001Welcome to the Monday, October 13th Board of Education meeting. Tonight, we are having some technical difficulties. So, this meeting will not be livereamed, but it is being recorded and will be posted online uh very soon. Thank you all for attending. Uh if you could pledge alle [Music] I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Music] >> Before we uh take action on tonight's agenda, we are going to flip items four and five. We'll do the finance committee update first and then the human resources committee update. I would entertain a motion to approve the amended agenda. >> Motion to approve tonight's uh amended motion um amend amended >> agenda. I'll second that. >> I have
002a motion from John, a second from Rick. All those other discussion all those in favor please say I. I >> oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. We'll entertain a motion on the minutes from our last meeting. >> I'll move to approve the minutes for the regular meeting held on September 22nd, 2025 as presented. >> I'll second that. >> I have a motion from Tracy, a second from Rick. Any questions? >> All those in favor, please say I. I. >> Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. I would entertain an action on vouchers. >> I will move to approve general checking account vouchers totaling 1 mill826,542 as presented. >> Second that. >> I have a motion from Tracy, a second from John. Any questions or comments? >> All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposing sign.
003Motion carries. Public comment. There was no one signed up for public comment tonight. So, we will respond to an update. >> Do a student council report tonight or not tonight? >> Oh, I'm Oh, I'm so sorry. We have student council report, please. >> Yes. And [Music] hello. My name is Braden. I'm going to be the one presenting today. Uh the past month has been very eventful with homecoming. Many of the students loved all different spirit days and pep facilities. I know watching the games. Football had a program sweep beating all of the forest teams. All in all, this month has been very successful for both. Um some upcoming things the preac is tomorrow for high school. Some things the student council is doing. We are discussing things to do for veteran day. We're getting feedback
004from students about how the SOCO went and we're discussing things for questions. >> I would just like to say thank you to uh yourself and all the student council members. Um from what I heard from the community and from students and from staff, everybody had a really great time and you kept it really organized. So, thank you for the hard work that you guys put in. [Music] Thank you. And now we'll go on to the superintendent report. >> Yeah, we will start with uh Redhawk highlights. Um uh Braden mentioned homecoming and I also want to give a special thanks to all staff and volunteers who helped make a homecoming week a great success. uh including the Milton Youth Coalition who sponsored and ran the bonfire uh last Friday night. The Wall of Honor inductees, we
005haven't met since then, but that ceremony was a an outstanding evening. Uh again, the four inductees were Ivan Fitz Randolph, Rod Hilton, um Terresa Roo, and Bill Shrank. It was a really outstanding group of uh inductees and very well attended with a special surprise from the uh Milton High School choir and alumni choir uh sang at the event. Uh so it was a lot of fun. Nominations are now open for the 2026 Wall of Honor. So if any community members or staff members have anyone that they'd like to nominate, that's open through January 31st of 2026. and applications can be submitted online through the wall of honor web page. Uh coming up later this week, Milton High School's annual scholarship and FAFS FAFSA night uh is at 6 PM on October 15th. It's open to
006all seniors and their families. Last year, over $200,000 uh in local scholarships were awarded to 108 graduating seniors. And uh the evening on the 15th will feature an expert in FAFSA from Bo College to help families gra gain practical tools to make post-graduation plans more affordable. Uh the Red Hawk Redhawk marching band hosted the Red Hawk Invitational this past Saturday. There were nine talented bands including our Red Hawks. Uh we wish our Red Hawk marching band good luck as they compete in the state competition this coming weekend. Uh today and tomorrow, the Red Hawks girls golf team is competing in the state tournament. Uh it's the team's first trip to the state tournament since 2018. So congratulations to the athletes and coaches on the girls golf team. And the last thing that I wanted to
007highlight is both this week and next week we have parent teacher conferences at all of our schools between the two weeks. Rather than going through the dates and the times, uh families can if you haven't seen an email from your school, make sure you're looking on the website to see the dates and times for parent teacher conferences for your students. >> Quick question on the scholarship night. What night is that? That is on >> Wednesday the 15th. >> And what time is that? >> 6:00 pm in the performing arts center. >> Is that during conferences? >> That is correct. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions on the highlights from the board? The next agenda item is the third Friday count. Um as you know every year every school district in the state on the
