001Okay, this is a call to order for the Tuesday, November the 18th regular board meeting at 6 o'clock at 6:06. Mrs. Shopee, could we have a roll call, please? >> Yes. Amy Levy >> here. >> Tom Henkins >> here. >> Megan Miller >> present. Carol Fox >> here. >> Joanne Rule >> here. IA Johnson >> here. >> And Brian Nichols >> here. All members are accounted for. >> Yes. >> Can I get an approval of the agenda, please? >> So move. Second. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Okay. Agenda approved. >> We are fortunate tonight to have the folks from um Aldrich. Mr. Mr. Vro Vidyox has a whole crew here and we're welcome. We welcome you all to give us to do the pledge of allegiance.
002>> And I understand it's going to be in English and in Spanish. >> Yep. English. You guys ready? >> Absolutely. >> All right. Um introduce him first. >> Yeah, please do. >> Oh, here. Mr. Can you turn the mic on? microphone microphone on so the folks at home >> great told me that I didn't listen did today I all right there we go all right so uh we've got six sixth grader Luis Reyes Ortega there we go uh Brashard Norwood [applause] Fernando Castro Gutierrez [applause] Eric Ramirez Mendes 7th graders Ray Mendoza [applause] and Christian Vargas Yes. All right. These guys are awesome. They're part of our DLI program. So, they're going to get the uh pledge in Spanish first and then in English. Gentlemen, are you ready? >> Yes. >> Okay. Ready? Begin. The pledge
003in English is next. Gentlemen, you ready? >> Yes. >> All right. Ready? Begin. >> I pledge algiance to [singing] 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. Thank you. You may be seated. [applause] Nice. >> Thank you, Mr. Brightox. Thank you guys. >> Next item on the next item on the agenda is the board president report. And uh Mrs. Johnson, board President Johnson is going to give us the board report from afar. >> Thank you, Vice President Nichols. I am sorry to not be there in person today. Good evening and thank you for being here tonight. I want to express my appreciation for your continued interest and support of the you of the school district of
004bo. Since our last regular meeting, board members have remained active and engaged across our schools and throughout the greater bo community. On November 14th, the board of education appointed Dr. Wayne Anderson to serve as our interim superintendent. We are grateful for Dr. Anderson's extensive experience and for his willingness to step into his this role during an important time for our district. I also want to thank our district administrators for their thoughtful insights into the leadership qualities they believe are essential for serving our students, staff, and community well. We extend our sincere gratitude to the members of the interview community who joined us in this important process. Merryill principal Regina Mallister, Aldridge principal Joe Ryok, BEA co-president Melissa Roorbeck and Executive Director Dee Alanderez. Their contributions were invaluable. On November 11th, we joined schools across the
005nation honoring our veterans. Frusen Middle School hosted its annual Veterans Day breakfast where we were fortunate to welcome and honor veteran Mr. Fran Frusen himself. Attendees enjoyed a beautiful performance from the Aldridge Fusen Middle School Jazz Band complete with impressive improvisational pieces. We remain deeply thankful to all who have served our country with courage and dedication. We also celebrated an important moment in our district with the Johnny Watts celebration commemorating the naming of basketball court in the Barkin Arena. Mr. Jim Simmons is with us tonight and will share more shortly. It was a joyful event featuring outstanding music by Alex Vance and the Esquire 2. We were honored to have several of Johnny Watson's descendants present to share in the celebration. Thank you, Vice President Nichols, for presiding over tonight's meeting. This concludes the president's
006report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Board President Johnson. The next item is uh 2A upcoming events announcements and announcements and board member Tom Henkins is going to enlighten us on that. >> Thank you, Vice President. Good evening everyone. These are the announcement for Tuesday, November 18th. Please check out our updated website at boyschools.net for continued news and events. The boy Memorial High School's expo is tomorrow, November 19th, from 5 to 7:00 p.m. There will be no school for students beginning Wednesday, November 26th through Friday, November 28th due to due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Our future board meeting dates include Monday, December 1st, policy and human resource committee at 400 pm at the Kolak Education Center. Tuesday, December 2nd, the Business Operation and Finance Committee meets at 5 PM followed by the regular board meeting at
0076 PM and as uh as I say on NVC and there's good news tonight. Converse principal Mrs. Leam Malot has completed her educational platform to earn her superintendent license. So the STB is proud to have Dr. Dr. Leah Malot as our converse principal and look forward to our to Dr. Merott serving our district now and hopefully in the future on her career. Thank you very much Dr. Leah and congratulations. [applause] We want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving with family and friends. This concludes the announcements for tonight. >> Thank you, board member Henkins. You're welcome, >> Mrs. Mrs. Rude. >> Yes, thank you. Um, I'm not sure of the It's 6:15 tomorrow night at the Baloy Memorial Expo. They also are having something that the theater department is doing, a one act play.
008I don't Do you remember more about that, Miss Pel? >> Yeah. >> Yep. But I don't I don't remember the name of the play or anything, but I and it's free. I know that. [laughter] >> Yeah. At the Blood Wedding. Yeah. So, they're doing a oneact play and so um people could check that out, too. >> Thank you, board member Rue. Okay. The next item uh on the agenda is 3A and recognition of Gaston, Altridge, and Fusen Schools for report report card status. We'd like to recognize and show appreciation for the work of the buildings that received a rating of meets expectations on the Wisconsin Department of Report Cards. Gaston Elementary principal Fonda Lewis, Aldridge Middle School Principal Joe Vidox, and Fusen Middle School principal Dr. Ryan Stingle. Would you guys would you guys mind
009coming up to the microphone and just saying a few words? That's that's quite an quite an accomplishment and we we are so pleased to recognize you tonight. >> Thank you so much for having us. Can you hear me now? There we go. Um, I have just a few words. Um, so I'm Fonda Lewis, principal at Gaston School. And thank you so much for recognizing the Gaston community for meeting expectations again this year. Our staff truly deserves to be commended for what they do every single day. Um, their hard work is the heart of all of the success. Um, everything we've achieved really reflects a team effort at Gaston. We have a hands-on deck approach and we are super proud of this achievement. However, we're not stopping there. We want to keep our pedal to the
010metal and we have big goals for attendance and reading and math proficiency and we're going to keep working together to achieve those goals. So, thank you so much [applause] Joe Vox, principal at Aldrich. Thanks for asking me to say a few things. Um, you know, when you think about how a school can achieve three stars or four or five or whatever it ends up being, right? And it's a lot like a a great deep dish pizza. There's just a lot going on, you know? There's is not just one thing. I mean, I get to be up here and and talk and, you know, the chef usually gets all the credit for the for the good pizza and all, but um my only job in this whole gig is to just make sure that um it's
011an environment where students can learn and teachers can teach. That's that's it for me. I try and get the best teachers that I can get uh and maintain that environment and and they do the rest. And so when you think about all the different ingredients that make something tasty and wonderful, right, you've got great kids that work hard and take ownership. Uh we've got families that participated and helped helped their kids learn. Um and I want to draw my attention to the staff. Uh because I've always felt [clears throat] I felt that uh I've got a staff that I'm so proud of and I and I tell them all the time I think they're the best they're the best staff I've ever had. Um, and I challenge always challenge people come in anytime, any place,
012anywhere. Pick the classroom. Let's go in and see what we see, right? And, uh, when I do that, I know I can. I'm confident. Or I wouldn't do it. I promise. I can I can open the door, you know, and you kind of look in there and you see the thing just running like a machine and I go, "Yeah, there's there's no teaching and learning that goes on in the school district." And then we laugh because it's that's a joke. Um, those classrooms are full of kids that are learning, teachers that have worked hard to prepare. Uh, and the secret to the success at Aldrich is I've got great teachers. And so, uh, kudos to them. Kudos to my families and my kids. Thank you. [applause] All right. Ryan Stangle, principal at Fusen. Good evening
013and thank you for the opportunity to share just some of the reasons why Fzen Middle School has earned a three-star rating on our state report card. Overall, this rating is a reflection of a shared belief that every student who walks through our doors can grow, achieve, and thrive when given the right support. Our growth scores tell the real story. across grade levels. We were up from the 20th percentile two years ago to the 34th percentile one year ago to the 47th percentile when compared to all their all other schools in the state this last year. I want to point out that notably our students with disabilities showed the highest growth in reading this year when compared to all other groups of students. This is a testament to their determination as students and our special education
014staff who tirelessly find ways to best support and teach our kids. Fuszen students demonstrated strong academic growth across grade levels, proving that learning is happening every day in our classrooms. Even when students enter at different academic levels, they are making meaningful gains. This does not happen by accident. This is a result of of strong instruction, targeted interventions, and our teachers who refuse to give up on any student. Our school climate and behavior systems have improved. A goal that we tell all of our students is this. Teachers teach, students learn. We cannot let anything get in the way of that. We have implemented consistent expectations through our soore expectations S O A R standing for safety, ownership, achievement, and respect. We've improved supervision, and routines, and focused on building stronger relationships with all of our students.
