001Call the Germantown School District Board of Education meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. the Performing Arts Center at the high school. Um, item one, official I'm sorry. Let's stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence if you are able. 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. Item 1A, official meeting notification. Dr. Reutder. >> Public notice of all meetings has been given by communication from the superintendent's office to the public to those news media who have requested such notices and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Northwest Now, Express News, and Westbend Daily News. Public notice has also been posted in schools throughout the district and on the Germantown School District website.
002Item B, roll call. >> Ewert >> here. >> Brown >> here. >> Barney's here. Loath >> here. >> Pollock >> here. >> Higenbotham here. Voyer >> here. >> Item two, approval of agenda. >> Motion approve the agenda. >> Second. >> Mr. Barney with the motion. Give it to Miss T. I'm sorry. Yeah, she was quick. >> Any discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Hearing none. The agenda passes. Item three, reports, district administrator update. Dr. Reutder. >> Thank you, Mr. Uert. Um, as we I think we haven't been together since uh GHS homecoming took place. We had a great uh festivities here with the pep assembly as well as um a powderpuff game and a very successful dance. Um, I shared with the board the the data points of
003how many students attended, number of sales of tickets, um, and no instances of anything inappropriate happened uh, home at homecoming. So, um, Mr. Smith shared with me it was a very and Miss Certall that was a very successful week. Um, and a lot of school spirit throughout the building. Uh, fall sports playoff season has begun. Tonight we have the boys soccer team is actually playing here at Germantown. Uh, football plays this Friday. hosts a home game um in the first round and we are hosting also Friday night I believe sectionals for boys volleyball and swim this coming weekend. So, a lot going on on our facilities as the fall sports playoff season begins. Um in the month of January, our new communications manager, uh Mr. Justin Marian will be coming to the board to share
004an update on some of the work that's transpired in his first few months here in the district. Um I want to make everyone aware not only here tonight but out there that work will be happening on our website over the next month as we do a full audit of it to make it more intuitive, userfriendly, brand orientated and um accessible for what uh that website needs to be accessible for for information to the public and our staff. So there might be some um under construction or other things like that, but we're we're working through that behind the scenes and um Mr. Marian will give a full report on not only that, but some other work that will be going on in the district from a communications lens. And then I just remind everyone that next
005Tuesday, the 28th, here at the PAC, is our um annual meeting and budget hearing. The budgeting here hearing will start at 6:00 p.m. and the annual meeting will take place at 6:30. And that annual meeting is a meeting for the elector electorate. All community members are welcome to attend and have a voting um state or voting say in the resolutions brought forward. We ask that you please bring identification as you will have you sign in and receive ballots that evening. And that's what I have this evening. >> Thank you. Uh 2B student representative report. Hello all, my name is Arouche Chopra. I am the student board treasurer here at Germantown and tonight I'm going to be presenting the student representative report. So as Dr. Reutder said, Germantown High School homecoming festivities wrapped up just a
006few weeks ago. The entire week was a tremendous success thanks in large part to the planning and organization of Diane Sarmer, the volunteering of so many Ga staff and engagement from so many of our student leaders. Senior girls won powderpuff that week and nearly a thousand students attended the dance. Our cafeteria has been serving lettuce grown in our very own hydroponics room. The room has been growing lettuce in micro greens for weeks now and has recently started tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, chives, and so much more. There has been an abundance of food produced that will start to be spread to other schools within the district for all students to enjoy. GHS is the proud home to two National Merit semi-finalists as well as four additional students who were commended. Those two semi semi-finalists will continue in
007the process as they make Germantown proud with their continued academic excellence. Finally, we recently held conferences where our staff spent the night engaging with parents and guardians in the community to discuss the continued growth of our students. >> Thank you. >> Uh C reports student exchange program Germany. Mr. Knox. Uh hello, >> good evening. >> Uh my name is Samuel Brown. I participated in the exchange trip to Germany. >> Um my name is Ariana Rinaman and I also participated in this trip. >> My name is Torren Shum. I also participated in this German exchange program. >> Uh so they arrived uh last year. So that would have been in 2024. And the exchange started the prior year. And when they arrived, they arrived on a school bus, which was something they had never experienced before.
008So, there was lots of fun things for them to experience, like going on a school bus, which apparently was very cool for them. Um, and then we got to meet our exchange students who most of us would then see this last summer. And so when we went over there, we I think that it went quite smoothly. We had uh we bonded very well over all sorts of things going there. Um under unfortunate circumstances, we did stay overnight in Dublin for uh one night, but it was it was a bit of a blessing, I would say, because it was it was something new to see on the way there. Um but other than that I would say the arrival going there went pretty smoothly. All right. So one of the activities when uh the Germans came
009to America last uh about a year ago probably almost exactly was we held this kind of um like activity in the cafeteria. This was, you know, this was on the weekend after school, which was kind of like a combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Since they weren't going to be here for Halloween and Thanksgiving, we kind of had to smush them together. So, uh, family, uh, parents of the those of us who hosted brought in all kinds of different food. So, it was kind of like a community like Thanksgiving dinner for them to experience, which obviously they don't really have that holiday in Germany, so it was something new for them. And also, we held this uh pumpkin carving competition in which we had all these pumpkin carving tools and we carved pumpkins, which is something
010they do do in Germany. And uh we had a a competition with three categories for most creative, scariest, and uh most or and best overall. And uh the pumpkin on the far right, number 18, was the one that won all three. That was that was mine and my exchange partner Sebastian. He was very very good at pumpkin carving to my surprise. So this was a real fun activity that we had uh last October. So, we didn't get to experience any of the field trips they went on when they were here, but we did get to hear about it. So, the middle picture, which is the biggest picture, is them arriving in O'Hare. So, that was their first day here. And then there's obviously the picture of them with the bean and then eating uh in
011a restaurant, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and then the Bucks Stadium. So, they got to do a bunch of different like cultural things that they don't really have there. I mean they have art museums and things like that but they got to see it from an American perspective. >> So we also went on many field trips when we were in Germany. Uh some of these we went on with our exchange student units. Some of them we went alone. So if you look in the middle top picture you can kind of almost barely see it. To the left of it there's this castle we went to called the Berg Els which was beautiful. We got a tour of it. Um, if you can see, uh, me and two other of the students who went on, they sort
012sold us little replica swords, which were they weren't real, but they were really cool. So, it was a lot of cool cultural stuff that you could buy there. But the castle itself was real. It was really awesome to experience. Uh, you can also see that in the top right, a picture of our group there. We also went in the bottom right to this city called Worms, which is, it's kind of debated in Germany, but it's said to be the oldest city in Germany with this very beautiful old cathedral, which we got to see, which was awesome. Uh the middle bottom picture we went to this town called H Highleberg which is very famous. It has uh I believe it's the longest pedestrian walkway in Europe. So lots of beautiful stores there. Um just a lot
013of beautiful architecture. Bottom left is our bus driver who drove us to the Berg Elsen also to a youth hostel that we stayed at overnight. Uh the top left is uh called the Clutterva which was I believe translates to climbing park. Um we have similar things in America where you're hooked up to a harness and you're kind of climbing through a dense forest. But we did that with our exchange students. It was a little little rainy but it was still very fun. >> Uh yes. So America uh memories when they came here in America were they had some very unique experiences as uh one of them you can see is um Ari with her exchange student at Costco. That is something they don't have there. Basic um department stores like Target, Costco, things like that.