008third Friday in September um does a count of their both their enrollment but also the number of resident students and open enroll in and open and roll out. Uh the sheet that is on the board uh we call the rainbow sheet that has uh the total count in each of our schools uh by each grade level. So you can see across the different rows there starting with consolidated going down to the high school. You can see split out by each grade level. In the bottom right hand corner uh in the yellow is the total and this is from uh preschool um elementary or or preschool special ed is uh all the way from 4K through 12 is 3,426 students this year. Um, on the other document that's in board docs, you can see the DPI
009pupil calculation that has uh our resident and non-resident students highlighted. And across the the bottom of that, you can see a comparison to last year. Our total adjusted headcount is down by 25 students from last year. Our total in the schools is down by 30 and our total FTE is down by 24. Uh and um that decrease is is on account of a very small 4K class this year. Kindergarten through 12th grade is up from last year, but our 4K class is down 20 stu or excuse me 40 students from the previous year. And that's very much a statewide trend as birth rates have decreased. Uh we went back and looked from when this year's seniors were born and we used 2007 uh as a start year and between 2007 and 2023 the number of
010annual births in the state of Wisconsin has dropped by 18%. So, uh, the smaller number of of students being born or or children being born every year, uh, is something that is being, uh, seen at at school districts across the state. Um, oh, when you look over time on the the other spreadsheet that has our trends over time, you can see that, excuse me, we have a lot of uh small increases and small decreases on an annual basis, but very very steady uh enrollment over time. an overall increase of just under 2% since 2011 and both the largest increase and the largest increase from one year to the next over that time was a shade under 2%. So um small increases and small decreases over time. Questions from board members on the enrollment or third
011party count? If not, the next item, we have a couple slides highlighting our um Wisconsin forward data from the state. And give me a second here. The first slide uh is our our percent proficient here in the school district of Milton compared to across the whole state. And you can see the four different tests. This is a test that's given in the spring of each year. So this is from this past school year back in the spring. Uh we recently got the data uh from the state. And you can see in ELA students every all students in third through 8th grade take the English language arts exam. And 62.7% of our students were proficient. Uh that's 11.1% above the state average. In math again is third through 8th grade. 68.1% proficient and again well above
012the state average. Sciences tested in grades four and eight we had 56% proficient and social studies in grades 4 8 and 10 63.9% proficient and again both in science and social studies well above the state average. The next slide is our trend over time. And because those tests have changed over time, uh the state says not to compare direct scores from year to year. So what we look at is how did we compare to the state average since students across the state are taking that same test. And you can see if we go back the last five years in English language arts, uh we've had a pretty steady rise in uh where we stand compared to the state. this past spring is the highest we've scored in comparison uh to other third through eighth graders
013across the state in English language arts and also in math the 15.3% above the state in science it was higher uh our rank with the state is down a little bit this past year for our fourth and eighth graders so that's something that we want to continue to look at and find some ways that we can uh continue to grow there and in social studies um like the ELA and math, it is at the highest level compared to the state over the past five years. And then we also look at for these scores, how do we compare to some of our neighboring districts and districts in in uh both Rock County and in the Badger Conference. Uh the slide that is on the board now is the comparison in proficiency in both ELA and math
014to other Rock County schools. You can see that uh we have the top score in ELA and the top uh score for proficiency in math um across all the Rock County school districts. And when we compare to the larger Badger Conference uh you can see that in uh ELA uh we have the sixth uh best score at 62.7 and in math our 68.1 is the fourth highest score in the Badger Conference. Uh, and there are some in in the Badger Conference and in Rock County some very strong academic schools. So, we're extremely proud of the scores um and our student achievement on our forward tests. Um, the forward scores go into um making up the report card that each uh school district gets from the state. And we've received our report card, but we're not
