Regular Board Meeting - 4/7/2026 (6:00 p.m.)

001Thorne, our fifth grade band director. He works all across the the district and has done a phenomenal job of just building up the program, creating excitement, and letting students learn and believe in themselves, and create music. And Mr. Calthorne, you want to introduce everybody? Uh sure. All right, thank you for having us. Awesome. Well, thank you for having us tonight. We have a few of our fifth grade band students here. Uh so, students come on up, say your first name, and something you like about school. My name is Elijah, and one thing I like about school is playing band. Uh my name is Prince, and I like science. My name is Juliana, and I like uh ELA. My name is Brooklyn, and I like math. All right, it's time for the Pledge of Allegiance. I

002pledge 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. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much. Thank you so much. We really appreciate that, and we love everything hearing from the students and what you like about school. Next on the agenda is the board president report. Good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight and for your continued interest in and support of the School District of Beloit. Welcome back to students and staff. We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable spring break. Mrs. Shope, do you have that other attachment also? Can we project that? Thank you. On March 23rd, the board held a workshop to discuss the superintendent transition and timeline, as well as

003to plan ahead in light of declining enrollment and ongoing budget constraints for the 26-27 and the 2027-28 school years. The discussion also included the possibility of a November referendum and options for future board calendars. This evening, we will take steps towards toward decisions related to the hiring process for the next for the district's next superintendent. On March 30th, the board held a second workshop focused on the district's budget outlook for the next two school years. What was referred to as a tale of two budgets. We are in a challenging position. With declining enrollment and limited financial resources, the district must make difficult and significant decisions. In recent years, without a successful referendum to offset financial shortfalls, multiple reductions have already been made. As we continue to right-size the district, the remaining reductions will be substantial,

004as there are few areas left to cut without impacting core services. For the 2026 school year, the district is facing an estimated 4.5 million reduction with a projected shortfall of approximately 14 to 15 million or more the following year. As enrollment declines, funding decreases accordingly since dollars follow students. However, as enrollment decreases, the district's cost per student increases. This is due in part to the fact that some higher cost students' needs remain within the district, while other districts may have the ability to limit enrollment in certain areas. For example, if a student is a special ed or has an IEP, um and needs special services from the School District of Beloit, and they want to open enroll into another district, the other district does not necessarily have to take those students. And often times, students

005with IEPs, um BIP plans, 504 plans, need extra services costing more money. This dynamic can be difficult to understand because usually people tend to think the money follows the student. Not every student costs the same amount of money to educate. A helpful comparison might be to think about a health care system. If you think about a hospital, every patient in that hospital does not cost the same to help get better. Some patients might require minimal care, maybe a stitch or two, while others might be fighting cancer and costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Similarly, school districts must be prepared to serve all students, including those with the greatest needs. Every student deserves access to high-quality education, and we remain committed to that responsibility. Despite these challenges, we are making progress and continuing to build momentum

006for our students and our community. Okay. I know a lot of you are here tonight to talk about the budget, and no decisions are going to be made tonight. The tonight's discussion is a discussion. We are in the looking at the preliminary budget for the 26-27 school year, and we are continuing to discuss our different options. I've asked uh Mrs. Shope and Mrs. Elwood to project something. Usually, I don't do this. I wanted to share with you my tax history for my property, uh my house here in Beloit, over the last 13 years, um being a little bit um anal. I I keep my tax documents that long, even though we don't need to go back that long. However, if you're interested and want to know what your tax impact has been, you can get

007the past 10 years off of the Rock County uh website. I wanted to bring this to your attention because you'll notice that last year, we did see a significant increase. Yes, all of us two up here had that same 520 plus increase percentage increase, where I went from a $164 in the 2024 year to last year over $1,000. That is a shock to the system. There are a lot of things that impact this. Um unfortunately, I haven't had any improvements done on my house since before this this this this decade, um but you'll notice 22, 23, 24, all of those years, my tax burden from the School District of Beloit was less than $1,000. Compare that to the previous years before that. There is no no year before that where it was less than $1,000.

008I know it's a hard pill to swallow when you get a tax increase of 500 or more dollars. However, I'm still paying less, and this is not adjusted for inflation. This is These are the raw dollars. I'm still paying less this year than I did in 2016, 10 years ago. We, as a community, have to decide how important is public education to us. That's going to be part of the discussion tonight. Thank you for being here. Thank you uh Mrs. Elwood. Next up, we have upcoming events and announcements. Board Clerk Hankins. Thank you, Board President. Good evening. These are the announcements for Tuesday, April 7th, Election Day, 2026. Today is Election Day. If you haven't voted yet, there is still time. Polls are open until 8:00 p.m., and if as long as you're in line,

009you can still vote. We hope all of our students and staff enjoyed a spring break, and welcome back. Sunday, April 19th, the jazz orchestra is having a fundraising concert in the high school auditorium at 3:00 p.m. for their trip to essentially Ellington in New York. Help support your high school students by attending on Sunday, April 19th. Saturday, April 25th, Gaston will be having an elementary school carnival carnival from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There will be games, prizes, and more. If you are able to volunteer, please contact the PTO team at 608-361-2300. >> [sighs and gasps] >> That's 361-2300. Beloit Memorial High School will probably celebrate its 2026 Hall of Fame recipient on Friday, May 8th at 1:00 p.m. This year's honoree is Tracy Piazza Saladar, a distinguished graduate from the class of 1992. Congratulations,

010Tracy. Will your child be 4 years or old on or before September 1, 2026? If the answer is yes, then your child is eligible to enroll in the School District of Beloit 4K program. Come on in to the Kolak Education Center to enroll your student or enroll your student online at beloitschools.net. Don't delay, enroll today. Upcoming meetings at the Kolak Center include Monday, April 20th, Policy and HR meeting at 4:00. Tuesday, April 21st, TLE and People Services at 5:00 p.m. followed by the regular board business meeting at 6:00. Tuesday, April 28th, the board organizational meeting is at 5:00 p.m. I have one personal note to add. A long-time Beloit District uh teacher educator, Jan Knutson, passed away this last Saturday. A dear friend. Sorry. And this concludes the announcements for tonight. Thank you, Tom. We're

011sorry for your loss. Our next agenda item is recognitions. Tonight, we have Mr. Quick Chris Whitney, the principal from Hackett Elementary, and Ms. Kowalik, the uh first grade What's the first first grade teacher from Hackett Elementary. Okay. We have more people there cuz we have some of uh Ms. Kowalik's first grade students, too. So, I'm going to be really short cuz I want to make sure that they get to uh the people that get impacted by our volunteer get to talk the most. But, uh we definitely appreciate all of our volunteers at Hackett. We wanted to uh pay a special recognition to Ann Muademis, who has been volunteering for I guess quite a few years with Ms. Kowalik. Uh it's my first year at Hackett, but I know she's been there um you know, steady,

012and she's always there, and she always shows up for the kids, and uh works with them, and we really appreciate her commitment to uh the first graders at Hackett. So, thank you very much, and I'm going to let uh Ms. Kowalik and her first graders uh tell you all about Ms. Dean uh Muademis. I'll come up here. Or do you want me to stand? Right next to me. Give me confidence. >> Cuz I'm used to talking to little ones. All right. Good evening. My name is Janalee Kowalik, and I have been a Wisconsin educator for over 30 years. I like to first thank our school board, administration, teachers, staff, and community members for all that you have done to contribute towards creating successful learning opportunities for our students. Through the years, I've witnessed many changes

013in our educational systems. Some favorable and some not so welcoming. One thing I do know is that we are all in this together for one main purpose, helping to guide our children to become successful lifelong learners, and to instill the joy and importance of being a respectful, well-rounded person. It's an honor for me to introduce Ann Muademis. Yes. Otherwise known as Mrs. B. That's all I've ever called her, so I was like Ann is a member of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Beloit. She has worked and lived in the Beloit area for the majority of her life. For the past 3 years, Ann has been volunteering in my classroom once a week tutoring students of all abilities to increase their individual reading goals. She has built an environment that fosters safety, trust, and most

014importantly, confidence building for our most vulnerable learners. Ann, you have become my friend. You have also become my confident. You are a person who truly wants to seek solutions for for implementing quality education in our schools. Words cannot express my gratitude for your commitment to the children of the Beloit School District. Tonight, I brought with me three students with their families to share a brief memory about you. >> [laughter] >> And we'll start with Ryan. You got this, girl. Say that. Hi. My name is Ryan. I am a first grader in Ms. Kowalik's class at Hackett Elementary School. This year, I met a nice lady named Ms. B. She is a volunteer. A volunteer is someone who helps people and earns zero money. This year, I started off the school year on one yellow, but

015from a lot of help from Ms. B and Ms. Kowalik, I am now on one G and close to two G. And first And that's a year's growth. First grade isn't even over yet. >> [applause] >> Hello. Hello. My name is Carl Newsom. And I'm a first grader in Ms. Kowalik's class. I go to Hackett Elementary School, and three quarters of school, I made 3.4 3.64 years of growth so far in reading. >> [sighs] >> That's double than what is expected. It started out reading with my mom, then I got to read with my teacher, Ms. Kowalik. This year, I I also read with Mrs. B on Wednesdays. They both helped me learn and reach my goals. Mrs. B helped me learn my tricky words or tricky words. I enjoy reading about sea animals. My

016favorite sea animal is the whale shark. >> [applause] >> You need to know he had zero voice at school this morning. We've been pumping up the vitamins and water. So, you did great. All right, you got this. Hello. My name is Amir Richardson, and I am a first grader in Ms. Kowalik's class. I go to Hackett. At the beginning of this year, I was reading letters and sounds. Now, I can read over 60 words. I made 1.42 years of growth. So, this for forever day every day, I get to read with Ms. Ms. my teacher. This year, I also read with Ms. B. She is helping me learn my tricky words. I enjoy reading about red apples. I learn how to grow them. >> [applause] >> So, we just wanted to present you this. Aw.