014they don't have there. So, they found that very interesting. Um, another one is Sam with his exchange student at the football game. They do not have anything close to football games there. So, that was a very unique experience. And then so the top left and middle left both were at a barn with uh another one of the students here wanted to host a gathering for everyone else. And in the top right is also from the same day. There was a lot of bonding experiences there. Uh there was bags, there was a bonfire, things that I don't believe are very common in Germany for them. So that was very unique. And then UWM was another thing that they got to see as I don't think I don't think they tour many colleges there. I think that's
015a very American thing. So that was also new. So when they were in America, the first thing they did was they arrived and it was homecoming spirit week. So that was a big shock for them. Um, and then they came to the PAC and they got to hear kind of about the school and everything and see the PAC. And then the bottom I think that's the left. Yeah, the bottom left you can see Archie and his Packer jersey which they did not have like a I don't know an emotional support dog there. So that was fun for them to see. Um, there was a photo of him eating somebody's backpack, but I did not have a good picture, so I did not put that in. Um, but then you can see, uh, I think that's
016Fra Garman up there in the left, and she's just talking to them in home room. And then this is outside the PAC is the big one in the middle, and that's them kind of talking about their culture and everything uh, with the German one students. Homecoming. So homecoming is something that they don't get to experience there. So these are some of the pictures. Uh like there's me in the bottom with uh Antonia, my exchange student at the pep rally. Actually that's at the top, but um the one at the bottom is the powderpuff game and then the middle there's a few girls with their exchange students uh taking pictures for homecoming and then Sam and his exchange student Sebastian. And then I believe that was Florentina and Vicki in the corner. But that was something
017that they didn't get to experience. They have something similar called the Abby ball, but that's just a graduation ball, so it's not anything near as exciting as homecoming. >> So, school in Germany was quite an experience. I I enjoyed a lot of it as it's very different from school here. School here, you have the same classes every day for the exact same amount of time. Whereas in Germany, it's by week. So you don't have the same kind of classes every day. You have different classes based on the day. And sometimes you get to go home at like 1, which is pretty early. Um, they usually always get to school on time on the exact same time, but it's it's a very different kind of school. I personally enjoyed it. All of my classes with my
018exchange student were in the relatively same proximity. So that was kind of similar, but I in the bottom left picture, I met two very good people. I I like them very much. They they were very kind and uh very welcoming to uh school in Germany. Um, so before we move on, there's the one picture in the top left, and I thought that was important to put in there to show that they still have some culture in their school, and that's a memoriam made by students for all of the Jewish people who passed during the Holocaust who went to their school. Can I just ask is the center picture detention or what what is that? So, the the context of the center picture is um there there's this seller in the basement when we went there
019for like a going away party almost and we had to go grab a bunch of boxes and stuff. And so I was like, "Well, I wonder if I go behind these bars, it'll look like they locked me up for good." And and so I was worried that if we fully closed it, I would have actually gotten locked in there. If you look closely, it's not fully closed. So I was a little hesitant on closing it all the way, but I wanted it to look like I was uh was locked up in the clink. Perfect. All right. So this is just general memories that we made in Germany. Uh a lot of lot of fun stuff. you can see in kind of the left uh bottom hand corner was the going away party that Torren just
020talked about. So, we held that at their school. It was kind of a little section of their school that was almost similar to our courtyard um where they had all these tables. They had a little garden. They actually had a chicken coupe there which was kind of cool. They had some chickens there. Um uh we they had a pizza oven which was actually really cool. We got to make our own pizzas for this going away party. Uh that's also the picture in the um kind of left hand middle corner. Um also uh bottom right uh technically isn't in Germany. That's Arya and her exchange student in Strawburg which is a city in France that's just on the border with Germany. A lot of uh the Germans took their students to Strawburg since it's so close
021to where we were to experience a little bit more of Europe. bottom there's me and my friend uh my exchange student Sebastian at a festival that we all kind of went to at the end which was really fun because we have stuff like that here but it was different because obviously different culture. Um top left is uh a few of the girls posing with a sign that said Shum which is my friend Torren's last name. So we kind of just joking about that. Um and there was just a lot of fun stuff we did just hanging out with these people because we hadn't seen them in eight months to this point. So, it was kind of like reuniting with old friends after a long while, which was really, really nice. >> I believe that might
022be the last slide. >> That's the last. >> Yeah. All right. >> Thank you guys for your time. >> Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] >> Thank you for sharing those experiences and uh helping provide those experiences for the students when they came over. It's amazing. Thank you, Mr. Knox, too, for um I know the request last year was with the approval of the trip to bring the students back and I know everyone appreciates the great presentation. Reports D PAC update, Miss House, >> hello. Thank you. Yes, this is just our uh semianual update on the going on at going on at the PAC. I have another uh breakdown of hourly usage of the PAC. We are getting more and more every year. Um but you know it kind of all is even
023uh about about the same in each department. So we are gaining evenly for community events and school events. But it is a lot. Um you can go ahead to the next slide. Yep. Uh this year I did break it down. Um I think it's important to remember that for every public event here there's uh also quite a few um rehearsals that need to happen and school meetings and things like that. So um the PAC is getting used a ton. Um, and that's just kind of a helpful breakdown of, you know, how many shows versus uh rehearsal time in the theater. Go ahead. This is our upcoming uh drama season for the high school. Um, our three shows, the one act play that goes wrong is next weekend. So, go ahead and get your tickets. We
024have four shows and there is limited seating. So, you're going to want to get your tickets for that. It's a great comedy, really funny. Uh, Three Musketeers comes up in February. That's the big cast play. And then Adam's Family the Musical is going to have the full live pit orchestra with our high school band. Um, and that's always, you know, the huge event of the year. So, you're going to want to get tickets for that, too. Oh, oh, there it is. Okay. Uh, that is the KMS musical, Freaky Friday. So, mark your calendars for that one. They have two shows. Um and they're going to be here again in February for um a week or two to practice and uh perform that show. Uh this is kind of a breakdown of our rental groups. This
025is not all of them, but just uh kind of the the highlights. We have uh Monamin Falls Symphony is coming this year. Um we have a couple dance competitions coming in. Um and kind of all of our regular stuff that uh comes in on a on a annual basis. Um, so we are full up lots going on. There's something for literally everybody. This is our community series uh for the 2526 school year. So these are events that um the PAC advisory team um we put together and host for the community um not outside groups coming and doing whatever they want. This is stuff we've chosen for the district. Um, we already had our Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton tribute. Uh, that happened on October 3rd. So, next coming up is going to be the Germantown
026World World Culture Fest that is free. Uh, so swing swing on down. We always have a lot of groups that participate. Uh, lots of food and um, you know, games and stuff like that. So, that's going to be fun. Uh, really big show, John McGiver coming in. Uh, lots of tickets sold for that. So, you're going to want to get your tickets. Don't wait till the last minute. Get get the good seats. Uh, but he is uh coming in a couple days to come visit and check out the space. And we're gearing up for that show. We've also got uh the tribute to Queen, which I know is going to be amazing. Um, so, uh, definitely come here if you're a fan of that group. And then uh the big ticket of the year, the
027Milwaukee Symphony is going to be here on June uh 20th, I think it is, uh for a full concert performance. If you would like to have a hand in selecting the shows for next year, please come join our team. You can also join uh virtually on our Google Meet if you can't meet in person. We meet about once a month uh usually after school. I do need help selecting shows, making sure people are showing up to those shows, butts and seats. Um, there's something everybody can contribute to this, even if it's just your opinion as a community member. So, if you would like to join that team, please uh email me and we'd love to include you. Uh, just kind of a breakdown, special thanks to our, uh, volunteers that come in and make all
028these events possible. Uh we have about half the volunteer calendar up for this year and you can sign up on our website. You can also email me. I'll get you get you on the schedule. Uh it doesn't matter if you have experience or not. We take middle school age and older and you know there's something almost every weekend. So lots to do here. This is a breakdown of our um basically budget for this year. Um we are increasing our ticket revenue over time. And a lot of that is due to our summer camps which have become very very popular. Um which is great. I love that. But also we are doing bigger and bigger shows which helps um offset the costs as those get more expensive as well. Um and you'll see that our our
029rental revenue is u quite high probably as much as we can get out of this space without sacrificing other school events. Uh we have some big projects um kind of going on this year. We are working on getting a orchestra pit net to make the orchestra pit safer. Uh while we have our musicals, uh we've been doing some vendor tables. You might have seen us out in the community. Uh if you do, come check us out. We're handing out our brochures. If you're one of those people that likes to have a paper copy, uh come check us out. We are going to be at the uh Candy um land uh Germantown Chamber event which is November >> 14th. November 14th. Yep. We're going to be out there. So, come check us out that day. Um
030we also have some technology updates that have been happening because this is our um seventh or eighth year. So, we've been having to keep up with some some minor technology upgrades. And of course, we are working on increasing our foot traffic to our um social media pages and to our website. Um that's really important because the physical marketing is really just really expensive. Um so we are trying to direct people to those online pages. Um, if you are not already a follower of the Germantown PAC page on Facebook, that is where you can find all the latest information and pictures. Go to the next one. >> So, it's November 15th. >> November November 15th. Yes, I think it's also the day of the Christmas. >> It's the day of the parade. >> Yeah, Christmas parade.
031So, you can check us out. Um, so speaking about online presence, uh, if you have a second, leave us a review on Yelp or or Trip Advisor and you can, uh, get us higher in the ranking so we pop up as something real cool to do in Germantown. So, I think we should be higher on the list than we are. Um, but all the reviews have been very positive. We could just use some more so more people recognize this as a center of community activity, which it is. uh lots of Facebook likes and followers and uh you can also call the box office or leave us a email if you have any questions or want to purchase some tickets. >> I think that was all of my slides. Does anybody have any questions for me?