015allowed to release those results until November 11th. So, we will be releasing those to the public and bringing those to the board once we're allowed to uh present that information. Any questions or thoughts on the Wisconsin forward data? >> I just have one question, Rich, on those final two slides. Are those composite numbers um among all the grades that are taking those scores or >> Yes, that's a good question. And I um for both the ELA and the math, that is our overall percent proficient for all of the third through eighth graders that take those two tests. >> I would just say a a a kudos to our staff. It takes everyone to get scores like that and to improve scores like that and just a thank you to all the hard work and individual
016attention to the needs of our students that goes into that. So, thank you. And then the last agenda item in the superintendent's update is the WASBY region 13 meeting. Uh and at both attended that and uh there were a number of schoolboard members and uh superintendent at the meeting. Uh they had presentation. They provided certificates to all the board members across uh the RCISA who reached a different level uh from their training and then had a discussion on strategic planning. So Annette, do you want to share more? >> It was it was nice to be able to hear how other districts are looking at strategic planning and some of the efforts that are underway to both rewrite and update strategic plans. And then uh the presenter gave some ideas for how to go about that
017work uh and samples for what has been successful and it was very timely for us knowing that we're looking at updating our plans. So it was was a good opportunity for us to learn together with other districts. >> And that was everything that I had on the superintendent update. >> Uh a schoolboard development update. We have another session coming up in November uh to follow up on our first training session where we set some goals. One of the goals that we agreed as a board to work on was communication from the board to the staff and in um those efforts I have started a document that I'll share out with all of you after this meeting where we can document the things that we're doing. And so one of the things that I put on
018there was homecoming parade. you know, we were in the homecoming parade, attended uh the WASBY event to learn about strategic planning. Everybody has full edit rights to it. So, if there's anything that you've been working on or you think we should be working on, it's at a place for you to add that information. And then my intent is in the spring to do a report out to the community and the staff of of what we've done and and the work that we've been trying to do. So, any questions on that? Thank you. Next we have the finance committee update. John, no. Who does finance? I see. Thank you. >> Move for Ross to come up. Okay. The finance committee met on Monday, October 6th, and received an update on the 2526 budget. No action is
019required tonight as the budget will be reviewed for approval at a future meeting. The administration team continues to work diligently to finalize the proposal with updated information being incorporated. The goal remains clear to provide a highquality education while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Based on current information, the administration shared positive news. We are anticipating stability in the total tax levy thanks to an increase in unbudgeted special education categorical aid. Additionally, our equalized value estimates from the Department of Revenue increased by 6.34%. But with that, it was an estimated net new construction at 1.95%. This broader tax base allows the levy to be distributed more widely, resulting in an anticipated reduction in the mill rate compared to what was projected at the annual meeting. Final budget information will be presented to the full board for approval at the
020October 27th meeting. I would like to say a special thanks to Rich Ross and the entire administration team for their continued efforts to meet the needs of our students and staff while remaining fiscally responsible stewards to our taxpayers. Anything you'd like to add? >> Just a few comments. Uh I know many of you have heard me say this before, but October is a fun month for me. Uh this is where I'm waiting anxiously for the 15th in two days. I feel like I've been pacing in front of the starting gate now for the last two to three weeks. Um this the news about the equaliz equalized value for the municipalities in our area is certainly welcome news as Tracy already outlined, but uh right now we need our final numbers on state aid so we
021can determine what our final revenue limits going to look like. But um as she also mentioned, I anticipate keeping our total tax levy very stable such that we can use the tax base changes this year to spread out our existing tax levy from prior years without showing an increase in the total levy. So that's that is good news for us as we stand today. questions. >> All right, thank you and Tracy and we'll move on to the human resource committee. Rick. >> All right, thanks Annette. The HR committee met on September 24th. First item on the agenda is a superintendent evaluation process. As I've reported to the board at previous meetings, the committee has been looking at different options for the superintendent evaluation process. After looking at various options, the committee is recommending that the
