents that were very stressed out about having it on day one and so >> I didn't but I put it on all of our reports. >> Good job. >> Well, you know you're in the thick of it when you're starting to talk about parent teacher conferences already. >> Yeah, it's crazy. >> We're rolling along. >> It's a good thing. >> All right. Well, good evening. Uh intermediate school open house. it seems like months ago. Um, it was very well attended. I wanted to highlight that we actually had attendance rate of of 96% of our students visited, which is huge. We had several classrooms that were 100% attendance, which

065is fantastic. This night is created, you know, to foster that connection right away, get students feeling comfortable, create a relationship between parents and teachers. And so, I'm I'm really happy that we have such great attendance that means a lot to us. Um, first days of school are going very very well. Um first couple weeks are actually filled with lots of teaches. So we do bus teaching, we do recess teaching, we do parent pickup teaching. Really just reviewing all the routines that we have in place, but then also um making sure that our new incoming third graders feel comfortable about being here and um and how they're going to be successful. That leads me into fifth grade leadership. So we have a fifth grade leadership team. Um our leadership team actually starts with us as fourth

066graders and then they transition to fifth graders with us. And so this leadership team takes on a lot of the first couple weeks of school for us. They actually do all of the teaches that happen. Um so they're teaching within the hallway, their station setup. They're really a big part of that. So using kind of that mentor mentee ship program has been very beneficial to us. So I want to thank our school counselors who oversee that and then the parents for um supporting their student and being a leader. Safety drills. Um actually today and tomorrow we are practicing safety drills per the DPI. Um these are age appropriate, developmentally appropriate. Um each environment has a conversation um about safety drills. And so that of course is all different uh types of concerns that we would

067have. And so we walk through each of those situations um to hopefully help students feel comfortable and in making sure that we know what to do in case of an event. Um I did separate it out actually a little bit. Um well before I move on actually one thing that is not on here for the is um I forgot was today was international dot day. So um just something fun that we did is um everyone was encouraged to wear polka dots. We uh every classroom has a book called the dot which has a character named Bashi who is trying to find her way and make her mark in this world. And so um we read the book as a building. Everyone has a dot on the wall outside the gym. So, if you want to

068go see it, you can see the character from Renee Anderson that drew it. And then every student out there has a dot signifying how they're going to make their mark at the intermediate school this year. Little incentivization for it is all teachers actually got a box of dots, too. So, that was great. Best part of the day. Um, I then actually separated out curriculum instruction just so I could kind of report on that as a systems piece for us. So, as Josh and Tom both already talked about, we are deep in FastBridge assessments. Uh, we're also deep in Ames Web Plus assessment. So, Ames Web Plus is a screener that was picked from the DPI uh and a reading council for our ACT 20 assessment. So, our K through three students are getting really assessed

069um multiple assessments with two different programs based on how they do. They then would have a diagnostic assessment as well. Um, I just talked with Title One today and the initial results look look good. Looks like we're making some really nice gains. We're starting off the year with some very solid numbers. I talk a lot about PRPs, which stands for personalized reading plan. So, any student that falls underneath the 25th percentile and oral reading fluency, we then have to do more diagnostic screeners. And then those students would require a personalized reading plan except if there's a good clause, meaning it's a student with a special education referral um or an English language learner. Those would be good causes to not um have a PRP. So when looking at the initial assessments from Ames Webb Plus,

070I wanted to report out to you the number of PRPs that we have happening at each grade level. Um so kindergarten will have four personalized reading plans for students. First grade will have 12 personalized reading plans. The second grade will have 16. Then third grade will have 17 personalized reading plans. Um I do want to also share Tom at his DAC meeting made us aware that Ames web plus which is the screener that we use reorms. Um last year the assessments and the norms that we were using were actually pre-COVID norms. So meaning that 25th percentile that cut score that was being shared was was from 2019. So now we have updated data. And so when we're looking at percentiles, it is based on new norms from EMS web. Um new teacher classes. So new