032>> Mr. Brown, I do. Um I saw the MSO Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Is that the full orchestra that's going to be here? >> I think that's most of them. I I can't guarantee who specifically is going to be here, but it's it's most of them. Um, we got that from a generous uh donation. Um, and uh, so it's going to be a pay what you can event, which is great if you can pay a lot. If you can only pay a little, it is going to be reserved seating, so you can pick your seats. But we're hoping that it's something that everybody, no matter what your financial abilities are, that you can come to this concert as long as you get your tickets early. >> That's a that's a very unique opportunity. >> Yes, we're
033very lucky to have them. >> Good. >> I would just add thank you, Heather. I know being on the advisory team with Mr. Pollock as well. You've done a lot of heavy lifting to make that community series more robust a now in year two. So, thank you. Um and I think it's the more we can publicize that um the opportunities to see really great shows in that series are going to be excellent for this community. >> Awesome. >> Yeah, I think that's the first thing that stood out. Um between that and really maximizing the uh the the room time if you want to Dr. Roy and I were talking right before this meeting started. I think there's two setups behind us. >> Yeah. So, there's you guys, there's a choir concert getting ready behind you.
034And behind that is the play that is next Friday. So, we've kind of just got to do everything all at once. Um because there's only so much time in the day to switch. >> Yeah. I think it it's amazing to watch this kind of over the years expand and become more robust. As Dr. Reutder said, this programming is phenomenal. We talked when you had mentioned, don't tell anybody yet, but I think we got the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. I'm excited for that. Uh, the Crown Jewels is probably going to be a pretty fun time, too. So, uh, really just kind of upping that that entertainment value that's coming out here. So, amazing work. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any others? >> Thank you. >> E, food and nutrition update. The seafoam Hello. Okay, just want
035to give a real quick food nutrition update. Um, at the beginning of the school year, um, we have a hydroponic lab that was set up. Um, I have a few pictures there. Um, on the left is actually our microflex stations. That's where we actually start our seeds. And then we have in the second one we have a RO system um where we actually the water that is put into each of the flex farms and then we have a micrlex which connects each of the farms together. So the water just filters through each of the farms and the last picture you can actually just see all the farms in their place. So, kind of starting out, um, well, first of all, we're working with the science department and the environmental club. We're working with, um, the
036food and consumer science. They're all helping actually grow the produce. Um, so they're actually going in, they're germinating the seeds and you can actually see that is actually after two days it takes them to germinate and then they from there they go into the micrflux station for a week before they're transplanted into one of the flex farms. And what's really neat is that's only a one week difference from the germination to where you have the seedlings. And in the next picture, you'll see what it looks like after 28 days. And this is what it looks like at harvest time. Um, each one of those units will produce 25 to 30 pounds of lettuce. We have it on a rotation schedule, so we're able to harvest every single Monday. and then they do transplanting again on
037Tuesdays. So on the average we're getting probably 10 to 12 large bins of lettuce that were able to provide the lettuce for all schools throughout the district. And here we're actually we're doing some micro greens. Um those are we're serving on the salad bar at the high school. Um, we have several different kinds from radish to broccoli to sunflower. Those actually have like a nice nutty flavor to them. They're super rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Um, so we're just kind of experimenting with those along with some fresh herbs that we started recently. We're growing chibives, fresh basil, parsley, cilantro, which the kitchen staff are able to use um in some of the scratchbased cooking, which is kind of our goal to kind of go back to some of that. So, it's been pretty exciting. We're
038actually growing mini cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and snacking peppers. So, I wanted to share a picture with you. last May um you approved a purchase of servery equipment at Kennedy Middle School. So I wanted to share that with you so you can see that is complete. Um we mirrored um the serving lines on both sides so we're able to get the students through much quicker and there's a lot less congestion in there. So it turned out really nice. And then something new that we're currently working on um is student ID cards at the elementary school um trying to make it uniform across all four schools. Some were using pin numbers, some were using barcode sheets. Um teachers were having to, you know, check off who's having lunch on these sheets. So, what we decided to do,
039they just input the lunch counts into the Skyward system and then at lunchtime they hand out the cards to the students having lunch and milk and they just bring them, they scan them under the barcode scanner and away they go. So, it's working really nice. Um, it's going super fast with the students and we have zero errors. We don't have the wrong student being rung up. So >> Joe, that's currently at two of our elementary. >> Currently at Amy Bell and Rockfield. Um I'm hoping to implement next week one of the other elementary schools. I need to be there for the first few days just to make sure things are going smoothly. And but right now it's working very well. And then last of all, um I just wanted to share a goal with you.
040Um, my goal this year is to increase the meal counts. We're currently we're running steady, you know, where we were last year. Um, but I would like to actually create student food groups at each of the schools where I can go in, we can kind of look at the menus, they can tell me likes, dislikes, and then I can also do some, you know, taste test and samplings with them so that we can actually improve the menus, you know. more to the student likes. Any questions that you have for me? >> Mr. Little, I don't have a question, but I just want to thank you for all the photos in your report. Uh, seeing is believing and pictures worth a thousand words. So, it was nice to see the photos of all of that since
041we don't tour on a regular basis the schools and uh was nice to see. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thanks, >> Mr. Brown. Well, it's better than photos. We walked down to the uh to the lab and actually got to test taste test it. >> So, that that was even better. That was impressive. >> And I do have some lettuce for you after this board meeting before you go into close session. So, for you to taste the different lettuce. We're currently growing five different kinds. We have Roma, summer crisp, um kale, arugula, um and butter head. So, it's nice seeing the different varieties and to be able to taste test the different ones. So, >> very good. >> I just want to say thank you. Um you undertook a pretty expansive project to get
042that lab up and running. You switched your hat to a general contractor for a little bit. >> Yeah. Uh we were talking and and it's amazing you were able to save enough money to be able to get get that project up up and running that way. Um excited I think is the building the school system itself. Obviously we are I had an opportunity Dr. Reutder and I when we were here for our Monday meeting, he snuck me in there on a professional development day and uh as that door was open while we were in there, there was multiple staff members that must have been on break uh kind of poking their head at and very excited to see what was going on and and what what would all involved. So, it's interesting to see how
043much uh the different classes that can really pull in and clubs that can pull in and and affect the districtwide. So, >> um, thank you by the way for, >> um, having that media event, being able to share like a truly positive, uh, development for the district. I know sometimes that public speaking isn't the funnest, but I think you did a fantastic job representing the district. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? None, we can move on. >> Can I interrupt real quick? >> Yes, go ahead. Before we leave the uh the school and move on to the village, I'd like to give a shout out to the Germantown wall of sound. You may have seen the award in the lobby this past week and they comp competed down in Whitewater in
044state competition took second place. So yeah, very cool. These kids have students have been out there training since mid July. It all came to head. So uh it was uh it was really neat to see and congratulations to all the sound. as both the marching band and the color guard. >> Yeah, fantastic work. Thank you for bringing that. >> F village of Germantown leazison reports. Mr. Pollock with parks and wrecks. >> Yes. So, park and wreck met uh last week on the 15th. Uh couple of items just to bring up uh going forward and starting actually with the last meeting and going forward the park and recreation meetings are or will be streamed have been streamed. So that's uh an improvement. So anybody who uh wants or is interested in those meetings can now virtually
045attend those if they don't want to make it to the village hall. We also discussed the 2526 winter and spring fees uh and we did approve those uh fees with some small changes and they are going to be moved to the village board for their consideration and possible approval. We also received an update on kids club. Uh through the first three weeks of school at all five sites, which they they host them here on GSD grounds, there have been uh 1,252 kids. And to give some perspective on that, uh that's roughly 70 more than last year. 2023 at just over a thousand and 2022 had about 1173. Last item is uh for public interest. On October 23rd, Park and Wreck, there is a park and wreck fundraiser being held at Blades Golf on Maple Road.
