001I'd like to call this regular school board meeting of the DC Everest Area School District to order. First up is roll call. Josh >> here. >> Larry >> here. >> Katie >> here. >> Ye >> here. >> Shannon >> here. >> Ben is not here. And I am here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Is there a motion to approve tonight's agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> A voice vote. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? That passes. Next up, we have public comment. We do have public comment. Come on up. You will be given three
002minutes for public comment. Think I can do it in three minutes. >> Um, I am Marine Coron. I am part of the chief speaker. >> Oh, goodness. >> And >> I pressed it. >> I think it was on already. >> Okay. Um and Chris Colton, our PR person. Um we're here tonight to honor the school board members who have been supporters of our students, staff, and community. Um we thank you for your commitment to the school district and um for the time you have given to listening to issues um affecting the district. Um we have a small token of our appreciation for you. Um it's a pen and note holder titled difference maker. Um it reads and you guys can hand those out if you want. Um a dedicated person who can make a big
003impact even with just a small action or a few words. Someone who improves the lives of others. one who rallies or encourages others to propel themselves forward and bring about change. Um and then C also on the bottom and each one is personalized with your own names. Um we just want to thank you for everything that you've done and how you support um the teachers association and and all of the district. So thank you. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. This requires a roll requires a roll call vote. Josh, >> yes. >> Larry, >> yes. >> Katie, >> yes. >> yes. >> Shannon, >> yes. >> And I vote yes. >> Next up is reports and considerations. Wasby Shannon,
004>> the policy and resolutions committee met um in late September to review and discuss 22 member board submitted resolutions. 15 of those have been advanced to the next committee meeting in early November. Um that meeting will determine the final resolutions that will be presented to the delegate assembly for vote at the education convention. And the final resolutions list will be published for member boards to review in early December. And a reminder that the fall legislative conference will be held in Stevens Point at the holiday in convention center on November 8th. I have been asked by the WASBY government relations team to participate in a panel of school board members sharing tips for tracking legislative activity and effectively advocating for educational bills. And on that note, a recent legislative update from WASBY indicates that Assembly Bill
0052 has passed the Senate. This bill generally prohibits cell phone or personal device use during instructional time for students. AB2 will be potentially law pending Governor Iver's signature on that. And that is all I have. >> Thank you, Shannon. Next up is CISA 9, Larry. >> And we had a regular meeting, a monthly meeting Wednesday, October 1st up in Tomahawk. Uh the centerpiece of the meeting was a presentation by Dr. Roger Rhino who is now on board with them to be an assistant for hunt making superintendent searches. He noted that he's in CISA 9 and has spent some 17 years as a superintendent in various places. And he felt, you know, it's a real value to have someone in your own CISA who understands things like some of the remote districts up there and the
006difficulties they face. and you know WASBY has this service but he was saying you know he knows a lot of the local people up here and can provide a valuable service. He's written a book on um board governance. Uh so he's been quite involved with the whole board management exercise. So uh uh so that he made that presentation and it's something to consider if we if and when we ever you look for new the superintendent. They also handed out this CISA 9 brochure of what they've been up to this year with the employees and budgets and other a lot of good information in there again. So, uh um that's how they handed out superhero t-shirts t-shirts in honor of those board school board uh appreciation week. Um so, uh that was uh that's the end
007of my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Larry. Uh, next up is our student representative, Ava. >> Oh, um, this past has seemed to fly by with homecoming in the quarter ending. Homecoming was a big success around the same turnout as last year to all the events with the seniors winning with juniors in second and sophomores in third. Uh many watchers were pleased with our parade with some saying it's been the best since previous years which is very good to hear and many liking the homecoming dance as it was in the commons rather than the gym with the gym having new floors. Uh besides homecoming, our sports have entered playoff season and many students enjoy going to their games. And also the cast and crew for Spongebob the musical has been promoting their performances with
008dates of November 13th and the 14th and also the 21st and the 22nd. Other than extracurricular activities, students have been focusing on school with quarter ending and tests on the rampage causing students to study more. That's all I got, but thank you. >> Thank you. Next up is the superintendent's report. Dr. Nye, >> congratulations to those seniors. That's shocking to hear that they won. Uh, >> uh, well, on that note, third Friday count. Uh, you've got our detailed reports in your background, and I think you saw a nice representation of that in Kelly's work. Uh so 5,730 students which is down uh as we've predicted around uh 100 so 98 students down. Um we've talked a fair amount about enrollment uh lately especially um having an enrollment study conducted within our long range facility study
009uh plan. Uh so these trends are in line with what we've been anticipating. Um the incoming classes are going to continue to be smaller and Kelly talked about that in the context of the budget and our planning. Um our elementary schools are seeing that in 3D right now. Um kindergarten classes across the district uh overall down uh number of sections across elementaryaries down and that will uh march up and eventually reach our secondary schools. So that is the the trajectory for Everest. Um we I I listened uh the other day and I shared this with uh Jeff and Kelly uh to a superintendent in another part of the state talking about strategies to combat declining enrollment. um we are part of uh a declining state population. Uh so I think I struggle a little bit