015As a result, classrooms are more focused, transitions are smoother, and students spend more time engaged in learning. We have worked to increase student and family engagement. Just some of the family events we've had so far include Hispanic Heritage Night, our Veterans Day breakfast, our National Junior Honor Society Cancer Awareness Run. We did a whole school picture and wreck afternoon on the third Friday count day and our recent wreck night. We are striving to have better communication. to provide better communication or are doing bi-weekly newsletters, Skyward emails, school messaging to help our families and students be more informed, more involved, and more connected to what is happening at Fusen. I want to uh give special recognition to our staff members, teachers, pair professionals, special educators. We have a wonderful student services staff, our coaches, our secretaries,
016security personnel, lunch staff, custodians, everyone in the building. I also want to recognize who happens to be here, Bryce Gustoson, our acting assistant principal, who has stepped into this role on short notice and has flourished as a building leader. Every staff member at Fusen has played a critical role in this improvement. At the beginning of last year, we were severely understaffed. We had to pull together and find a way to put teachers in front of kids. There were tough moments and there was turnover, but we rebuilt. I'm proud to say that nearly all of our staff returned for the 2526 school year. The staff retention has provided consistency in instruction and built a culture of togetherness. Our frozen staff show up every day with a positive attitude. There are still often days when staff are
017required to give up one or even two preps to sub for those who are absent and every time they step in with grace and professionalism. I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our frozen students for the tremendous growth they have shown this last school year in their effort, their behavior, the way they care for one another. They have stepped up in meaningful ways and we are proud of you and we notice the difference you are making every single day. So keep it up Falcons because they are the heart of this school. In closing, we still have much more to accomplish. Meeting expectations is an important milestone, but it is not our finish line. Frozen is moving in the right direction. Our students are learning. Our teachers are teaching. And I can feel
018a shift in our own narrative. We can feel the community, district leadership, and school board standing behind us. We must stay focused on growth, consistency, and relationships with students and families to keep moving forward. Fisen is proud of how far we've come and we've we are even more excited about where we are heading next. So, thank you very much [applause] again. Congratulations and thank you all for being here and and for the great words that you shared with us. Absolutely. >> Um I've been studying very hard um the these individual school report cards and it's very obvious that these three schools have worked very very hard on their growth and all of the things that they uh make a wriggly difference. And I'm I'm very proud of all of you and your schools. your your
019staffs are obviously working tremendously hard and you're creating a wonderful team environment for for all of your kids. I do want to particularly call out um Aldridge a little bit because the the growth scholars for Aldridge were phenomenal. >> Yes. >> Um they were absolutely phenomenal. um they um the growth scores were high and when we when you look at the growth scores compared to other 68 schools it was 83.1% um same or higher that's a phenomenally a phenomenal number and you you're leading the way and showing everybody in the school district of boy that this is this is what we can do and you were one point away from exceeding expectations. So, I don't care whether the state thinks that you've exceeded expectations. We certainly do. So, um we we appreciate all your hard
020work and the efforts that you've put in to to creating opportunities for growth for our students and do go back and tell all your teachers that and your staff, everybody on your staff that we appreciate what they do. >> Board member [clears throat] Miller. >> Thank you. Um, I'd like to echo, I mean, tremendous work. Uh, definitely really appreciate the three of you coming here tonight. Um, I do have to share a comment that my eighth grade frozen student um, relayed to me for like the two minutes that I was able to see her today before I came here. Um, you know, she put in my mind that this is a both and conversation. We are we are very proud of our schools that are hitting these marks and we are very proud of all
021of our students and families that are working really hard. She said she got a sticker on her locker today and she's like that was cool and all of my classmates are working hard and growing and giving their best. And so I just wanted to bring that perspective too. We have an outstanding school district and I know that your uh you and your colleagues are all working toward the same goals and um bringing all your talents here and I'm just very proud of all of our students, teachers and staff in our district. Thank you so much. >> Board member Hankens. >> Yes. I'd like to I echo what everybody said and congratulate all three schools and all the all the schools that have done well. Um Miss Joe Vidox, if you could come to the microphone
022and share your school within a school and the success rates you have success rate you have had with that and uh I mean I don't think it's gets told enough how well that system has worked and maybe we should have more of it within our schools. Thank [clears throat] you. All right. Well, I'm speaking off the cuff here. Um but um you know, I I love what we provide students in our school within a school. Um you know, again, the the ingredients are I provide a place where the kids know the expectations. Um and they can they can learn and my teacher can teach. And I I hired a great one. Mrs. Woodman is outstanding. She's um she loves the kids. She works hard to give them exactly what they need. she gets to know
023each of them personally. Um, and it's such a successful program. This is anecdotal, right? But, um, lots of the kids, uh, will want to start the next year there because they've had such a complete and utter 180°ree turnaround. And some of them come, you know, with some some really hefty resumes in terms of, you know, referrals, ODRs, misconduct, all all all the things [snorts] and [clears throat] when they get there, um, you know, and the success, I didn't really mention this either when I was talking about the school, but certainly with a school within a school and at Aldrich, and I've never not been supported by by KEK, by the people that I work for. um they've always supported the things I needed to get done to create the environment where my teachers could teach
024and my kids could learn. Um so, you know, without that I I couldn't do it, right? We couldn't pull it off. Um but to that point that the most important So, let me start with that. Options are so important. Um, right now if we don't have that school within a school, what are my options for a kid whose misconduct is so disruptive that wherever that kid is, there's a high risk that teaching can't occur and learning can't occur. It's affecting all the other kids in the classroom. Well, I can try and expel them, right? I can maybe get them in a virtual classroom, virtual school, but an [snorts] actual place where there's a person who cares for them that can help them uh work with them in an alternative setting that's truly alternative because not
025every every person's built for eight hours a day, right? And so our school is four and there's there's two hours of core instruction. There's a there's a full hour of um SEAL, social emotional learning that happens. uh you know in the normal classroom there's there's 20 minutes a day 21 minutes I think it is 24 21 something like that you know there's an hour a day every day in the alternative school and she's masterful at it right and so those kids get a real chance to discover strategies um about how to be successful um they get to know themselves better get to know um the things that make for success in our world and it's just it's a wonderful opportunity for them to get all of that um [clears throat] but the reason it's successful
026like I said is because I've got a great teacher who knows exactly what she's doing but on the other hand every student in there also understands that you know this is the last chance saloon right I mean this this was in place of an expulsion and they cannot continue to do the things that they did in the regular classroom or it won't last long and that's the intake meeting and I sell the intake meeting because it's true as the greatest opportunity they'll ever have to fall in love with ever like last great chance to fall back in love with school, you know, but the other side of that is if you choose to act like you have been and all the things, right, it won't last long. It won't be much of an opportunity. And
027I'm again don't have the exact data with me, but say if we've had 50 kids in there the last four and a half years or five, however long it's been, um 47 incredibly successful turnarounds, absolutely stunning, right? You wouldn't even believe it's the same kid. Now, going back into the school setting, right? I mean, one of the reasons it's so successful is is because all of the triggers have been neutralized. It's it's very anesthetized, but that's what they need, right? And so, they they feel that success for the first time. It's a great opportunity them for fall in love with school because of those things. Um, and so the options that are at the middle school, there's 10 seats in there and they're golden seats. You know, what does the elementary school have? you know,
028and they they have similar behaviors and less options. And I don't think I'm sure I couldn't be a principal of an elementary school. I wouldn't know what to do. Um, so, you know, I think if think think of just 10 10 seats even for the elementary school, what a difference those those 10 could make if they're getting what they need and they're out of that just incredibly massively significantly disruptive force in all that they're a part of. Right? It has an effect on every student now that doesn't have to deal with that. Every teacher that doesn't have to manage that because nobody's cut out to to manage that kind of a kid, right? And so this is an opportunity for them to to learn a better way and to fall in love with school and
029hopefully change things. Um it's a far better option than than expulsion or in my I mean virtual school is great for some kids. I'm not saying there's a blank statement, but I think it's it's the best option that there is. And so to only have 10 seats to me seems um like if that was increased, if there were more opportunity for for us to use that option, our success would would increase because all of that disruptive force would be gone and it has a huge impact on teaching and learning. Um do you have any questions or anything specifically you you want me to talk about? >> No, I just wanted you to share that with the public and the board. and what a wonderful job you do there. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yes,
030I concur. Thank you, Mr. Friedox. Great, great program, great leadership. Thank you. Next item is uh public comment. Mrs. Schop, do we have any public comments tonight? Mr. the show. >> Um I have >> Yep. I'm sorry. I have two um that are via email and I don't know if there are any in the room. I think Tom was going to try to grab those if there were any that had filled out cards in the room. >> Well, while while Tom looks, why don't you go ahead and read the >> ones that are uh electronic. >> Okay, we'll do. Um, excuse me, Brian or I'm sorry, uh, Vice President Nichols, before she begins, is somebody keeping time. >> Uh, no, the uh, >> it's right there, guys. I got you. >> You got it. >>
