001Um, is there any adjustment to the agenda or or good motion? >> I move to approve the agenda for meeting Thursday. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carried. All right. For Boris, are you going to do something? >> Yep. I'm I'm I'm ready to roll together. >> I'm ready to roll. >> Nobody gave me this thing. >> That's just the clicker. >> I need to click something. >> Oh, it's up here. Okay. Amazing. Which button? The one with the right arrow goes forward. >> Oh, wow. >> Okay. Where should I jump? Where do you want me to go? >> You just stay right where you are. >> Right where I am. >> It's always >> Okay. So, um, we were, uh, we we'd like to do a quick recap of
002the Disney trip of which some of those students went on. I guess none of them are going to talk at all. Um, but, uh, but and then and then we're we're hoping to do a music department trip to New York. Um, and we're request approval for that. So, um, we went on the Disney trip and, uh, this this last summer in June. Um, we had about 30 kids go. Um, so we flew out of Minneapolis. We stayed at the Disney All-Star Music Resort, which is kind of on the property, which means we got to use the Disney uh, transportation, which was nice. Um, and we basically went to each park and did a few musical clinics. There's a picture of Mr. Olsson with Chewbacca. Um, so here's a picture of all the kids who went
003at Epcot. We got to have a nice little little picture and got into that park early um to to go see uh to do an attraction early. We had to skip the line for one thing. Um, but that was a nice picture to get. Um, and in general, the weather was nice. We got rained on really bad here uh at Magic Kingdom uh the first day, but here's a group of uh group of us at Magic Kingdom. It was very fun. Um, and on that day we went to uh here's another picture of the students at Magic Kingdom in the evening. Um, Disney transportation which was which was kind of a you know it uh it was nice and free and super easy. Um, another picture of students. So, one of the things that we
004got to do that was kind of the music side of things is we didn't do a public performance, but we got to take part in the in the Disney soundtrack experience. The band did one and the choir did one on a different day. Um and uh and and the the the the leader of the the the the clinician, you might say, um is a Disney music performer and an arranger of the music at Disney, meaning he like writes out the parts to all the people in in the in the group and and rehearses bands and and things like that. So when we went down there, we got to kind of prepare the music for a soundtrack. the band did uh we did um Rapunzel and we've seen the live from from Rapunzel and you can
005see all the students have headphones on. So after we rehearsed the music um they put on the click track and we got to uh you know hear that click track go by and do kind of like the professional recording experience and I got to do the same thing. So it was very very cool. Um, one of the things that the clinician said that really struck home for me that I that I try to bring in is um sometimes, you know, we we're not focused as a group and um and and we learn things slower than we could. Some things take a long time to learn, but the things that we can learn right away, we don't have to wait till the end of the process to choose to play with our best sound, you know,
006and to play with focus and things like that. Um, and he said that as you know, the professionals in the Disney parks who play, you know, they're getting paid by the hour. So, it's it's very it saves a lot of money if everybody is focused at the same time. So, that was a very cool message for them to hear right from, you know, somebody who works as a professional musician. Um, okay. So, is there any questions about the Disney trip? >> You brought everybody back. >> We got every Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You would have I think that would have made a school board. Um uh one of the other thing the the the one of on the last night in Hollywood Studios we went to the fantasmic show which is this kind of light
007and water show um and our students started the wave >> for like the 6,000 people in that thing. >> It's we were on one end and we we you know we sent it back and forth during that interminable amount of time where you're waiting for the show to start. So that was that was a highlight of the trip for me guest starting that thing. Um so uh uh okay so uh uh the the New York uh proposal um Mr. Olson and I feel uh that while the Disney trip is an important trip in our opinion, we get to do very musical things and it's great for building and and and a fun time for the students that the New York uh trip is a little bit more academic um going to see things like Alice
008Island and the 911 memorial um are are uh are maybe not quite as fun as roller coasters, but very important for our students to experience. Um, so, uh, we're hoping to go in June. The reason why we want to go in June is we want to play at the USS Intrepid, which is an aircraft carrier, um, that is like an aerospace and nautical museum. So, if you've seen uh the movie I am legend, at one point, Will Smith is like golfing off a aircraft carrier. That's that aircraft carrier. And we will play on the flight deck. So, kind of like when I and Miss Ivy went to Hawaii and sang at the USS Arizona, you know, we'll do we'll do some, you know, we'll we'll we'll sing the Navy hymn and we'll um play some
009some um some patriotic music and things like that. Um uh and kind of do do that kind of thing. So, I think that's a I've done that with students before. It's a very meaningful performance to be on the flight deck playing our country. Um and then uh and and the the the audience was very receptive to that at that particular location too. Um so some other things um we we'll go to Little Italy and do the shopping in the in the you know and Mr. Olsen will lead the way to find an authentic canoli. Um we'll do a Broadway workshop so that uh one of the cool things about uh there's a couple options. The one that I've done before that I think we're going to try to do again is um a Broadway performer
010and you and usually like a pit musician kind of accompanies them um uh performs a couple songs and then asks we can ask them questions about what it's like to be a professional musician, what is you know and that those things and uh and that was very impactful the last time I took students on that. Um, so we last time we went to see Wicked and then the understudy for Glenda and one of the chorus performers um was the person we got to talk to. So, so we we'll try to the Broadway show that we see, we'll try to see a performer from that to kind of make that connection and and uh and so very cool. I can if you ever have a question about what that person's up and say that some other
011time. We will do the picture in Times Square and do some shopping in Time Square. That's just a kind of a cool place to explore. Um, but there are some some interesting things to see in Times Square, too. We'll be careful on monitor. Um, uh, one of the one of the traps of a New York trip is is walking tours. Um, because you walk everywhere to get to the things and then you do a walking tour and that that's that that's that's that's dangerous in my opinion. It's it's pretty tricky. So, so when we see we're not going to do a tour of Central Park, we'll let the kids actually kind of chill. And I just I remember at at the at the at the Broadway Q&A with my students last time, um, you know,
012the perform the performer was like, "Well, what do you guys think of New York?" And the one of my students raised their hand and said, "If we were home, everything would be trees." But when you get into Central Park, you kind of almost forget that there's skyscrapers all the way around. So, I think like you like understand what the point of a municipal park is, you know, in that kind of setting. Um, we'll see Radio City Music Hall, which is where the Rockets are, and we'll go to some a Broadway show. I'm trying to get us to a a jazz show because I think that would be cool to see. Um, the cost is more than we hope for. It's $2,000 per student to take a coach bus. 3,000 if we wanted to fly. Um,
013that means we have to fill up a coach bus. So, we need to get enough students and adults to to kind of fill up that bus to make it the most cost effective trip. So, um but that's the plan where we'll use the travel company Bob Rogers, which which I have a lot of faith in. Um because the last time I was supposed to do the New York trip at my old school, uh that was 2020. That was June of 2020. So that trip got cancelled and even though um we didn't have uh the travel insurance that covered anything um even though we had cover anything insurance they made sure to get we we were able to refund all of our students um all the money that they paid out of pocket you know um
014which which meant a lot to us you know to to to be able to do that for our students. Um so so I I and I I did the Rose Parade with them as well and when we travel then I wonder so they're very well established travel company. Um we'll start collecting payments in a month or two because it's so much money. >> Is there any questions about the trip? >> So do the students pay for the whole thing? They're doing fundraisers. >> Yep. So it's a combination. So some students might choose to pay for the whole thing. Some students will um will, you know, uh fund raise as much as they can and I will find money for them >> and then most students will pay, you know, you know, a fair amount themselves
015and fund raise a fair amount. Um is kind of is kind of what we go for. But I I always ask the students like before you hear the number, I tell them the number last, you know, decide whether you want to go and then let's talk about because if you really want to go, I will find the money. But I've never found the money for somebody who didn't tell me they wanted to go, >> you know, you know, because I'm not going to look for money with them. I don't need to look for it because that's a lot of work. Um, so, uh, so that's that's kind of, you know, the thought there. >> So, what you're saying is everybody gets to go if they want to go and they look for it, >> you'll