017I hope you have a green thumb. >> I do. I have too many plants, and I my window sills are full, but I can make room. >> We love you. Well, thank you very so much. Thank you. Give her a hug. Thank you. Thank [applause] you, Ryan. That is beautiful. You're a good volunteer. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I don't have to say anything, right? No, just tell me what you want. Thank you. I actually have one thing. Oh, I'm sorry. Anyone who wants to complain about what's going on in the school district and has any time at all in their life needs to come in and volunteer. Thank you. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU SO MUCH, MS. B. I CAN'T tell you how much we appreciate your time and energy, and I

018love the description of a volunteer, somebody who works for zero pay. >> [laughter] >> But But But what you do for our students will reap rewards for generations to come. Thank you so much. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. Thank you, Ms. B. Next on the agenda, we have public comment. Ms. Schock, do we have public comment tonight? Okay. Members of the public are welcome to attend all open meetings of the Board of Education. Individuals attending board meetings are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful and courteous manner that models appropriate behavior for our students. Individuals wishing to comment are expected to comply with the norms found on the back of your comment cards and in board policy 187 public particip- participation at board meetings. We ask that each of you contribute to maintaining a respectful

019and orderly meeting and prevent discussing confidential matters in a public forum by following these norms for public comments during board meetings. Thank you for your participation and courtesy. Ms. Schock. The first person I have is Dwayne. Good evening. Uh thank you for giving me this time. My name is Dwayne Collins and I'm a proud graduate of Rockford East High School in uh class of 1977. In April of 1976, 50 years ago, the district 205 in Rockford proposed a uh some budget cuts to help um bridge a budget gap. They were uh very um strong budget cuts and in actuality, they eliminated all extracurricular activities for that particular school year. It started out 2 years prior to that when they eliminated um middle school sports as the Beloit School District is is is considering right now.

020So, I'm actually here to tell you that uh history is is important because we need to understand it so we're not doomed to repeat mistakes. Um I went from being a 3.2 grade point average, uh being on an international honor society, to falling to 2.9 because in my senior year without any sports or any extracurricular activities, I lost all my focus. I I got my first D ever in my entire um scholastic career and for that school year, I got all C's and one D and dropped my grade point average. And I attribute that to the fact that I was just unfocused. Now, it didn't ruin my life um because I was a three-sport athlete and I kind of figured it I had a chance to to somehow earn a scholarship. So, I ended up

021going to two different junior colleges kind of chasing a football dream and then when that didn't um come to fruition, I just went ahead and enrolled in HBCU, earned my bachelor's degree in math and business management, also earned a master's in public administration from from Northern Illinois University. And I had a 30-year career with the city of Rockford in in in in the community and economic development um department as well as working 4 years in Boone County government. So, it didn't ruin my life, it kind of slowed me down, but I have a lot of friends and co-hearts and classmates who it did ruin their lives. So, I'm just here to say I drove up here from Rockford just to say I understand that right now the the cuts are minimal, but if you can

022nip this in the bud and don't let it become what it became in Rockford, you need you owe that to to the students. You owe that to your your your your enrolled students. You owe that to your community. Um my 17-year-old self is pleading with you to do what you can right now so that it doesn't get to that point. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Collins. Ms. Schock. Next I have Charlene. Hello. Good evening. My name is Charlene Huttner. I am a school counselor at Fruzen Middle School. Just you know, we are called school counselors, not guidance counselors. So, just keep that in mind when you're talking about cutting for elementary school counselors, which would be very would not be a great thing for our district. Um so, according to the 2023

023YRBS, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is a survey that we do take here in Beloit, >> [snorts] >> um more than half of us of the students in Wisconsin reported experiencing anxiety. Over 1/3 of all Wisconsin students surveyed reported feeling sad or hopeless almost every day for more than 2 weeks in a row, which is statistically significant increase of 5.2 percentage points since 2019 when and the highest rate since this um survey was first administered. Mental health concerns are on the rise for all of our students. >> [snorts] >> Furthermore, the American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students. With our current enrollment numbers, that would mean a counselor at every elementary school and two at the middle schools. So, that we can stay, you know, um to meet that national

024recommendation. I appreciate the hard decision that you guys have to make. I know we are in a budget crisis. I know that we have to make some cuts. Um however, our students need support emotionally and academically. Without student services, the support would not exist. It takes every member of our team to provide critical services to our students. Please consider making cuts in other areas as our students' mental health depends on it. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Huttner. Ms. Schock. Next I have James. Good evening. Uh my name is James Hoy and I'm one of the pres- co-presidents of the Beloit Education Association. I'm here tonight to address the agenda item regarding the budgeting process and specifically the discussion about a salary increase compared to an alternative calendar in place of a salary increase. Uh first

025we'd like to thank the board for recognizing that teachers can't continue to do the same work for the same pay while the cost of living is blowing personal budgets out of the water. The BEA understands that the district is in a tough financial situation. However, the BEA strongly encourages the board to move forward with a budget that includes a cost of living increase. While a reduction in the number of work days does appear to be a raise, it does not help with the increased cost of living that we are all experiencing. Raises that do not keep up with inflation are essentially a pay cut. Teachers already work outside of their contracted hours with no extra compensation as there's always there's not always enough time to get everything done in a day. Uh our professional workforce

026needs to be treated as such. Less time focused on teaching and learning is not going to help our students. A cost of living raise is the best way to solve the compensation problem. While the entire country is facing a teacher shortage, Beloit faces a greater shortage than most places for a variety of reasons. One of this board's goals to Dr. Anderson was to find ways to help recruit and retain teachers. We do not or we need to do whatever we can to recruit new teachers to Beloit and better yet retain the teachers that we currently have. In our opinion, not offering a raise would be a blow to current staff morale. We also believe this would deter new teachers and staff from coming to Beloit. In conclusion, we understand the financial impact and burden this

027puts on the on the budget and the district during these difficult times. However, we strongly feel that a cost of living increase is the best way to show respect for your staff and to treat us as the professionals we are. Thank you, Mr. Hoy. Ms. Schock. Uh the last thing I have is an email to read. We are Brooke and Anya Anyaela. We currently teach second grade dual language at Robinson Elementary School. We are concerned with the proposed changes to the dual language program for the upcoming school year. The proposed changes are to have 5K through four classes with a single teacher teaching both languages with a cap of 22 students, 5K through two and 30 students third through fourth. As teachers, we were not included in any of the discussions pertaining to the program

028that we dedicate ourselves to, so we were not able to express any of our concerns or ideas for the program moving forward. One of our concerns is that these changes will limit the number of families that can utilize our dual language program. We believe that many families would potentially leave the district if there is not a spot for them in the dual language program. Keeping two teachers at each grade level would allow more students to stay in the program as well as help them to focus on the two languages rather than defaulting to their home language. It would also allow more students from Robinson to remain in the dual language program as it is currently being proposed to change the program to only two schools, Todd and Hackett. [clears throat] We are also concerned about

029the workload that will fall on one teacher teaching both languages rather than two teachers collaborating together to teach their respective language. With two teachers, one teaching English and one teaching Spanish, each teacher can focus on that language with students. When students only have one teacher that teaches both languages, the students do not always feel that both languages need to be used in the classroom and are more likely to use their primary language. We have seen that students have grown more in their reading and writing skills when each teacher focuses on one language. In a 50/50 model, collecting data is in one language is a lighter load for teachers. We propose that we keep the two teacher model for dual language, one English and one Spanish for at least K through two at two buildings within

030the school district of Beloit. This would not require the district to hire more staff as we already have one English teacher and one Spanish teacher for most grades. Please take this information into consideration when making your final decision on the program. That's all I have. Thank you, Mrs. Show. Hi, good evening, ladies. Megan, thanks for the 3 minutes. Um, I just wanted to let everybody know this evening I was I had the privilege to attend the Next Steps Family Resilience Center Open House. Um, there's a child care crisis among other crises here in the city of Beloit and of course all of Wisconsin and I just wanted to let everybody know I don't know how the internet works with cameras, but I'll leave these in the lobby over here in the front. Um, there are

031like 40 open child care slots for very reasonable amount of money. It's like $200 a week or something like that for some age. Yeah, right, right. So I just wanted to let everybody know it's an absolutely beautiful building. Miss Fox is aware of that because it is located at Royce over on over on Liberty. So just wanted to let everybody know and just like a lot of gratitude to Family Services and to Community Action for making that possible. And then got 2 minutes. Okay. So real quick, there was also a staff member that wanted to send in a letter. So I'm just going to quick read it on her behalf. I'm not Whitney Klein. Hello, my name is Whitney Klein and I am the school social worker at Title Elementary School. I'm sorry I could

032not be here in person today as I'm in the line serving my civic duty to vote tonight. It is very unfortunate that the proposed cut to student services is being brought up for another discussion. Though we as a district are facing a very challenging time navigating our budget and cuts, the continued attack on our student services staff is very upsetting. This is the third year we have had to educate people on our day-to-day and advocate for our roles in the building. I think many of us would agree that we would be happy to explain the ins and outs of our job as a couple I'm sorry, a couple of times to someone who genuinely wants to understand the gravity of the work we do. However, facing cuts consecutively year after year gives us the message

033that despite explaining the endless, thankless, and exhaustive work many people wouldn't last a day doing is indeed not appreciated or valued here. It is not a secret to anyone that our district is in a crisis with continued difficult decisions to make. Our enrollment decline related to the behaviors in our buildings is one of the largest culprits. I won't continue to explain our roles and responsibilities, but I will remind and warn anyone listening that cutting student services in elementary schools is a mistake and a nightmare waiting to happen. We are already struggling and short-handed with the staff that we do have. I assure you the violence, aggression, absenteeism, self-harm, staff retention, and education gap will only increase without the support of a fully staffed student services team. I strongly urge any board member or individual in

034power of making this decision who has a question on the importance or need of a school social worker, school psychologist, or school counselor in our elementary schools to come in and shadow a day in the life to see how truly expendable we are or aren't or thinking of if not us, who would do the duties as assigned once we are gone. As I said earlier, I know difficult cuts that no one wants to make or hear. I am asking that we consider alternatives and think outside of the box to decide what we will do I'm sorry, what will do the least amount of damage to us as a community school district and to our students and families we serve. Thank you. Thank you. Any other? Mrs. Show, okay, thank you. Our next agenda item, reports

035to the board. Our first report tonight is the superintendent report and tonight we have Dr. Leah Gordon Mallett, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Good evening. I'm sitting in for Dr. Anderson today who has just informed that he has arrived to his destination. So we hope all of his travels have gone well. On Monday, March 30th, the board did review an early budget planning session for the '26-'27 school year and the '27-'28 school years. At this time we do know that the district is facing a projected deficit of approximately 4.5 million for '26 and '27. However, there are options to reduce the impact on students and staff. Proposed cost-saving measures include reducing staff primarily through unfilled positions and delaying some major maintenance projects such as the Aldrich parking lot. Exploring the use of in-district legal