071teacher classes are often running. Um again, this is a support for any teacher that is new to our district. Um they will have in addition to the mentor mentor mentee program. This is an element of that. And so it's a series of classes that we really as an administrative team focused on how do we support our educators and it's a variety of topics. So, the first T class actually happened tonight. It was led by Josh and Megan and it was on classroom management. And so, um, that's a great support for our teachers as well. And those happen every month, um, actually all the way up until the month of March. And then lastly, Title One, u, the schoolwide Title One leadership team will be meeting this Wednesday on September 17th. So, as a schoolwide Title

072One program, we have to have a spring and fall meeting. And in that we have parent representation, um teacher representation, school counselor, um and then administrator representation. And so we go through our plan, our partners and learning agreements, and then we tie it to the board policy as well that we review um just a couple board meetings ago. Um after that plan is approved and there's conversation around it, I will then email that to Amanda Warner, who will upload that to us for us to our school district website if anyone wanted to take a look at what are our commitments in supporting our students. um upcoming events. I will own the fact that I put teacher retake day on there. I'm okay with that. That's important as some of the Diamosios are going to be

073getting their pictures retaken too. >> Yeah. Um so homecoming celebration. Um we also have, you know, school parent teacher conferences on October 8th. We actually have Food for America too. So Mr. Meyer and the high school um offer a really really great learning experience for our students. So we're excited about that. and then your teacher conferences and school. >> I have a question just for the new teacher essential essential classes. >> Um this for our certified education staff, right? Do we have a program similar for our aids, our classroom aids and >> I would say professionals. >> I can jump in. Go ahead. Well, I was going to say so um any parah that provides um instructional support, academic support does have to go through a class at CISA um like a par mastery leadership

074class. So they do have to go through that class. Um the only option of not doing that class is having an associates degree. So just making sure we have highly qualified PAR educators supporting our students. Um and then in addition special education and regular education, we do um foster mentor mentee relationships. And then in addition with other paras, our classroom teachers also support any new par that starts with us. For example, we got a library media par specialist. This year um her cooperating teacher is Annie Brighton. And so Annie Brighton really takes on that mentorship role for her >> rather than maybe coming as a full district though like some of the trainings are really a what's going on in a kindergarten age is very different than high school age. So like we have a

075training coming up uh next week or yeah next week for the middle school parents on kind of the dos and don'ts if you're supporting in a classroom what how what's the best way to go about it. Um so they kind of come in over time but yeah so >> yeah think all the think huddles after school um it's scheduled for you know depending on the building when they're scheduled but um we meet especially with teachers with special ed support staff and review students and do some tips and tricks on best practices and stuff. So it's throughout the year. Okay. Yeah. And I just I was just wondering as far as like procedural wise um and what those you know reporting systems look like and obviously we've had some kind of breakdown in communication in the

076past and just wondering how we're moving forward doing that with and it it just happened to bring it to mind when you were talking about that. So >> Okay. Thanks. >> Okay. Any other questions for for Mrs. Droio other than her kids are messed up with pictures? I bet Art didn't request to retake. >> We said you put it on cuz it got into my >> Oh, my sophomore wore a purple golf shirt. So, >> nothing. I guess nothing. Apparently, >> mom. >> All right, off to the elementary school. >> Yeah. Uh, the school year is off to an amazing start. Uh, maybe it's naive or maybe it's bliss, who knows? But I'm absolutely loving my new role with all the kids there. Uh, and really being intentional trying to build purposeful relationships. The popsicles

077with the principal event on open house was a huge hit. I was unable to keep uh track because I simply was handing out popsicles the entire night to the point in which I'm like, "What's your name? What's your name? What's your name?" And then the parents like, "Good way to bribe them." I said, "Hey, it's a sugarfree glucose like it's it's a really healthy treat for your child." But yes, I don't want to be threatening to them. Uh but to but to add to that, I've been intentional at being at the pickup and drop off lines every single day uh with getting to meet parents, talk with kids, be right there supporting, and we're continuing to refine our procedures so that line isn't as long as people are leaving as best as we possibly can.