016figure out a way to get them. >> Yep. Yep. And I and and it's a lot easier to look for money for students who have done a little fundraising, but um but that's not a reality for every student, right? So um uh at a certain number of students if if not everybody can do it for free. So if every student needed that kind of support we would probably have to do it. >> Sure. >> I have a question. >> Yeah. >> Um is there going to be access for any students with disabilities? >> So uh the Disney trip we had a student with with disabilities go and we were able to work it out. It's just a matter of making sure to work with Bob Rogers to make sure um that that everything that that
017that we have um you know that that that the things that we're planning for have accessibility um and that the coach bus has like the lift you know for or it depends on what kind of accessibility piece they need. Um and I would have to talk to our district office um to make sure that we're supporting the student. On the last trip, our stu uh we made it so that the student can go at the cost of what other students could go. Even though they needed some additional support, the district picked up the bill or special, you know, the special ed budget maybe did that. We'd have to figure that out. >> Yeah. >> It's a great question. >> I think so. I think so. You never really know until >> until the down payment
018talk about it >> until you get the down payment. I I think I think I think so. Um but it's been a little bit more. So I'm still trying to get the my finger on the pulse of the students on this one. >> Yep. >> Well, that's the thing. If we can't So it it really depends on the number on the bus. If we're looking for more more people, then we will fill that bus with uh as many people as we can who we trust to be good with kids. You know, that's the only caveat. >> Any other questions? >> Thanks, >> Sounds like a wonderful trip. >> Yeah. >> Sounds like you had >> Thanks for the music. Yeah, >> we're going to move on. What we're going to start with tonight is just
019an introduction of ourselves so that Senator Quinn knows who he's talking to and I want to thank you for coming. Um, I know we've been trying to do this for a while and between your schedule and our schedule and whatever it was taken a little bit, but I'm glad you're here. >> Um, I'm Sandy Raspotnik. I'm president of the board. Move over this way. >> I'm Julie Flammus. I'm the clerk. I'm a law the vice president Ivy Rada elementary principal Chandra Pingle Middle School high school principal Megan district assistant Denise Michaelson superintendent >> my name is Tina Sina and I am a board treasurer and a parent I am member at large over thank you for the invitation like you mentioned Um, we've been struggling for a while to make this happen. We've got a
020big district. Uh, our district is the biggest in the state that we're all a part of in the 25th. Um, I've got dozens of school districts. As I told Denise when I first got here, my goal was to try to get into every school at least once every session. So, that can be difficult to do just sheer volume and time. So, I appreciate your your patience. So, I'm originally from the Rice Lakeake area. A little introduction and then we can talk about issues or questions, whatever. You know, I'm happy to answer what I can and if I can't answer it, I'll find the answer later. um originally from Rice Lake in the Washurn County area. I lived now in Birwood. Um I was previously in the state assembly from 2014 to 2020. Um I got
021out, took another opportunity and then uh ran for the state senate uh back in 2022. So I'm in the middle of my my first term uh in the state senate in the 25th representing all of you uh in Madison. So uh I'm chair of the the housing insurance and rural issues committee. I'm also vice chair of education, so K through2 policy. So happy to be here. uh bounce some ideas off you as well. Um I also sit on the joint finance committee uh which is the budget writing committee that sets basically the entire budget that the legislature as a whole gets to vote on later on. And so that's my first term on that. I was never on in the assembly. Um so that was drinking through a fire hose. You know, building a uh
0221 point or let's seeund1 billion dollar budget like a fourmonth period from scratch. Uh it goes quick. Uh and so happy to answer those questions too. So, I've spent my time in office trying to figure out how to address rural issues. Um, because most of what we've seen in my old assembly seat and now in this seat um isn't really left versus right. It's more of a urban versus suburban versus rural divide. Uh, it's pretty eye opening for me. I think one of the first bills I had a hearing on, I was on the natural resources committee in the Assembly um voting on a bill regulating septic haulers and it became very apparent that half the committee didn't know people have jobs pumping septics hauling into town to a treatment plant. They have no idea,
023you know, people live on wells, they live uh have mounds or or private health systems. And so that's when I realized like, man, this is there's a lot of educating back and forth in this building to do because if you've always lived from Green Bay and you represent Green Bay and you've never lived outside of Green Bay, how can you possibly know what life is like in Hayward or Bayfield or Washurn or or Spooner? And um I would say our district is also very diverse. Now, people in Pulk County probably aren't exactly the same as people in Bayfield County, uh or Superior or vice versa down in Birwood where I'm from now. Uh, but it's my job to do my best to figure out collectively how do we support the district and and all of
024our needs even though we're very diverse people even in one state senate district. And then once we get a decision, how do I convince the rest of the state that half of them that are nothing like us to care about northern Wisconsin and the uniqueness that we face. So just a legislative update. Obviously the budget has been passed. Uh our intention was to fund special ed at 42 and 45%. uh the numbers that we passed originally matched what DPI had given us. Obviously costs then went up and so our prorations are not what we matched. Um I will say as we are discussing a final potential tax relief tax cut package. Um I know at least in our caucus in the Senate, you know, we're committed to part of that being funding the full 42
025and 45%. Um I don't know if that gets you specifically here. Um, you know, you guys will have the numbers for that, but I would envision any tax package, regardless out of the Assembly, the Senate, in conjunction with the governor, if we can get a deal. Um, there's not one yet, and we're coming up on our last four day. Um, that will be in there. And so, as you're forecasting your budgets, as you're debating a referendum, I know that discussion is coming up. Denise mentioned that to me as well. Um, just know if there's anything passed between now and the end of the year, we will get to that 42 45%. Obviously, these conversations start over again from scratch, head into the next benial budget. Uh, but I would we've never cut back, at least
026since I've been in since 2014. We talk about 2010, I wasn't in office. Um, we've never taken anything back after we put it in. So, 42 and then 45 45% will be the base um going forward. So, with that, I'm happy to just open this up and answer any questions. You know, there's a few bills coming down the pike. You know, last session we passed requiring you to have a policy about cell phone use in schools. I don't know what you got in particular. The first bill just said you must have a policy on how you regulate phones. Um I was probably the last generation that had a foot in both worlds. I remember getting a phone as a freshman and they are a distraction and they were for me and they've only gotten better
027or worse uh since then. So how you handle that? There's another bill before us. Um that would just be a total bell-to- bell ban. Um I know that gives parents heartburn. I know that gives some staff heartburn. I know as board members, I know some of you wish we would just do it so you don't have to figure out how to do it. Um there's some of that too, but love to hear your input on that. I did vote it out of committee because there's a lot to happen before it gets to the floor. Um where you guys are in that with your current policy, how big of a pain in the butt. Um would it be under the current legislation? It wouldn't go in effect till 2027. So you have time to figure that
028out. You know, you going to have a giant lock box on the entryway and make them dump them all in or how you going to do that? So with that, there's any other bills, discussions, questions, just happy to happy to be here and thanks for the the opportunity to let me join you. So >> Paul, I have a very simple question at first. >> Sure. >> Do you support public education? >> Uh that's I don't know of anyone in the legislature that doesn't. Now there can be differences, right, on how much money, how should we fund it, etc. Uh but I think especially for rural areas, our our community public schools play a much larger role, right? because we don't have the same infrastructure in terms of maybe a business community or the connectedness of
029something else outside of schools that we identify with. And so I would say particularly in rural areas, you know, this um people identify around their school district or around their school and whatever mascot you might have, right? Um so yeah, we absolutely have to find a way to make sure that our rural schools, which have unique challenges over urban and suburban, um are able to continue to thrive. And so in my whole time in the assembly, and that's why I spent my time working on how do we continue to invest more in categorical aid. So you're like a 50/50 district, but you know, I've got districts that get no state general aid. It's 100% property tax paid. Uh and they still pay less property taxes than you, which is another uh quirk of the formula.