036counsel, reducing professional development costs, and potentially selling unused district property. Together these steps could save about 2.7 million and looking at using some of the OPEB funds to close the remaining gap as far as meeting the demands of that 4.5 million reduction. Additionally, the board will also need to make decisions in key other other key areas moving forward. This includes whether to maintain all current athletic programs at the high school, how much preserve in the reserve funds versus making reductions in services like nursing or security or perhaps counseling, and whether to add a district communication position back to our collect building. An additional planning session is also going to be needed for future technology replacements as many student devices will need to be updated by 2029 as we heard several weeks ago. There is also

037an opportunity to expand after-school programming through the Boys and Girls Club using existing funds for a limited time. Additionally, the district has begun looking at the process of selecting a superintendent search firm and discussing how to involve staff in the community in that process. And as you know, the district has been exploring our partnership with Open Literacy and Skyrocket programming. The two schools that we've been working with have our Converse and Gaston and both are being considered in that process. Last Tuesday, Dr. Anderson, myself, and Lisa Furseth met to work on the selection of school and what that proposal would look like. We reviewed testing data, attendance data, and staffing and we also worked on elements of the final agreement and we will be continuing to work with Lisa and her team as well as

038well as meeting with the BEA on staffing incentives and bonuses. Miss Furseth and I will be continuing to meet in Dr. Anderson's absence and we will be continuing to update as necessary. Thank you, Dr. Mallett. Next we have Policy and Human Resources Committee Chairman Nichols. Thank you, Board President Johnson. The uh Policy and Human Resources Committee met yesterday afternoon at 4:00 and we spent the entire time working talking about and discussing the HR exhibit A which we move forward for the uh for the board to approve tonight. Uh but I will say one of the things talking about teachers, uh we're losing like 10 long-time teachers and pairs on this sheet and it's uh you know, they've given their they've given their all for a long time, most of them over 30 years. And so

039uh they will be missed and uh that takes goes back to what Mr. Mr. Howe he said, we've got to we got to we got to we got to replace and train. So anyway, that's it for me. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Business Operations and Finance Committee Chairman Hankins. Thank you. Uh we met today at 5:00. >> [clears throat] >> We sent to approval to the board the financials from February with not too much detail. We did talk a lot about Fund 50 and Chartwells uh contract renewal for this year. We're in year four out of a five-year contract and so we got into a nice healthy conversation about how we can better use Fund [clears throat] 50, i.e. Chartwells, in providing more uh food to our students. And so we're with Miss

040Elwood, we're going to be talking to Chartwells to see how we can better improve that for next year. And but it's up tonight for board discussion at a later at at later on in the in the agenda. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hankins. And you are up next with the legislative update. Thank you. Um and I will be very short cuz both arms of the legislature is in not in session, but I did note that uh the governor had a couple of bills that he did sign allowing schools the audio-visual may be used in their bussing. I know this came we talked about that. I remember I I it was last this last uh fall, you know, about some incidents and we did ask Durham with that thing. But anyways, it was signed in that

041they may, it doesn't say they have to, they just says they may have AV devices play in place in their in their busing. Um Act 185, online licensing portal to license holding and holders investigated by TBI. So, it means I think it's an HR HR tool that they can go into this portal and see their applicants for staffing if there's anything outstanding in that um on their resume. Um Act 189 bans the use of drones over school buildings without the express authorization from school board. So it may be coming into play sooner or later, but that's just when it I just kind of laughed at. I remember being at well, when I was at the state convention in January there was a lot of talk, not a lot, but there was some talk about upcoming

042legislation for this next term in the fall. And grooming was on the agenda for there was three or four legislation piece that will be presented about grooming and and how that addressing that with school staff and I know that's near and dear to our heart here as we proceed through this. So, that's my legislative update for today. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hankins. Our next agenda item is board action and discussion. We tonight we first one is school calendars, the 2026-27 and the 2027-28 district calendars. Presenting we've got Dr. Leah Gordon Milot and Mr. Jeff Stunrus, director of secondary education, CTE, and alternative education. The purpose of this item is to request that the Board of Education approve the calendars for the 2026-2027 and the 2027-2028 school years. [clears throat] Uh Mr. Stunrus or Dr.

043Milot? >> [clears throat] >> All right. Thank you, board. Um so, when the district calendar discussion came around and sort of fell into my lap as as part of my expanded role, um we looked at creating a calendar that was number one stable and repeatable and not necessarily needing every single year to debate where holidays fell or days off fell, um something that could be somewhat stable. And also a desire to have 2 years of a calendar in a row so that we can do some future planning. Most school districts around us have a calendar [clears throat] for next school year and the following school year already. We're we're really behind for we're in April and we don't have a calendar for starting our July 1 school year yet. Um So, there's a couple of

044piece with this. So, finding something that was repeatable calendar, meeting DPI requirements as far as the number of instructional minutes um with this providing a buffer for inclement weather or school closings so that we don't have to worry about making up days on you know, with with very few school closing days. And then addressing some building requests such as having daytime conferences. We did that for the first time with Beloit Memorial this year. Other entities divisions have requested the same thing. Also some of the BEA requests. One of the issues was night conferences, night events have never been compensated for. So, there was a talk of how could we incorporate that into it with that and the two-week winter break was something that was done this year and has overwhelmingly been a success. So, with

045that we came up with the the 26-27 calendar with start dates, end dates, the professional learning dates. We again have the transition day sort of a soft start for our new entries into each building with 4K and K, sixth grade, and then ninth grade. And then starting full school full scale school for everybody else after that. Um We have some of the things that are limiting factors is really our middle school schedule and middle school times because we are bound by Durham bus times on when we can start and stop schools. And unfortunately, the middle school has elementary like hours for the day, but they fall under secondary hour requirements for the DPI. So, that is our entity that really makes the calendar difficult with this. So, what I've done is I've created two calendars.

046I know a couple of pieces that have come up for question. Um What is the April 23rd day off in late April? Why do we have that? Um what we've what I found out is the only district employees who actually have Good Friday off are 12-month district employees. Nobody else does. So, the district is having to close because of that. Um and some years it has fallen within spring break such as this year, other years it does not. And so, to not be chasing that date all the time, we can have spring break in March one of two weeks and have the late April day off. And so, when Good Friday falls in late April, we would adjust that to meet the Good Friday. And if in March the good the Good Friday could be

047a company uh acquired in one of the two spring breaks most of the time. So, it creates a repeatable piece of it. The late April day also does give us an extra buffer that if there is multiple school closings, we do now have a day where we could go ahead and do that and it's not a professional learning day impacting if previously booked outside resources have been planned to come into it now have to figure out something else to it. Um So, that's kind of the the calendar that we have. The other piece that I would point out that's a little different if you look at the 27-28 calendar the transition day is August 31st and not September 1. I contacted the DPI. As long as it is not a day that we count in

048our calculation for our school year, the term cannot start prior to September 1. It also cannot be a required day, but we can have it for transition for those grades we can do it prior to September 1. It counts as an in-service day. So, that gives us a little bit of flexibility and actually moving forward in when we move to the next year when September 1 is a Thursday if you couldn't hold that until September 1 Thursday, then Friday September 2 is really your first day. Do you bring students back for 1 day? So, it allows us a little bit of flexibility even even moving forward. So, those are the two calendars that we have and kind of putting into a a pattern that can be repeatable. And then the idea would be that we

049would come back next year with the calendar for the following year after that and then continue to do that. So, they will be they will be reviewable every year but in a two-year cycle and moving forward. So, that's the reason for the for the two calendars that they are. I appreciate some of the questions, some of the eyes on this. We had about six or seven of my colleagues to help look at all the color coding and make sure dates are correct and there are still errors that were pointed out even as of today. So, thank you very much for for catching those. So, questions? Do I need Megan Miller. Thank you so much. First of all, I want to thank you. I know you're outside of your comfort zone a little bit here, right?

050And I think you've done a really thoughtful, [clears throat] thorough job of preparing this and putting this together. I love like how thoughtful for example like the Friday and you know, being able to observe a snow day and things like that. I do have one concern for the high school. So, there are classes at the high school that are a mix, right? Of seniors and other students. I'm a little concerned and and maybe I'm misreading the calendar, but I'm a little concerned about ending ending the year for seniors prior. So, like if I'm a teacher and I'm like, okay, it's finals or it's like, you know, just sort of all that end of the year stuff. I feel like that puts a huge burden on our teachers at like the worst time of the year

051to try to navigate the discontinuity of two different or multiple different grades. So, I'm just I'm wondering if there's any give on being able to tie tie it all up together for high school. There >> [sighs] >> We could. The answer is yes. We could because high school has a little bit more flexibility. Now, they would have a different calendar than elementary or middle school would. And this was an effort to try to keep the school district all ending on the same date with that. Again, it's we're a little bit held hostage by that middle school piece of it. So, high school could have that, but then they would be an entity that would end earlier than everybody else, but you are not reading it incorrectly. And part of that also was by the shift

052of September 1st moving over and collecting another date we would have one day or we could cut short our inclement weather days. I mean, that that is the other choice with this. Being from northern Wisconsin, my the answer to me is no, we do not because in the one time that we do have more days that are closed, we create a larger problem at the end. If we don't close, we get those back as instructional days, which is not a bad thing either. But you you are correct. That does put a bit of a burden on those mixed classes that have seniors and other students for those for those two days. So, it's all about give and take. The what what what what do you want and what do you what do you not want?

053And that's this kept the district all at the same ending date by doing that. Yeah, and I I definitely hear that. And again, [clears throat] like this whole thing has been very well thought out and I can see I see that and I really do appreciate it. So, I don't I don't mean to be a thorn in the side. I just I think you know, I I like you know, the idea of like keeping it clean on the dates. You know, I have I have an almost high schooler in my house. I have an almost sixth grader and I have an almost third grader. And I know that it would you know, children are very concerned about equity. So, if something's not fair for one, you know, I'm going to hear it. So, I just

054I think like it's nice on paper. I think in practice [clears throat] like they're kids and teachers, like we're all real people and I mean I think it might make a little bit more sense to even though it doesn't look as pretty on paper to just tie it up for the high school at the same time. I just think that's kind of as it as as an educator, I just wanted to voice that. Um but I I think that um everything else looks looks great to me. Um is there a way to like talk to the high school or I mean is is there some flexibility where cuz I don't want to hold up the process? So, can you talk me through like what that might look like if So, there there is another concern.