078Uh PE classes have been a great way to engage with kids and play so I'm not as threatening. It's very curious to see what uh little kids perceptions of what the principal is and does. I don't know what Mr. Derkler did in mystead. But the principal is where you go if you're make bad choices. What a lot of little kids have said. I said, "Well, we're not that scary, guys." >> Like, we we like to have fun with kids, too. And my my true treat of the past uh 3 weeks is being a guest reader and call. I'm almost hit every single classroom bell and getting to read to kids and have fun with them and again to learn their names. Uh but twofold, we're also we've the elementary school has been blessed with a

079plethora of volunteers throughout the years. Amazing volunteers. However, uh we haven't had a formalized process for how our volunteers come in, how they get vetted, and how we offer them supports. Uh so I created a volunteer handbook in which and a process in which we pass a background check. It's been, you know, intermittent at best. And then we uh go that each volunteer goes through a onboarding training with me in which we go through the packet. We talk about confidentiality. We talk about safety. We talk about things that they want to do to support. And then they kind of fill out, okay, here's what I'm looking to do. Then what I do is I go and I talk with my teacher team. Is that a space in which we need help and support? Volunteers are

080great. They're an amazing blessing to our school, but sometimes depending on what they want to do, it doesn't help our system. and it sometimes slows it down. So, just making sure that that's what we need. Uh, and that process has been going incredibly well. I've been inundated with meetings of people wanting to get into our building right away. And I said, "That's awesome. It's amazing, but let's kind of go through this first." And we've got a lot of our volunteers already up and running and reading to kids and supporting small groups. So, that's pretty impressive and pretty incredible. And I just wanted to thank the board and uh those individuals who worked on the referendum work prior to my arrival here because you blessed me with this beautiful space in the prekk area that was

081just open and we've coined it the cove and you blessed me with a lot of furniture that's flexible. So what I did at the beginning of the year is I brought a team of teachers in and we designed that space with nine intentional learning spaces within that that is used throughout the day es and flows whether it's small groups whether it's whole groups whether it's kid needing a movement break whether it's kids needing a time to sit down in a quiet space and read or create. It allows us this wonderful flexibility and allows our teachers the flexibility to use this space fluidly. Uh even just the idea that you decided to get furniture that was storage that was magnetic and had marker boards on the back, this now becomes a movable classroom constantly and it's

082evolving. So if I I welcome anybody from the public or anybody from the board that wants to come see this space. It's it's truly beautiful. So thank you to the taxpayers for supporting that because we're using it. We're using it to maximize student learning. Upcoming dates, uh, this Friday, if you got nothing else going on and you want to put your PJs on, come and hang out with us at the playground. We got a movie showing. We're going to have some popcorn, some food trucks, and we're just going to play. We're just going to meet new families. We're going to enjoy some time together. Homewardbound: The Incredible Journey, the 1993 classic will be showed uh because most of our students have not seen this movie. Uh but that'll be happening on a giant inflatable screen.

083Uh we've got the walk, bike, and roll to school national event happening on October 1st. Uh which is essentially it's it's promoting safe routes to school. It's promoting health and wellness and it allows our kids who maybe don't get a chance to walk to school a chance to walk to school in this safe and structured environment. That is in a collaborative effort with their local police department. So, uh Chief Peters has been essential in making sure that that route is safe for our students. Obviously, parent teacher conferences is coming up and math night as well. But one thing that I forgot, Becky, and I'm truly sorry, is October 3rd is uh the elementary's day at the farm. And I can't forget to mention that cuz uh Dave Meyer and his team of students was over

084on Friday talking about all the wonderful things that they're going to be doing for the kids. And we're excited to take our kids out to that beautiful farm space and and explore that corn maze. >> Awesome. >> This is the school farm for Gotcha. >> Yeah. I was thinking it was your fine >> that is coming. That's seven. >> Yeah. Very cool. >> Um I do want to just elaborate on one thing that you said that was very kind of you to have those kind words of um thinking about the intentional spaces and I do want to give a shout out to um LHB um and K Anderson for that space along with Dr. Dr. Derler's guidance on that space and Cheryl Meyer and um Paula Johnson they Paula Johnson I think gets a large