030Uh but you know, how do we make sure like when you're spending two grand a kid just to get into the door and in transportation and you're supposed to compete with another district that spends half that on transportation because they're much more dense. Well, how can I expect you to compete on the same playing field in terms of outcomes? Uh trying to fund staff, offer opportunities with other districts that don't have the same challenge. And so, like I said, I try to spend my time if we're going to how we fund schools, how we do increases, how do we continue to level the playing field? So raising that low revenue limit, trying to fund more in high cost transportation. We have sparity aid separate as a categorical two. Again, recognizing those costs um of being
031rural. So that's where I' I've spent my time because you all know this, the the funding formula is complicated and for the public to know that it's difficult. I sat on the speakers ribbon commission on school funding uh back in the day in the assembly. So I'd like to think I know I hope I know a little more than even most of my colleagues. Um so we talk about general aids. Well, if there's no revenue limit up or it's not spendable dollars, right? It's property tax relief. Uh, you know, we count the school levy credit as school funding. That's also property tax relief. It's not spendable dollars on how to fund your 2.63% raise heading into the next next school year. So, yes, I'm I'm an advocate. I support public schools 100%. Um, but I,
032you know, we might have differences on on choice, too. I do support school choice. Um, always have. I was fortunate enough to attend uh St. Joe's and Rice Lake as a child, K through eight. um my other three siblings did not because it was not a good setting for them and they were public school all the way. And I think just allowing parents to have that opportunity, those of limited incomes because we have limits. I think like a a single mom with two kids can't make more than 56 grand a year or she would not qualify her kids and she'd have to pay full tuition. So, but still recognizing we have to have functioning public schools. Um and we have to have that ability to make sure every kid gets a great education regardless of
033their zip code. And so we're pretty fortunate here where we don't have I hate saying failing failing public schools but there are public schools in the state who perform way worse uh than you do here. And we could talk about all the reasons why um the challenges they have. But in the meantime, uh when you have students and families in poverty that have no option to get out from under that and kids don't have time to wait, right? If you're not reading by third grade, we know the stats, right? And so we have entire buildings in for instance MPS where not a single kid reads at grade level. That's unacceptable. And I know the public up here would have burnt the school down if no kid was reading at grade level because you expect something
034more indifferent both as parents and schools. So we have to figure out how to continue to write that ship, but at the same time still allow families an option in the event they they could be stuck for whatever reason and don't have the means to get out from under that. And so that's where I've always kind of fallen on that issue. Um I I hate the divisiveness of it. I don't think it has to be right versus left. I mean, we've got problems to solve and in this system and in other districts um and not every public school is created equal. You know, we've got districts that are levying, you know, their per pupil is 15, 16, 18, $20,000 a kid. And I've got districts, half of ours are at 11. And they're only at
03511 because I made sure they went from 10 in the last budget. Yeah. Uh which was one of my motions to continue raising that low revenue uh ceiling. Again, trying to address that inequity that already exists within our public school system. Um, and that's where I, you know, we could talk about um, the 325 per pupil, the 400 year veto, all the hoopla around that. Um, the hard part for me is, so my, some of my colleagues will read that and say, "Well, then we're fine. Everything's fine. Everyone's getting this. They're going to get it forever." Um, but it just continues to exacerbate the inequalities that exist between our public schools today. And so, um, but that's something we try to fix, try to address, try to continue to talk about every budget. When's the
036last time they try to fix the funding formula? >> Oh man. I mean, when do we not? You know, every every budget we try to we try to tweak at it, right? I mean, as a whole, like people say it's broken. Um, but if you look across the country, it's not the worst. There are states that do a much worse job in terms of their mechanics. And so, you know, our goal is how do we measure the population of your district? How do you measure the property wealth in your district? Now, we could talk about, you know, property values aren't a true indicator of wealth um or your ability to pay. Yeah. >> Uh but we go by an equalized tax base. >> And it's to make sure that the state aids you to a
037point where everyone hopefully is paying roughly the same mill rate. So whether you're in Prairie Farm in Baron County and you have almost no tax base because it's farmland, agriculture, there's no lakes, there's no high taxable properties. Um you literally can't raise your mill rate enough to to even operate a school. They're going to get more than a birchwood, right? But the idea is how do we make sure they're both taxed on a property level almost the same. So we don't have the have and have nots but it's not perfect and that's why again all these categorical aid started popping up sparity aid high cost transportation trying to fix those gaps and so that's what you know we continue to work on every time. I've got colleagues, they don't have rural districts. They don't understand
038why we fund sparsity or, you know, SAGE program when we tweaked it back in the day. And so, they don't care, right? Because their districts, all their kids walk to school. They don't ride a bus for 45 minutes. And so, it's my job to have a relationship with them and say, "Hey, life's different here. How can we work together to make sure that the system works for everyone?" And so, that's the And that's on every issue, by the way. This isn't school, just schools. That's uh recognizing that life's different and working on that on every issue. >> Question. >> Well, I just wanted to like expand a little bit on that um idea that like public school funding is difficult to describe and to communicate with. >> Yeah, it's not easy, >> right? And so,
039have you gotten any like um success or have you like can you give some examples of like maybe overcoming that complexity when you're talking with constituents? Um, I would say since my time in the assembly, I sat on the education committee um, back then too. You know, we took that low revenue ceiling from it was $9,000 and now today it's it's 11, you know, over this last decade. And I think that was a really important step. Um, so instead of just saying, well, we can pass that referendum and if you can't, you're stuck at nine a decade later, right? Um, and so we've made those steps trying to get colleagues to say, okay, we have to raise the floor. We have to start addressing some of these gaps. But it's hard. I would say every
040every budget every cycle is different. >> Explain that idea that like hey without the general aid the tax revenue goes up so like you you know like maybe your state income tax is going down but your property tax is going up or I mean I don't and that might not that might be an oversimplification but like even just like talking to our taxpayers like how do we get them or like >> what um what tools have you used to help your constituents understand that like hey rural schools are hurting. It's the lifeblood of this community. We want to support them >> and like and this is how a rural community can like make sure it school thrives. Not just gets by but thrives in that community. >> So like perfect example um I my brother
041went to high school in Birwood open and rolled out. I know I probably had one in the village of Birwood and uh they're probably one of the poorest districts per capita in the state. You know boring rust county sixth poorest county in the state. Um, they get no state aid, but their mill rate is half of Cameron's with the district I was in before I moved, you know, with the maps and and all that garbage. Um, but my ability to pay does not change four miles down the road, right? So, I was paying twice as much school taxes in Cameron, great little school, not a big tax base. Um, but we were I was paying twice as much I would have as if my house was four miles north in the Birwood School District. And