022board switch from our current model to the WASB framework. A consultant from WASB joined us at our committee meeting and answer all of our questions that we had about their process. She shared with us how the model has been updated recently, how it will make sure that we are following legal guidelines, and how the WSB team will help us along the way. While doing the eval, there is a $395 annual fee. The committee feels that this will be money well spent as we engage in this very important process. Switching to the WASB model will also take some of the labor burden off of our HR staff as the WASB staff does all of the data collecting and training necessary. Chris Tukondorf will oversee the transition to the new model in the coming weeks and will
023share with the board information on the timeline and information on the new model itself. Um, did any comm committee members have anything they wanted to add to this? Any or are there any questions or anything from any other board members? >> I don't have any questions. Uh, initially I was one that maybe thought we should hold off on this, but uh, 100% behind it. Uh, as you mentioned, Rick, you know, minimal cost with just all the efficiencies built in. Um, so 100% behind it and, uh, appreciate your efforts putting all that together. >> Thank you. Rick said the committee is recommending we switch. Do we need to take action to do that or how does that work? >> We decided no. Um we feel that this is I mean no one really had a good
024um feel for what how it's been done in the past. So um this is just kind of a recommendation to the board I guess and that we'll make the switch. >> And Chris, can you speak to that? You gave us some advice at the meeting also. >> Sure. Um so we are treating this just like we would with a vendor. Um, and we would contract with a vendor about it. Um, when we work with TOC or I'm sorry, Kelly Education now, um, and we make those changes, we let the board know about those changes, but it's not an action item on those amounts. Does >> that answer your question, Joe? >> Yeah. >> When you said recommendation, that infers that the board would have to do something with the recommendation. Okay, maybe >> that was
025just what basically what you were saying. I'm just like, "Oh, we need to >> and I'm I'm fully supportive. Let's switch. Let's go. Let's do it yesterday." That's fine. I just When you said the committee recommends, that usually obligates the board to do something with that recommendation. That's >> Sorry for the confusion. >> Any other questions on this topic? Okay, the next uh two items I'm going to let Chris take. First one is 202526 support staff and certified staff FTE update. Thank you. >> Thanks, Rick. Um the attached memo and board docs. Um it's a followup on our HR committee and board discussions from fall of 24 to fall of 25. Um and the administration has prepared updated staffing information for both certified and support staff in advance of the fall budget approval. The attached
026memo and table outline our current FTE uh staffing levels and provide comparisons over the past three years. You will note that the growth in the staffing over the past year falls into two areas, teaching and special ed support. And page two and threes of the me two and three of the memo outline those changes in detail. Any questions about uh the information outlined in the memo? >> The only question I have is to Ross. These are all con included. I know you said in in leading up to the budget, but it would behoove me to not ask. >> Yes. >> Thank you, >> Chris. Previous FTE approvals have included a bit of a cushion that could be addressed as needs arise later. Is that still the case? >> Great question. So last year when we
027had this conversation, we moved away from that cushion to give us that flexibility to waiting until after the summer had shake shook out when we knew what our student enrollment was and what staff are coming back and all those positions. So we no longer need that cushion because we have longer period of time with uh identifying the needed FTE before we bring this number forward to you. Now >> if there are a change in needs over the course of the year, uh we would bring update the board on those as the year goes on. And sometimes there are uh especially in our support staff positions if if uh we get new students that come in that require additional support. >> Any other questions on this topic? Okay. Next up is 202526 flu. >> There's a
028yeah >> I would move to approve the staffing totals for the 2526 year as presented. Second. >> So, I have a motion from Tracy, a second from Joe. Any other questions or comments? >> All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. >> Okay. >> So, on to the >> Okay, go ahead, Chris. Thank you. >> Sorry, I didn't mean to jump again there. Um on the last uh agenda item, um this year's flu clinic was scheduled for Wednesday, October 1st to 2025 at 3:30 to 6:30 at Milton High School Event Commons. Uh the Southern Employee Wellness Clinic nurse um was administering flu shots to staff and their families. And new this year, all employees, spouses, and dependents are eligible were eligible to receive that shot regardless of their
029insurance. So after that, we ended up with 154 flu shots in that three-hour period of time, which is up from 98 the previous year and uh 115 for the year prior to that. So moving upward. >> All right. I would just like to say thanks to Chris for manning the door because I was there for a different reason that night and you were dedicated to making sure everybody got in and got their flu shot. So, good job. >> Thank you, Chris. >> We'll now move on to the governance committee update. Ed Snow was unable to tend to attend tonight's meeting and my understanding is Rick that you're going to take that report for us. Yep. Thank you so much. >> Yeah, of course. Um the governance committee met last week on October 6th. First item