085shout out for that furniture that was um really her idea. She had a lot of input in the space along with Cheryl Meyer. um two very forwardthinking uh elementary school principles that we had here in the past. And um like you said, the the biggest thanks goes to our taxpayers for um passing that referendum and allowing those things to take um shape and that it was a um blessing for that space for our youngest learners. So, thank you for bringing that up as somebody who's new to the district and did not go through that process. So, thanks. >> Okay. um wanted to touch base on the adapted PIED. Um in the past, you know, um we haven't had a lot of adaptive physical education for students who are supported by NIP and we're bringing it

086back. Um big shout out to Andrew Ericson and Larry Doens, um who have kind of just taken this under their wing and are really running with it. um you know uh adapted FIAD is to support students who one may need some retach or pre-teach of what's happening in the FIAD classroom in a separate setting to help them be ready to participate fully in a regular FIA class so they get both regular and adeptified at um always at the same time. Um but then it also allows us to kind of work on some of those um some goals to help the students meet some physical education um standards that they may not be able to meet without it. So, we have students um in all the buildings that will be um getting some adaptive services through

087their IEP. So, I'm pretty excited. Today was the first day and I got a great report. So, um I think it's going to be a really good thing for our students. Um and then I will be traveling um at the end of the month here to the Wcast, the Wisconsin Council for um student services directors. Um, and thank you for allowing me to do those kind of things because this is where I get the meat and potatoes of all the legal changes that are taking place in special education. Um, and the focus this year, I'm pretty excited about it is um, one of my passions and it's about inclusionary practices and it's more than just being in the same classroom. It's it's being a participant in the classroom and a member of the family of

088that classroom and of all students. And so, what are some things we can put in place to make sure that is happening? So, >> how many days, Abby? >> It's uh, two and a half days. All right. >> And Madison, >> I know the Dallas. >> The Dallas. All right. Bring your bathing suit. If >> you don't want her out the rest of the week, you're getting sick. >> That's really what it is. >> All right. Uh, anything from you, Dr. Derler, on your reports today? No, these people got it covered. Sorry. You're out. All right. And then on toformational items for the referendum building and grounds update with our building and grounds committee. >> Okay. Well, we met last Wednesday. We was Ryan Peas, our grounds uh supervisor, George Sigworth, our building supervisor, and

089board members Steve Ostro and Mary Wek. Uh we tre across the road to the new CT building. We have built five houses. This is not a house but rather a building which is going to be a shared product of CTE in a variety of ways of which you're going to see a presentation from CTE right here in this room next month about how we're financing it and how we're using it and what's the vision moving forward. So that's my broad introduction. I'm not sure if Larry or Steve had specifics that they wanted to share. They were with us too. >> Just a great building. Um after that meeting, Ryan and I walked some other areas and talked uh parking and you know, handicap parking and and other things. Um, so there's just a lot of

090of thought going or a lot of thought continuing into um campus after the referendum and seeing how traffic flows and people flow and um but this building in particular, there's some exciting stuff for the future with that >> and uh I'm looking forward to next month >> and the kids are building it which is the best part of all >> I think the best part about that whole meeting I don't know about Larry but when you talked about some of these uh past students that would come up and say, "Boy, I would have paid more attention." >> I literally had a meeting that day with a a former student of mine who graduated in 2014. He was in on a different topic. And he said, "You're building a house across the street." And I said,

091"No, it's a building, but we've built five houses." And he said, "I know. I've been watching. I was in this office or I was in your office a lot of times. I wouldn't have been in your office at all if you'd let me build houses." Well, you missed it by a few years, but thanks for saying so. >> Really great project that we're doing out there and opportunity for the kids. And how are the fields looking? Are we >> Well, you guys, you probably speak to the field. We talked about the the corn and whatnot, but >> you're talking ball. >> Not that field. All fields. Yes. Athletic fields. >> Uh well, the turf field is is ready for prime time. Has been used a ton. Uh the JB baseball field, we could play on