042so, how do we look bigger picture to say, "Yes, we have these lines. Yes, there has to be a home base. Yes, there has to be boundaries and limits, but our differences aren't that great. And how do we level those out?" And so, like, when Birwood goes to referendum, like I everyone that calls me in Birwood, I say, "Why would you not vote for this? You're paying almost half the state average in property taxes. You could have literally the the best funded, the best facilities, the best extracurricular activities, and pay probably the same as what someone does in Washurn. And you could have twice the spending power because geographically they're so large and they have so few students. But how do you communicate that? Right? That I know you're in poverty in the village, but
043the Illinois guy in the lake is going to pay the bill. So I need you to vote yes >> so we can spend more money on schools because you was $5. Yeah. >> Um and you you know every teacher raising added programs, right? But I know everyone's not in that. I know you guys are roughly around that seven just over seven mill rates about the state average, you know. I would, you know, tell you and you're telling folks, too, like, hey, we're paying average. There's a lot of people paying a lot more than us here in Washurn. And I know it's hard. Um, but we need to spend a little bit more to keep what we have and you're still paying less than a lot in the rest of the state. Now, the problem with
044this is we're in this boat of I'm in real estate, um, as well, so we have all these rising property values. Uh, we can get into issues about that. You know, if not every entity within your school district does a reevaluation on their community, whether it's a township, the city here, someone's paying more than they should compared to their neighbor because their house has not been re-evaluated yet. And so until everyone gets up here to where the fair market is, someone's getting host or they're paying more than they have to, not just you, it's for the county, it's for the town or, you know, the village if if you have a taxing entity that crosses more than one. And so I've got property in the township in Baron County. We're at 60% of assessed value.
045So I know on that property I am not paying my shift right now until our township is a reevaluation. So someone else in Baron County is paying way more for the right side school district compared to my one property I have than me. Right? And so how do we work on which I'd like to get into. How do we work on other issues that impact your school that we can work on? So uniform assessments, right? Each township still does their own. They can contract in-house. They can do their own, but there's no uniformity across any even county, right? And that impacts what your citizens are paying before they go to the polls. Housing, there's no housing anywhere. There's there struggles everywhere across the state. Uh I sit on the the WEDA, Wisconsin Housing and Economic
046Development Association. I'm on the board. Uh you know, part of the project. You're getting 40 units right here in town. You know, how do we continue to try to find housing to grow to bring families? I mean, 40 units, if that's 20 families and the rest are elderly and 10 of them have kids and they each have two kids, I mean, 20 kids could potentially come into the district to a housing unit. Um, that's a game changer, right? When you're when you're developing a budget, trying to figure out staff. And so, I will say even outside of school funding, we are constantly trying to find ways to improve our communities, which inherently benefits schools. How do we attract practitioners to our communities that can give kids services? Um, how do we attract families to grow
047the community? how do we do all these things right um that eventually impact how you're able to do or not do uh your job here during the school day and I know that's those things aren't your problem but I always encourage a lot of my superintendent like hey if you got communities because some communities really stink at attracting housing or trying to do things different and it's like I know it's not your job but you got to play a role you know the superintendent's got to come in and say hey village city township we really need you to get there on this project because we're all in this together and we have to figure out how to solve some of these things. I hate I hate to interrupt but like but the statistics just keep
048saying like decreasing population decreasing population especially of these like school age kids like how do you like how do you have that how do you incorporate that conversation into this because I hear what you're saying we want of course like we love this community everybody wants we want everybody to live here >> not everyone right we want to keep >> everyone wants to be the last person to move our course >> um but like we just want to share everything that we have we just we just love this town >> and we love our cool so much, but like you can see everywhere the declining enrollment like I mean that it's not I don't I don't feel like that's realistic. So into those like skeptics like myself like how do you how do you respond
049or like what what do you do about like the general enrollment conversation like and this is happening statewide you know >> wide nationwide >> about a third of our districts um I would say have flatlined or have increasing enrollment twothirds don't. Um, so even some of your suburban seats, they're shrinking. You know, there there's articles in southeast Wisconsin and Wakaawa, they're having fights about closing schools. And I'm like, well, we did that years ago. Like, welcome to the club. They had to close one of their eight elementary schools, whatever it is, right? >> And so that's where, you know, there's a separate package on consolidation. Again, not to say schools have to do it, but I've got two school districts that are going to be in my new seat, depending on how the election goes
050in November. They want to do this. They're almost identical in size. They're five miles apart. They're both shrinking the same. They have the same amount of debt. Almost the same exact limit. Like they're a perfect contestant for this because there's no I'm not going to pay more if I let them join. I'm not going to pay off their debt for their buildings I don't like. Right. And so they're a perfect candidate where it's like, man, why would I not try to? You're already going to like do it if I can get you 1,500 bucks a kid over your levy limit for the next two years to help you absorb some of those differences as you're figuring this out. Why would we not do that? Recognizing that we can't keep our head in the sand. Not
051that district should do it, but we're gonna lose 50,000 kids potentially in our K through2 system over the next decade. That's real. >> But I feel like that response like feels very like, okay, we got to like make this extra money, 1,500 bucks a kid for this like consolidation rule. It just feels like but we have but we're still working on the discrepancies in the funding. Yep. you know, and of course in these like in these districts where the districts are so far apart, they're already like pretty consolidated, you know, like a lot of these towns have one school. Yeah. You know, it just oh man, it's such it's such a frustration. So, I don't mean to I don't mean to just bring up questions that you can't answer, >> but um but I but
052what other like proactive attract high quality staff, maintain our rural identities? >> Yeah. before we even have to consider consolidation like what other things can we do on that front end. So, I would say just to wrap up that piece, I'm not saying I'm pro consolidation. And there in that package, which it came really fast out of the assembly, um I was trying to get a bill in to say how do we define a metric where a school has to stay open no matter how small because a kid, let's pick a number, can't be on the bus more than 45 minutes, right? So, what is that number? Define it. And so, no matter if you're down to 180 kids in a building, >> these ones might have to funded different because there's no choice. They
053have to stay open. Look at a Drummond. Where do you go? You know, if I'm in Drummond, right? Or if I'm in the outskirts of Dr. You know, like it's just there has to be a Drummond school. >> Um, you know, I look over to the east, you know, winter is getting very small. Some of those areas. >> Um, >> and some of those communities may never actually come back, right? They're either railroad towns or logging towns. And some are so far gone and they haven't had that investment where they may not be able to come back in the form they used to be in. But that's where we work on everything else, right? We've got on the table on Tuesday to bring a one and a half billion dollar investment into the city of
054Hayward to change the trajectory of our logging industry, our forestry industry which continues to decline. Um, and you look at all our old towns, Park Falls, Hayward, you know, even up in here, they were built on that industry. So, we can accept that decline or we can try to pivot. And so, we have to grow. How do we continue to find ways to grow where families can afford to be here, they can afford to stay here, then they can afford to find the housing here, which to then attract the nurse practitioner that's been gone forever out of your clinic. Um, so it's to your point, it's got to be an all the above because >> we either sink or swim together. If the school goes down, the community goes down, community starts going down, there's