010with that concept. Uh knowing that the demographic realities um of our community are also uh very similar to what we see across the state. Um, so I think um, there are a couple of things that I'd highlight that we do think are um, strategies that we should be considering and watching closely, but largely I don't want to misrepresent the reality that our students uh, will be smaller going forward and and consequently we're going to have to be very careful about our staffing uh, and have that um, match correspondingly um, a smaller number. So, we'll do that carefully. Um, but we do not want to be in a spot where we have a cliff. Um, and so, um, a couple of things though that are worthy of talking about, uh, open enrollment, and again, Kelly hit
011on this, uh, we did not see a substantial change year-over-year, but you see on her graph, it's narrowing. Um, we believe one part of that, uh, is, uh, enrollment out, so our resident kids out to statewide virtual charter schools. So, we do think that is, um, something that we need to watch closely. And again, those are families making choices. That's the design of the the system. Um, but our uh decision to partner with Rural Virtual Academy is one way for us to recapture resident students and continue to provide a a same or similar experience uh to those students and to our other virtual students. So, uh that is a strategy that will be in place um going forward beginning next year. Um, the other aspect that I think we're really focused on is really looking
012at our 4K experience and determining how does that impact 5K through 12th grade enrollment. Um, so again, if there's two big questions that we're wrestling with in our facility study, that is one of those two. Kelly hinted at the other when she talked about the capital needs of the junior high and, you know, serving our eth and 9th graders. But um we really need to look closely at uh what our partnerships with community and our existing 4K and of course uh early childhood special ed services look like across the district because they are closely aligned with uh enrollment for the rest of uh their entire school experience and uh a major driver. So any questions related to enrollment? I feel like we've we've talked about that but there are that's a noticeable uh decline that
013we are um regularly discussing as a leadership team. All right. Um, you regularly talk and we had uh DCTA members up here. Uh, we're as good as our people. Um, and we've got uh great people, including our our new hiring class this year. Um, and so a few years back, we rebranded our HR department to be talent and culture. And that wasn't just in name. It was really to um shift how we engageed engaged with staff. Um, and Sarah Turner's done a great job really leading that work. Um, so you've heard a little bit about her stay interviews with veteran staff. Um, and a different version of that is really 30-day interviews with our, um, newest staff members, our our teaching staff in particular in this case. So, um, Sarah wanted to qualify that the
014sheet I put in front of you here is an AI assisted summary of those. This is not, you know, specific information. We really want to respect, um, what uh, our staff shared directly with her. But the summary is is um I think helpful. Um not anything real surprising in there. Finding balance for a new staff member coming in is whether they're veteran or or brand new to the profession um has always been a factor. Um and when Sarah talks to those individuals and she hears needs for uh specific support, she connects them with a leader that can um help provide that for sure. Um but uh one thing that is interesting uh for me as kind of a takeaway into the culture of the district is uh if you are a veteran staff member, we
015often hear about the desire for autonomy and how much our our experienced folks value that. It's a little more daunting when you come in again whether you're veteran uh or a rookie uh to navigate that level of autonomy that we provide our staff. So that's something I think that's helpful for us to keep in mind as we give clarity to supporting them. So, um really just sharing this peak um into uh what Sarah gathered just because I know it's really important for you to take care of our staff and um appreciate that Sarah and others uh other leaders make those personal connections a priority in their their time with our staff. uh facilities study. Again, uh regular conversation, but we're moving from uh kind of the initial phases of assessing our conditions and um educational
016adequacy information gathering uh really into articulating a continuum of possibilities for where we're going to go. Uh we anticipate uh December and January for our our staff and uh Findorf Somerville team. Uh this is going to mean taking a range of potential solutions that the team has developed um which include cost feasibility and shifting uh into how those match our aims to improve the experience for kids and at the same time what are the ongoing operational costs. So trying to take those big concepts and really play them out uh in terms of how they match what we're trying to do for the district as a whole. Um we believe uh that will position us uh for February to have a natural moment to come together with you. Um and if you are in support of
017that uh having a workshop to really deep dive into those options um we definitely would value your feedback and think that's the right time to get that information in front of you. Um Ellen Ellen would pull us later on the agenda if the board supports that next step. and we have a new uh understanding of the statute related to special meetings which would mean one of you would need to say yes we would like that to happen and then we will do it. So >> a board member emailing Lindsay or Lindsay emailing >> board member requesting meeting >> and then we will have this meeting. That seems like a really good idea. >> Lindsay as a board member could also make the request is I thought our understanding. Okay. Another board member can email Lindsay.