092that now if we wanted to. Um uh words from Matt Aler, our head baseball coach. He said, "We play on fields that are a lot worse than this. Now that we've got it irrigated and we've got it leveled in the way it needs to be, it's going to be fantastic." And the two fields that are from the Jorgensson complex, they look great. Now they are also playable and we'll be on those fields when we get to our next season. Uh I believe the sign on the back of the scoreboard looks fantastic. you get up close. There's a bench there in honor of the Jorgensson family. Um, that's awesome. And Connie's been involved in the process from the beginning all the way to the end. It's fantastic. So, yeah, they're ready ready to roll. >> Friday

093night football. Now that we have two entrances and two tickets booze, how I wasn't able to come there that that night, but I I will be there soon. How is that all shaken out? >> Logistics appear to be working great. I mean, the the visiting fans have now figured out that it's got to park in the intermediate or middle school and they'll be in my spot in seconds and I have a good parking spot. If you all want to come in on the other side, it gets a little uh precarious, but they just didn't know cuz they had never been here. So, it was entirely new. We knew there'd be logistical concerns once we put it in because we you don't know how people in vehicles move until it's done and people in vehicles move.

094So, we're figuring those things out. I actually sat on the visitors side for one of the games because I had a family member playing for the opposite team. Um, and there was lots of people making nice comments about how short the walk was to get to the seats and how nice it was. We received many comments on our field that night. >> I've heard some some good comments too online uh watching the videos um uh when they went played up in Grantsburg. I think it was the announcer up there. Looking forward to coming down to Amry and he said Amry taxpayers, you guys did it right. You got great great facilities down there. So, >> okay. Just want to make sure people can get in now. And I mean, I know it was kind of

095a, you know, a situation we were still working on. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. >> Um, >> they're ready to go or just about ready to go for um track for next year with the throwing. Yes, we'll have our all our field events will be on this side of the road, but other facilities will be there for those who want to warm up and use those facilities, but they'll all be right on in the same location cuz your sprinters or your jumpers, your you don't want kids going across the street trying to get and we want folks who are doing shot and disc to be nearby as well. They're literally be across the road right there by the intermediate. It's all going to be ready to go. >> Okay. >> So, I still we still all

096Larry's done. Yeah, I have nothing left. >> It's all great. >> Larry was there though. >> What Mr. Ganji is doing with the CTE building in the students is is just phenomenal. I >> I just applaud that program. >> It's fun watching them every day when I'm driving in. They're all gearing up and tooling up and crossing the street. >> Well, the other thing that's great about it, too, is it it it feeds on itself, right? So it's it's generating its own income and see that next month when we figure out that >> they're there all morning. >> They're at 7:30 when I'm not sure they're there for math and English at 7:30. >> A great program. >> Well, and many of the kids go on to take on industry jobs um that the seed

097was really planted when they started building those homes. Um so it's just really cool. [Applause] All right. Anything else? Okay, thanks. Good, good discussion. Getting things pinned down. Off to our action items. And first up is the strategic plan that was postponed um until this meeting. And I I think I should probably clarify that is that um that's what the board really did was post postpone this action. We didn't table it. That would imply that we were going to pick it up uh later in the meeting. I think as of just a parliamentary point of concern on my point um running the meeting we um it wasn't necessarily we said that it was tabled but it was postponed a certain time. This is the time that we're going to pick that up. So we're going

098to um take take that over and have that discussion now to hopefully finalize the strategic plan of the 25 to 30. The item that you wanted in addition to is strategic goal number five, efficient and accountable board of education bullet point number one. Underneath number one bullet point, there's an additional bullet point there. It used to be just the second of the two, the by 202930 statement about school perception survey improving the number of respondents by 5% that say we're delivering a high quality education. Uh per your recommendation, we added the measurable objective right before that which states the school district of Amry will improve by 3% the district score on the state of Wisconsin school report card as determined by a comparison of the 2425 report card with the 2526 report card. Our scorecards

099have come in typically in the mid70s for a district because not every school every school gets one but the district does it too. we've been 72, 73, 74. In some years we've been up in the low 80s. So to improve by 3%, you're talking about moving from a 74 to a 77. And that way you have a yearly uh goal you can track. You don't have to wait 5 years to know and you're sort of not at the whims of what folks may say on a school perception survey. You can find out right there in the present each and every year. So, that was the addition that I made for your recommendation, and that's the only recommendation that I had that you had for me as an addition. And I'll turn it back over to