055no business, >> the school also goes down, families leave, right? So it's how do we continue to work on that together? So, so that idea of like accepting the grind or like or or trying to pivot. Um, let's like I just want to switch gears one more time to that workforce idea, you know, which you just brought up and uh >> and so we just had Northland College close. >> Yep. >> And that was a huge source of our teachers in this area. >> We just talked about that. >> Yeah. And so we already know that like teacher shortages are a big deal. So what um what kind of conversation are you having with like constituents? what have you noticed is happening in the legislature regarding like high quality teachers um and then especially like
056in this area where now we've lost the source of >> you know besides Northland there's you know I know W superior's got uh a certain teacher prep programs and then it's there's not anyone close to us right because the nature of of where we're at so we talked about this just briefly before the meeting you know there's schools now and I asked like are you tracking students as they leave no different than doctors I know if I can get a doctor in med school that came from a rural area and I can do their rotations, their clinical rotations in a rural area, they're like 85% more likely to practice in a rural area. And so, how do I track them now? Right? Here's a student that I know wants to be a teacher. Maybe he
057or she went off to Oaklair, Lacrosse, Green Bay. How do I make that connection? How does the school reach out and say, "Hey, I know you're junior year. You're a great student. I know you're going to come out be an elementary ed. We might have an opening. Would you consider coming back?" How? like that personal touch like wow they want me right and so the days of assuming which they've been gone forever now getting 100 applications for a kindergarten teacher are gone um but I would say schools aren't alone I hear from businesses all the time where are the bodies where are the people where are the professionals how do we bolster the manufacturing tech technical program or the teacher preparatory program right we don't have the bodies so we got to continue to be
058creative and if you found success that I can share with other school districts great, you know, but I don't I don't have a good answer. We don't have the bodies. Like, it's back to demographics. We just don't have the kids that we used to, and we're not going to the way the trend is now, and we're going to continue to fight over less and less. And now there's AI, and God only knows what we're going to be talking about 10 years from now. Um, there could be a lot of people looking for work that might do a good job in a school. Um, but yeah, it's it's a never- ending challenge that we have to continue to work on on all fronts. other people have questions. >> Sorry. I would like to ask a question.
059>> Sure. >> Or I just and just explain something. Um we just had a referendum and when we were um trying to pass that referendum, we were giving people an idea of what it would cost them. >> Yep. >> And um and we were pretty clear on that and people knew that. >> Yep. >> But then we ended up with no increase in our general aid this year. Yep. >> And we ended up having to increase the property tax to cover some of that. What I would like to know because I've had I've had people question about this is because they think we lied to them about the referendum. Sure. Which isn't true. >> Right. >> That was what we were doing. >> Yep. >> What I would like to know is what was the
060logic behind not giving any increase in general aid to the public schools? So, there's a lot of conflict and heartburn um over the 400-year veto to say that every school can now levy 325 per kid for the next 400 years without ever having to go back to the taxpayers and ask, right? Because that was always the difference, right? The the state would like even the previous budget before the state raised um the le revenue limit, whatever it was, 100 bucks a kid, whatever they they wound up doing. And in that negotiation, they backfilled some of that impact by filling general aid. So it's just a function of crappy taxes versus state aid. And so part of it there's a lot of heartburn over that yet because if we are going to fund so 325 per
061pupil per kid in this state is roughly $760 million per budget if the state funded 100% of it. And so I cannot sit here and say I get can guarantee I can find 760 million every budget forever or as long as I'm around um to make sure that none of that 325 falls locally. I can't promise that because I don't know our Medicaid budget alone was 1.4 billion cost to continue um just last time. So there was a lot that wanted to focus on special ed and as a board if you wanted to take that 325 you had to have full knowledge that it was 100% not coming from the state. Um, so in the event, for instance, if we didn't if we didn't fund general aids and we didn't allow your revenue upward, local
062taxes would have went up because you were not allowed to levy that unless you went to referendum for an operational. Um, and I know and then you add in the, you know, you might have told him that and next year his house went up 100,000 and assessed value and that's not your fault and it's not his fault, but now he's paying more because his house is worth more. Right in the middle of a referendum. So you're not alone in this. The city of Superior, the city of Superior in totality had did not have a re a full reevaluation for 19 years, which I think was a failure on some of their local elected officials. >> The school district passed a referendum in the middle of that reevaluation. So, it is not the school district's fault,
063but it just fell on the same time people finally were being assessed what their house was truly worth. And some houses may not have been actually touched in 19 years been how they fell in the city. So, I don't have a good answer for you because it's back to the beginning of How do I explain this to somebody? You didn't lie to them, right? There's a few mechanical functions outside of some control of legislature, some not. Um certainly not in your control on how to do that. Now, I guess some in Madison would say you shouldn't have levied the 325 if you didn't want any local impact. Now, obviously costs go up. Uh we talked a little bit about what your operating deficit is. So, that obviously was not going to be real for many
064people uh in terms of that. And you know, obviously we didn't meet our obligation 42 and 45% on the special ed side right out of the gate, which I hope we can back bill later. So, am I going to say there's going to be no general aid next time? No, absolutely not. We've given a billion dollars more general aid in K through 12 over the last decade when you add up the totals. Now, again, doesn't mean you've seen it all because if you're not raising your revenue limit in conjunction, you're not spending it, right? It's property tax relief. Um, but if another school district passed a referendum, they're sucking that general aid. And then you throw in again the growth in values of your property. Now you're continued to lose. So >> we're going to
065have to continue to figure out, especially in rural districts where property wealth continues to increase exponentially above the rate of inflation, how we do things different because our ability to pay is now beyond our ability to pay. It's not reflective of of what I can afford. My house might be worth 500,000 now, but I bought it in 1980 for 120, right? But my my income did not go up quadruple in that same time period. So every budget now we're going to have to continue to figure this out. What levers can we pull? Where can the money go? And you've got colleagues that think we could put five billion in. It's never enough. And we have colleagues that think their schools overspend right now. And so then how do you come together and pass a budget
066that'll get signed um with some kind of a compromise. And what was the budget surplus this year again when you passed the budget in the summer? >> So there's a couple things on that. >> A majority of that money was one-time collections >> and so it's very difficult to commit that out. And so we did a lot of different things like we sunk 500 million one time into transportation, pay cash for projects, right? So we have to be very careful as a state to not commit onetime money ongoing and then either pull it back later or we put ourselves in the same boat. No different than you guys have to figure out all the time. >> Though right there >> 4.2 4.4 Y >> so one time collections. >> What's that? >> One time collections.