030on the agenda is the strategic plan goals and focus areas. The committee is looking at our current strategic plan and we heard from the administrative staff regarding some possible changes and updates to each of our current strategic objective areas which just to remind everyone are teaching and learning, relationships, climate and culture, high quality staff, community engagement and operations and facilities. We heard from the staff what some possible updates or changes might be to the goals and focus areas. Just to let every everyone know that the committee doesn't anticipate a large rewrite of the strategic plan, but there will be some updates and modifications made to the objectives. The whole board will be looking at the strategic plan at our next board development session early next year. Um the district also plans to ask staff and
031parents for their opinions regarding priority topics for the goals and focus areas. The current plan is to have the plan updated sometime this coming spring. Rich, did you have anything you wanted to add to that? No. >> Okay. Any questions on that? Next item on the agenda is first reading of the Neola and policy updates. The list of policies up for first reading is included in board docs. The list includes changes due to legal changes and recommendations from the Neola staff. This is just for information only tonight and then it will be brought back to the board at our next meeting for possible review and adoptions. Any questions about any of the uh policies up for first reading tonight? Okay. Next item on the agenda is the WASB legislative resolution priorities. The committee had a
032discussion about the resolutions that will be presented to boards across the state from the WASB next month. These are the resolutions that will be voted on by each board's delegate at the delegate assembly at the state convention in January. After the resolutions are released in November, the governance committee will discuss them and bring recommendations to the full board for action prior to the state convention. The resolutions that are passed by the delegate assembly in January will become official official positions of the WASB and then the WASB will use them to decide which positions to take on bills presented in the state legislature. Any questions on that one? Okay, that's all I've got. >> Thank you. >> We will move on to new business. Mr. Billhorn. The first item that I have tonight, excuse me, is
033the uh early graduate. So in your package apply to graduate at the end of the second trimester. All right. So we have 47 students who are uh have applied to graduate at the end of the second trimester. So they they have all completed the application materials when this is um we had 48 students last year. So this is very similar to the number of students we've had in the past. Um although we had 48 that applied last year, not that number actually graduate. Sometimes you have students who come back and say you know what I'd like to take that last trimester and they have the ability to to change their mind up until uh the beginning of the third trimester. So, but uh all those students have submitted the required materials and are qual if
034they pass their classes through second try will be eligible to graduate and we do need approval on that one. >> I'll make a motion to approve the early graduation requests as presented. >> Second. >> I have a motion from Rick, a second from John. Any other questions or comments? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Thank you. >> All right. And my second item uh tonight is the early college credit and start college now uh uh information. So each or twice a year, actually three times a year, I bring for the next semester. So these are the requests for students taking classes at Blackhawk Tech in the W system for this spring. We do this again uh for the uh for the summer session and then
035next fall as well. Uh so the uh courses that you see there are all courses that students have applied for. They again everyone in the report here actually have met the requirements. Requirements are that they are um uh junior senior standing and uh they can a maximum of 18 credits they can take while in high school. Uh they have to have maxed out opportunities in the high school too. Although we have to match the the amount of uh curriculum that's similar to what we have in the in the high school versus what the college offers. So um so all these students this is again this is a similar number of credits that have happened in the past and many of these students too while they apply for this once they get to actually scheduling the
036classes sometimes there's conflicts so several of them will have had courses that are alternate courses if these don't apply again um all of them met the requirements and submitted the paperwork on time >> Jeremy what other reason would a class not be approved or make it to this list I guess >> so if application. So there are students uh the they put a new item in the state statute or I guess was a point of clarification I think is what it was. I think it was always there. If we feel a student has a history of not having academic success uh we can deny that uh students are responsible they do not pass the course they're responsible to reimburse the district the tuition uh for the course. um that doesn't generally that comes during conversation