018I'm deferring. >> That was a PC. No, Casey. >> A year ago, we would have just calendared this for you, but we understand something different now. So, someone email Lindsay, please, if you think it would be valuable to uh dig into that data and and we think we're going to be in a good spot to um share things with you in action. we request is already >> we will provide some dates that we think might work like we typically would. Um but the month of February is what we're really working forward with our um team to have that prepped for you. New learning for all of us, including me. Thank you, Ellen. All right. Um I I was going to highlight two specific bills. Um, and Shannon did a great job talking about AB2, which
019is really the cell phone uh, bill that's gotten some uh, chatter, obviously passed both Senate and Assembly. Um, our our take right now is that it it the the governor has not really expressed any clarity about whether he will or will not sign it. The read from most people is that he probably will. Um, for us uh, as a team, we don't see any substantial change for what's happening with kids here. We think that this is a change that we tightened up last year and um we don't have an opinion on the bill um other than to say that we're already pretty much doing what it says. So um separately though I did want to highlight um Braden's law uh and you know that um hits close to home is Braden Bone is an evergreen
020and he's one of ours. Uh Braden's family has been strong advocates for the bill uh which is really centered on uh criminal consequences for uh those that are perpetrators of extortion. Um the the family has requested that uh if the governor signs it into law and on this one the all all signs point to yes that that will happen um that it would happen uh the signing would happen here uh in our community. So just more to share with you that that's probably something that's uh coming close to home and uh we will keep you in the loop as we know more about that. So, and that is my report. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for Dr. Nye? >> Hearing none, we will move on to unfinished business. Um, this is one that
021we carried forward policy uh 0144.5 board member behavior and code of conduct. It has been updated. Um, is there a motion to approve on first reading as printed in the packet? >> So moved. Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there any additional discussion? Hearing none. This requires a voice vote. All those in favor state I. >> I. Any opposed? That passes. Thank you for updating and bringing us what we were looking for. Uh, next up is new business, approval of the budget and tax library. I would like to make a mo. Do you want to talk? Are you stealing your Super Bowl moment? >> Yeah, it is your Super Bowl. Do you want to talk? Go ahead. >> I mean, I got a lot lot to read. Are you sure? >>
022All right. Uh, I will make a motion to approve the following resolution. It is hereby resolved that the board of education of the DC Everest Area School District adopt the school budget including all funds in the amount of 1112,142,485 for the period of July 1st 2025 to June 30th 2026. It is further resolved that the board of education authorizes the collection of a general property tax for school purposes in the amount of $14,475,033. um and $2,23,875 for fund 38 energy efficiency debt service payments line 14B of the revenue limit worksheet. It is further resolved that the board of education authorizes the collection of an additional 8,945,340 to support the debt service payments for the community approved referendum for facility improvements and modification to its district facilities. It is further resolved that the board of education
023authorized the collection of an additional 450,000 for the purpose of operating programs that benefit the community. These programs include a community crime prevention program and community youth and adult sporting activities at Green Heck Turner. It is further resolved that the board of education authorized the collection of an additional 1,296 with which represents the prior year property tax charge backs. The total district tax levy includes all leveies outlined above equals 25,935,544. Is there a second to this? >> Second. >> I may have botched one number. I would like to restate the uh 8,979 985,340 debt service payments. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Discussion hearing none. This requires a roll call vote. Shannon, >> yes. >> yes. >> Katie, >> yes. >> Larry, >> yes. >> Josh, >> yes. and I vote yes. Yeah. Next
024up is administrator and building continuous improvement plans. This is information only. Dr. Lindell. >> Yes. So appreciate the opportunity to to lay out uh our goal setting process this year. Uh one of the things that our work with stutter teaches us is that aligned goals lead to aligned behaviors lead to aligned processes. And it's one of the things that our team talked about today is that difference between a process and a project. So uh the work that we've done since uh this summer uh and to last spring has really been to to try to align that work uh from our level down to the teacher level. Uh our vision is to do that all the way down to the student level uh in the future. Uh but what you have uh in addition to the
025memo is our goal setting template. Uh and uh one of the other things we talked about there's a Jim Collins quote that essentially talks about when you have more than three priorities, you really have no priorities. So one of the things that we really focused on uh leading into this goal setting process is how do we identify two or three or four I'll say two or three now and I'll change this for the future because I said two to four originally but I don't want to go against Jim Collins. um two or three highlevel or high level impact action steps. And so what you see uh in the center of that bullseye are our goals. Uh that next layer are those two high level and high level action steps um for the learning team in
026particular. One of those is a revamp of our PLC work. Uh and I think um if if our teachers have been around for a long time, we've done that work um over the past um 20 years, I would say. Um but certainly um we've got a lot of turnover in a pandemic since the last time we really focused a high level of of high high amount of energy in that work. So we're going to look back at that. We've uh contracted with uh a group that's going to come and lead us through some work on not only October 31st over the next couple years to really revamp that work to look at priority standards uh in uh with a focus on clarity. So it's not redoing uh the work necessarily, but it's really trying to
027identify clarity for our students and what we want them to learn, but also in what are our actions as teachers and educators to ensure that kids are getting what we want. Uh so let's uh focus energy on on what we want kids to learn. Uh but then what are the action steps that that ensure that work happens. Uh the outside layer of that circle is really the work of our ops team. Um so um to to create the environment for effective learning to happen. Our ops team has to do the work uh that they do. The right technology, the right staff hire, the the right u the the cleanliness of our uh spaces. um the this the nutrition ensuring that kids come to the the desk with um the right uh meals in their stomach.
028Uh and then obviously I think also our our community work as well. Uh you'll see also um two documents. Um maybe one other thing about this really defining what we're measuring. We get measured by our community and the state by um our test scores. So, we're looking at how do we adjust our test scores? How do we adjust our our attendance? How do we impact the uh uh engagement of our our students so that we move those numbers? On the left side, you also have progress monitoring uh data as well. So, we we're going to gather different data along the way, but our our aim and our our focus is how do we change the final number that our kids uh receive on th those um state tests. You'll also see these two documents. Um,
029one of these documents is our our learning side. It's our our our building goals. It's a summary of our building goals and action steps and also our learning department directors. And the other one is our ops team. Uh, so the ops team has a very similar template uh to ours, but but obviously this this model here is pretty heavy um learning focused. Uh but but both groups um have identified goals. I've done a lot of great work to make sure that we have the action steps around those goals. So what you have is a summary of of those goals and action steps. The value for members of our team uh is there's a link between these two documents. Um so certainly our our team members are invested in the work of each other. Uh so
030there's opportunities to go uh between each of those documents easily and have a a snapshot of of the goals that that each of our team members and directors and uh leaders have have created. So um open to questions that you may have certainly a summary of the work that's been done but uh shout out to our leaders and the work that they've they have done over the last uh several months into last spring. Uh I know Casey talks about it at her listening sessions, but the the level of focus and uh energy around uh the specific goals and the action steps that we feel are going to move the needle for kids has been tremendous. Uh so shout out to our principles and our director teams to to to have that alignment and that focus
031and and um cool at creating movement for kids. open to any questions that you might have >> and and I want to be board members if have questions it'd be great I think to both Jeff Kelly myself um but I want to give Jeff and Kelly in particular um as Jeff mentioned at at listening sessions I acknowledge I think it's as aligned as we've ever been and it's it's long-term alignment too not that the specific work won't change underneath but what they're both laying out right now are really um setting the course for the next few years and I think you know it's definitely feedback we get from staff over the right, is initiative fatigue and constantly changing. I think what we're talking about is definitely um long range effective evidence-based kind of work that'll