067>> A vast majority was onetime collections. It was a one-time uptick in collections that our fiscal bureau said this is not don't build this in the base. This is you're not getting this four billion forever. Right. and depending on what the economy does. >> So, a lot of that we we have a deficit this budget, but we kept a lot of that cash to carry us through, similar to what you do with your fund balance. >> Okay? >> And so, it's correct to say we were going to end the next budget with four billion when we passed it, but it got it gets spent down over the next two years. Okay? >> And it's not a true indicator of that. But now, revenue limit, revenue numbers limit uh came in a couple months ago showing
068we will collect another 1.4 4 billion that we were doing. And so that is new money on top of what we already built in. That is why almost everyone is open to saying we have to go back and backfill the special ed, which we promised, >> which I support. And so, and then the rest is in conversations of um property tax relief. >> Um if we do pass that, that's something you could sell taxpayers, too. like if if the state winds up putting $500 million into the school levy credit, that's going to offset a lot of what you're probably hoping to accomplish through your referendum. Um now again, you could take that number today and and break that backwards and say what will that mean in Washurn? May not be perfect again two years from
069now. Um it could come through general aids. Both function the same, right? You know, you've already levied the amount. So if it's general aid or school levy credit, it'll be property tax relief. Um, and then there's the talk of either a rebate check. Um, that's been the Senate position for a while or in conjunction with something else. So, it's it's all fluid, but for your sake, I would say getting the special ed money out to where we promised is universally accepted at this point. >> Um, so any deal is going to include that regardless of which house. >> My understanding we're almost to that $4 billion surplus again. Is that correct? No, not exactly because again, so when we predict that that's assuming that we are not going to um have any more increases and
070that's not budging for anything else like going forward, right? And so it's really a static number. So like I mentioned to you, our cost to continue just to keep our current enrollies on Medicaid, not expand, not add people or assume there's going to be new growth, just to keep who we had today was 1.4 billion. I think that's the largest onetime increase in state history. No different again than you're trying to figure out how do you eat your premiums uh when you go up for your staff. And so it's a very static number. So I get very cautious about saying, you know, this is what we have in the checkbook. Now we've got almost two billion in the rainy day fund. We try not to touch that. Um and then we've got, you know, this
071ongoing obligation. So it's not a precise number, but the acknowledgement is there that that new 1.4 billion is coming in and so that's got to get spent. And now it might not be this year, right? The budget's over, but January one, we're already crafting the next budget. And so that money >> not for next year, for the year after >> or for next year. >> So for next year because we do it in a bannual session. And so that money will directly be used. >> So what you're crafting next year will be for the following year. >> But it's also for So our budget now we are we're in 2026, >> right? It'll be for the following years. I think our last budget was a 2527. Yeah. Correct. >> Yep. >> How much of an
072increase um did you put into the vulture money for each student? >> I couldn't tell you that. They tied it to any increases in per pupil revenue limit with public schools. So if we raise a revenue limit on the state end for public schools, they tied that. So there's never like a individual vote each time. So, I will say that's a that's a hard one, too, because people are saying, why are you spending more per pupil on a choice school than not? Now, that might be true just for the onel line item, right? But when you add everything up, federal aid, state aid, other aids, the average public school spend is $18,000 roughly, just under that, and I think you guys are almost right at that average. There's a little bit some on the other
073side of that. The voucher amount is a is a flat amount. They can't levy. They don't get federal dollars. They don't get those kinds of things. And I think high school now is close to 13 and K through eight might be like 11 or 12 somewhere in there. So there are districts that spend less revenue limit less than those amounts. There are some that spend more and then in that mix there's different amounts of aid, right? So Birwood gets nothing. Birwood might spend more than that but they get no state aid. If I'm a taxpayer in Birchwood, I could say you are giving way more to a private school uh than you're giving to me um because just the way the formula functions. And so there are districts that probably do get more state aid
074than a private school based on how they're aided. So, it's not like a true apples to apples because like when when Milwaukee public schools passed their last referendum, $250 million, we all lost state aid up here, general aid, because it is a pot. And when school district X, and I just use them because they're so much bigger, it's an anomaly, right? We got less money up here. I think in totality, just our Senate seat lost three to four million. And that it's not your fault. And the state didn't do it. It's another function of the formula in another part of the state where they happen to spend more um than us. And I couldn't tell you what their age is, what their split is. And so I only say that because when people start talking
075about, well, I'm paying more in property taxes just for choice schools. You're paying more in property taxes for public school kids in Boise and for public school kids in Milwaukee, which is fine, right? We're all tied together. at the end of the day, it's still a kid and we're going to fund them through some function of a a formula and hopefully they get a great education. Um, so it's just it's not a true apples to apples and we've been talking about ways to to tweak so you're not even a pass through anymore. So you don't even see it in your line item. So you're not passing the voucher amount to I don't know, our lady of the lake if you have two students that go there, right? It would be paid for separate through a
076different function. So you're not even seeing it. you're not being that entity that in between anymore trying to figure out how to fix that. Um because >> it's still coming from the washroom school district property taxes. >> Correct. Just like you're obviously paying property taxes for other kids in other parts of the state too, right? That are also in public schools. >> Looking at the list of your schools from your your Senate district. >> Yep. >> It looks like there was a increase of about $640 per student. That's kind of an average of all the students in your district. that increase from vultures this year from last year to this year. >> Sure. >> and that would have mirrored, right? Because if you're loving >> public schools getting 325 325, so it's going to mirror
077now anytime that goes up. >> We didn't we didn't get any increase, >> right? But your ability, you did levy more. Your ability to spend >> property taxes went up then because of it, >> right? >> That's the difference. >> Yeah. That you raised locally to spend, right? Right. Yep. Um but we didn't get it from the state. >> Correct. >> Um have you heard anything about the U transparency project that's being worked on by the Wisconsin Public Education Network? >> Yeah. And see again back to my earlier point, I don't support that because it's not a true apples to apples because like I said, you are paying more you're paying a lot more right now in Washurn in property taxes because of other public schools too. But we don't break that out and say,
078"Well, look at how much these darn kids in public schools who perform worse than you, by the way, and spend more are getting that I have to pay more locally." And so that's why I feel like when you start breaking that out, it's just it's not your attempt, but there's some attempt on purpose to create this animosity to say, "Look who's causing our problems when actually it's very more global and we're all more tied together than we think." And it's not it's not a true apples to apples. So, I guess I just I just don't agree with that. And you may not have that here like in Rice Lake. There's no animosity between the local Catholic school and the public school. And there shouldn't be, right? We got to figure out how we all live
079together to the to our lady of the lake. >> But I will tell you there are people pushing that that don't think school choice or private school should even exist. Not saying everyone, not saying you, >> but so that's why I just I don't support that effort. I don't think it's it's even accurate for the public. What I have found from people when we've talked about it with different in different municipalities, >> Sure. >> they don't even know that some of their tax money is going to a private school. >> Sure. >> They don't even understand that. >> Yep. >> And if it was printed on their tax bills, then they would understand that there is some of their money going right to the private schools. >> And again, due to the function of the