031Okay. Thank you. >> No, this is the wrong one. I think >> it's probably over. It's probably >> Check on Michelle's desk. Okay. >> You have a disclaimer you're supposed to read. >> No, I'm good. >> Is she ready? >> She's just going to do it on her computer. There are no uh >> public comments in person. So, >> okay. >> Go ahead. Thank you. All right. Yep. Good evening, SDB leadership. My name is uh Dr. Brittany Keys. I'm a bloit resident, former city council vice president, and parent of two children attending Tat Elementary. I am writing with serious concerns about the safety of the school buses the children in our district are riding, as well as the decisions and management of funds surrounding bus upgrades for our students. Blight Elementary students just participated in
032Girls on the Run. It's a terrific program supported by caring and beautiful humans who empower our girls and work for the SDB. On Saturday, November 8th, parents, students, and teachers got on the buses before 7:00 a.m. to go to the race northwest of Madison. It was pretty chilly as we got on the bus. When I checked, it was 39° outside. The bus blocked the wind, but remained cooler. And then, as the bus got on the highway, it felt drafty. Looking up, I noticed the window in front of me was not fully closed. Neither was the one across from me. A fellow parent tried to close it, but it fell back open. Looking up and down the bus, we counted at least 13 windows that did not close. This is very cons concerning, especially with winter
033approaching. While I am very aware of the SDB financial hardships and struggles and the history with state funding, I am also aware of the funds awarded nearly 9 million from the EPA to upgrade at least half of the fleet uses. I appreciate that there are many uncertainties and it would have taken a fair amount of problem solving to determine where to park, charge, etc., but I have to say I was confident that SDB would figure it out to benefit our kids. I was absolutely shocked to learn the district accepted the funds and then decided to return them, leaving our children without with old diesel buses whose windows do not close. Not only was I shocked, but an entire coalition of professional organizations that support school districts in getting these funds and employees from the EPA
034were shocked. There is a group that meets monthly to support Wisconsin schools in this effort and no one from SDB [clears throat] reached out to them before this decision was made. In a time of such financial hardship and failing equipment, how could the STB leadership h hand back almost 9 million that would have immediately benefited the health and well-being of our children? So I ask, what is the solution to provide safe and adequate transportation for our children given the district's financial strife after returning these funds? At minimum, I invite every single schoolboard member and admin to ride with our students during the winter to an event, any event that is over an hour away. Once you complete this ride, please report out during board member comments about your experience. Families and students will at least
035appreciate that you put in that effort. I hope to receive a follow-up phone call at your convenience to to discuss how immediate improvements to the transportation for our SDB students can be made. And then I believe the next one is um she sent photos of the bus with 13 plus windows that did not close on a 30°ree day that elementary children rode to Wanuki and back. Um, she asked that I share the photos with all schoolboard members and SDB leadership. Again, as a concerned parent, I would appreciate prompt followup to ensure all of the children in the SDB have safe temperature control transportation to all of their school related events. So, if the board would like me to, I can forward that email to all of you and to the executive team and um interim
036superintendent Dr. Anderson. Yes. Yes. >> Those were the two that I had. >> I'm sorry. >> Those were the two emails that I had. >> Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Show. >> You're welcome. >> Okay. The next item is 5A, introduction of interim superintendent. And board president Johnson, you're gonna take that away. >> Yes. Thank you, Vice President Nichols. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for being here tonight and for your continued commitment to the school district of Lloyd. As many of you know, our district is navigating a period that brings both challenges and opportunities. We are facing staffing shortages, concerns regarding academic achievement, financial pressures, behavioral issues, and a need to rebuild community confidence. These realities are not easy, but they are also not insurmountable. Our strength has always come from our people, our students, our
037staff, our families, and our community partners. Tonight, we take an important step toward stability and renewed direction. On behalf of the board of education, it is my honor to introduce and welcome Dr. Wayne R. Anderson, who has been appointed to serve as the interim superintendent of the school district of Dr. Anderson brings more than 40 years of experience in public education, including over three decades in district leadership. He has served as interim as superintendent or interim superintendent in multiple school districts across Wisconsin, Mount Horb, Williams Bay, Belmont, McFarland, Parkview, my alma mater, and right here in Bo. His previous service as our interim superintendent in 2022 provides him with valuable insight to our district's strengths, needs, and direction. What makes this appointment especially meaningful is the tremendous leadership experience Dr. Anderson brings with him. The
038school district of boy has not hired a superintendent with prior superintendent experience outside of Dr. Anderson himself for at least 15 years, possibly even more than 20 years. At a time when our district is seeking stability, clarity, and steady guidance, bringing in a leader with proven superintendent experience is both significant and reassuring. Dr. Dr. Anderson holds a PhD in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin Madison and has served as an adjunct professor professor in school business administration, educational finance and leadership preparation. He has been recognized through numerous honors including the WDA distinguished service award and the excellence in leadership award from the univers from the university council of educational administration. His leadership philosophy, an equal among equals, is rooted in trust, collaboration, and respect for the expertise and humanity of every person in the
039organization. His calm, supportive, people centered approach align with what our district needs most, stability, empathy, and a focus on rebuilding trust. Dr. Anderson understands the challenges before us. He has led districts through financial restructuring, staffing shortages, academic improvement efforts, and referendum planning. He knows how to strengthen systems while valuing the people who makes those systems work. Most importantly, he believes deeply in the potential of every student and of every educator. Tonight marks a new chapter. Not because one person will solve every issue, but because leadership grounded in integrity, experience, and collaboration can help bring our entire district together. As we begin this transition, I want to reaffirm what the board of education knows to be true. Our staff are capable. Our students are resilient. Our families care deeply. And our community wants our schools to
040succeed. Dr. Anderson's role is to support that success to steady our path and to work alongside all of us as we rebuild pride and confidence in the school district of Deote. It is now my pleasure to officially welcome Dr. Anderson. We look forward to partnering with you as we support our students, uplift our staff, and strengthen the future of our schools. Dr. Anderson, welcome back to Boy. [applause] >> Well, thank you very much for the very kind words and starting to blush up here. Um, but what I do want you to know is I am thrilled to be back. Uh my experience last time allowed me to work with a a great deal of professionals in each of the buildings and I did tell my wife I said I don't plan on coming out of
041retirement but maybe this one time there's a special reason to come out. So I'm glad to be here. I'm glad to work with you because I think one of the things that's the most important and I do not come here with answers but I do come here with the ability to work with others to find the solutions to our problems and to advance us forward but that's only part of a larger hole. So thank you for everyone and I'm glad to be back. >> Thank you Dr. Anderson. It's great to have you and um thanks for those great words, board president Johnson. Okay, the next item on the agenda is 5B, recap of the Johnny Watts court dele dedication. Excuse me, Mr. Jim Simmons. Thank you. Put on my tassel first. Interim Superintendent Wayne Anderson,
042Board President Tina Johnson, [clears throat] board vice president Brian Nichols, and the members of the board of education. Um this is from the uh state of Wisconsin the office of the governor. This came to the boy historical society two days before the program. I'll just read the last paragraph. Now therefore I Tony Ivers governor of the state of Wisconsin do hereby commend the school district of boy for recognizing and honoring the athletic feats and societal impact of Johnny Watts. And with everyone involved, he hopes everyone has a success successful event based done on the 3rd day of November 2025. Tony is governor. There was a it mentioned that I was going to James Simmons, that's correct, director of the animal music clinic since 1957. um organized the Johnny Watts. I'm coming back to that word
043organized. Um purpose to recap the dedication of the high school basketball court after the beloved Johnny Watts. Going back to the word organized, I didn't organize anything. What I did was approach the school board with the word update and using the combination of thinking beyond now. I had confidence in the school board from the beginning that that mission statement to the Watts family is alive and breathing. They had waited almost a hundred years and when I met them four years ago they weren't bitter they just they said as I mentioned when I sat down with them at Applebees why are you doing this and I better have a pretty quick answer and it was to help inspire the youth of blo they were happy with that answer and they said well Jim if you hadn't
044said something we would have thanked thank you for the dinner and that would have been the end of it if they had not liked my response. So when I mean organize, I didn't I gave that to this board not right away four years ago. It was to build unfortunately sometimes in African-American history. You have to go back. The facts are there. But Johnny grew up in a time in the 1930s where it was not are we are we there yet? No. Things are improving. We try to follow Martin Luther King's dream. I have a, you know, someday you'll be judged by the content of your character, not the color of your skin. We're getting there. We're not there yet. But I can tell you that the Watts family, the reaction, I had a call over
045the weekend. To them, it was perfect. Now there's quotes out there that you cannot achieve perfection, but I can tell you that this bloit board and the the people involved in this whole process were able to take this story and and through me checking with the Watts family, they produced to in their minds a program that they think satisfied their concept of who Johnny was. And but that's not the end. I'm not that smart. The thinking now, but now the beyond comes because on November 21st at 100 p.m. in the little theater at boy Memorial High School, students of the high school staff and the art department are going to begin to write the story of Johnny in book form for the boy p for the boy school district library. Of course, they'll be passed
046on you for your approval. But that wasn't my idea. that came from the staff. Why don't we how do we make this live on? And so when these students come to Bitmo High School and um Emily, you remember what you said at the end of the assembly? What did you say, Emily? >> Well, I like putting a principal on the spot. >> I mean, I when I was in the boy public schools, I had Cornell Johnson at Parker and John Smiley at Lincoln and at Memorial, I had Royal Everl Camp. I would couldn't have talked to a principal put ask a principal a question. So but Emily when she said enough said that is what the students in 1934 put under Johnny's picture. All the students wrote about each other but when they got to