100you. >> Uh, I do like this measurable objective one. It doesn't depend on doing another survey. So, if we didn't do another survey or it wasn't in the cards to do another survey, um, we still have a measurable goal just like the administration has their measurable goals here, um, that we can do. And I think it really does lend itself to um the work and the planning that the board has been doing for the last couple of years when we've gotten together to talk about what our goals look like um for this district and what our concerns are for the district. So um I think that's an accurate reflection of of something that's tangible and that we can track um and not wait like you said for the five years and then go well gez

101what did we do? So, and that's kind of the idea of the strategic plan was that it's always supposed to be living and breathing and that we're going to be referencing it um within those five years instead of putting it on the shelf and waiting. So, um I like the uh addition of this measurable objective. >> I do have a question though and it's I think you were at um a gathering to talk about that survey, right? Or that scorecard, >> the DPI. Yes. Yep. Yep. And were they discussing big changes to that where where this 3% would be skewed by a change in what they're doing or how they're doing it? >> So we looked at raw cut scores. Um where do students fall within their achievement, but there was a lot of conversation

102that was brought up just about um the equation of how it gets to that school report card. And so what what I've been shared is that um your top two measures that they are weighted based on socioeconomic status that's written into law. Um so the the equation to get to where a score is is not is not changing. It's just where is that raw cut score? Where are schools going to fall? Um my understanding is that has not been approved or publicly approved at this point. And so it's really hard to, you know, identify where where we will fall, but it's still based on the same equation that we're playing with right now. Sure. I hope that answers >> it. It does. And the thing for me is, you know, as long as we go

103into that, if there are major changes that either makes this easy to attain or hard to obtain. We just need to be cognizant of that and then make adjustments accordingly to maybe not to the plan itself, but how are we interpreting, you know, those changes. And I wasn't anticipating there'd be anything major. I just know you had been there. I'm curious to what your insight was. Other than that, I like it. >> Would there be a motion to approve the added measurable objective of the school district of Amry will improve by 3% the district score on the state of Wisconsin school report card as determined by comparison of the 2425 report card score and the 2526 report card score. are we're just talking about approving that specific change. >> I just wanted if there is

104there any addition to that anything that >> the only addition uh that I added. >> So I'm not sure if you're looking for a motion to approve the whole blend. >> I'm just looking for if there I guess I shouldn't have said a motion. Is there any other discussion on this situation? >> Did anybody have any further discussion on the plan itself? all of it together? >> No, it's been a lot of time and hours and energy put into it. I think it's I think we're ready to go. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve the distributed uh plan for 2530? >> I would make that motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. It's been properly moved and seconded to accept the school district of Amry strategic plan 2025. Is there any discussion?

105Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor of approving the strategic plan, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. Motion passed. The strategic plan uh 2025 to 2030 is approved. And thank you for everybody who put in a lot of work on this plan. It was um it was a process and one I was grateful to be a proud part of. Um that was the first time I had been a part of a strategic plan. So thanks for everybody for putting in the time. Okay, moving on to an approval of a new depository. John, are you going to take this one? >> I will. Yeah. Um and we actually have the representatives of Pillar Bank here today. Um one of the things, you know, in

106order for us to conduct any sort of official business with any sort of banking institution whatsoever, they have to be on the approved official deposiitories list. This is something typically that you guys actually that we approve every after every board election cycle um when you guys are restructuring the board. So essentially what's in front of you right now, this is our current uh approved depository list. Um this is one that will change again in October and will change again potentially in November. Uh the reason being is that currently uh Bremer Bank NA uh is Bremer Bank NA a division of Old National Bank and they are collateralized by Wells Fargo Bank but they have been acquired and at the end of October they will become Old National Bank and so that'll be Bremer will be