080formula, there are people that want to close down the choice program, by the way, completely. We have the oldest one in the country. We're the first state in the nation to do it in Milwaukee and we have a Renee program and now the statewide program. >> If we closed down the school choice program, you would get less money up here again because more schools would go more kids would go into a public school and as a function you would lose more general aid. So again, it's not like a true apples to apples. Like if we threw all these kids out that can't afford to be in this school and send them back to their home district, you're not getting more money. You're probably going to get less money. you might end up paying even more
081property taxes when a private school kid in Milwaukee goes back in into MPS. And I'm not saying that's right or it's wrong. I'm just saying that's a function of how this calculation works. So again, I I just don't like the let's break it out because it really isn't 100% accurate on how this plays out. >> It doesn't sound like anything is 100% accurate when they're doing funding. >> I have a beer with you on that. Yeah. >> Okay. So this I mean it's all it's all messy. >> Yep. Um and we have no animosity towards our lady of the lake. None. >> Right. >> We believe that they are our children also. And so we want them educated. Yep. >> What we want to do is have transparency so people are aware where their property
082tax is going because right now they don't >> and there is no accountability there. Um they do not have to follow the same rules that we do. >> Yep. >> And that doesn't seem right. So how do how do we know? How do you know? Y >> when you are saying okay this much money is going to our lady of the lake if the way they're using their money is doing anything productive >> well I would say you know you can look at their outcomes at the end of the day parents get to choose you know the state's not forcing anyone to send their kid there right and so and they're also audited they're required to do annual financial audits none of that money can be used to subsidize the parish usually it's the other
083way parishes are subsidizing tuition for kids that can't afford to pay so there are a lot of schools actually that don't participate on purpose because they don't want the headaches of trying to get enrolled, show your financial wherewithal, etc. Um, but yeah, I would say at the end of the day, um, >> it's up to the parent, right? >> Okay. So, it's not up to the legislator to check that out. I mean, because you >> you as a legislator Yep. >> check out what we do in the school district of Washurn. >> Sure. You look at the report cards, you see how we are are doing what if we are spending our money in a way that our students are progressing. >> Sure. >> How are you doing that with some of these private schools?
084>> Well, I know most of them still do test and sometimes it's not the state um the exact same. Most of them do the standardized state test and we talked about too. How do we figure out a way to reduce that so you guys can actually get back to educating kids and not just have to test them all the time. Um but no, it's not apples to apples. So, it's a fine line. I'll give you that. Right. Um the the idea is not to make them the exact same as a public school, right? Because they are a little bit different and so our goal isn't to make them exactly the same while still having some accountability. I get that. Um >> let's switch it around then and make them be accountable for all those things
085and make us less. >> Sure. >> And then they wouldn't be the same, >> right? >> Yeah. I mean, >> it might be cheaper too, >> right? because there's not as many people in the in the private schools. >> So you could say again, so like in in Rice Lake, there's 40 kids that go to St. Joe's on a voucher. They have 210 kids, you know, so 75% of those kids, you know, roughly aren't getting any state aid to be there. Um, and those families that are there are only there because they wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise. And those kids are going to go right into the public high school. It's actually a school that attracts families to town and they feed into the public high school afterwards. So I I don't think
086at the end of the day I think we can agree that our schools in generally more money. We agree on that and that's the crux of all of this and the differences that we talk about because right now there's not enough money in the system and so if we got more money in the system we probably wouldn't spend an hour on the differences between school choice and public schools etc. >> Okay. We're all gonna continue to fight for less and less. >> Okay. Does anybody else have any questions? I don't want to. >> Thanks for your time. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Yeah. Reach out anytime. So, I mean, if there is, you know, policies that make sense or don't make sense outside of funding or funding too, doesn't matter. Um, let us know
087because these bills come fast. Um, you we've had a lot of bills in the past trying to restrict referendums. You know, I've opposed those. You know, it's we tell you if you want to raise taxes, you have to go ask voters. she should be able to ask them. We need to ask them. Um, you know, there's a bill that would get rid of uh superintendent licensing, a lot more flexibility, but that's not really a thing. So, you know, I was opposed to that. So, but due to conversations I have with my superintendents and others across the state. So, again, we may not agree on everything that could be obvious tonight, but uh my office is always open. So, please reach out anytime. >> Well, thank you very much for coming all the way up north
088here to see us. No worry. I would rather be here with you than in Madison. So >> August, >> right? >> Thank you. I'd say the meeting, but takes me about two hours. I'm going to try to beat the snow. >> Drive safe. >> All right. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. >> All right, we'll move on. >> Yes. I just want to thank Senator Kim for coming this evening and doing the tours and the buildings and asking lots of great questions and uh continuing to sort of support our public schools. Uh so a really short update for me winter activities and sports are, you know, kind of wrapping up and Shane's going to have a report next month on all of those things. So we're looking forward to that. I'm not sure
089if it's spring or if it's winter or if it's spring or if it's syrup season. >> Yeah, it is. It's syrup season. So, we're right in that transition time. Uh, and we're just going to roll with the next few weeks and and mother nature's going to dish out what she's going to get right >> tonight. It's winter. >> And tonight, tonight we're hoping for winter. So, uh, one last piece to share is that, you know, we did our strategic planning in the fall, that process, which was, uh, really phenomenal. And thank you to everyone who participated in that. I just want to give a little update that uh Shandra and Ivy and myself will be meeting with Dro Shrader to go through the objectives, the strategic objectives that were created under the four pillars and
090work on goals in the month of April. Nice. >> Um so we're going to do that work and be able to bring more information to the board and the community in the coming months on that process. And as a result of that work, we've also started a staff support and development committee. Um they've met one time so far and are working toward, you know, wanted to get some feedback on what goals the staff wants us to be focusing on. And then the the finance focus group is another piece of that strategic planning puzzle. and we have um a really nice crew of community members interested in in joining that joining that team and working on our school finance um moving forward. So excited about that. >> Yeah. So yeah. >> All right. Um I think
091we have done a very good job on our board goals um looking at building relationships with our legislators and community advocates. We've had Angela here and now we've had Roma. Um so we have I think done a nice job on that. Um increase community engagement with the strategic plan and that seems to be continuing and that's exciting too. Um the board will um work the board to increase effectiveness and we went through all of the bylaws. So we've done that. Um the other part of the um building those relationships was talking about the transparency project. And we have done the city council, the town of Barksdale, and the town of Washurn. And next month it'll be the town of Bay View. And I think that the city I I don't didn't talk to anybody and
092the town of Barksdale did not have it on their their agenda, right? >> So we have to check to see if they purposely didn't put it on there or they forgot. >> Uh probably locals. >> Yeah. Um, and what I would do is probably like I think it's a good idea to just kind of check those agendas, you know, every month and then maybe make a um make a phone call in what August is the latest >> to get it on there. They have to approve it by August or what do we say? >> We didn't have a date exactly, >> but like in order to get it on the tax bill, it has to be done by >> I don't know. You don't remember. There's not a good there's not a good date because
093it's then after that happens then we have to go through the department of revenue and then we have to go to the county and have their IT person. >> Let's see if we can get them to have a vote whether it's a yay or nay you know like maybe by August and we'll kind of um I think we can like check in like let it let them kind of decide over the next couple months but then it has to be put on the agenda again maybe one more time in in August. >> Okay. Um, Conor Washman said that they would vote on it next month. So, we'll see. Um, so I think that's what we're doing with the board goals. I think we have done a good job on those. Yay us. Uh, CC2 report.