046Half of their per hour bay rentals will be will benefit the villages park and recreation department. So, if you're a golfer or uh or just want to go have some fun, head on over to Blades, uh which is a newer business to our area. Um I have not been there, but from what I've heard, it's actually pretty cool. They have the traditional golf bays where you can act like you're a good golfer and they actually have a putting grade that you actually do your putting instead of just pretending to hit into a screen. So, um, sounds like fun. October 23rd all day actually on the 23rd. So, sneak away from work, head over there a little early and uh, and benefit the park and recck department. >> Fantastic. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Voyer with the
047economic development committee. >> Sure. So the economic development commission meets on 10:28 which is a conflict because that is our annual meeting. So the following meeting that I will be attending is on November 11th and I will report back then. >> Thank you. Then myself with the planning commission meeting. Uh we covered a lot of topics. That meeting went fairly late. Um but specific to the district I'll just cover the one is the Blackstone um creek development. Uh they are looking to add multiple units of apartment. So they're going to look for 205 units total. Um it's going to be eight uh units of twotory walk up. So over 135 units and then another 70 units of multifamily. Sounds like that's going to be um multiple levels of apartments with potential commercial on the first
048floor. Uh we looked at that with the roofers report and we're judging or average guestimating between 18.87 um total students depending on the uh makeup of the uh multi twotory buildings to potentially as low as 12.3 students total for that project. So I think that's going to bring um as far as a student impact throughout the three levels, it should be more than easily the support for our district. I do think and Dr. or myself had started having conversations about our um uh flexible school zone the best way to describe it and potentially as these these unit-based construction projects continue to come forward um per unit or per construction project where do we want to place those students? it might be flexed. Um but that'll be a continued conversation for this board just to manage
049um student level um impact to the buildings um in a more more sufficient way. Uh other than that, I think there will be a that project does include a drive-thru restaurant uh named Culver's at this time. I think it's going through some revisions that was tabled um but that should come back for approval. And then there's one more uh commercial lot um as as part of that project. So that is going to be moving forward. That is occurring without um the request or proposal or discussion around any sort of um village funding or TID uh financial um incentives for that project to take place. So that developer is doing that um in lie of utilizing taxpayer dollars. So I think that is a positive that we are seeing and that is the only topic that
050directly I think impacts the district. From there we'll move on to citizen comment. It's item four. I have two. I'm not there is in the packet um full narrative of what I explain the process but since we have two we have plenty of time to get you both in. Is it Karen um for the GPA Ga rep? Hi, my name is Carrie Schwarton and I'm a full-time teacher at MacArthur and the GA representative for tonight's board meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them if I can or we'll bring them back to the GA leadership for followup. >> Thank you. and one citizen. Dominic >> general info, come on down. >> Light crowd tonight. >> I just want to um thank the board for all the
051work they've been doing and updating everything. Um I really impressed Miss Ellis is still here. Um she's up in the booth. Up in the booth. >> Hi. >> Great. Great job. As a taxpayer, it's makes my heart feel good that I was willing to help make an investment in a facility that will be used for more than just concerts and, you know, plays here. It's being used. It's being utilized as we had hoped it was or it would be. So, great job. Thank you on behalf of me and any other taxpayer who feels the way I do. Also to Miss Seafel for the um the gardens. That is great idea. That is thinking out of the box, which is something that we don't do enough of in this community. And I'm really, really great. I
052was really impressed by it. Um the reorganization at Kennedy Middle School for the lunch, uh feeding the kids, getting them through, getting them in and out is was done very well, very efficiently. And the the hydroponic gardens are are absolutely marvelous. I have not seen them, but the pictures told me another investment well worth made. So, thank them for the hard work that they've put in and thank you guys for giving them the ability and the and the what they need to get it done. So, thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> And that's all we have for community comment. I can move on to item five, consent agenda. We have A, approval of September 16th, 25 meeting minutes. B, approval of September 30th, 2025 meeting minutes, open session only for close session. C, approval
053of teacher contracts. And D, approval of donations. >> Move approval of consent agenda items A through D. Second, >> Mr. Barney with the motion, Mr. Brown with the second. Any discussion? >> I will read the donations. >> Yeah, please. Thank you. >> Tonight's donations, Bob Solderberg, $1,000 towards the performing arts social media advertising. Kiwanas of Germantown, $750 towards the performing arts center community. Berg Development, $250 to Germantown High School Girls Golf. Scott Heley, $500 to Germantown High School Palms. An anonymous donation of $375 to the deaf, heart of hearing, deaf blind account. Clean Mark, $250 to the high Germantown High School girls swim and dive. MacArthur PTA $3,14.70 to MacArthur Elementary for new basketball hoops, padding and nets, lines painted on the black top of the playground and playground balls. An anonymous donation for a
054microphone stands and cables approximately $1,500 value to the Germantown School District band program. Kennedy Middle School PTA $2,000 to the Kennedy Middle School six sixth grade junior achievement of uh towards $1,000 I believe for that Kennedy Middle School 8th grade year-end celebration the other $1,000. Um, Lucas Bridger Eagle Project lost and found Station donated to the MacArthur Elementary and Rockfield PTA $5,500. 4,000 of that going to Camp Minani and 1,500 going to the Matt Wilhelm Incorporated and BMX show for fitness day at Rockfield Elementary. Mr. Barney, do you have a total there? >> I did not total it up. >> I was just assuming that was usually the segue. So, um, very generous donations this month and we'll hear more in the, um, grants that will be coming from teaching or from the finance committee
055as well. >> Thank you. Um, Mr. Castro, can you just go over the teacher contracts? I think there's a unique >> Yeah. So, the one teacher contract that we have in there is for um, Brenda, who is going to be serving as a long-term sub. She is a retired teacher who is going to be filling in. Um, whenever hits about that 60-day mark or beyond, we can do a contract. So, we are electing to do that with Brenda. The benefit of this is she actually just retired and she'll be taking over not only in her content area, but actually the classroom she was in. So, the continuity between the uh instruction for the students is something that you can't really pass up on. So, we're pretty fortunate to have that for us. >> Absolutely. I
056just wanted to say appreciate her passion to come back in postretirement and uh lend a helping hand in the building again. So >> yeah, our our administrators have done a really good job trying to go after those that have retired um because once again that continuity is something you can't really pass up on. So >> fantastic. Thank you. >> Yep, >> Russ. >> Yes. >> Yeah, just eyeballing the donations it looks to be around $15,000 this month. So that's just outstanding to see the generosity of our community. >> Absolutely. Any other discussion hearing? None. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Hearing? None. Consent agenda passes. We are on to teaching item six, teaching and learning. Uh I believe I'm handing this over to Tracy. >> Yes. I served as uh the replacement chairperson for
057the meeting on October 7th. a handful of items just to to mention and go through. Uh Mr. Miziaak gave us a an update presentation and update on the state report card updates. Couple of items just to to note with regards to some of those key updates for the for the the new report cards coming out. Uh there's been an updated rating category score range. Excuse me. The report cards will use the two years of achievement data last year's and this year's or this two years ago and the the previous year. Uh there's a temporary scale adjustment that uh was used in 2324 that will not be applied. Uh an enorming updates have been applied to ensure consistent statewide comparisons for the 2425 state report card. Some additions uh there'll be some test participation reporting. There's
058third grade reading data due to act 10 or excuse me act 20 and then uh also there will be some law violation reporting items as well. Uh Katie Cole presented us uh with the Grace Commons Beyond 18 program. uh she updated us on on the program itself because there was a transition uh from uh or to I should say Grace Commons is as far as a new location for the program for this school year. Miss Cole also provided us a comprehensive counseling model process and timeline update. Uh basically they're they're going to go through a in effect a curriculum review process similar to what we've done in recent times with other areas of of review. The idea here is that uh the process will begin with a thorough analysis of the existing model how it
059fits with the model provided by DPI. We'll take a look at the current competencies and standards and curriculum will be analyzed to identify the strengths and where we can go ahead and improve. Um, also it'll be we'll do some research as far as best practices, educational trends, uh, reviewing any new curriculum materials and piloting those materials. So, a lot of the same sort of thing that's already happening in in other areas as we review curriculum. And the benefit is that we'll be able to integrate with platforms like Next Path, which was more recent addition to our district, and align with the portrait of a GA portrait of a graduate and the state report card as well. We also received an update on the professional development that occurred on September 29th. The those days that day's
060focus centered on two key areas. Strengthening the connection between the work of professional learning communities and understanding by design and engaging staff in trauma sensitive schools training. For people who've been following along, uh we've had people certified uh in trauma-sensitive schools and and we're basically continuing to disseminate that information out. Um, I believe if I remember correctly, there'll be a followup as well to to see uh as far as uh what went well, what didn't go well, what we we might need to to continue to uh focus on and continue to to share that information. And then lastly, uh I believe it's lastly, yep, uh one of the topics was an English 11 course description in UBD. So what was brought forward uh was uh Mr. Mizak brought forward proposing adding a ling English 11
061as a required 11th grade course. Um what was attached to our packet was a a general course description that would be added to the course sequence. Uh the benefit is that there's a clear progression between English 10 and senior level ELA offerings, making sure that students experience a ba balanced standards aligned curriculum throughout their time at GHS. As part of the work that's that will be ongoing is the understanding but by design process and curriculum alignment. Ultimately what is going to be uh presented here as far as the uh motion is basically to to help uh kick off the process. Ultimately uh the documents the UBD documents are will be presented ultimately in draft form. So there's still some work to be done and ultimately submitted back to the teaching and learning committee for approval.