037with a counselor or uh before the actual application gets to us. That would be a reason we could deny it. Um there are some cases where I've had students who want to take psychology 101. Again, we have AP psychology. I would deny that that course. Um uh there's a lot of different college courses and trying to match them with what we have. It gets to bit nuance. There's actually even language with the percent of the exact same curriculum. We're fairly liberal with what we do accept because it um it's you know we can parse down to the actual unit and whatnot but uh generally if it's if it's a student who's not going to be successful or likelihood not being successful it really comes out in the counseling component or it's the exact course that
038we have. >> Thank you. >> Can I just ask a question on number 10? Can you just explain what that one is ed and then right below it is the psych and safety. So, I'm sorry. Number 10 in the line student number 10. >> I think that it's under the spring. >> Yep. Are you talking about the course? >> Yes. >> The peacekeeping and diverse society introduction to criminal law. >> Next section down. Sorry, I'm in the right wrong. Okay. Um I will have to get uh each of those classes. I actually have the application. Um the site is an uh this is a student that already taken psychology. Uh we do not offer psych sociology. The safety is a course that we do not have and I'd have to look up what I'd found
039is again >> but in in general it's a psychology >> psychology course. This is a student who actually had had AP psychology. >> That's all I was looking for. I don't need any followup. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions? Sometimes it's a bit of a race or going into the course books looking to see what these courses are and how they relate to ours. Our counselors do most of that, >> right? >> It's an impressive list of courses. >> Well, >> knowing our students are are working hard enough to get into some of these, it's it's an impressive list. >> It's a it's an good opportunity for the students. That's for sure. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. We are on to miscellaneous items. Action on staffing reports. >>
040I'll make a motion to approve the amended staffing report as presented. >> Second. >> Okay. I have a motion from Rick, a second from John. Any questions on the amended staffing report. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Oppose. Same sign. >> Motion carries. Action on gifts and donations. I'll move to approve the gifts and donations with gratitude. >> I'll second. I have a motion from John, a second from Tracy. Any questions on gifts and donations? >> All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Meeting dates and upcoming events. >> We have uh one committee meeting uh between this meeting and our next uh regular board meeting. That will be the finance committee that is meeting on Thursday, October 23rd at 6:30 p.m. Again,
041that's finance Thursday, October 23rd at 6:30 p.m. Our next regularly scheduled board meeting is on Monday, October 27th, two weeks from tonight uh here at 6:30. Uh we have uh after the first board meeting in November, we have our next board development uh session. So that will be on Monday, November 10th, immediately following the regular board meeting on Monday, November 10th. And the uh Wisconsin State Education Convention is coming up the third week of January uh January 21st through the 23rd. Registration opens both for the convention and hotel rooms on Monday, November 3rd. So, if you haven't reached out to Chelsea yet to let her know, uh if you're able and planning to attend, make sure that you do that so that she can get uh registration and rooms set up. And then uh I
042mentioned earlier uh that uh the report card data will be no longer embar embargoed on November 11th. Uh last year we did a data workshop after a regularly scheduled board meeting or we did it in between actually but we've done it after in the past and I'm proposing that we do a data workshop after our uh board meeting on Mon on Monday November 24th which would be the first board meeting that that information is available. Uh the data that we would be looking to bring are the the state report card data uh ACT uh data from last year and then from this uh spring our fall screeners for both I Ready and for uh our SEAL curriculum. Does it look like folks are available at that board meeting on on the 24th? I haven't heard
043from anybody yet that they wouldn't be able to attend that board meeting. I like >> we will get that scheduled in for that date. >> Can we also check with the board for November 10th for the next board development session. Chelsea, if we could send out and see if everyone's available for that date, please. >> Is there anyone that knows now that they won't be at that board meeting on the 10th? That >> that one might cause problem. >> Okay, we'll reach out. Yep. All right, I'd entertain a motion to adjurnn. I move. >> Second. >> I have a motion from Rick, a second from Tracy. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. >> Motion carries. Thank you so much. And thank you to the student council members for
044attending tonight and your report. Appreciate it.