094All right. Um the audit was reviewed with the board of control and it and CIS2 continues to be in good financial standing. Um shared service process is underway for 26 27th school year. The leadership team will be meeting with each district on their services for next year. Um, CE has completed a physicilitation of superintendent search for Maple and is working on currently working on a search for Solen Springs. And then the oral report that was given was by Amanda Papovich and she shared the updates on the career readiness um program and she reported out for the data from 2324 school year because the 2425 wasn't turned in until December 25. So it's a little behind. Um there were 10 schools involved in CISA 12. Um and the class of 24 reported were 152 approved industry
095recognized credentials. So that's pretty good for 10 schools. Um and she does have a slide that goes along with that information and then how much money each district got um back from that. So, it's going strong. It's increasing and nice. It's really good. >> Thank you. Um approval of your financial reports and bills, Tina. Yeah, I just uh um you know just to make that comment that like I'm really um looking forward to uh that financial focus group and the new like arrangement over the you know months of Janet like listing out like some of the discrepancies from previous like year to date and that graph was like really brilliant because you could be like oh man the amount of money on uh I think it was like uh start college now or whatever Wow,
096that's way higher than last year. But then you see it in the graph compared to all the other things. Like, oh yeah, totally worth it because all of our expenditures are going down >> in the whole district. Thank you so much for just really doing your best job to like keep everything um in check. And so um so yeah, so we know that the changes are coming and I love the phrase that like our school district is going to thrive when we reflect the priorities of the community. So, I'm really looking forward to that focus group. Um, and I move to approve the February 226 uh financial statements. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? >> I didn't appreciate that graph, too. That was very nice and it was nice to
097see all of it from last year to this year, the expenses didn't I believe in every category went down. >> Yeah. >> So, I know you've had to work hard to do that so hard. >> So, thank you. Um, all in favor I >> opposed. Motion carried. Consent agenda. >> I move to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carried. discussion the graduation requirement that was lowering the >> the financial >> and so this is a second reading >> second >> okay all in favor or is there a motion >> I move to approve the second reading of policy >> I'll second any discussion all in favor >> opposed motion carried consideration of the approval of the student trip to New York in 2027. Move to
098make a motion to approve the student trip to New York in the spring of 2027. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? >> I think I want to I >> opposed. Motion carried. Um consideration of approval for the senior trip to the at the Kahar Kahari. >> Oh, I'll move to approve the consideration of the approval of the senior trip as described. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? Anything you want to share with us? >> So, uh this group of seniors has been working extremely hard for their fundraising. So, this has kind of been a goal of theirs right along and they have really done a lot of work. I don't think they're even done yet. Um, so they've already been working on reservations. I think even in terms of the trip down there, they made
099the financially wise choice to go with um Lakeshore buses versus a Coco for more money. You know, it's kind of like flying first class, but they end up with more money when you get there if you just, you know, couple hours of discomfort, I guess. But um uh I think included in your notes should have been like we're making sure to really communicate with expectations with kids before they head out to really kind of make this solid to make sure we're having a fun time but we're representing the school well. So >> where do you know where there's where other like senior trips have been? It really depends on the class because as we've gone along like we have some some classes that are really working hard to make their trip happen and others are
100like I will have sandwiches at the school forest. Um a couple years ago I think they did a day trip up to Minneapolis. It's been a little while since they've had an overnight trip. >> Um Minneapolis there's been with CO it was kind of we really kept it local. >> Yeah. >> Valley Fair. >> Yeah. All in favor? What's that? >> I >> opposed. Motion carried. >> I move to uh >> consideration move to approve consideration of the approval of the state solo ensemble competition. >> Second discussion. >> All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carried. I move to go ahead >> approve the 2027 high school graduation date and time of Friday, May 28th, 2027 at 6 PM. >> Okay. So, have you been hearing any backlash on that from going from a Sunday
101to a Friday or >> So, I just in case there's any questions and I'm sure you've talked to Denise, but the reason behind this is we've had a bit of issues with um graduation moving into either state track and and this year graduation is happening the same exact time as state trap, which is throwing our seniors into the unfortunate situation of having to choose between going to state and graduating. And so what we tried to do when picking this date is picking something that works around local set graduation times while respecting what our seniors have going so that they can enjoy both because it we felt it's really unfair to have them pick. So that was kind of the reason in choosing the change. >> Yeah, Ashlin has theirs on the Sunday of the same
102weekend of Memorial Day weekend. So we hinted and hot and asked staff about Friday night or Saturday and felt as though because it is a it is a holiday weekend. The Friday evening is just great because you know community members can attend, family can be here and then they have the rest of the weekend to decide um what they want to do. So we're going to give it a try. Feel like it'll be a good a good fit. The seniors can rehearse Friday and graduate Friday night. Um, I don't understand the reason the difference of why we have to decide because Ash is having their graduation on the same day on Sunday. >> So, we would have moved ours from the first Sunday in June to the Sunday of or considered that to keep it
103on a Sunday, but we felt as though locally it was just enough families and enough people that might attend both graduations that we didn't want it on the same day at the same time. Okay. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried. >> Make a motion to approve the 2026 27 CPI salary increase of 2.63%. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carried. I move to approve the 750,000 line of credit through Old National Bank. Second. >> Any discussion? >> Um, this is like gener sometimes we just do this just because of like the the complications of like looking at the year-to-ate budget in general. >> Um, because money comes in at different times and at different locations and different amounts and it's never at the time to spend
104it. Is that again like this particular line of credit? >> Correct. >> Yeah. And because we receive well more of our funding is coming from the tax levy now than is from aid that means that we're relying on the couple times a year that those funds come in and there can just be Yeah. The chances of having to utilize this level is low, but we just want to be sure that we're well covered. >> Okay. All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carried. Need a motion to go into close session. >> Make a motion to go into close session. I'll second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I I >> opposed. Motion carries. Thank you everybody for coming. >> Thank you. Seven.