062So that being said, I come forward with a a motion with a positive recommendation from the teaching and learning committee to approve the English 11 course description and to add English 11 as a required course in the ELA course progression pending a review and approval of course material. >> Second. >> No. Uh that comes for the positive recommendation does not require a second. Um however I am going to ask for an amendment to that motion. Um there was some discussion at the meeting regarding uh what review and approval of course materials and just to uh clarify that language and to ensure that the course can be posted um within the uh November I believe it has to come out correct the course guide book for our enrolles to select for next year. Um we need
063to just clean that up the language up there a little bit. So the amendment would be to strike um uh from the following pending a review of approval of course material and to add uh the review and approval of course materials and the understanding by design u UBD uh unit plan for English 11 shall occur prior to June 1st 2026. So it's a two-step process. We're approving the course and putting a uh time frame of which the material and full course development has to occur by I would need a second for that. >> Second was a second. Any discussion that we will be voting on the amendment? Uh all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? hearing. None. The amendment passes and we will now um continue to uh can continue discussion on the full
064um motion, the amended motion, I should say. Uh is there any discussion on that? >> Mr. I appreciate you offering the amendment. I think it makes sense just to remove any question that the course can get approved. It can get in the catalog and then we'll worry um about any UBD approval going forward. Yeah, absolutely. Uh Dr. Reutder, Mr. Mizak brought that to my attention at our weekly meeting um just to clean clarify that language and I think it's important. I think that was the intent we were looking to to drive at the committee level um and just fell short of the mark on it. So, um I have one question that didn't get asked then. Are ingoing seniors going to be able to take this as an elective or has that? >> No. The
065so seniors for next year would not have access to the English 11 course. >> Okay. >> Some of the electives that they still will have access to would uh share some of the course content. >> The Yeah. The material will cross over. >> Correct. Okay. There' be one year of overlap. Thank you. I have no further questions. Any other hearing? None. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. That passes. >> That's all from teaching and learning. >> All right. Thank you. Uh item seven, buildings and grounds committee. Back to Mr. P. buildings and grounds met on October 7th. A few items that we discussed. First one was our our now uh regular work order completion report covering uh basically the month of September. Uh Frank gave us an update that 173 items
066uh were completed during the month. There were a couple items that were high priority. Uh Frank also gave us an overview of in a summer recap for all of the projects during this past summer. Uh I would actually encourage everybody to take a look at all of the different things. And even the list is uh when you take a look at it, it's it feels like a lot, but then there's also many layers to every one of those different line items that were included. Basically, the the recap itself where it was was all of the in-house projects um from sweeping and waxing the floors and and all of that stuff that happens over the course of the couple months that that the kids are out of school. And that is uh above and beyond the
067regular daily, weekly, monthly custodial related tasks itself. Uh also, uh last topic that we covered was the Amy Belbell overflow lot paving. Uh what was brought forward to the committee as part of the 2526 capital projects list uh was a proposal to pave and stripe the overflow lot at Amyville Elementary. So this would include the asphalt grade and paving the fine grading existing stone base constructing a four uh inch compacted hot mix asphalt pavement layout and paint the pave pavement markings with appropriate uh Wisconsin DOT marking paint in in any ADA requirements. Um and also the the the estimate that it could be tentatively completed by the end of October. There's some discussion regarding crosswalk and additional signage as well as as uh um reaching out to the county about any sort of involvement that
068they may require on their end. Ultimately, uh, the committee, uh, approved a motion 2 to1 that a positive recommendation be made to the finance committee to approve the Y bell overflow lot paving Johnson and Sun's paving for the amount of 57,184 funded out of the fund 41 capital improvements budget and Mr. Loath will have more on that in his finance committee update. And that's all from buildings and grounds. >> Thank you. Uh item eight, personnel committee. Mr. Brown, >> the personnel committee met a little earlier this evening at five o'clock and we went over the usual reports and updates. There were no teacher resignations. We covered teacher contracts and Mr. or President Eward had pointed out uh Miss Riplinger rejoining Kennedy Middle School. Uh we went over staffing updates and then uh Dr. Castro covered
069the administrator, professional, and technical employee comp study. Uh going to be very similar to the blueprint print that we've used in the previous comp studies over the last couple years. Um then we moved on to new business and we had the Michelle representative from our our insurance and benefit group come and do a initial information educational series that Dr. Castro has uh kind of initiated. uh she did a good job recapping the benefits for the employees. Um I won't even attempt to redo her presentation, so I'll direct you to the YouTube channel so you can take it all in. But in in 30,000 foot view, uh she's going over the benefit of being self-funded and how that has paid off over these last couple years. In fact, the savings that we have uh obtained being
070self-funded this year, they they're coming forward with uh improving the dental plan and that does come at a cost because insurance industry and and insurance benefits are are one area that have outpaced any others in inflation. So, those costs keep going up. But the savings that we were able to incur uh being self-funded, the district is going to be picking up the additional costs for the improved dental plan for employees. Um then we went over the um contracts for advisors and the destination imagination u folks that are going to be stepping up to to help out with those programs. Um, the insurance and benefit renewal does come to the board with a positive recommendation from the personnel committee to approve the proposed UMR options for health insurance, Delta Dental and Dental IM Med coverage for
071the 2026 plan year to include the enhancement to dental Delta dental coverage and the associated cost increased to be covered by the district with all costs noted in the Germantown School District 2026 benefit. benefit rate sheet provided >> that comes forward with a positive recommendation does not require a second >> and any any discussion >> sorry any discussion >> I think just to your point Mr. Brown uh highlighting uh the self-funded uh initiative that this district undertaken several years ago has uh paid off in two ways. One, the consistent savings compared to what would occur if we were in the privatized market and uh the maintaining of benefit. So, we haven't seen a loss of benefit and now we're able to roll some of that money over to enhance the dental for our and and
072take that on as the district cost, not the employee cost. Absolutely. >> Any other discussion? >> Um, I just remind that during that meeting I shared that this was the first part of most likely a seven-part series related to Germantown financials. The remainder of that series will come out of the finance committees moving forward monthly uh with guest speakers as well as administration showing um the different aspects of school finance and where the district stands. So tonight was the first of that series um through the lens of employee benefit and self-funding payoff after three years. >> And we're going to pull that video and >> y we'll create then a financial package on our YouTube channel that will highlight those specific spotlights and the reports moving forward. >> Yeah, I think to Mr. Brown's point,
073the depth of conversation and presentation that we got really highlights the granular um financial impacts to the district and the employees. Um so it it's really going to be a benefit. The community has a lot of questions. What are we doing about employee retention, employee benefits, those types of things? Uh this is one of many scenarios that have played out over multiple years of commitment from this board and the district and the administration to uh preserve some of this stuff. So we're going to highlight it and we're going to do a series not only in you know around employee benefits but uh the finance >> school funding um yeah our long-term facil. >> Yeah. And I could see that ballooning into a project around teaching and learning or correct >> some of the other processes
074that take place. Uh quick hit videos for the community to go see and understand and take in a lot of the questions that they have. Maybe they can't see this long meeting or or find it easily in a packet that extends a conversation that extended over multiple meetings for months or potentially a full year. Um, so we're going to try to get that information uh more readily accessible to you and these presentations are going to be part of that. So I appreciate that initiative that does come forward with a positive recommendation. Does not require a second. Um, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none that passes. Then the second recommendation that we come forward with with a positive recommendation is from the personnel committee to approve the advisor and DI contracts. >>
075Coming forward with the positive recommendation does not require a second. Any discussion? >> Hearing seeing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed hearing? None. That passes. >> And that wraps it up for the personnel committee. >> Uh finance committee item number nine. Uh Mr. Barney's going to step in for this one. >> Yeah, thank you. Finance committee met earlier this evening. Uh we approved the minutes and the monthly vouchers as we do every month. Uh we also received some excellent news from Mr. Mizak. He reported that the school district has received a grant of $100,000 from United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Wakaaw County through its helping kids succeed initiative. On behalf of the board and the district, I want to thank County Line Elementary teacher Dennis Kohler and Principal Schultz for bringing
076this opportunity forward. This grant funding will be used to strengthen literacy, math, and sensory support programs in the district. Uh, moving on to full board item 9B, approval of hydroponic gardens. Uh this is coming back to the board from an earlier approval because of some additional expenses that went over a not to exceed motion. The committee brings forward a motion with a positive recommendation to the board of education to approve an additional expense of $2,619.65 for the construction project of classroom A102 for a hydroponic vegetable garden at GHS to be funded from the food and nutrition budget. comes forward with a positive recommendation. Does not require a second. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing? None. That passes. I apologize. There was assuming there was no discussion on that. >> Uh item C
077is approval of Amy Bell overflow lot paving. Um this is to grade and pave uh about 13,000 square feet lot across the street from Amy Bell Elementary used for overflow parking. uh finance committee brings forward a motion with a positive recommendation to the full board to approve the Amy belt overflow lot paving using Johnson and Suns paving for an amount of $57,184 funded out of fund 41 capital improvements budget >> comes forward with a positive recommendation does not require second discussion >> Mr. Pock, >> I I I was the one no vote in the committee. Um I we need that lot. Um I think that's safe to say it it would benefit uh those parents, teachers, anybody that's visiting the school uh because if and some of us have been there during school. It's it
078is very difficult to park in that lot um the existing lot. So I do think this is a much needed uh lot at Amy Bell. However, it did not go through the traditional or what should be the the standard bid process. So, I am going to remain a no on this vote. Um, and one other thing too that I just want to throw out there that was mentioned in the finance uh committee meeting was u signage and such that uh this this project if it moves forward could actually be done in a pretty quick turnaround. Uh but it was mentioned that signage um around the area because folks who park in that lot will need to cross the street um may not be readily available until later. Um I think it was winter or even
079end of winter that was mentioned. I think if this moves forward we we need to accelerate that signage um for safety purposes. you know, whether it's extremely busy, not so busy, it obviously during certain times of the day is very busy with uh with traffic around there with all the students and parents picking up and leaving and all that kind of stuff. U so I just want to be on record as far as if this moves forward that signage needs to be in place ASAP. We cannot wait uh weeks, maybe even months before that signage is is placed out there properly. Any other discussion? >> I have a follow-up question to Mr. Pollock there. >> Sure. >> Um the site the signage you're talking about the safety signage um is the signage and doing the
080parking lot mutually inclusive i.e. if the parking lot is not approved, do we still go forward with the signage for safety reasons? I >> I mean I think so. People can utilize that area right now. >> We don't currently have signage and it's utilized. >> It's a gravel parking lot. It is utilized daily. If you're ever there, you'll see people >> the way it was the way it was and I don't think he meant it this way, but it sounded like we'd only do the signage if we move forward with the parking lot. I'm saying if we don't move forward with the parking lot and we know that there's a safety concern, >> um I suggest that we'd look into getting the signage. >> If signs are no signs, I'm going to be a noble.