107stricken from that list and Wells Fargo be stricken by that list because they are not also collateralized by Wells Fargo and B is collaterized by somebody else. Um so this will be kind of a working document this year that we revisit a lot of time. Um but I thought it prudent to add an additional bank uh partner to this list uh which will expand our opportunities for doing all sorts of different things. Um so this is essentially just saying that the board recognizes and agrees that we can conduct business at our leisure with Pillar Bank and they've just been wonderful to work with so far. So, I'm happy to happy to have them added. >> Is there a motion to approve uh Pillar Bank as a new depository for the school district of Amory? >>

108I will make a motion to approve Pillar Bank uh as a new depository for the school district of Amory. Second, it's been properly moved and seconded to approve Pillar Bank as a new depository for the school district of Amory for 2025 2026. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor of approving Pillar Bank as a good official depository, please signify by saying I. I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. Motion is approved. Pillar Bank is a new official depository of the Emory School District. Next up, we have donations to the district. And you can tell school has started because the list is long. Following along here on the screen, we've got St. Croy Valley Foundation, the Eddie H. and Donald Olsen Fund. Thank you for

109the donation of $6,626 to the FFA program. SMC, thank you for donating school supplies for our students. Alan Clark, thank you for your donation. Generous donation of flip sleds and accessories in the amount of $7,000 to the Amry Warriors football program. Be Well Nutrition, thank you for your donation of school supplies for our students. Grace Place, thank you for your donation of school supplies to Wean Elementary School. Thank you for Don Johnson for the delicious treats you brought to our staff on the first day of school. Thank you to Anderson Windows and Shannon Leash for awarding the FFA program with a $500 doers dollars for doers grant. Deborah Johnson, Paper Pie Books, thank you for your donation of these books for Lean Elementary School. Family of Kath Hzel. Thank you to the family of Kath

110Hzel for your donation of school supplies in her memory. East Emanuel Lutheran, East Emanuel Church, I should say. Thank you for your donation of school supplies to Le Elementary School students. Amry Lions Club, thank you for your donation of $3,265.74 from your golf tournament fundraiser to the district's angel fund and many thanks for generosity and support. There's tens of thousands of dollars there. That is quite amazing. I mean, I we always get amazing donations from this district. I obviously I think we've said it time and time again of how um crazy good our community is to us. Um I don't know that I'd ever be sitting here thinking I was going to accept donations to the flip sled for our football team, but that's really cool. Um just >> did you try that? >> They

111come into work. >> Yeah. No more of those sign. All right. Is there a motion to approve the donations to the district? >> I would move. >> Yeah. Good. >> Larry moved. Steve, you going to second that for me? >> Thank you very much. >> Um, it's been properly moved and seconded to accept donations as and grants as presented here. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor of accepting the donations and grants with many thanks to the community, please say I. >> I. All of those opposed, please say no. Thank you for nobody saying no. Those donations are approved with many, many thanks to the community. Um, and then we're off to personnel action. Mr. D. >> Short list. We have new employment contracts for Greta Dicki as

112a clubhouse assistant teacher. Candy Khulik, special ed per Dawn Wolf as a reassignment from special ed per world to regular ed world. And lastly, a resignation as ski club advisor from Janick Cast. >> Is there a motion to approve the personnel action as presented? >> So moved. >> Gwen, is there a second? >> Second, >> Larry. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve the personnel action as presented. Discussion had taken place in close session. So I will not be asking for discussion at this time. All those in favor, please signify by saying I to approve the personnel action. >> I. All of those opposed to approving the personal action. Please signify by saying no. Motion passed. The personnel action is approved. Next, we have community comments. Nobody signed up for community comments tonight. Um,

113I will then entertain a motion to convene into close session for the purpose of considering employment promotion compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility in order to take personal action pursuant to Wisconsin state statute 19.85 uh sub1 subc. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. >> Could you take a motion? >> No. No. >> I'll make that motion. >> Oh, sorry. Sorry, Steve. Gosh, got ahead of myself. >> April, Steven, April. >> Steven, April. >> Okay. Again, I'm just going to ask for uh all those that are in favor of reconvening into close session, please signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed, please signify by saying no. I don't

114take a roll call vote because I assume everybody that says I is everybody that's here. So, we are now convened into closed session. Thanks for everybody for attending tonight.