047Johnny's picture he they couldn't write anything. All they could say was enough said. So hopefully that and I should read what Kyle Weaver said which the family in Kyle Weaver he spoke for the family that night that day and he said being from Bo it's built into your DNA. Weaver said find what you're good at what you love and strive to be your best at it only you know what that is. So I I brought and the students at the high school made this plaque. This is passed out to 50 or 60 people. I don't I'll leave this with you tonight. This is for the school board because this was an alumni driven event from the beginning. So if the students anybody um wants to know about the document of thinking beyond now, it's alive
048and breathing. and I go to the Boyd School District. Enough said. I don't have to explain anything else. Enough said. Thank you very much, [applause] >> Mr. Simmons. I know we've probably said this before, but we can't say it enough. Thank you so much for your dedication, your perseverance, and your attention to detail for all these I don't know how long it's been now, but I I I started on the board two and a half years ago, and I think you came to the board not long after I started. So, you've been at this for a while, and it and it p and it paid off, for lack of a better term, but thank you for that. >> Thank you for that. Thank you. I just wanted to echo those words and I will um
049I look forward to continuing to receive emails from you. You have done such a phen I love like looking down at my screen and I got your name up there. The way that you have kept all of us informed and just the depth of outreach and like true care and concern that you've that you've given this is absolutely inspiring. I would just truly thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Uh our next item is student board report 5C. And it is my pleasure to welcome McKenna Rounds as our new uh student board representative to the school board. and if you would introduce yourself more and give us a little bit of your background and then share with us some things from the high school. Thank you. >> Hi everyone, I'm McKenna Rounds. I'm a senior
050at Boyet Memorial High School. Um, I chose to be the student board rep because I am really interested in politics and I think it's really interesting how um you know as students we can um impact local politics. So, um it's al it's also to help the school and give um you know what, uh the students think uh cuz sometimes students feel like they aren't being listened to, but my position proves that we are being listened to. Um I'm involved in many clubs but um the first one that I have on my list of things that I would like to talk about is um NHS. Um so National Honor Society is um an organization that um involves service to our communities. Um and uh Mr. Rondo says that it is um 1% of our school population,
051which is really impressive that these students, including me, um get to be involved in. Um we did a blood drive a few weeks ago and last night we inducted our juniors. Um I don't know the exact amount. I probably should have counted that [clears throat] before I came here, but um it was quite a few. So, it's really impressive. You have to have a 3.5 GPA or higher. Um and you also have to um have good recommendations from teachers like it. A survey gets sent out and um you have to like the the staff has to rank you. So, um it's really impressive and um and my next thing is the Johnny Watts dedication. Um I think that especially for students, it's um really impactful. Like it's inspiring, too. Like we rarely get to hear
052how historically important bo is especially the high school before we were told that this was happening I had never heard of Johnny Watts and I really like his story like it's really really inspiring for many reasons. So I would also like to thank Mr. Simmons again. Um, the next is the fall play, um, Rossom's Universal Robots. Um, I went to go see that. That was, it was a good play. Really good. They, um, I know that they worked really, really hard. They worked for weeks. Um, especially last week, they stayed so late after school. [laughter] Um it was really hard on them and I know that they are really proud of themselves. Um and they should be so you know um and then conferences this year conferences were changed up at the high school. Instead
053of um everyone being in the fieldhouse uh teachers held conferences in their own classrooms. Uh and I think that really went well. Um, several teachers reported to me that they had record numbers of families coming to see them. Um, next is winter sports. Um, so the winter sports that have started now are boys and girls hockey, boys and girls basketball, boys swim, wrestling, and cheer. Uh, the cheer for boys basketball. Um, my personal favorite is hockey. Um, um, next is that the Denim and Diamonds dance was just announced. Um, I haven't heard much from the students about that. I haven't heard how we all feel. Um, it sounds cool though. Expo night is tomorrow night. Um I don't remember what time that is. Uh sorry, but um 4 to 6. Okay, 4 to 6. Um
054it's a really good opportunity for students and um everyone really like the community too. Um it'd be a really good idea to go. Yeah. Yeah. Um freshman class officers were recently elected. Um, next week is Thanksgiving break. Um, tonight is the fall choir concert. Um and um I had written I had written down after you said that Blood Wedding um uh is also the um one act play that took our theater to state I believe. Um yeah they went to state. The the showing of blood wedding is uh a fundraiser event too. So, um you guys all should really go and support the theater cuz they they do an amazing job. And um in about two weeks time, I think um they are holding um workshops for uh their spring musical Mean Girls. Um you
055guys should go see that too. I love that movie. So, but um thank you all for listening to me. >> Thank you, McKenna. We look forward to seeing you next next meetings. >> Next item is the uh committee committee recaps. First one is teaching, learning, and equity community committee meeting. >> Thank you. Um tonight we had Terresa Moretch um present about our um give us updates on um our curriculum that we use for English language arts at kindergarten through fifth grade level as well as the four 4K curriculum that is used and um how we are addressing the needs that we have um based on uh the legislation act 20 and um our testing that we use and then how we um meet the needs of students that have been identified as needing reading plans.
056Um then we also had an update um since the automotive center needs to be relocated. Um so we have a pretty extensive plan of um what that will take and the options that are available to us. And then um we have something moving to action items tonight for the full board with high school course changes and updates. And that was it. Thank you chairperson Root. Next up is policy and HR committee meeting. Uh we met on yesterday afternoon at four o'clock and uh we had a full full quorum and Dr. Anderson joined us and we we had open and close session on the exhibit A and approved and moved forward to the board tonight um for further approval and that ex that's that's the that one and the next one is legislative update from Mr.
057board member Tom Henkins. [sighs and gasps] Thank you Vice President Nichols. Um I'm very uh I'm happy to that uh Dr. Kimhheart assist me with putting this together or to give him all the credit in the world. Uh it's a very extensive one. We got it in our packet and uh there's much going on in legislative session. I don't want to read this thing verbatim. Um I know there's some key things going on and this assembly bill six. Um what they're trying to do is take uh control of the money spent to uh to not from local and give it back to the state. Uh and I know it's been um opposed by a lot of different people and I think that we would be opposed to that. Um I think uh Dr. Underly has
058also come out and not support this um the cell phone issue. I'm going to ask uh Mrs. Pel to give us a report next month on our cell phone usage and how we're complying with that. I know she's keeping an eye on it. Um there's so much going on and uh I've asked uh just recently asked uh Megan Miller, my cohort, and who used to be the legislative if she would give her overview on on what has been presented because there's too much in this packet for me to read. Thank you. >> No, you're fine. Um, thank you so much, Mr. Henkins. I think you did a really nice job. Um, I will just, um, want to articulate something really quick, too. On the very front, um, there are some key legislative issues, and the
059first heading is school finance and funding. Um, one of the bullet points has to do with special education funding. Um, and there is something that just, um, I just read about yesterday. So, if I could provide some context and update, um, the original bullet point uh, reads special education funding. There is a persistent push to increase state funding for special education to reduce the financial burden on local property taxes. Districts are currently reimbured for only a fraction of their actual costs. Um I want to update that to to read that as of yesterday. Um, you know, state leaders promised that special education reimbursement for public schools would reach 42% this year on average, which as a side note is not even half the 90% rate guaranteed to students who attend private schools on a special
060needs voucher. Now, it is it was released yesterday um that the estimate is now below 35%. So that is um just an additional unfortunate piece of news that I felt the need to share since you had the special education funding u mentioned there. Uh other issues just you know restate some context around you know uncertainty around federal funding um the continuation of just sort of like a a nonfunctioning state model um because public education is um has been chronically underfunded for three decades. Um, a little bit more in Assembly Bill Six. Essentially, the purpose of that is to mandate that all school boards uh pass budgets that direct 70% of their spending toward um direct instruction in classrooms, which is not ter I mean, it's that's what we're here for. Um, I think where the
061opposition comes in is like what each district looks like in terms of what is direct instructional costs can vary. It creates opportunities for um for, you know, challenging um local agency. Certainly, you know, different communities have different needs. Um even different schools within our own district, right, have different needs. And so, um we really want to make sure that all of our educators, like you just heard from from three of our outstanding principles um this evening, they have the best understanding of like where our resources need to go, like what their teachers need, what their kids need, and that's what they communicate to us through our administration, and that's how we try to build our budgets. And so that's something that we would want to continue to be able to do. Um lastly, the cell
062phone use thing. Uh we're already in good standing on that because we do have a cell phone policy and um you know, that's the struggle again every every district, but um school district's ahead of the game on that. There are some upcoming bills to watch for that I think I think are in committee right now, Mr. Henkins, but correct me if I'm wrong. Um there's a piece on cursive writing. Um and so like that would be something too where like I'm sitting up here writing in cursive right now. I'm a big fan of cursive, but you know that also you have to allocate instructional time and is that reflected on state testing which impacts our report cards. So it becomes a complex issue. Um requiring civics for elementary and high school. I think again our
063school district is well ahead of the curve on that because uh we just heard earlier in committee our reading uh elementary curriculum has actually been updated to shift its focus more heavily towards civics and science for non-fiction reading. Um but of course there's always room to do better, right? Um, but we already have a lot of those pieces. Um, and I think the other thing, yeah, I mean, and and there's just some some legislation around, you know, wedge issues that really have nothing to do with instruction. But does anybody u, Mr. Henkins, if you have anything else or does anybody have any questions? >> Um, no. I I really appreciate you uh sharing in because some of this, you know, is beyond my my bandwidth as people say now. [laughter] >> I think you did