081Yeah, that's it. So, but my my point is is that we might as well take advantage of of the opportunity if this does move forward to to get everything in place for safety purposes. >> Yeah. And I think signage is dependent on if that access to a crosswalk could be built because currently it's there the signage would just be this is a parking lot. There isn't a safety signage because we don't currently have a crosswalk accessible. You could put it near the uh driveway entrance that most people are probably using to signify to drivers that there is >> Yeah. >> foot traffic crossing. >> Foot traffic. Yeah. >> But a a standard crosswalk. We don't have that accessibility currently. >> So I I'm going to jump into this conversation here. And as Tracy noted, he
082was the single no vote at buildings and grounds and I think for 100% the correct reason. um we're scoping out projects of this nature, uh they have to go through a bid process and this board has to be able to trust that that bid process took place honestly and effectively. Um I think there was plenty of time for that to take place and this project still to get done before the winter. Uh unfortunately that didn't happen. Uh the reasons we were given u by Mr. Lord were that the time constraints didn't allow it to or he felt it would cause the project to potentially get pushed back. Um the continued conversation currently around signage and crosswalk uh is another one of my concerns and I was in no vote at finance on this um for
083for that reason and the following reason. The project wasn't scoped out in the beginning correctly. There wasn't beyond we're gonna asphalt the current um graveled area conversation around let's build signing and signage into this project cost. Let's build in a um culvert that allows for foot traffic from the lot away from the driveway entrance but directly across from the entrance to the school itself. Uh uh those things need to happen when we're looking at these projects and and for those the project to start on that flawed ground of not being sculpted out correctly and then to be rushed through without a bidding process and maybe they would have been caught in the bidding process because one of those contractors may have said did you think about this or in the discussion of when we're looking
084at bids what does that RFP look like? Do we include these types of things? None of those things happen. Um, and for for those reasons, I I'll I have to be a no vote. Um, it's a it's a lot that's utilized now. They can plow it just as easily as they can plow the the black top. Uh, he said they plow it intermittent upon request of larger events there. I would think that this has to just be added to that plow um schedule or however you want to look at that. If the regular lot's being plowed, this this lot's being utilized, so it probably should be included in that. Anyways, um it's it's utilized daily. If I'm ever there, I always see cars parked across the street there. It the employee lot and in the
085general parking lot. It it's small at the school. The footprint is small. Um so, it's not that we don't want the project done, but I I can't support it as board president if if the processes didn't take place that need to take place. And unfortunately, in this one, I think they could have and it could still have been done. it was just chosen not to have occurred that way. Um, with quite frankly a weaker excuse on why it wasn't. But when we're spending upwards of almost $60,000, we we can't have that. Any further discussion, Mr. Barney? >> Uh, I agree with the point that yes, it should have gone out to bid. Um, at this point, I don't think it's fair to try to send it back to go through a bid process since this
086vendor's price is already exposed. Um, it could benefit the school to have it done and we're running out of time to get it done this year. So, I will be voting in favor of the project. >> Any further discussion? Mr. L, >> I'd like to point out that there is a crosswalk there. It's a little bit uh to the east on Willow Road and probably not convenient enough for, you know, the typical parking lot user to use. It's more for the nature center. So, I I doubt that anyone's going to go to the crosswalk and use it. The other point is the uh traditional end of black topping in Wisconsin is the weekend before Thanksgiving. So there is a a time limit to get this done if we're going to get get it done this
087year. As far as the price is concerned, I was unhappy about a lack of quotes also, but the price seemed reasonable and that's why I was a yes vote in uh building and grounds. So I will be voting yes this evening for uh to get the project done this year yet. >> Thank you. I think I would just rebut a little of that with um when we're looking to spend taxpayer dollars on a project, I don't think the threshold should be seems to be reasonable. >> Okay. Reasonable. All right. Any further comments? All in favor? I >> I >> All opposed? No. >> No. I heard I think everybody's but I'm going to ask for a raise of hands. In favor, please raise your hand. Four opposed, please raise your hand. Thank you. That passes
0884 to3. All right. Um the next item, item D is approval of snow removal bids. Uh this is the same provider that has done snow removal for the past several years. Uh the committee brings forward a motion with a positive recommendation to the full board of education to approve the three-year snow removal service agreement with D'Angelus Construction LLC. >> Comes forward with a positive recommendation. Does not require a second. Any discussion? >> Yes. Just want to point out that there were uh multiple competitive bids that were attached in the packet this evening. >> Thank you. Uh any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? None. That passes. >> All right. Item E is approval of districtwide loaner laptops. They will primarily be used um as checkout devices for staff when
089their laptops are in need of repair uh for testing purposes in the IT department and as overflow substitute laptops. Committee brings forward a motion with a positive recommendation to the board of education to purchase laptops from Bloom using common school funds for a total not to ex exceed $26,795.76. comes forward with a positive recommendation, does not require a second. Any discussion? I'll point out that while one bid was included in um the packet for this discussion, uh we were informed that they did receive multiple bid of believe two bids back and this is the least expensive of the two while providing the same resources. Any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Hearing none, that passes. 10. New business discussion action approval overnight travel request to Germany. Mr. Good
090evening. Um, first I'd like to thank the students who came in earlier to present. They were all pretty excited to do so and willing to do so. Nobody had to be really asked twice and I hope that came across. One of the unexpected things for me tonight was hearing one of them say that after eight months they really missed their friends and that they were so excited to see that and uh I got I'll let them know tomorrow. I got a little little emotional on that one. That meant a lot to me. Um there was a lot invested in the last trip um both in preparation for them to come here as well as uh you know going over there and during that time. Um, but it wasn't just me. Uh, there were a lot
091of parents in the community who were involved and helped uh pull these things together as you saw from the pictures. Uh, and on their side also there are a lot of parents involved. It's really two communities coming together. um two schools sort of organizing it, but it gets so much bigger and um I really look forward to hearing further down the road stories of not just after eight months I was so happy to see them but also maybe after you know five years, 10 years whatever kind of reunions uh can take place. So um I'm putting forward the request to to do it again uh starting with hosting in the basically a year from now uh September October of 2026 and then we would be traveling which is the request I guess on on the
092board tonight uh to travel at the end of that school year to go visit the people who came to see us. >> Fantastic. Thank you. Um, I'll entertain a motion and then we can get to a little discussion. >> A motion to approve. >> Okay. >> Motion to approve up to 20 students and two to three chaprons to travel to Benshime Hessia in Germany in June 2027 estimated June 13th to the 30th of 2027. >> Mr. Ber with the motion. I'm assuming Mr. Pock with the second. >> I'll take the second >> discussion. I don't know how we don't vote for this stuff because we we heard it we heard it tonight. We've heard it several times from other organizations in our district, in our schools that these experiences and to your point, they happen
093now, but hopefully they last forever in some way, shape, or form. Even even if it's well, in the olden days, you'd write letters to each other, but now you can do video calls. But um you know these are my son had an experience earlier this year that that I'm amazed too that it sticks with with these kids. Um so I'm all in favor for all of these type of things because it's the experience of it all that's way more educational than reading something in a book or practicing a conversation in in German or in English or whatever the case might be. Mr. Low. >> Yeah. I just want to thank you for the uh students and their presentation. I want to compliment the students also. It was just a excellent presentation. Uh the photos were
094great and uh they covered all the photos uh you know on each each slide also. So that that was nice, you know, using the upper left, lower right terminology and that sort of thing. You know, since there weren't captions, they covered it really nicely and did a just a fantastic job. So thank you and thank them also uh from the board. >> I'll pass that on to them because they got very little guidance from me other than please share both sides of it and um I will pass that on. Thank you. >> Yeah, worked worked well. the uh it it seemed like they wanted to leave quickly. We we might have had a question or two for them, but uh you know, since they wanted to go, no sense in extending the board meeting any
095longer than it's already going to be. But but yeah, thank them. It was nice. I just a great example of extending the classroom right beyond on the walls of the school and opening up opportunities for our students in the families in the community. To your point, I think it does connect two communities a world apart. Uh it's fantastic. So, thank you for for your efforts in it. Thank you for the parents supporting it. Uh and I'm glad as a board we can support it, which will hopefully continue to be a yes vote here, but we'll find out shortly. Any other discussion? >> Yeah, Mr. Knox, I just asked um are we in alignment to have our sister school come back again as well? >> They are waiting for me to give them the green light.