055If high school has those two days off, then that creates an inequitable number of contract days amongst all teachers. So, then we would have also have to give it off to middle school and elementary and because of the number of days that we're bound the middle middle school is the one that's tying us with this. Elementary and high school have more than enough days. If we were to give those two days off, we would be down to one inclement weather day for the district. So, I would like is there is it possible for us because again I this is important to pass and I don't want to be a bump in the road. Is there is there wiggle room if we say like this is generally wonderful, let's move forward for us to like I

056don't like survey the staff or something like that, you know, you do you you do you do you would need our approval again, right? If if you were to play with those days because we're approving something that has the capacity to go either way? From my understanding, I'm not sure that the board has approved a calendar ever before. Well, we we have it. It was a really long time ago, but I [laughter] don't even think we really need to. Yeah, and and and and with that I said that there is there some wiggle room? The answer is yes, but because of keeping all teacher contracts at 192 days is which what they have. By cutting those down to accommodate one division, you're now creating a problem again with we're we're we're making a compromise um

057just to simply go without that and and I can't change the day the times of the day of the middle school any longer to put more in there. So, I can't I can't buy more days. So, the the the answer is yes. It is it is a problem and and and an issue. Um I just didn't find another way around it in order to keep those snow days in there and keep all the teachers on the same contract. I totally hear you. So, last comments and I'm going to get off your back here. Um I like I said, it's it's well thought out. It's good stuff. I mean we just even heard a public comment tonight about like people feeling like lack of staff voice and things. So, what I'm I guess my request to

058you would be that like I think like generally this is beautiful. It's really thoughtful. I love the two-year I've nothing else but good things to say. Um my request would be if it's possible to go back to staff and say we could catch, you know, here option A, option B and like let the staff have a voice in that. I think that it is in service of retention. It's in service of like making sure that what looks good in theory also works in practice, which is just good for everybody. So, that's my request. Thank you. Joanne Rue. Yes, thank you. Um so, I have a few things. Uh one, thank you for doing two years. Um it's really nice for teachers to be able to and families to look ahead and be able to make

059plans based on um something that's happening to happening 12 months from now. Um a few well, one, um I do know Janesville School District the seniors last day I think is May 30th and everyone else their last day is June 10th. So, I know that the different calendars for seniors it's a thing. So, [clears throat] I don't know if there's a way for us to find out like what works well for that or not if there is a problem with that. Um and then Uh oh, so along with uh elementary schools having more hours, um I do know the high school and I don't know if the middle school first for testing, they do a all hands-on deck thing and it's one grade level that tests at a time or a couple grade levels. Like

060when they do the pre-ACT, they ACT, things like that. Um >> [clears throat] >> I would really like to challenge us as a district to look at possibilities at doing that at the elementary level, too. For our third through fifth grade students, we spend a lot of time and our four-year-old through second grade students miss a lot of services during the time that we're doing forward testing. So, I don't know like I don't know of a district that does it. So, like we would definitely be on the forefront of of doing that kind of a thing, but I think that would be a really amazing thing to um to increase equity for our students. And then my last one, um so, I've been researching four-day school weeks for a few years now and I've never

061broached the subject here um in the district because um we've always talked about like especially at [clears throat] the elementary level the the um the need for daycare. And so, um with possible partnerships with the boys and girls club, things like that, um and our um budget cuts that are happening and and increasing, um I think that would be another thing for us to look into as a district. Um I've seen some really good positive um feedback about it um on uh social media recently from uh people that live within the district. So, those are all my just thoughts [clears throat] really, not really questions. Thank you, Mrs. Rue. Mrs. Levy. Thank you. Um I'm just looking at the calendar for this year and I see that graduation is on the fifth, but then school

062continues after and I'm concerned about what those days will look like for non-seniors. Um so, a couple questions. One, in creation of these calendars, which grateful for the work. Um were there conversations with other districts that have had graduation ceremonies and then additional classroom days after that and kind of what that looks like and what are expectations of things to be accomplished in those days? And was there a discussion about having graduation on the 12th instead of the fifth to kind of avoid some of that? Thank you. So, to address that, there was the conversation about graduation on the 12th versus the fifth was about 3 seconds and it got shot down quite quickly just because of where graduation has normally been. So, that that that was a not looked as a perceived option. So,

063what do we do? Um we did look at a couple of other school districts and um in the mixed classes, it it creates a problem. So, that coming back for those two days, if you have all freshmen, it that doesn't necessarily affect you. If you have all seniors, now those teachers are out, but classes that have 10th through 12th grade, which we which may have um at the high school, those are the ones that create a problem. Some of them they have uh and I'm not saying we looked at a lot of schools, probably about four or five, but they have schedule uh exams on those days. So, they have separate senior exams and then separate underclassmen exams. That doesn't necessarily work. I I We found that out. I don't necessarily agree that that's a

064great practice because you're giving now exams twice as opposed to one time. Um some kids showing up. Um some they have just said it's it's two days on our calendar. It's kind of a wash. It's makeup work. It's makeup exams that they have for that. And that's really what we what we came up with. Um again, we realize it does create a problem for those mixed classes of those kids, but when we compared it to the number of days that we needed as a district and that middle school and Mrs. Rue, to your point of like a 40-week, we're really bound by that bussing issue with middle school and how many minutes we have for that and that does drive how we do this calendar. Unfortunately, because if we if we give 15 minutes more

065a day with the middle school, then then we could move all this back. We have much more flexibility. It doesn't make doesn't seem like a lot, but 15 minutes a day would make a world of difference on creating this calendar. No, I appreciate that. My only concern is I feel like graduation [clears throat] is the end. And whether you have a third grader or 11th grader, I just I don't know what those two additional days would look like, but it sounds like there have been some discussion with making those makeup days or work days or We we were saying for the the lower divisions, middle school and middle school and elementary, your instruction goes up and through up until that Tuesday. Like I said, other districts have done that for the lower grades. It really

066creates the issue and and then you have the perception of whether you're a third grader or a sixth grader or an 11th grader, graduation does seem to be the end. We're we're saying it's really not, but at the high school, it's even more of that perception because those are the students who were walking your halls and now they're not expected to come back for two days where others are. Thank you. Any other board questions or comments? Dr. Milot, did you want to add anything? Okay. Is there a motion to approve the 2026-2027 and the 2027-2028 school district calendars? So moved. Second. Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Carol Fox. Any discussion? Miss uh Megan Miller? >> I'm just I'm kind of just curious why it landed on cuz we I think we stopped approving calendars

067back in like 2020 or 2021. So, I mean, I just is this something that we need to continue to do cuz like I said, I don't want to get in the way of I guess instruction. Do uh Dr. Milot or Mr. Director Stenerson, do either of you know? Yeah, Dr. Anderson wants it approved by the board. Said it's proper [clears throat] practice is to have it approved. Okay, sounds good. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Oh, um Mr. Hankins? Uh yes, and this you know, we've heard a lot about transportation and now we're hearing transportation drives our calendar. I mean, it it drive it's driven our driven our athletic department to go awry. This is crazy. And I understand it's a huge cost, but we're talking about our students and my question

068is to Stephanie. This Durham contract I know we have it and when does that come up? I mean, why can't we have that 15 minutes in? We're bending over backwards for their for the our our transportation. And I just think it's high time that we I mean, we're paying them. They're a service to us. And as a business person, they should cater to our needs. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> So, the RFP for transportation was reviewed by many departments over the last few months. We sent out the RFP. They had about 20 days to reply to the RFP. We're still in the review process of the um the RFP or the proposals that came in. Um as far as the times go with when school starts and things, I think that's a further discussion that

069we're going to have to have at cabinet. It's to be honest, I'm not sure what that discussion was with Durham. Okay, I'm just you know, as as Mr. Settles was saying, you know, we're he's making a calendar around their bussing times. That's to me is or you know, So, Dr. Dr. Anderson, I did I did pose the question about changing bussing times for the middle school and he he confronted or talked with people at Durham and said that there wasn't anything because of because of the waves that we did. We even looked at the opportunity, do we put middle school and elementary students on the same bus to do it? And it wasn't I was told it wasn't feasible. It was something that he brought up with with Durham and talked with them about and

070he came back and reported to me because of working on this district calendar saying we can't change this we can't change that start time. That's the earliest buses can get there. And then at the backside, we are also looking at bussing and when we meet public transportation, the buses that that students may may go on that end. Okay, thank you. And then just one last question, Senator. You said uh it was proposed for graduation from the 5th to 12th and it was shot down. Who shot it down that quickly? It was just in a discussion with our with our at our TLE um and talking with uh uh high school people. That just the tradition has been it's been that first one and I and I didn't push the issue any further. It was just

071part of a discussion saying, should we move the discussion to move graduation to the 12th? And it was like, no, that's not a good idea. And so, we just stopped it at that point because we didn't need the extra days to get to that point for the seniors and then it was just a few middle school ones. Okay, but I do want to I think I I kind of I think what Mrs. Leavy's going towards is unproductive days just because they have to come back and do it. How how beneficial is that to our students to come back for 2 days? You know, The seniors [clears throat] don't come back. Right, but seniors don't, but like I think the point is, you know, graduation happens, then the other lower grade have to come back. >>

072Well, it >> productive are those 2 days? Well, if if if you are a K through eight teacher, you can set my my school year doesn't end until So, it we looked at it it also affected a only a percentage of our population, the high school staff and teachers and the students in that direction. Um and extending it that further out just didn't seem to be the popular piece of moving school back that that far. And so, therefore we didn't pursue it trying to trying to adhere to what that tradition piece was. It it can be done. But there there again, it it was it's a small percentage trying to look at what the overall district one the goal was. Um and that that's that's where we fell on they're coming back for 2 days.