032make a difference. So, appreciate their leadership. >> I just like that everyone was like literacy, math, and then the engagement, but they were all different, right? And that just speaks to each school's culture is a little different and and they they have a different way of doing things, and that's good. It's uniqueness. And I mean I wouldn't expect a blanket for elementary by any means, right? And so it's so it shows that we are dedicated um to our learning teams in our schools. And so I appreciate that that work is put in and thinking of goals is hard, right? And finding the right goals and and measuring them and and being consistent with them is hard. So kudos to everyone out here who spent a lot of time on that. And we appreciate it. And
033it really just helps, I think, align our district in in a way that we know where we're going and and where we want to be. I would add seeing the academic career planning at the junior high level. That's really big for 9th graders. Sometimes they feel a little separated being in a different building, but helping them get that going before they reach the senior high is a nice thing to see. I love that you mentioned that and I'll just give a shout out to Aaron Hoffman too to that that's led a lot of that work and tried to build some trying to build some consistency 612 probably 412 and and that work around ACP. I think it's great too because it's showing the students that were listing. That was a huge thing that came up
034at the superintendent's advisory and some of the presentations was how do we bring that information down to those other levels and it was great to see the student engagement like we have this here you should have advisory and so it's great also for us to be able to go back to to that group and say we heard you and now we're implementing some of those changes as part of our goals. Again, that's that's the part I like to see is the alignment throughout themes that we've heard both at some of those community listening sessions as well as the student um opportunities to provide feedback and then again that alignment with our board goals as well. So, great job on bringing all those pieces together and showing the alignment. Any additional comments? Thank you, Jeff. Next
035up is approval of the trip to Germany. Is there a motion to approve the senior high trip to Germany in May and JJune of 2027? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any additional discussion? This requires a voice vote. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? That passes. Next up, we have policies. Uh would anyone like to talk about any or make a motion to approve? Motion to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any additional discussion? Hearing none, this requires a voice vote. All those in favor state I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That passes. Uh, next up um is information about the education convention January 20th through 23rd. Please see Ellen tonight in bold. to get that done. Um, and then the WASY regional meeting on
036November 4th at the Holiday Inn in Rothschild, registrations are due October 28th. So, also please see Ellen if you would like to register for that. Um, and then we have a poll for the special meeting date and time for update on the facility study, which someone is going to email me about. It's not me that's going to email anybody. Somebody's gonna email me. Um, we're just looking for a February date. Is that what we're looking for right now? >> Yeah, I think what we're looking for is someone to say we would like to have a special meeting. If you mention February, great. If you don't, we're going to offer you those dates. But it's and that the point of is is that um because we publish a calendar of regular board meetings from a transparency
037perspective there needs to be some um show of board member interest that that kind of alteration to the schedule happens. That's where it's coming from which this is not I think you have workshops regularly so it's not super unique here but it was controversial and in the courts somewhere so we're going to follow that guidance. So, >> so we would like to have um Madame President, we'd like to have a special meeting to talk about the facility study. I'd be happy to email you as a followup on that request. >> Ellen seems to be nodding and comfortable with this. So, >> I will be gone the last week of February, but other than that, we're set. So, so we can start with that. Anyone else? I am in DC the 8th through the 12th I
038think. So would not be available then. >> This feels like Valentine's meeting. It's all that's left. >> All right. Uh we will continue on with our special meeting date and time set up. Um now that we have that set to go um we have no petitions and communications. Future meeting dates. These are revised. Remember, please show up on November 12th at 6:30 um for our next regular board meeting. Then the following one is December 10th, which is also different. And then the following one is January 14th, which is also different. So, please update your calendars. And with that, I will adjourn the meeting. Thank you. >> Larry said 7:305. You're going to get cake. Yeah.