096They're excited to start advertising on their side. I let them know that tonight's the meeting. So, um yes, their expectation would be um they understand that we have to do approval for each exchange, but their expectation is that we will keep doing this just in perpetuity. >> Excellent. >> Yes. >> Fantastic. Any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing? None. That passes. Congratulations. >> Thank you very much. >> Um B, discussion action of state report card resolution that is going to be covered by myself. Um this board has had multiple conversations whether it be at the teaching and learning level led by Mr. Miziaak and and Dr. Reuter um or at the full board over what seems to be over the last year or so um and continue probably
097in even last year as the we see the state report card continue to update and change and sometimes in a transparent manner and other times in a completely non-transparent manner. Um but but either way it leaves us with a data point that that not only do we use as as a board and as administration um but the community uses um as a as an ultimate judgment tool on success um within the district. We we obviously preach it's not the sole thing that should be there's lots of reasons for that and if you'd like to you can probably go watch hours of meetings where we discuss that. Um so I'm not going to get into all that here. Um but a couple of peer districts um passed a resolution uh that got my attention. Uh mo
098most notably um New London, Kettle Marine, and Stafford uh Straford, sorry. Um I passed a resolution around uh kind of an ask of DPI and some of our state legislators um in regards to uh the continuous change of of the DPI state report card. Um, and I think we see in our own community is it's just as simple as the community can't agree on is this a good barometer to use or not from year to year. This year looks great, next year didn't look that great. Why why is that? Is it because there were up and downs in in success or were there up and downs in the matrix in which things were measured? Um, is the answer probably both on those? I think absolutely. Um but if we can't get this hammered out at
099a state level um led by DPI in a manner in which we can use it as a consistent data mark, it it's just continues to drive angst and conversation within the community that's disruptive. I mean, I saw a post on this exact resolution and what I'm about to read, I'm really confused on how anyone could disagree with that and say this is an agendaized um weaponized item, but but there were so um there there was was that discussion in the community uh but I think it's our responsibility to to uh push this this discussion forward and and be a voice of leadership within educational community in the state and I have no problem joining what I believe are three respected districts throughout throughout the state um in their resolution. I did tweak it. I didn't
100take it verbatim. Um so give me two seconds and hang in there. I will read the full resolution regarding steps need to improve the DPI school report card. Whereas the Department of Public Instruction has a history of changing elements on school report cards. And whereas these changes make it impossible to meaningfully compare data from year to year and from one district to another. And whereas communities and parents rely on DPA DPI data to judge schools and school districts based on report card data. And whereas uh many significant changes can be made to improve the DPI report card. Now therefore, it be it be resolved that the Germantown School District Board of Education call on the state superintendent public instruction to amend the school report card process as follows. Student growth and achievement should be valued
101equally. Stop the practice of weighing weight student uh performance based on free and reduced lunch population. The soft bigotry of low expectations assumes poor students can't be smart. Recognize and reward schools with a high achievement placement. International uh and dual credit and career and technical education enrollment. Likewise, organ re re recognize and re reward schools with high level of extracurricular involvement include fiscal efficiency in report card scoring. In order to properly implement the above elements, the state superintendent should should slow down, include more school leaders in the process, and implement change that will last for without last for years without needing annual revisions. Be it therefore resolved that the resolution in support of the work being conducted by the Wisconsin school leaders of excellence, um, which I believe is where this originated from, be shared
102with the state legislators, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the local news media outlets in order to raise awareness of how this issue impacts the Germantown School District and school districts across the state. With that, I'll entertain a motion. Motion to adopt the Germantown School District DPI state report card resolution as presented. >> Second, Mr. Barney with the motion and a race, but I believe Mr. Voyer got in there with a second. Any discussion? >> I would share this was a topic of conversation with this region superintendent as well. not necessarily this resolution, but the usefulness of the state report card um with the consistent year-over-year changing of the goalposts and expectations around it. It's hard to utilize um and explain to the general public, but also it's hard to utilize internally for continuous improvement
103efforts. Um so we look at other measures, but it is a front-facing public document that gets published in local media that is used comparably, but the elements are not comparable. So um with that I it this is conversation we have res raised with our state superintendent of concern um for the past two years. >> So when when you bring forwards a topic conversation of superintendent in the area uh what I guess what is that group >> as far as school districts are surrounding Northshore school districts CISA1 districts. So it's a CISA1 representation as well as we meet annually um as a CISA1 region of superintendent with our state superintendent and this has been brought up the last two years as concern as to why there is continued change in um calculation waiting variables and why
104um us as the local leaders of the district are not provided or given the avenue to provide input on those changes. >> Thank you for that. We have to speak to our communities and boards about that. >> Yeah, thank you for uh adding some of that context. I don't think that quite has made the discussion. I uh maybe it has from a level of kind of what's happening with the change of the report card. But uh thank you for adding that here tonight. >> Any further discussion? >> M Mr. Pot, >> I'm certainly interested in seeing where we are doing well. um and how we're doing well. When I look at these report cards and see the last couple of years, the changes that are made, what I'm most concerned about with regards to our
105district is where we may not be uh doing as well as we hope and that we should. And that's where the consistency comes into play. If if somehow these changes, these recent changes are inflating our numbers in some way, shape, or form. Not really interested in that. I don't want our numbers to be inflated. I actually want these numbers, even if they fall below what we think they are, I want to know about that because those are the things that we should spend more attention on. So, while I can see where people look at this and go, "Oh, they're, you know, they're they want to change the goalpost, they want to make us look better." Actually, if we're not looking that good, I want to actually know about it. If we are better and we
106are performing well, fantastic. That means we're actually doing the things that we need to do to help our students succeed and maybe even exceed their expectations. So when I look at this, what it really comes down to is give us the data that actually exists. Don't necessarily play this, that, or the other. I mean, I certainly understand the waitings and and and those type of things. I still don't always completely understand why certain districts have uh 40% on achievement and we have 37 and another one is 35 but the two uh what is it on track to graduation and uh uh target group is 25% but these other ones can be dramatically different depending on which district you're looking at. I fully admit I'm still processing some of that as to why that exists. But
107I think the goal here and the way I read this is we need the consistency so we know where we're not actually performing as well as we should be because that should be our focus. So I'm all in favor for that. I don't necessarily agree with all the bullet points or with tweak it, but the the messages there. messages out there that that we need the consistency that these report cards should show us. >> Thank you. Any further discussion, Mr. L? >> I'm not on the teaching and learning committee, but I was given the opportunity to complain a little bit. Um, I'm not real happy about their uh range of numbers uh known as accountability score range. Uh so I'll I'll just mention the first two and I think everybody will get it. Uh a
108score of 84 through 100 is considered significantly exceeds expectations and five stars by the DPI. Um I would change that to 90 to 100 uh significantly exceeds expectations. Next range for DPI is 71 through 83.9 is exceeds expectations. I would move that through for I would move that to 80 through 89. Uh so more of a standard grading system uh that I grew up with and uh perhaps I'm showing my age, but these numbers here are are ridiculous. You know, an 84 is not significantly exceeds expectations. And I I think we should get back to reasonable percentages here for um the grading system that we're using. That's all all I got. Thank you. I think I can just piggy back and agree with both of those statements that were just made. And to Tracy's point,
109it's about knowing factually where we're at. If it's worse, it's worse. And we can attack those issues. And this administration and the staff can attack those issues. If we can't understand if it's worse or better from year to year because it constantly evolving and changing, it's going to continue to be a difficult data point to use and it only drives uh divisive conversation in the community as to what it means because each year we spend hours explaining these are the tweaks that were made, this is what it means. So the numbers aren't comparable and evident and continues to be the case of instantaneous comparison. Oh, this changed from this year to that year. What what's going on here? And and we've spent hours explaining or discussing it in public meetings what those changes are and