073So. Okay, and again It's not fun. No, and I I appreciate all the hard work you put into this and it's a no win situation. I just don't like the idea that the transportation tail is wagging the dog. Um Mr. Hankins, I I remember when I was on the board 2009 to 2012, we had the same discussion about these end of school year days and um it's um I encourage you to reserve the term unproductive days because even though um the non-seniors are going back for those last 2 days, they are still productive days and sometimes the production may be helping the teacher. I mean, I remember when I was in elementary school, helping the teacher close up the classroom for the school year and there is even learning in that process as well. So,

074there is a motion and a second. All in favor? I. >> I. I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries unanimously. Our next agenda item tonight is discussion regarding superintendent search. Tonight, Dr. uh Lea Gordon Malott is leading this discussion. The purpose is to discuss the superintendent search process. Dr. Anderson recommended that the board start discussions on the process they would like to use to hire the next superintendent. He felt the board should decide whether or not they want to hire an outside search firm to assist them in the process. He also provided a list of potential search firms the board might want to interview to learn how they can assist the board in this process. This discussion tonight is to have the board de- determine the following. Does the board want to hire a search firm

075to assist the board in doing a superintendent search? If so, what criteria does the board want to consider in making this decision? And lastly, if the board determines that it wants to hire a search firm, what dates would the board like to schedule interviews of search firms? Dr. Malott? Thank you, Board President. Um I do have a list of five uh search firms that Dr. Anderson has worked with and does recommend. Um these are frequently used by school districts in Wisconsin. He does recommend that um the school board contacts these firms and get some various dates set up and times to set up to interview um one or more of the firms at your um discretion. Um so, the five firms that he has to recommend to you are Hazard Young and Associates, WASB, which

076we have worked with before, BWP and Associates, um School Executive Connect Connect and Ray and Associates. Um recommending interviews to uh for the school board to work with these uh search firms so that you are able to evaluate their processes and find the right candidate for um superintendent for the School District of Beloit moving forward. Um and encourage you to also spend some time discussing how you can involve involve different staff, administrative staff, and the community in the hiring process. Thank you, Dr. Malott. The first question, does the board want to hire a search firm to assist the board in doing a superintendent search? Ms. Miller? Thank you so much. Um I am 100% in favor of hiring a search firm um and I I actually had a a comment, but it sounds like you're

077going in order. So, I'll wait until you get to the next point. Any other board members have a strong opinion that or not strong opinion they'd like to share? Joanne Rue? Uh I just I know nothing about this process, so can you give me like a ballpark figure how much it costs to have a firm do this? Um I rough estimate uh 15 to 40,000 and I imagine it can go lower or higher depending on which service we go with. Mr. Hankins? My only comment is at the end of the day, it's up to the board to hire and we should make sure that we do our due diligence in vetting whoever the candidates are and that uh if hiring an outside firm to come in and give us recommendations, that's fine, but I think

078the most important step will be for this board, whoever's on this board, to make sure we vet that person to fit this district. Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Fox? Um I don't I've not been involved in this process either not as a board member and I don't know how how otherwise you would do it if you don't have a search firm. I mean, um board members don't really have time to do a lot of searching. The administration doesn't really have a lot of time. So, without a search firm, I don't know how you can really make this process happen is my question. That's good good point. Um depending on the size of the district and uh the size of the human resources department, um some districts might rely on the human resources department to to

079um do the posting and bring the names to the board. But again, I as as board president, I know how difficult this is to even get the seven of us together that [laughter] it would be [clears throat] much easier and my preference would be that yes, we do use an outside firm. It I think it's going to cost us a little up front, but um the way this district goes through superintendents, if we can find a good superintendent to stay with us, it will be worth its worth its um all all the investment. Mrs. Levy. Thank you. Just did a quick search on the WASB site and their typical search process runs between 10 and 15,000 so just to give us some framework for potential cost. Are there any board members that feel strongly in

080not using an outside search firm? Okay, then we will go ahead and begin the process of deciding which search firm. The next thing we have to consider is what criteria in selecting a search firm um do we want to use? Uh Dr. Anderson has listed these five. I have not myself done a search to find out if there are other um firms we should consider, but um selecting this firm is is also important so that we get a good uh pool of candidates and that the search firm understands our needs as a district and what we are looking for. And how much we want them to do, if we want them to do take over the um working with the public and getting input from the public, all kinds of different things that we can

081look at um in the selection process. Ms. Miller. Thank you so much. I totally agree with everything you just said. Um and so just I guess what as I was considering that second bullet point, um the categories that came to mind for me for criteria would be cost, the communication, the extent to which they're willing to manage and engage in communication with not just obviously the district but within the wider community. Um and the last point for me is sort of it's like a two-part piece. It's community engagement in general, which I believe is separate necessarily from communication. And um I'm looking for a firm that has some experience and is willing to coordinate uh listening sessions, kind of input, round table stuff about our next superintendent alongside the work that we're going to need

082to do for the referendum, the budget There are so many huge decisions, right, that we're on the precipice of. So for me, I think it would be again like I guess the three categories for me are that's cost, community engagement, and communication. Asterisk on community engagement, somebody who's willing to do that work in tandem with or has experience doing that alongside that referendum work. Um and then just last comment um when you mentioned uh Board President Johnson like coming, you know, helping us figure out like, you know, profiling essentially our next candidate, every search firm is going to do that as part of their process. I do think it would be a value for us when we get to the next point about establishing dates to maybe come up with like, do we want to

083do any of like that um brainstorming ahead of time so we can have an informed conversation when we do do those kind of interview pieces. So, thank you. Carol Fox. Um I don't know how to assess it exactly, but um the first thing that came to my mind was track record. Um how well um how well the match that they have helped make between a community and a superintendent has worked. Uh what is the longevity of the superintendents that I have been placed by this firm? Um you know, kind of follow up with how happy everybody has been. Um so that because we really need a good match um between us and um the community and everybody. And so you know, I don't know how you assess that exactly, but if we could figure out

084a way to know what what success some of these um firms have had with placing superintendents that have longevity with districts, um that would be a criteria for me. Thank you. Mrs. Levy. Thank you. So I have a short list um that I hope my colleagues are interested in entertaining. Um I would along the lines of what Ms. Fox said, um I think it would be helpful. So I've participated in more superintendent searches um than I think I I needed to. But that being said, one of the things that we did is we broke up the list and as board members, we called references. I think it would be appropriate to speak to districts that what other firm we're considering has worked with and ascertain some of the information that Ms. Fox is suggesting. Um

085other items I think it would be important for us to keep in mind is um we're looking for a pool of candidates that has experience with our size, demographics, challenges, and opportunities of our district. I think we are unique and we need to to state that from the front. Um the search process methodology, so how do they um foresee us engaging our community stakeholders is super important. Um their availability and responsiveness I think is going to be critical for for any search that this district does. Um already talked about kind of reputation, references, so calling previous districts and finding out what their experience was and did they find a good match for their district? Um And then if there's any like post-placement support. So if there's any transition for the new superintendent, I know WASB

086does offer some of that. I would be interested if other firms or teams do that as well. And then if there's any like kind of guarantee, which may seem odd because you're hiring a human, um but I know one of the thing WASB did is because we had to do a our next search so close to the most recent search at that time, there was a discounted amount for that second search. So if the person does not stick, for lack of a better phrase, um kind of what are they offering or willing to offer to the district? So those are some things that I would just like for us to keep in mind as we think about a superintendent search. Thank you. Brian Nichols. Well, I just didn't get my hand up quick enough, but

087I was thinking a lot along very much along the line of both uh uh both board member uh Fox and board member Levy, but I yeah, I think it was as I as I was sitting here listening before, you know, because of the track record that we've had, that we definitely need to hold them accountable. The the the You need to interview the firms and get and get the records that you asked for, you know, how successful have they been? What's the longevity of their average superintendent placement? How long is it, you know, how long have they lasted at the whatever the district they got placed at? I think that's that's valuable. Yeah, you could and you can do that by phone interviews, but you I would I would ask the search firm for that

088information right off the bat. And then kind of go from there. So, anyway, and by the way, enjoy it while you're doing that. Thank you. Thank you for that reminder, Brian. >> [laughter] >> We'll be thinking of you as we're going through the process. I may come and watch. >> [laughter] >> Carol. Um I'm just wondering with these five firms, obviously from the conversation, obviously we've used WASB before. Have we used any of these other firms before? Mrs. Schope, do you want to answer that one? Sure. Um I can tell you that we have definitely used um Hazard Young and Associates. We've used uh WASB. We used School Exec Connect and I'm not sure if we used Ray and Associates or we just interviewed them. Um I had told um President Johnson that I could

089find out which ones we had used for which superintendents because obviously with my tenure, I've been through several um interview processes. Um and I can tell you that the things that you're talking about, every single one that we've interviewed has all of that information and can they will interview and tell you almost everything that you're asking. And then whichever one you go with does everything that you're talking about from my experience of working with them. Thank you. Did you have any other questions, Mrs. Fox? Okay. Megan Miller. Thank you so much. Um love everything that everybody's said. I think this has been a really great discussion. I do want to include because we've talked about longevity a few times. So on average in the US, um a superintendent stays for about 5 and 1/2 years

090in a given district. However, Wisconsin has a much higher turnover rate and I think the last I think I think they did uh this might be 2022 or 2025 data. I'll have to double check, but I think the average term is 3 years across the state, not here. Like across the state of Wisconsin. I know back in 2022, we turned over 1/4 of the superintendents across the entire state. So, um given that information, I think part of that kind of alignment that we'll need to do as a board going into so just even interviewing our candidates for search firms is going to be to really ground ourselves in we want to have that good maybe like three to five-year person and then like what does that look like in the future? I know back when

091I first got elected uh Tony Capozzola came and gave a really good public comment. I thought about giving you know kind of creating a like a 10-year vision. And I mean I think we need to build in some resilience for what will be leadership turnover which which is likely to happen. So, I just this is a great discussion. I agree with what everybody is saying but I do want us to be realistic about what we're talking about right right now with longevity. Thank you. Okay, for criteria, it sounds like we've got cost, communication, community engagement, track record, experience, references, um, post placement support, possible guarantee, and average looking at average longevity of placement. Mrs. Shope, would you mind, um, so so that we're not all having to go through our calendars tonight and use valuable

092board time, would you mind polling the board to see when we can get the seven of us and the candidates or I I guess tomorrow we'll um know better we'll have the election results. Um, but find out when we can get together and um, contact these uh groups for us? Thanks. Mrs. Fox. Well, I was with think if thinking of Michelle could sort of contact them and get a kind of a ballpark figure of um, what they might want in terms of money and maybe we need to decide if we would really want to interview all five or if there's a couple of them that maybe too pricey for us or you know, what we might want to do cuz I think five might be kind of a lot to interview. So, somehow we need

093to kind of narrow it down to maybe three. Okay, Mrs. Shope, would you mind sending out a request for that information? I did. Thank you. Oh, Mr. Hankins? Yeah, one one last comment about the criteria. It's interesting it'd be interesting for me to know how big is the net they throw. I mean, well, who how how do they outreach to you know, possible candidates, you know? Is it you know, I'd be interested to know and I know you said cost so I think that covers what Mrs. Fox was getting to so we should know that. But yeah, I think I want to know how big of a net they throw. Thank you. Uh Mr. Hankins, and just doing a quick uh survey of these five, um, the HYA is national and considered top tier. The

094BWP is more regional but they will also do national. Ray and Associates National School Exec Connect is smaller but they will do national and WSB focuses more on state. Okay. Dr. Milot, was there anything else that you wanted to add before we move on? Okay, thank you. Our next agenda item is budget guidance. Presenting this is Carol Fox. The purpose of this is to have the board provide guidance to the administration to develop a comprehensive written 2026-2027 budget plan. At the March 30th budget workshop, Dr. Anderson presented a tale of two budgets, the preliminary budget considerations for 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years. This included potential options for the for these budgets and projections for the um following year. Tonight's discussion is to decide what specific guidance the board wants to give the administration. Mrs. Fox?

095Uh yeah, and for I would do want to apologize. Um, I I was fiddling with the title. I'm kind of OCD about some things but I took the word draft off and I didn't didn't remember to put it back on. It's just a draft. It's not um, it's just a an item for discussion for the for the board. Um, as I was reviewing the this and thinking about the the last couple of years and some of the budget things we've been through, um, you know, I I I really think the board needs to provide ask for some better information or some more detailed information about things. We we need to have more than what we're cutting. We need to have um ideas about how we're going to proceed um, and and plans for that. And

096to the point of the alternative calendar options, that was something that has been discussed in the past. It wasn't anything in in in particular. It's just looking at how we I agree. I think the CPI is important. Um, but you know, we we have another four and a half million dollars to cut. Um, so we want to look at all options. Um, so but I also you know, I so the one I was really looking at was more the written details of you know, um, you know, what is the plan? If if we switch around academic coaches, what is the plan for providing coaching or staff development? Um, you know, we're changing around DLI um and some of these other things. What is the preliminary plan for providing ESL? We're thinking of and only having

097two GT, what are we doing about that? The the discussion was eliminating nursing. Um, yeah, what what's the plan to go around with that? And I didn't add counseling to that. I should have then because you know, what are we going to do about some of those counseling services? Um, we he talked a lot about maybe reusing the the grant money which I think is is fine but what is the plan for using it and how does that match with some of the the restrictions that we have? Um, you know, we we could talk about not filling positions that that we haven't filled but we don't know what those are. Um, and um, our we need to know what they are so we know whether we're willing to let them go or not and um,

098those kinds of things. So, I think it's important that we're clear about the information we want to know and have so we can make truly informed decisions. And I think it's important too so community and staff both um, are aware of some of the things that we're looking at and can make comment um, and I do I still do think that at some point we need um, involvement with the the staff so some sort of a finance committee um, that can look at some of these things and help um, with some of those um, items. I I put things like the the facilities and the um, the vacant land and stuff last cuz there's just no guarantee that we're going to be able to sell that stuff. I mean, yeah, we might be able to

099get some money for it but there's no guarantee. So, that's kind of why it's lower on the list. But like I said, it's just a draft of of looking at um, some ideas. I also was reading some of these emails and and you know, what what is a plan for addressing behaviors? We're looking at alternative um, school for the elementary or alternative placement for the elementary. Um, are there other plans or other things that we should be doing of for addressing our disregulated students? Um, especially if we're thinking that we need to cut uh student services staff because we don't have the money to afford it and you know, we want to keep the lower uh class sizes down. So, um, this kind of goes along with the next one in terms of what he

100was he was asking for. So, that's the idea of of this draft. Thank you, Mrs. Fox. Megan Miller? Thank you. Yeah, I was just saying uh Mrs. Fox, thank you so much for putting this together. Um, I think it's a really great start to the conversation and I think it captures a lot of what we talked about last time. Um, a couple of things I wanted to so this isn't like a comprehensive like takeaway but I did want to just um, include a couple of comments on um, on your draft. So, first I looking at item number three here, let me just pull it up again. So, for item number three where you've got prioritized district programs initiatives that drive student enrollment. I think like part of that request has to be like kind of

101twofold. One, we want to kind of um, be able to consider just at from a high level view from a board perspective like what is the ROI on that? And but we also have to define what that is because you could look at it in terms of like retaining or enrolling or attracting students but also you know, the kids we have deserve to be invested in regardless, right? And so I think like we are going to need more time as a board and you know, partnership with administration and and you know, our the staff in our district to define like what are what does ROI mean to us? How do we prioritize that? So, that's one thing I wanted to kind of add. Um, I'm thinking about this in terms usually I go to a

102T-chart but I'm kind of thinking in terms of like concentric circles. Like I'm I I'm thinking there's like services at the core and then outside of that there's programs and all of them are important and we don't want to not do any of them. I think for me as much as I've been a very passionate advocate for example of our academy model, um, I am willing to let go of an academy model if it means keeping elementary school school counselors. Right? You know what I'm saying? So, I mean I think like I'm not saying what we should or shouldn't do today right now but I think we do need to do a little bit more conceptualizing and categorizing cuz that's going to help us guide the discussion and it's not going to be like picking

103and choosing as much as, you know, like to your point. We have to have a vision for how we want to proceed, right? So, I think that would help with that discussion. Um another thing um that I wanted to add on there, I guess there's just two more things I want to add on there specifically. Um one thing that I would add as its own separate item just because of the demographics and, you know, traditionally like what we've been doing to grow our in in Beloit would be DLI. I mean, this this is uh we just had a great conversation. It's I I don't know if great's the right word. I think we've done great work around taking a next step to try to like to your point, Ms. Fox, preserve. I don't think anybody's

104thrilled with having to cut things to keep things, but I think that needs to be there's so much um confusion and upset in in the community about that. I think we want to make sure that we're providing a clear vision for like what does that next step look like? What does that look like year two, year three? Um and making sure that we're aligning our budget priorities around preserving and and then growing back that program as robustly and as quickly as possible, you know, but you know, we are where we are. It's the hard truth, but we do need to provide a vision to the community to say we're cutting it to keeping it to keep it, but now this is how we're going to keep it, right? Kind of that second part of that

105question. So, that would be another thing I would add and then the the third and final thing I think that needs to be um highlighted on the document is fund 80. So, I mentioned earlier, you know, like even just uh beautiful event I was just out with um family services and community action. We talked about the Boys & Girls Club. I am so excited about that. Also, like I would like to see and, comma, and, comma, and. There are we have such a high number of nonprofit work that, you know, that's happening here in Beloit. There must be additional partnership opportunities. If not like next year, that we can do that work right now to to pave the way. It helps our it helps our budget. It helps us be responsible to the community and

106like we're investing funds in things that support our our kids and our families, you know, outside of school as well as inside of school. So, I do for some reason I think it was maybe from the second the next item. Yeah, it's I know it's in I know it's in there, but when I went back and looked at this I'm like, well, I thought there was a point. So, I do think like if we're going to provide this as a comprehensive draft to guide administration, which I think is a brilliant idea, I just want to make sure that fund 80 is on there as like that to me should be a priority for like let's get, you know, Mark Rand, Mark Perry, like all the folks in the room with Dr. Anderson when he's back

107from vacation and like let's start that brainstorming. Yeah, this May 5th date Oh, I didn't even notice that. You're fine. Okay, thank you. Did Did that Cool? Okay. Um I do, you know, and fund 80 we do need to be careful about the tax impact and some of those kinds of things, but yeah, I I'm I I fully fully support that. Um and we can either add a separate DLI one or just add it to the programming. We talked about needing an audit of some of our programmings, too. We need to We need to, you know, know what kind of programs we have and what and how the impact of what we do on some of those programs as well, but Any other board questions or comments? Mrs. Fox, do you want time to make

108adjustments to this? Do you want the board to um take an action on this tonight? Um well, it probably needs a few adjustments, so it would be hard to take action on it without a few adjustments. Um but we do we need to not let it linger because the we need to make sure the administration knows that this what this what and this will give them a start. They'll know what we're kind of looking for as as we formalize it, I guess, would be what I would say. Yeah, um maybe what I would suggest is uh send that to Dr. Malott as as a draft and so they know that we're working on this and that um there are other considerations, but it's a good awesome outline to starting with. And that leads us into

109our next item, which is the budget discussion. And Bear with me a minute. Okay. Um this Dr. Liam Malott is leading this presentation with assistance from the executive directors. The purpose of this is to have the board make some general decisions regarding the 2026-2027 budget so administration can continue preparing a draft budget for the board to review at the end of May or the beginning of June. And Dr. Malott, do you want to start? Sure. The team has been working um together to look at our budget, where we stand now, and possibilities for where we can um make some eliminations for next year and in the following year. Um and all areas are being explored um as we discussed a little earlier, um I will let Stephanie elaborate on financials. Thank you. And while we're

110waiting for Stephanie to come um on the agenda, there are some of the questions listed that we need to address. Does the board want administration to add a hundred thousand to the athletic budget so that all current athletic teams can operate at the 25-26 level or does the board want to have administration work with athletic director Gratz to reduce our current athletic offerings so that they can operate under the budget levels established for those other years? Um what do we want to do with the vacant properties, fund 80, legal counsel, communications director, and use of OPEB funds? Director Elwood. Thank you, um President Johnson. Um so, the team has been meeting and discussing things and one of the charges that Dr. Anderson gave us was to look at staffing and see where we could make

111some adjustments. We do have a number of open positions. Some positions had not been filled for a number of years, but a lot of the positions are filled with contracted staff, meaning that we do need those positions and we need but we need to take a look at where our district is going to be in one and two years so that we can adjust that staffing down. Now, that's going to have to take a a lot more conversations with principals and with staff that are affected to decide which positions we need to eliminate. Dr. Anderson did ask us to look at, you know, our own departments and things and see if we could come up with a million dollars of savings and I think we're about Correct me if I'm wrong, Lee, about halfway there

112with um just positions that have not been filled and that we've agreed that we could work around make work arounds and do without those positions. Um I think there's still some more work that we need to do as a team to go through those other positions. Um it's still work in progress, but we also need the board to make some decisions, too, though, about um like you have on the list, athletics and some of the other department decisions to give us some direction as to which programs and which departments we're willing to do without because if we add to one, we have to take away from something else. Thank you. Would it just be um most efficient for you tonight if we just went down this line and line of questions and worked through them?

113I think so, yes. >> Okay. So, let's take a look at the first one. Does the board want administration to add a hundred thousand to athletic budget or um reduce the um current athletic offerings? Mrs. Levy. Thank you. Um I just want to know how much of that question is realistic. And the reason I ask is because it's my understanding spring athletics, the seasons have already started. Um schedules are already out. I'm not sure if transportation contracts have already been solidified. Um so, I understand the question, but how much of that is realistic at this point? I think the question is more for 26-27 what the plan is. Yes, and and I'll just >> Unless of what it what we're going to do for 25-26 cuz you're right, we are already within the seasons. And

114Mrs. Levy, Dr. Anderson has guaranteed me that we are going to have a spring season this this he he's going to find the money to cover it. So, we're looking at 26-27. Perfect. Thank you so much. Um if if I could pivot, um I it would be helpful for me and maybe for others, but I don't want to speak for anyone else, um to hear from Mr. Gratz and find out like what places do within the athletics and activity budget do we have the most flexibility um to do cuts without impacting with with impacting the fewest number of students. And I did want to just jump in here that maybe this is a discussion for tonight and not a decision-making. And maybe the board needs more information through that'll come through this discussion. Thank you.

115>> So we can excuse me. So [clears throat] we can speak fairly broadly about our easiest locations to find dollars, right? In the You've seen the year-to-year comparisons. Roughly 318 318,000 roughly 321,000 and then a significant drop to 255 with no cuts. There has to be in order to even come close to that just for ballpark numbers. We have roughly 23 programs and 255,000. Rough math tells us about 10,000 per program. That's almost impossible you know with the cost of everything. That would include transportation that includes equipment apparel paying officials paying event workers all of those things. Our ask is simply basically adding roughly 5,000 per program. And again that seems like a lot but as an example equipment right now is one of our larger costs to buy a basketball that is you can

116buy a a relatively cheap basketball to buy a basketball approved by NFHS and WIAA about 85 to 95 dollars. If we wanted to buy each of our programs six basketballs we'd eaten up the entirety of their equipment budgets just to do that. So this ask is with cost rising. We have spaces to do to to make cuts but everything we do would be a reduction in events. It would be a reduction in staff equipment apparel which we're already what we believe is that bare bones. In one um large space we we've kind of have three options that we've surmised for the last 6 to 9 months. Um One is co-oping programs. Um Our numbers are hurting in certain spaces but regardless we still put out the same amount of money, right? We still have to

117pay pay the stipends of coaches still have to pay all those things. Co-oping can assist in reducing costs and on the other side also assist in increasing our numbers because it spreads the the dollars out over a per athlete basis. So um we still have the ability if we have uh running a program with 12 athletes as an example and we double the numbers it's the cost of running that program increases slightly but the cost to us decreases per athlete if that makes sense. And we can definitely provide more specific examples but that's one option. The question of co-ops can happen as soon as next year if we hit specific deadlines. We could co-op in certain spring sports in 27 the spring of 27 if we hit a a May 1st deadline for approval of

118co-ops. We have those we've we've vetted those out. I don't know that the you know the the board has already approved co-ops in the past for hockey. We had a conversation in our one of our last meetings about lacrosse co-ops and us joining a co-op. Um so those conversations have been had and we can continue to be had if if need be. Um the second piece is revenue generation sources. Um we feel we have a proposal internally on the table our office does to try to increase outside usage of outside spaces um and with that to also fundraise [snorts] um more efficiently internally. So to put money directly into our programs to you know condense concessions directly so our our student athletes are running it our students in you know MEO or student senate or

119something like that. Those dollars are going directly back in. Those would help then supplement some of the budgeting, right? So that 100,000 dollars maybe be decreases slightly. We're already paying for a great deal from fundraising dollars. It's not a good process but we're all making cuts so we have to find a way to try to supplement those things. Um and then the last piece is is not a recommendation. I'll I'll steal kind of some verbage from Dr. Anderson. Um it's not a recommendation but it's the best maybe of bad options and that's to eliminate middle school sports in it's in totality and that's 80 to 100,000 as proposed in Dr. Anderson's presentation and by eliminating that we're basically just reallocating dollars to the high school to offset that budget that that budget deficit that we

120currently have. And then it would be up to us to backfill with community partners. Our intent is to make athletics look almost identical through the use of community partners. YMCA Boys and Girls Club Rising Tide groups that have been established throughout the city you know boy youth football things like that to run those run those sports after school to allow for those student athletes to still have the feel after school sports. It just comes from a different funding source. That um proposal that I mentioned earlier with that would be even more important because we would need somebody to manage all those things and that is right now um community uses managed partly well I should say mostly by the business office and Jenny Miller and we assist in whatever way we can um but that's

121the pie has to get bigger. There's if we're going to ask more time out of those things there needs to be people power to be able to assist. So and again that proposal is on is on the table internally and we're is being discussed. So long long answer I apologize but those are the options that we've come up with. >> No that is great context. My initial question was was what areas do we have flexibility to cut? And it sounds like what you're proposing possibly is middle school sports. Um if I understood the information that you provided is that co-opting may be a way for us to maintain student participation but cut some of our cost. Is that accurate? >> It's possible. Right like I said we would have to do a a more accurate

122cost benefit. We we have a good idea from hockey already. Hockey is a massive cost sport to most schools running it solely with one district. We split ours over multiple still still allows our student athletes to participate but at a much lower cost to the district. So my concern is it sounds like we would need to to approve those co-ops by May 1st of this year for the next school year. Is there a plan to bring that before the board as an option Next. now and May 1st? It's possible. It's next spring. Again these discussions have been happening internally. We we absolutely can have that ready by our next board meeting and be voted on and approved. We we've kind of been working doing our I guess for lack of a better phrase doing my

123job and coordinating with all schools around us to see those opportunities and so they're there and available if we are prepared to do that prior to our next meeting. That that just simply takes a board once we kind of do our piece we submit all of our information to the WIAA. It's literally just a vote and signature after a discussion. Okay so just one of seven that's a lot of information. I think we need to do a budget workshop or series of budget workshops so we can get all of this information together. Again I'm very concerned if the board would need to make decisions about co-op by May 1st and it is April 7th. I'm concerned that we haven't already seen those options if a decision needs to be made so quickly but I would

124I would love for this board to get those opportunities scheduled so we can get more information and make a whole make holistic decisions when it comes to the budget. Thank you. Carol Fox. Um I think we have to do that. Um you know whether we're ready to do the rest of the budget or not. If you have to have it done by May May 1st we need to go ahead and start working on that. I don't see how we can be talking about cutting counselors and doing some of the other things we're talking about and not looking at cutting sports and making changes there. Not that we want to cut it totally but we need to be making changes. Um so I'm wondering we we were talking earlier about fund 80 whether some of this

125if we do the middle school plan and some of those kinds of things if we could move some of that into fund 80 if it's a a more general community kind of thing. You know maybe we could continue doing some of our things if we do fund 80 and and and it would open it up to kids who are in some of these other schools. Um so that to me is an option but if you've got a plan that you've been working on I think that needs to to come forward because we have to be looking at that. We can't we can't not look at that is my opinion. Tom Hankins. I agree that the time is of the essence especially May 1st looming very quickly so we need to make a decision. So Mr.

126Pratt says the uh wherewithal to get that in by May 1st and you know board action is needed. Uh more information I know Dan has been working on this for a while internally. Uh he said it out loud a couple times that we need to have the specs and he has them I believe but we just got to get it in front of us we can vote on it. And what we have just one more board meeting but you know special board meeting a what a budget board meeting it's got to be done. I had a question and this is not to Dan, it's to Stephanie and it's more about the overall. Um so we have this budget that we budgeted year after year for these positions that go unhired. What happens to those funds?

127I mean we talked about a four and a half million dollar To me we're over in our s- budget for staff. Is that correct or incorrect? If we're not hiring if we didn't fill those slots. The 30 slots that were s- are still available. Is it does that carry over then? It it doesn't carry over. It's a new budget year after year. What happens to those dollars that we budgeted? >> Mhm. So when you come to the year end, you're not really looking at the budget compared to your expenditures. You're looking at your expenditures versus your revenues. So when we came to year end last year and we had about $250,000 left, that was revenues versus expenditures. If we had taken our expenditures versus our budget, we would have about $2 million left because we

128had a revenue also of about 2 million for OPAB dollars to move in that we did not do. So when we start talking about all these positions that we had budgeted for, we also didn't have revenue to cover those. Does that make sense? Right, we didn't put OPAB in. So >> Correct, we did not put the revenue in. >> So at the year end it just washes out. It washes out, yep. Okay, thank you. Mhm. Megan Miller. Thank you. This is one of several questions. So I don't want to belabor this for too long, but I think what will cover some of the other bullet points. I really liked um what my colleagues have said about maybe s- cuz we love meetings. Um maybe scheduling well really just like a workshop style thing where we

129can sit down. I mean this isn't really conducive Mr. Gratz for us to have like, you know, a good in-depth meaningful conversation. We want to honor the work that you're doing and and really figure this out, right? And so I would be in favor of us you know, setting up a time to sit down and maybe just focus on athletics, like just focus on like, you know, maybe by program. Um I did have um I did have a question about partnership with the city. So I am in the dark about the city other than I I looked into their strategic plan and one of their strategic priorities and here I I just pulled it up again. It's like under goal one. There's a lot here. It's um goal one item B2. Support programming for youth

130and continue coordination between local agencies that provide services to youth and then they name just kind of broadly just um you know, some performance measures. I I don't think anybody's flush with cash right now, but like small things working together maybe can offs- maybe take some of the edge off of some of these shortfalls and what I'm wondering is um I'm curious to what extent you have or would be willing to explore if we were to be able to like utilize fund 80 if it's not too much of a tax burden right for folks um to be inclusive to help the city meet that goal. Is the city able then to invest some of their dollars in their strategic goal to invest in our in youth? So holistically we we've been working with all of

131our community partners incredibly closely including the city. Um the answer is we can um and we've part of this proposal that I've spoken on and if you're here like I you know, we can share that proposal with you all. Um it's it's working, you know, um it'll it can I can easily share that at any point. I was trying to go through the proper channels to make sure that um you know, everybody's aware and and wants to do these things. The city uh is has a vested interest obviously in facility sharing and facility uh usage um and a a variety of things. One thing we're not lacking is facility space right now. We have space everywhere um but I believe and I have since I've arrived that is underutilized and so we're working through that.

132Um the working closely with Ms. Elward and trying to navigate fund 80 because it is it's incredibly complex space and I have to trust our finance team to guide us through that. Um and so we you know, I I throw ideas at her all the time and she has to turn she's like, "Nope, that's not going to work." Or well, we can look into you know, like there's so it's very nuanced. So yeah, absolutely we are and that you know, established community partners that have been around a long time are are where we're going to start if if we there are cut anything. Um the reason that middle school continues to come up is because it's not governed by um a state association. So we can do a lot more. We have a lot more

133flexibility. At high school level if we cut a sport, we can't compete um because the WIAA governs all high schools in the state. So we it really creates issues with competition whereas middle school, we can still do these things excuse me, [clears throat] offer these things for our students to be able to do that. So hopefully that answers that question. I it does. I would love to see that put together, you know, whatever you have put together if we could see that and that way we can share it because that's part of our role as the board of like share that out with the community. So people don't just see like, "Oh, they're cutting middle school sports." We see, "We're transforming how we do middle school sports." Is um I want to be truthful and

134clear with how we communicate because these are all going to be painful measures. Even though what you you're sharing sounds great, bless you. Um we have to make sure that people understand what we're doing. So please do send that along and definitely appreciate it. Thank you. Joanne Ruhl. Yes, thank you. All right. Um couple things. So um every little bit helps. Are we so back when my children were in sports, there were um there were games, tournaments, whatever that we were part of that were kind of not part of our own um conference, but we did it just you know, it's kind of a fun thing. We get a little bit more play time. Um is that an area that we can take away a little bit to I mean with the the transportation, referees,

135all that stuff. It all adds up a little bit. Is that an area that we have a little [clears throat] wiggle room? >> Yeah, with our you know, again 20 plus programs cutting one event uh whether it be home or away per uh team would save in the ballpark of a thousand to fifteen hundred. And that you know, that equates to roughly 20,000, right? Um it it's it's absolutely possible. Um there's there's um negative implications in certain sports by doing that um because uh essentially um rankings and seeding is based on uh maximizing your games and so if we have one less than everybody else. So you know, again if that means if if us being hindered slightly by that, but it means saving a teacher or a counselor or whatever, I think everybody is

136going to be okay with that on my end. [clears throat] And so and including my you know, myself that that's absolutely something we're we're looking into and how we can get closer to navigating that. And possibly save a couple of sports that otherwise neces- I mean everything is I don't know. It's we've got to make cuts somewhere. Um I really So you were talking about we have underused facilities. I remember when we did the big referendum the last time around. Um all of our schools, the kitchens that we added on, they were all made in a certain way so that they would be able to be rented out to people or groups or whatever things that were going on too. So I love the idea of looking into how to um create some revenue with

137our our buildings pool our beautiful pool. We were supposed to be able to attract all these, you know, extra tournaments and um things there too. Our track. Um so there's there's places where I I see you've got some ideas on things that we can use and maybe uh help us out a little bit in that area. So I appreciate that. Thank you. We are almost at 8:00. I would entertain a motion to extend the meeting. So moved. Second. Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Amy Leavy. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor. >> I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Carol Fox. Um in since we just extended our meeting, but in the in the essence of time, I do think we probably do need to set up a separate workshop. Um because we we

138barely gone through that first item and we can't come to consensus on much of that either, but um you know, I I don't know what to do about some of these other ones. I don't know that I have enough information um and things like can we um uh should we consider uh posting for legal counsel? Um you know, we need more information about how much that would cost. Um if restoring positions using OPAB, the OPAB depends on how much money we need left, right? So I I I guess I really do think we need to kind of schedule a different time to to go through all of these things. Um and really have a thorough discussion about them and not start at 8:00 at night on a Tuesday night. Um except maybe if we can't

139get it soon enough, you know, if you've got to go ahead and do that stuff by May 1st, that might be a a little different, but some of these don't necessarily need they need a real thorough discussion. Um and I I'm not sure that um I think a a workshop might be a better time to really dig into some of these and maybe get some of the more information from some of the stuff that I was asking for previously in terms of how does this impact our programming and and what are some alternatives and what are we thinking about in terms of you know, we haven't filled those positions. People have been doing these this work. Um how difficult has it been? You know, do we need to uh get rid of some of the

140work. I mean, there's a lot of things to discuss about some of these things and and I think maybe we ought to um table the rest of that and schedule a workshop. Is that a motion? If it is, I'll second. I'll make it a motion. Okay, we have a motion by Carol Fox and a second by Who who was the second? Megan Miller. Any uh Amy Leavy. Thank you so much. Um I would just recommend instead of table, cuz that just kind of means throw it into the pit, that we postpone to some date prior to May 1st. Um and >> That's what I said. >> [laughter] >> Oh, well, you said table. So, if we can agree >> you heard me wrong. That's what I said, postpone. Okay. Um if we could agree and

141then ask Ms. Schope to kind of gather availability, that would be awesome. Thank you. All in favor? I. >> I. I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Our next agenda item is the consent agenda. Typically, there is no separate discussion on the item unless a board member so requests, in which event the item or items will be removed from the general order of business and considered in their normal sequence on the agenda. Are there any board members that would like any of these items removed? Mrs. Leavy. Thank you. Item D as in dog, please. Are there any other items other than D? Can I get a motion for approval of B, C, E, F, and G? So moved. Second. Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Amy Leavy. Any discussion? All in favor? I.

142I. I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Uh Item D, approval of meeting minutes, February 17th. Mrs. Leavy. Uh thank you. Just really quickly, on page seven, um right above number eight, consent agenda, it says move approval of accepting the Hendricks Family Foundation proposal, and then it gives some details. Um and then it says um that this will be postponed for two weeks, March 3rd, and conduct a final board workshop on this matter. Now, I had some technical difficulties, so I wasn't like present virtually for that portion of the meeting. But here's the thing. If if this is what actually happened while I was out of the meeting, then why did we vote again to move into contract if that had already been decided at this meeting? I don't remember that happening. Um

143Mrs. Schope, can you um help us out there? So, that was the motion that was made because somebody had made the motion to accept the proposal from the Hendricks Foundation in order to have the discussion. And then the board was concerned and Lisa First South was sitting in the audience because people were saying we should vote that down. And then somebody said, if we vote that down, are we voting is that considered a no vote? And she was sitting in the audience nodding her head. And so then people were talking about, well, how can we do that? And so then there was the amendment made to postpone for two weeks and do the one more workshop to try to get other questions answered and whatnot. So, here's my concern. If it happened, which I I

144trust you. Yep. But if it happened the way you're describing it, >> Yep. then the board voted to accept Well, and it's kind of that that's either here nor there. We already had that conversation. No reason to relitigate. To move forward with a contract that still has to come back before the board. >> Mhm. Then why in the world did we have this vote again after we had the workshop is my question. My guess is because it's taken us this long to get these minutes completely done and approved that after that workshop or at that workshop nobody remembered that that was the way the vote had gone down. That everybody was just remembering that you didn't vote yes for it, but you didn't vote no for it because the no would have put you into

145a no vote. So, I think that's why you re-voted to move forward with getting a contract in place, you know, having it come back from after both parties had worked on it, bringing it back for the contract to be approved because I don't think anybody realized what this vote was until And you went back and listened to it. >> and we listened to bits and pieces to get it completely down. Yeah. And I do believe because the subsequent vote was to uh have the district work with a the Hendricks Family Foundation to have a contract and bring it to the board, and that was the most recent vote. I think that's what takes precedence here. If I if I'm understanding this correctly. Well, fortunately, we voted on the same thing twice. >> Right. Because if

146it was different, there would have someone would have to rescind it. Um I I just was not aware that this was decided before the workshop. Um but thank you for going back and making sure that we are clear with what happened. Thank you. Mhm. Is there a motion to approve item D? So moved. Second. Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Carol Fox. Any other discussion? Here Go ahead. Yeah, thank you. So, um I am glad um board member Leavy that you brought that up because I did not catch that part of the minutes, so I did not do a careful job reviewing that. So, my apologies. Um I am uncomfortable with with I'd have to go back and honestly like I guess like rewatch it. I'm not trying to be a pain, Michelle, but I

147thought we had amended the motion cuz I remember Brian made the motion right out the gate, and then we had a much longer discussion cuz we talked about do we have to vote that down? Like I I know where you're at there. Where I thought we were with the amendment though was that that was what that where that language came from was like like we would agree to consider it like after the workshop because like that's what we had discussed. So, I'm not entirely comfortable voting for the minutes, to be honest. Like I just like I just would need and I apologize, it's my lack of being prepared cuz I didn't see that line. Um that's just not what's in my notes and how I think we proceeded, which like we we wouldn't have needed

148to meet then. The whole point of amending the motion was to say we wanted the opportunity to sit down before voting to move forward with contract or to create a contract. So, that's kind of just my position on it. Thank you. Mrs. Schope, can we get a roll call on this one? Thank you. Ready for the roll call? Okay. Carol Fox? I. Tom Hankins? I. Amy Leavy? Nay. Megan Miller? Nay. Brian Nichols? I. Joanne Roe? Nay. Tia Johnson? I. Motion carried four to three. Thank you. The next agenda item, human resources, exhibit A. Are there any open session questions regarding exhibit A? Are there any closed session questions regarding exhibit A? Well, I can't get my hand up my name is quicker than my name is open. Okay, go ahead. And actually, not a question.

149Um as board member Nichols mentioned, we have um I think eight folks on the recommendation that have given 25 years plus of service to our district. So, I just want to pause and say thank you. That's that's a lot of years and a lot of dedication and a lot of work, and I just wanted to pause for a moment to say Thank you. Is there a motion to approve exhibit A? So moved. Second. Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Carol Fox. Any other discussion? All in favor? I. I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. The next item, a motion may be made and a vote taken to convene the Board of Education into closed session pursuant to section 19.85 (1) (f) of the Wisconsin state statutes for the purposes of reviewing expulsion orders

150of the independent hearing office officer. Pursuant to section 120.13 parent one, parent E, 4.8 of the Wisconsin state statutes, the Board of Education shall upon review approve, reverse, modify the orders and pursuant to section 19.85 parent one, parent E of the Wisconsin state statutes relative to the purchase, sale of properties. >> [clears throat] >> Is this Am I reading the right one? I'm sorry. Maybe I was reading the older one. Board of Education uh 19.85 parent one, parent F considering financial, medical, social, or personal histories of disciplinary data or specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges against specific persons except where parent B applies, which if discussed in public would likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data

151or involved in such programs or investigations. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Amy Leavy. Any discussion? Mrs. Schopen. Joanne Ruehl? Aye. Brian Nichols? Aye. Megan Miller? Aye. Amy Leavy? Aye. Tom Hankins? Aye. Carol Fox? Aye. Tia Johnson? Aye. Motion carried unanimously. Thank you. We are going into closed session for the consideration of specific personnel concerns, review of independent hearing officers expulsion orders, and approval of closed session minutes. The Board of Education may reconvene to public session in order to take any action if necessary on items discussed in closed session. Thank you.