064a great job. Thank you so much. >> Okay. Thank Thank you. Thank you everyone. I'm going to jump in here. Uh Mr. Nichols, um let's please try to be cognizant of time limits. Um we we are um delaying and I am going to have to jump off here for a while. I will try to um rejoin the meeting. If somebody could um give me a call as we are going into close session, I would really appreciate that. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Bo President Johnson. >> Okay. Next up is interim superintendent report for the first very first time. >> Well, for two days. So, so far what my goal is is uh is trying to get it in all the buildings. One of the things that I believe is extremely important is to be visible
065to be able to talk with the not only building administration but the teachers and the students. So, um I start out each day at one of the elementary schools. So today I started at Todd Elementary to greet the kids as they were uh getting dropped off by their parents and then spend some time walking around talking to the teachers. Uh then I was able to later on um go to frozen and also talk to building administration and then go and talk to staff and students. One student even thought I was pretty cool which is he must have a so I thought that was pretty nice. And then I finished out by going to Memorial High School. Um those are some so my goal is to be in every building at least two or three times
066per week. Uh one I need the exercise and two I just find it useful to uh make as many connections as possible. Uh tomorrow I'm meeting with the u all of the building principles so we can start talking about what's coming up. I know one of the big things to work on is referendum. Uh what my belief is is if the board does go to referendum this year, it should probably be for a targeted fund directed at exactly what uh some of your needs are. I don't know what those needs are at present. But I know that in working with the various uh building leaders and the staff that we can come up with a list uh and then once we have that then generally what a cost would be so that people know that
067uh if we do go to referendum they'll know exactly what our money is being spent for and then we'll also have to take a look at if it were to fail what would we have to um what would we have to cut in order to balance our budget. So, um, also looking at, um, meeting up in the near future to basically dissect our budget so I know exactly where we are. So, I'm glad to be back. Um, thank you very much. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Okay, moving on to item 6A, district report card 2425 school year. Mrs. Mortch, it's all yours. Good evening. Um we are going to be uh providing an overview tonight of the district report card for the reporting year of uh 2425 school year. Um the pieces of information and
068data that are provided in this presentation are um aligned to what's in the report card. Um we have lots of data points throughout the district and um many different assessments that we use, but the assessment uh data that's in this presentation are the things that inform our report card. So we've had some um ongoing changes um and this year one of the changes was the overall categorical score um in meeting expectations u move from 58 to 60. Um and that had to do with um you know just sort of uh I think recalibrating the report cards and thinking about changes and cut scores the previous year. Um the other piece of information to uh think about is the report cards always reflect an average um of multiple years. Typically it's a rolling average of three
069years of data. Uh this year it's two because of those cut score changes, but next year it will go back to a three-year average um in that cadence thereafter um until there's some sort of a change in assessments. But um just so you're aware, next year it'll be a three-year average rolling. This year it's two. The things that stayed the same um are the four priority areas um that are used to determine the overall score. That is academic achievement, growth, target group, on track to graduation. And each one of those are weighted a different percentage. um that's actually calculated uh often informed by the poverty levels of a district um changed the different weights. Uh our weight stayed the same this year um as they have in previous years. So that was another piece of
070information that was the same. This is that overall rating. Um so meeting expectations ranges between 60 and 70.9. Um and and now you have to have a 71 to be exceeding expectations. Um and so um just wanted to put that up there so that we're aware of those changes. This is our demographic information. So again, I've taken snippets from parts of the report card um that you can find online of course um and then obviously I've shared with the board um already. Uh so these are our demographic groupings. Um we are a diverse uh district and of course diversity is always our strength um as our mission and values uh state. Um we also have um some other demographics. Uh we have in this year the 69.6% economically disadvantaged and we have 19.2% of our
071student population are students with disabilities. Um we also have um a fairly large and growing um e population that comes with many assets. Uh 18.3% of our student population are multilingual learners. So the report card overview um again is looking at those four priority areas. I wanted to provide um a description of each one similar to I did last year just so that everyone is aware of it. I won't read those definitions to all of everyone going through the slides, but I did put that in there so that you can read a little bit about what each of those priority areas are and what they mean. Um, overall our overall score is 55.8 and then those are those different priority scores. They are not percentages, they are scores like points. So um the first thing
072that we look at is achievement. This comes from uh the Wisconsin assessment system uh in an average of forward preacct, ACT and also DM um dynamic learning maps which is our students that are um a small percentage of students uh based on special needs uh are tested through DM. 5% of the overall report card for bloid is measured in academic achievement. Um this score also is included in the target group and the on-track scores. So the overall weight of it is there but then it also shows up um in other places too. Growth um this is 45% of the overall report card is growth and this has been our focus as a school district um and really thinking about student growth and on that continuum. Um all of our students enter into a continuum. Um
073those of us that have been in education long enough know Vagotssky's uh proximal development which is where you are entering in a continuum of growth and development in your understanding of an area and how everyone should be moving along uh that continuum. Um and so again thinking about differentiated instruction and a focus that everyone grows um regardless of their entry point. uh target group outcomes. They look at our uh lowest performing group of students and measure um the progress they're making along the way. On track to graduation, uh these look at our absenteeism rates, our graduate, our four-year graduation rate, and then again looking at third grade and eighth grade ELA and um math scores. So that's where you see that achievement coming into another priority area. That's an example of that. 25% of our
074overall report card score is weighted based on uh the ontrack to graduation. So when we look at the uh priority areas um from last year and this year um we improved our overall categorical score from 53.1 to 55.8 and we also improved in all of the four um priority areas. So for achievement we went from 27.4 points to 34.9 53.7 to 55.6 for growth. For the target group we grew from 50.3 to 52.7 and for on track to graduation we grew from 59.9 to 63.4. This is our report card over time. Um when we first adopted the district strategic plan, we started coming out of COVID. So we had our baseline data year. Um that was 2021. Uh that was the lowest our report card had been. Um very low achievements uh at that time.
075And so since then we've been working towards meeting expectations uh which was written as a goal in our strategic plan. Um and what I tried to do on the last column is the points away from the DPI benchmark. So our baseline data at that time we were 11.1 points away from the benchmark which was 58. The next school year um we grew to 48.7. So now we were 9.3 points away. Um in 2223 we grew to 50.6. So now we were eight points away. Um then 2324 we grew to 53.1. So now we were 4.9 points away from the benchmark of 58. And then this next school year remember the benchmark changed from 58 to 60. So um we are now 4.2 points away. It would have been 2 whatever that is 8 from 58
076but they changed that with all of the other changes. So we are coming in um over time uh with with some of our efforts uh identified in our strategic plan going from 46.9 to 55.8 points. [snorts] This piece we've been tracking over time and it's our schools that are meeting expectations. Um really great to see all the administrators that came out tonight um in honoring those uh schools Aldridge, Frzen, and Gaston that met expectations. Um we have had some schools that have moved back. Um and a question often is is how can the whole district improve their report card score when we have some schools moving back? And the answer to that question is because when they look at the overall score, it's like thinking about the district as one big school or one big
077bucket. [snorts] So you can look at the growth of all of the student population, the academic achievement of all of the school population and have an algorithm that moves the whole district forward. That's what we've done for four consecutive years. even though we may have had some some schools that have slipped um into a category um of either meeting fewer or um uh fails to meet expectations. So that's kind of the the rationale if you were wondering um about that a little bit. So for the Wisconsin student assessment system, which again this is the reporting data average of two years on our state report card, we improved um from meeting and exceeding expectations in um ELA. Um and then also in math, this is the English language arts score. And then um I put the
078demographic information here. Uh last year I provided different graphs but instead of ping the graphs it's all here on the table. It's the same information. Um we increase proficiencies across all demographic groupings in comparison to the 23 24 and 2425 school year. Um this is an average of the WSAS assessment group. So again, that's the combination of performance on forward, preACT, ACT, and DLM. [snorts] This is the math score. Um so we grew two points um in this area um from last year to this year with those new cut scores. For math demographic groupings, we increased proficiencies across all demographic groupings in comparison to 23 24. Um, and again, this is the average of uh forward, preACT, ACT, and DLM. We're going to move to the growth score priority area and I'm going to provide
079some data there. 45% of our report card is based off of growth. Um and so that has really been a focus of the TLE department um because placing priority on a growth score will lead to increased equitable achievement outcomes over time um as it accelerates learning for all students and um there is comparable improvements here as well. Um this is last year. So you can see last year we were at 13.2% of um in comparison to the other districts and then we moved to 19.2% 2% uh this school year. So we increased um in comparison to the other districts in the state our level of growth. Um and Carol Fox talked briefly about this earlier when we were um lifting up some of the work that's happening at Aldridge. This is critical um work and
080it's really important to understand. So this the district looks at growth. Again, when I talk about the continuum of improvement and where students enter on that continuum, um we want to be thinking about a three or higher. The range is between zero and six. So the average is a three. And so when you start to see schools that are hitting three or higher in growth, you're going to start to see that overall achievement happen over time. and then also you know based on a categorical system of meeting and exceeding expectations. So that's why when you look at our schools um Aldridge, Gaston um and Fzen, you start to see some of those higher average growth scores and then our schools specifically some of our schools that slipped um backwards have lower growth. And so that's
081something that we want to be focusing on is that um we're really thinking about all of our schools meeting growth and our district goal is three or higher. Um for ELA we were uh an average of 2.4 and then you can see the demographic groupings. Something that's nice to see in this data is that when you look at the the demographic groupings, we are starting to see um some of our student populations like our black African-American students um in addition to our students with disabilities in ELA having more growth. That's good because that's how you start to approach closing opportunity gaps um and academic outcomes because we want our students uh to be growing and growing at accelerated rates to close gaps. Um so that's a good thing. And then similar uh with math, our
082average there was a little bit higher for growth. It was 2.6. But again, we want to as a district and all school buildings be focusing on a three or higher. Um, the building principles here know I say that I talk about that a lot. Um, they know that. Um, and here we had our black African-American students, our Hispanic Latino students, and our students with disabilities having some of those higher growth scores than the other demographic groupings. So again, that's it. That's where we have um evidence of beginning to accelerate learning in order to close opportunity and achievement gaps uh for students that have had unequal academic outcomes historically in our district. So then I wanted to break down some of the um assessment data that informs the report card. The first one is the forward
083exam. Forward exam is taken for grades 3 through 8. Um and so we have saw some dip this year in the forward exam for ELA. Um primarily in our K45 buildings, our elementary schools. Um there was a concern with the third grade reading. Um we have had trending in our internal data and our um state data increased outcomes. So this is kind of the first year that we moved backwards. I think there's several reasons why that is. I was hoping we were going to go from we were to climb 22 plus five points versus the other the other direction. I am confident though that the this is going to bounce back. I think there was a lot of things happening last spring that played a role um that's nuanced. Um but I also think what
084I put in that area for notes is that there should continue to be an area of focus. We are seeing higher outcomes on the foundational reading universal screener. We just talked about that in the TLE comms. uh committee. So for example, in fall 61% of our overall population passed the universal screener which is foundational skills um which measures fluency. However, the forward assessment measures comprehension. And [snorts] while fluency supports comprehension, we know that, right? Um it does not guarantee that all students automatically understand what they read. And so there's other things that we have to think about. Um and in that committee meeting today we talked about how literacy is right reading, writing, speaking, listening and language. And so the forward is assessing evidence-based reading and writing comprehension, main ideas, key details, constructive response and
085writing, those kinds of things. And so it's beyond just the foundational skills of reading that we're looking at for third grade, 8th grade. Um, I wanted to show this because they grew and 29.4% of our eighth graders were proficient on the ELA or exceeding on the ELA. And so that's important to see that because we are growing and preparing our students, more of them for high school than they were prepared 5 years ago. Um, in math for forward, grades three through eight, we grew um, in all areas, grades three through eight. I looked at fifth grade because I was thinking about them getting ready for middle school and moving into middle school. Um, and then also that eighth grade score getting ready for math. Not yet where we want it to be, but we're showing
086evidence. Um, when we came out of COVID, I believe we were 9.1% proficiency of math. And so there's been it's been quite a climb to um grow mathematics and that was a national trend. Um actually people were saying at that time that math was hit harder than ELA um because of the unfinished teaching and learning that happened during the pandemic. >> Yes. >> Just I'm sorry I hate to interrupt your good good flow. Uh you want to take questions now or at the end? >> I can take them now. >> Okay. Board member Henkins. Yes, Miss Mortek, go back uh like a page ago before. We're talking about third grade reading. >> Yes, I got it. >> Testing. >> Yes, sir. >> And you said there was a lot going on. Could you expound on
087what you meant by that? Sure. That's why that >> Sure. And I have it at the end too for areas of growth. Okay. >> Um I think one of the big things that was happening last spring is we introduced um Aansweb the universal screener. And when you have a fragile system, which we really still do in a lot of ways, I think that that interrupted the spring testing window because it overlapped with some of the Ames web, you know, and you to some extent testing fatigue is real. And so how we're looking at our assessment schedule one of the changes that we made is we took out third grade map. That was feedback from the staff that there was too much testing in spring with third grade Ames web, third grade map, and third grade
088forward. Um and so that was something that we did differently. We also have um four out of six of our principles are new to the building this year. So we had a couple of those principles that were already not in the building or on their way out um at that time. That can cause some instability. Um high mobility rates. Um so there's a lot going on and those are not excuses. It's just understanding the context of the learning environment. Um, and I think that's why I was saying I think with more stability we're we're going to bounce back and I think we'll see a difference in the third grade scores specifically because there's a couple of schools that have had higher test results in the past that were lower and it just some of it
089to me isn't aligning. >> So you learn from our mistakes, right? And you know when you you're talking I >> in your language which is not mine you know the overlap of >> of testing and stuff. So you can rearrange that right. So like next year that won't happen. I know we're trying to get the building principles >> stable. >> Yes. >> And you can't control that but >> no but what we can we can control high stakes testing like the forward that's what we would call high stakes testing or universal screeners of requirement of the state. >> Correct. We can play around with that a little bit, but in the spring you have to have it within 45 days before the last day of school. But we have internal benchmarks, maps, ERA, uh the
090math benchmarks, so we can change that calendar around a little bit so it doesn't feel like we're so bogged down and that's what we attempted to do this year. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you very much. >> Yeah, thanks for asking that. jump back where I was board member. >> Carry on. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, we were at preaca. We are seeing growth here. Um in comparison to last year, we grew from 16.9% to 20.9%. So, again, when I'm talking about how are we preparing um our middle school kids going into high school, if we start to see that trend of the preac going up, then we're hoping that it'll affect the ACT. And so, um, that's good news. Um, it's just how we're going to sustain and maintain that
091growth K12 all the way throughout the system. Math, um, we had some growth there, too. 16.3% to 19.5%. So, a 3.2 percentage points. [snorts] And then I, this is um, this slide. If you click on it, you can uh on your own, you can look at the numbers a little bit um easier than what I have here. But what I wanted to compare was the um district with just the state. So this year, if you look at the very last um um bar on the graphs, you'll see 15.4 is our composite score. That grew from 14.9 to uh 15.4 this year. that was a good thing because last year we dipped down. So I was glad to see um with the high schools that that bounced back. Um and then uh kind of just looking
092at comparatively uh with us the state and so there's definitely some uh again room for growth here. Um it's hard to move an ACT score with a large jump. It takes uh it just takes a lot of um growth over time to get to that end of the 11th grader growth composite score. That's not a score that you see jump four points. It's just sort of that's why the rolling average of the state is pretty much I think been 18 for quite a long time. Um it just sort of is is a more um stagnant um one. But we did see growth this year. >> Yes. >> I apologize. I'm not hooked into the internet too many. >> Oh, >> is that okay? >> Perfect. Thank you so much. Um, I know that there were
093some complications with the recent preac testing. Has that been rescheduled? And if it's not able to be rescheduled, um, do you foresee that having any impact on future report cards? >> So, we did um, this preacct fall window will not inform the report card. it'll be this spring. Um, and so it it was it wasn't a good thing and I apologize. Um, we had some technology issues which we have put a plan in place to do better preparations for that um in hopes to avoid it in the future. Um, and then working with Oh, Emily went Miss Pal's left. Um, working with her, we've also rescheduled it so the students that didn't get a chance to take it will get their fall score um and they will retake it. Um, I don't know the exact
094date. they might have already done it. Um, but we'll have the spring scores. And again, we've put a plan in place working with TC Networks to make sure um, what it had to do with was um, uploading to make sure we have the most current, uh, Chrome is my understanding of it before we push the app out versus the other way around. I think that's what the hangup was. And so, um, we have some plans in place to make sure that the computers are checked so that we're not running into that hurdle. It's the first time it's happened since I've been here. >> Perfect. Thank you so much. >> Yeah, you're welcome. >> Oh, sure. >> The participation rate for ACT and the preac both are are fairly low. Um, is there a reason for
095that? >> Do you mean the overall score is fairly low? >> The participation rate. >> Oh, rates. Um well I mean for preac they should be higher because of the attendance right of students coming and taking them. We certainly try to push for 100% um of taking assessments and then that's the same with the ACT. So if a student chooses not to take the ACT um they don't come and take the ACT that day. But we certainly encourage uh people to come and take those assessments and all all parents have the right to uh not have their students participate in standardized tests. >> And I I I do understand that. Yeah. I just the high school scores get flagged because of the participation. >> They do. Um, luckily in previous years, uh, like a while,
096I'm going to date myself, a while ago, we used, schools used to lose points on their report card if they didn't meet the threshold for assessments, uh, the percentage taking the assessments and they removed that from the overall report card score. That sort of I think it was a five-point penalty if you recall. Um and so but again we do um and we even set up testing sites here for our virtual school learners to come in um and encourage them to come and take tests. So we really do put in the effort to encourage everyone to come in and assess but uh families make those decisions. Thank you. So, our absenteeism rates, something to um note here is it's the 2324. We don't have the 2425 data in this report card. You will see that
097next year. So, if um you're thinking about three-year averages and how data is computed, you'll see that. So based on the 2324 school year, we have reduced absenteeism rates over the past those past reporting three years. So starting in 2122, then they have 22 23 and 23 24. The absenteeism rates still high. Um today or this report card were 38.1. Um two years prior to that though it was 55.9% of our students um chronically absent. So absenteeism rates are still an area that we as a community um in a school community really need to press on um because especially when we look at some of our demograph groupings there are some high percentages of absenteeism rates. also in our lower grades which we didn't used to see and that's kind of a phenomenon across the
098state kindergarten and first grade those um grade levels we're seeing um absenteeism rates that we hadn't seen as as a state prior to CO and so and I don't mean to be bringing it feels like CO's over but that is just kind of a a habit that the that the state has noticed or some you know a pattern I should say not a habit um and there's actually been there's actually a state group that um our executive director of people services is on a state leadership group to troubleshoot uh absenteeism rates across the state. Um college and career graduation rates, we have improved our four-year graduation rate. Um and again, this is reporting years of 23 uh 24. So it we improved it from 79.5% to 82.9%. Um this is also a score that is
099um difficult to change over time because you're thinking about credits earned over time and graduating within four years. So that doesn't just happen in one year. You have to think about accumulation of the four years of our students as high school kids, right? And whether or not they're repeating classes or in credit recovery or those types of things. And so it was nice to see us um going in the right direction. still below the state average, but actually it's it is trending in an upward uh way. And then some other kind of glows really is some of these enrichment opportunities. Um we outpaced the state in dual enrollment, work-based learning, arts and design and theater experiences for our students, which is absolutely wonderful. Um, I know when we just hosted the Skills USA, um, here,
100there were districts from all over and, um, I have a colleague in Madison that actually called to ask about it, um, because just to see our facilities and the resources that our kids have, um, some of our, um, other districts around the state that attended that were kind of taken aback like, wow, you know, just the the level of access that your kids have and those resources. And so there's been some really strategic um spending with some of our grants, our Perkins grants and our ACT 59 in order to get uh those that exposure um so our students can earn those in um industry credits and and just sort of work-based learning and all of that. And then we have a robust art and design and theater program. We also have a uh a growing
101music program. We have the highest number of students in band and orchestra in fifth grade than we have had um in in years. And that's I really thank the fifth grade band and orchestra teachers for for going out and getting kids engaged across all of our elementary schools. There was a time when um we didn't see all of our students in all of our elementary schools participating. And so I attribute that a lot to that work of those uh teachers and some other celebrations. Growth score is improving over time. Uh yet it is should still be a focus. Of course again academic achievement we are seeing uh growth there still a focus. Absenteeism rate, graduation rate, workbased learning and dual credit are all um also celebrations of evidence of improvement. Um, and I I think
102back to when we talk about the whole child and so understanding and I think these report cards, the state report card has been listening to some of that feedback um where it's not just the it's not only I should say the um state standardized cut scores of ELA and math, but it's understanding the other achievements that students have in schools. And so there are some areas there of celebration for us as well. opportunities for growth, high priority. Um, school report cards. We want to make sure that all of our schools are moving and trending in an upward direction for improvement and we're not sliding back. Um, because we did have a couple of those sites this year. Um, the growth score, again, as we talked about, our average should be a 3.0 and higher for
103all demographic groups and all schools as an average. Um, that's something that I would uh continue to press on. academic achievement. Um, all sites to improve that third grade ELA. That should be an area of focus to get that back kind of in the direction we were headed. Um, and then also remembering that ELA encompasses reading, language, comprehension, and writing. It is not only fluency of of foundational skills. And then the last one is absenteeism. Um, as a district and as a community um what can our community partners do? what can you know just our community at large do to really encourage people to get back to coming to school every day um and seeing the value in coming to school every day um and and I hope if that changes then we'll start to
104see increased academic outcomes as well are there um any questions member >> thank you um thank you so much for this presentation. Um, I just I did have a couple of questions that I had sent earlier to Miss Moratech, I'm just going to like really briefly summarize back. So, in case people in the public have those questions, but I guess like first I just want to the growth that we've seen over the last four years is so impressive and I really want to just I wish Dr. Garrison were here. I'd love to give um him and the team and every like level of district like leadership, all of our classroom teachers like a huge shout out because this is like in an in an increasingly scarce and difficult environment. We are like working toward thriving.
105Like this is this is fantastic. And uh looking over the slides uh this weekend was just it was a highlight and I just am so thankful for everything everybody is doing for our kids. So congratulations to everyone. Um I guess one thing that I say a lot in my professional life is you know we teach students not subjects right and I mean I just think you've done a really nice job too in this presentation like it's really important to look at the numbers but the goal isn't the numbers right the goal is like what what do these tell us about how like what we are doing for our kids and what more we can do for them. So I just wanted to kind of like throw that context out as well. Um, and in the
106spirit of that, the questions that I had asked earlier, and I'll just like read them all out, was um, or they were based on the data from the last two to three years, where are we demonstrating equitable growth? And you spoke really thoroughly to that tonight anyway. And so, we are focusing not just on like the kids who are getting it are continuing to get it, but we're bringing some of those kids who have struggled into that space of understanding and they're, you know, have been demonstrating increased growth. So, I wanted to call that out for the community because that's a really important thing for us to consider. um making sure that we're being equitable and serving all of our kids. Um the second question I'd asked was based on the data for the last
107two to three years, what are your recommendations for how to best interrupt the predictability of outcomes for areas where we are not demonstrating equitable growth? And that was really like your last slide. So thank you for that. What district practices, policies, and programs do you feel are most valuable for contributing to the successes that we've seen so as a board we can be mindful of protecting those in our current environment of economic scarcity? Um and I appreciate what you shared here. you had also shared in your response back to me um the specific programs like ARC program, Eureka Math, Amplify Science um along with the intervention tools and certainly the work that our teachers and coaches are putting into those tools. So I thought that was really valuable. And then the last question I'd asked
108that you had answered for us was as a board, how can we most effectively support you and our teachers to interrupt the predictability of outcomes? And I think I just really appreciate that you pointed out just the the high it's about the people, right? you'd pointed out high turnover, high mobility rates um cause instability and I think just continuing to um hold gratitude and also a space of growth like you know all of our our building leaders and our teachers. I think we really need to um my takeaway as a board member is you know really focus on giving making sure our people have what they need and making sure that we are creating the type of climate that um is going to keep our our quality educators that we have. So, thank you for
109answering those so thoroughly and um just thanks again for everything. >> Board member Fox, >> I'm afraid I don't quite agree with my colleague about um how impressive this is. Um yeah, you we can say the numbers have gone up, but the numbers keep changing. They keep changing the dynamic. They keep changing the the metric. And the state specifically says we're not supposed to be looking at those kinds of numbers, but we do it anyway. People like to look at numbers and and I don't think that that growth is what it should be. Not even close. Um I'm very very very concerned about our elementary schools because the elementary schools are not doing well at all um as a group. Um three of those dropped categories. Three out of the six dropped categories. Um and
110there the growth rates were abysmal. Sorry, they were very bad. Um, and there's a lot of issues with with what's going on at our elementary schools. I think I think we really need to be focusing on what's going on there. Um, we have uh two elementary schools who failed to meet expectations and two more who dropped um from meeting to not to meeting few. And I I we just really need to put a lot more focus on what's going on there. >> I couldn't agree more. why that is not not happening. Um, you know, basically the middle schools saved us, but the middle schools, I mean, they did some great things, but if we're not sending them students who are prepared and ready to learn, um, they're going to they're going to continue to struggle.
111And, um, um, I'm I'm one of those that's in the category of I don't know how the district can can go up when when we have all these schools that are are going down. Um I I think the state does a lot with calculations and other kinds of things that um make things look good. The the thing I when I came to I was told that one of the things that's really good about Boid is that we look at our problems and we face them headon and we we make sure that we're we're facing what our problems are and and we need to be understanding that that this isn't where we need to be at all. And I would encourage that the growth rate scores needs to be much much higher. Um, even a three
112is not going to get us where we need to go. Our students need to be learning at a higher rate. Um, if we're ever going to catch them up, we can't catch them up if we're not if we're not doing the growth. And we're not doing the growth and we're not doing it to the level that it needs to be done. Um, particularly in the elementary school. Um, again, you know, I point out Aldridge. Aldridge is our sample, right? Aldridge is what that's the kind of thing we need to be looking for, that kind of growth rate. And they just proved that we can do it. You know, they are also a good sample of our district. They have all the same um um I've lost my term, but demographics that that everybody else does
113and and they pulled it off. So, we need to be looking at what what's going on there. And I do agree the stableness of that school is part of the magic. Um, and our elementary schools right now are really struggling with teachers and and all of these things to to get things in place and and you know, we have to sit down as a as a group. We have to sit down as a school district and figure out what we're going to do um to to really help what's going on in our elementary schools because those teachers are working just as hard as everybody else is. We know that we're all working really super hard. Um but something is not not working that we need to fix. Um so um that's my take on that.
114>> Though I've only been here a couple days so as not to comment but I think one of the things just for the the the time that I was here prior and now is that one thing in the elementary schools is that I've noticed is that we have vacancies and right now we have open positions where we're putting substitute teachers in that is never going to be a positive experience. So I think one of the things you that will help I believe in the long run is if we can find a way to both retain the good teachers that we have and if we can find good teachers to come in so we have a stable teaching environment. I think if the students see the same person in front of them and we give them
115the proper training that is going to make a difference and I will guarantee you it's making a difference to the negative fashion when we have the instability of teaching staff. So, as I said, I think everyone would agree that where you're at and where you want to be are nowhere near each other, but I think there's some things that we can take a look at that may be a larger cause um that are fixable, but we just have to determine, you know, how do we how do we keep our teachers instead of having to leave and how do we keep how do we bring new teachers in and how do we keep our students? Because one of the other issues that we have is that we lose quite a few students each year. If we
116can reverse those trends, I think you'll see the testing data come more in line with what the board would like. My short assessment after two days. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Uh Mrs. Root, >> thank you. I was um thinking the same things actually. Um, we need to be able to keep our high quality staff that we have. Um, I know there's buildings where we've had so much turnover that, um, a lot of the teachers that were there three years ago are no longer there. Um, and so every time we have to bring in a new teacher, they're learning the curriculum, they're learning the building. Um, I compare it to trying to fill a five gallallon bucket with a fire hose. it is near impossible and it takes a new teacher about three years to
117really get their feet underneath them and really be able to um do things really effectively. Um I'm excited about our new leadership we have. I'm hearing great things about our new leaders. Um, two of our schools that need a lot of support, Hackit and Robinson, um, have both, um, they have they both have new leaders that, um, I'm hearing really great things from their staff and, um, so hopefully uh, we'll start seeing some better things. We definitely need more teachers, more PAR professionals as well to um help fill those gaps so that we can have our interventionists and coaches be um doing the job that they were hired to do. >> Anybody else? Um I was just going to say kind of I I would agree with with Dr. Anderson and Mrs. Rue too that
118you know I I think way back way back when I went through elementary school was 1 through six. The same teachers were there when I started and the same teachers were there when I finished. And so that that I absolutely that just makes a huge difference when they're seeing the same face every day, every day. Every day just just that alone I think will make huge huge benefits to our to our education. So uh Mrs. Fox, you have another is well, you know, we also reconfigured these schools. Um, they've only been in this configuration for two years and um I think that that's really made an impact and I don't know that they've had as much support as maybe they need um or could use um for the elementary and I I do know that
119we've been talking a lot about behaviors and and um Mr. Vyok even pointed out that you know one of the things he's been able to do is remove some of those students whose behaviors are to totally out of whack and I've heard that that is also happening at the elementary schools but there's no uh vehicle to relieve that. Um so there's a lot of other issues that we just we need to explore. Um, I'm also a little concerned about our chronic absenteeism because my understanding is that did not decrease last year. That went up last year, which is going to hit us on the back end when we do the report card next year. So, um, and [clears throat] I've said it two years ago, I think, but you know, chronic absenteeism is definitely a
120community problem. We need to get some committees and some groups together um and talk as a community because it's it's certainly not a school problem. I'm well it is a school problem but it's not to totally a school problem. If we can get them to school we might be able to educate them. Um um but when they're not there's just no hope for that. So we have got to do something about that and quickly. So thank you. Board member Miller. >> Thank you. Brief clarifying question. Miss Martekch. Were the the scores this year and last year that's the same cut scores or could you speak to that a little bit because I just wanted to clarify a comment that somebody else made. >> Sure. They are the same cut scores. Um and when I was
121looking at it, what they're really saying um that you can compare is the growth score. Um and um yes, we do look at growth and the and also just the overall report card score and thinking about um the all of the changes that we've had, they have both positively and negatively affected school districts across this county. And so the change in cut scores and an automatic increase for report card scores. Again, when you look at districts across this county, um I think only two districts, one being us and one other one in Rock County have had four consecutive years of growth. Um and so yes, it's not an apples to apples with change of cut scores, but it has impacted people positively and negatively. And so there are trends there of growth. Is it not
122yet where we want to be? I don't think anyone in the room uh believes we are where we need to be, but um I do think that there the data does show that we're um making gains. >> No. And I appreciate that. And I think my enthusiasm for our growth comes from the fact that we there are absolutely school districts that have like many more stars and all the things, but their growth isn't necessarily there. And that just comes down to the fact that every individual report card, you really can't compare school report cards to each other because like to your point like the different, you know, I can't think of the right term right now, but the weights are different, right? Um, so like our score goes through like different statistic models than like,
123you know, Clinton's score for example. But I mean, I think what's important to me and what I find a value as a parent, especially with >> three children with very diverse range of needs, is we're we're working for that growth for all of our kids. And there are absolutely school districts that have maybe have more stars, but like they aren't necessarily growing their most vulnerable population of students. And that's just something that I take a lot of pride in in in our work. So, thank you. >> You're welcome. And you know I don't disagree with parts of what Miss Fox was saying either because you know if you take our whole population we are we did show on the WSAS right in average of those three assessments we did have gains with the same cut
124scores year after year but that doesn't take away from the fact that all of our schools need to be getting better right and so a Robinson which school which fell back to fails to meet they do have lower growth scores And so we need to individually look at all of those schools. And so where I put high priority for opportunities of growth, that first bullet point that I put there specifically was for school report cards. All sites need to improve their report cards. So it's not just the indiv it's not just the whole district. It's looking at those individual schools and what's happening um with teachers and leadership in those individual schools um and the systems within those schools so that they're all moving in a positive direction. Yeah, our our schools won't I mean
125our district won't improve if the overall schools don't improve. Um to to your point, Megan, um the DPI the 2425 report card represents a new baseline for report cards moving forward. That's the the other problem we have with report cards is that the state keeps changing things. um the overall score and achievement scoring components in the 2425 report cards cannot be compared to these elements on the 23 24 but the underlining data can and so that's when I went to the schools and I started looking at the growth scores and I started looking at all of that stuff and like I said um elementary just popped right out. So >> uh board vice president Yes, sir. It's 8 o'clock. We need to >> ask for 30 more 30 more minutes, please. >> Okay. And Mrs.
126Murk, thank you. So, um, could I get a motion to extend by 30 minutes? >> So, moved. Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. Okay, 30 minutes. Next item up is the consent agenda. Uh, typically there's no separate discussion of the items unless board members so request in which the event will be removed from the general order of business and considered their normal in their normal sequence on the agenda. Any any reason? >> Board member Levy. >> Thank you. I'd like to remove item 7F, please. Okay. >> Okay. Could I get an approval of the consent agenda minus item F? >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I I. >> Okay. So A through J minus F is is approved. Uh Mrs. Levy. >> Uh thank
127you. Very briefly. I need to abstain from the approval of the minutes from the November 6th meeting because I had to leave that meeting at 5:30. So I'm just not comfortable voting on the entirety of those minutes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I move approval of the uh minutes for November 6th. Second. >> Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carried. >> If we could just record that I'm abstaining. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Sorry. And one obsession. >> Vice President Nichols. >> Yes. Mrs. Show. >> Could I get clarification on who moved and seconded for the um original um consent agenda motion minus F? It was Mrs. Rue, right? >> It was myself and I believe board member Fox who provided the second I think >> Mrs. Levy and then
128Mrs. Fox >> second. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next item up is human resources. Uh is there any open session questions? Are there any close session questions? >> I do have close session questions. >> Okay. Could I The motion may a motion may meet a motion may be made and a vote taken to convene the board of education in a close session pursuant to section 19.85 parent one parent C of the Wisconsin state statutes relative to considering specific personnel recommendations. May I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. Any discussion hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> Oh, we need a roll call vote. M. >> Absolutely. Roll call vote, please. Mrs. Show. >> Yes. >> And I'm sorry, who seconded? I had it and then I
129lost it when trying to undo my mic. Amy Levy. >> Thank you. Amy Levy. [laughter] Okay. Joanne Rue. >> I >> Carol Fox. >> I >> Megan Miller. >> I >> uh Tom Henkins. >> I >> Amy Levy. I >> and Brian Nichols >> I So we're going into close session at 8:03 and uh we will come out u come back to open session as soon as we conclude close session. Thank you everybody. Don't forget to turn your uh >> stuff off your screen off. Awesome. microphone. >> Got it. Already did it. I got it. No, it's not that one. That one's fine. Okay, we're reconvening uh into open session at 8:25. And could I get a motion to approve HR exhibit A? >> So move. Second. >> I have a any uh any discussion
130hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> I. I >> I >> Okay, motion carried. >> Okay. Item 9A. A motion may be made and a vote taken to convene the board of education into close session pursuant to section 1985.85 parent one parent C of the Wisconsin state statutes relative to considering considering specific personnel recommendations. Could I get a motion please? So moved. Second. >> Amy. And who is the second? >> Megan. Okay. >> Okay. Mr. Sh, could I get a roll call vote, please? >> Bye. Mrs. Shopee, do you hear us? >> Yes. Sorry. >> Okay. Roll call vote to go into close session. >> Executive session. I have to move my screen. Hold on one sec. Okay. Joanne Rue. >> Hi >> Carol Fox. >> Hi >> Megan Willer. >> Hi >>
131Brian Nichols. >> I >> Tom Henkins. >> I >> Amy Levy. I was the unanimous vote. >> Okay. Uh we'll go into close session at 8:27 and we will uh adjourn from close session. So those everybody else turn your your computers off and we'll go into close session.