110why it's not apples to apples anymore based off the changes that that occurred. Uh we could speak for hours on this um and and have um does anyone else have anything to add? Hearing none. All in uh we roll call on this resolution >> if you prefer >> take a roll call on it. >> Eert. >> Yes. >> Brown. >> Yes. >> Barney is a yes. Loath >> yes. >> Pollock. >> Yes. >> Higinatham. >> Yes. >> Ber. >> Yes. >> And seven yeses. Leaving no opposed. That resolution passes. C. discussion action to approve early college credit program and start college now applicants. Mr. Mizak multiple times a year I bring to the board our high school students who are applying to be a part of the early college credit program or the start college
111now program. Uh so tonight I bring to you one Germantown high school student who applied through ECCP or the early college credit program. The student uh is requesting multiple courses including foundations in theology, healthc care delivery in the United States, and introduction to Greek life. Uh the paperwork was submitted before the October 1st deadline, and this is for the spring semester. And then we had a total of 15 students submit paperwork, excuse me, for Start College. Now, four students submitted paperwork for multiple courses, including real estate law, introduction to networks, principles of electricity, and cable wiring. 11 students submitted Stark College Now applications for the Certified Nursing Assistant program. And again, all of their paperwork was submitted before the October 1 deadline. >> Thank you. Take a motion. Motion to approve the early college credit
112program and the Start College now requests as presented. >> Second, Miss Tig with the motion, Mr. Brown with a second. Any discussion? >> Yes. >> Uh I have a family member that's represented in the applications you're being asked to approve. So I will be abstaining from voting on this item. >> Thank you for that transparency. Any further discussion? >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Hearing none and we have one abstain. >> That passes. D. Discussion on summer school report. Mr. Mizier. Uh this is another annual report that I bring to the board to give you a recap of the data that's associated with our summer school program. This year uh in 2025, we held our summer school programming at Kennedy Middle School for students who are entering 4K through 8th grade. And our
113Germantown High School program was hosted at GHS. Uh across both sites, we had 814 students who participated in 34 different course offerings that supported academic growth, enrichment, and skill development. Uh in the report I provided a summer school snapshot of our 4K through 8th grade summer school program enrollment. Uh this year we enrolled 574 students into our program. Um which is very similar to what we enrolled last year in terms of our enrollment last year was 576. Uh and that was an uptick from the previous three years. Our programming at Kennedy Middle or at Kennedy Middle School for our 4K through 8th grade students um featured an array of enrichment courses including animal adventures, book clubs, games galore, outdoor games, and food is fun. In total, 27 courses ran for our elementary students. The biggest
114change that we made to the summer school programming this year, uh, and it really was the only change of note was that in preparing for the future requirement that we have under act 20 that we offer intensive reading supports for our students who are still on reading plans, uh, we started building our literacy boosters program um to increase its intensity and in addition to that, we made sure that each one of our sections was supported ed by a certified reading specialist. So we have multiples of reading specialists who are employed in the district currently and we were able to uh support each one of our literacy boosters sections. So we offer it K1 23 and four five as three separate sections with a certified reading specialist. Uh and in addition to that uh we dropped
115the class sizes for those so that we could increase the intensity of the support that those students received. uh in the report and this is the first time that I've broken out the participants for literacy and I would continue to do this going forward. Uh for literacy boosters K1 we had 69 students who participated in uh that section. In grades two through three we had 33 participants and in grades four five we had 22 participants. Uh, I'm guessing that we saw that increase in enrollment for our K1 and 23 group because those would be the students who have received um notification about uh potentially being on a reading plan. Not all of those students who participated this year were on reading plans. uh in the future that's probably going to be one of the requirements
116that this is not going to be one of the classes that uh we offer um to any student but we would prioritize students who are on reading plans for these sections but this year was that any student who wanted to participate in literacy boosters was able to do that. Uh going forward, we're probably going to look at options for students who are both on reading plans for lit boosters and then students who want the enrichment version of literacy. In grades 9 through 12, um this is where we saw a little bit of a decrease in enrollment. Uh from 2024, we had 282 students, which was significantly up from the the two prior years. And this year, we uh fell down a little bit to 240 students. Uh at the high school level, uh the vast
117majority of our programming is in credit recovery or programs that are associated with um our music program. So we offer credit recovery, camp a capella, uh porcupine mountain, backpacking, and English 910 as well as the wall of sound. Uh and then the last piece of this budget or the summary for summer school is the budget summary. So in there you can see uh comparables from the last four years in terms of how we've allocated funds for summer school. Uh the again the biggest difference between this year 2025 and last year was you see there's a a little bit of an uptick in terms of our instructor salary. Uh that almost could be represented if you if you look at where we've allocated extra funds uh was due to the reduction in class size for those
118literacy boosters classes. Uh so there were three extra instructors that we allocated for those sections to make sure that they were supported adequately and that that represents the difference in salary that um between the 24 and 25 school year our summer school sessions. And then uh if you look at claimed instructional minutes from 24 and 25, they're very similar. Uh how we report that to the state, it yields an FTE. So for both 2024 and 2025, we claimed uh 51 uh FTE for our summer school program. Any questions? I believe it's report only. It uh that's a report only. >> No, no questions. Well, thank you for continuing to uh uh enrich this summer school program and and push it uh beyond its initial uh scope. So, just add the robust uh activities and support
119that some of our students need, I think, is crucial as well as obviously a bunch of the entertaining um elements that come along with summer school. So, thank you and your team that that do it and the staff that that um man it throughout the summer. Not all not all teachers are off in the summer, right? >> And I would add that uh we we're very fortunate for our staff. Um every instructor but one is a German town teacher and the one class that we replaced was a late ad. So uh at the start of the the session, every single uh teacher that we had for summer school was a Germantown employee, which is amazing. >> That's fantastic. Thank you. See no other. I guess we can move on to 11. Close session. Give me
120a moment. We have a few things to read here. A. A motion entered into close session pursuant pursuant to Wisconsin state statute 119.85 85 sub1 subg to confer with the board legal counsel who is retaining oral or written advice concerning uh strategy to be adopted by the board with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved a a legal matter and two 19.85 85 sub1 subf considering financial, medical or social or per social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific person. uh primarily considering specific personnel problems or the investigation or charges against a specific person except where paragraph B applies, which if discussed in public would be likely to have substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data or involved in
121such problems or investigations. A discussion of employee discipline. B discussion of complaint against district employee. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Pollock with the motion. Mr. Barney with the second. >> Roert. >> Yes. >> Brown. >> Yes. >> Barney say yes. Loth >> yes. >> Pollock. >> Yes. >> Botham. >> Yes. >> Voyer. >> Yes. >> All are present. We will be reconvening into open um as needed from this closed session. If you're not able to drive home or stay uh drive home safe, [Music] are we good? Yeah, we're good to go. Okay. I will uh reconvene the board of education meeting back into open at 11:20 p.m. And I will entertain a motion regarding close session item a uh sub one sub a legal matter like to make I move that the Germantown
122school district board disallow the claim submitted by Olivia and Matthew Braz received September 19th 2025 pursuant to Wisconsin statute 893.801G 801g and that notice of disallowance be provided to the claimants in accordance with the requirements of the statute. >> Second, >> Mr. Pollock with a motion, Mr. Higenbath with a second. Any discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes. I'll entertain a motion regarding close session A sub 2 subb uh complaint against a district employee. Motion to authorize the board president to issue a determination of agenda item 112B as discussed in close session. The determination shall be issued to the complaintant and respondent in accordance with board policy. >> Second, Mr. for Barney with the motion. Mr. Voyer with the second. Any discussion? >> Mr. Pollock >>
123Pollock with the second. >> I'm sorry. Pollock with the second. >> Uh, any discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Hearing none. That passes. I will entertain one more motion. >> Will we adjourn? >> Second. >> Mr. Barney with the motion was taken by the second. Any discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor? I >> I >> Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes.