BASD Board Meeting, April 13, 2026

001Before I we start, I'd like to congratulate Andrea, Ben, and Rosanne on their wins on this past Tuesday. And then I'd also like to thank Noah and Peter with this being their last meeting for your service to our community and board. So, thank you very much. All right, next up we are to to the call to order. Next up is pledge. We can all stand, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [snorts] >> Okay. If we could do roll call, please. I believe Marlo is running late, so he'll be here shortly. Kate. Here. Rosanne. Here. Paul. Here. Taylor. Here. Marlo. Peter. Here. Noah. Here. All right, next up then

002is citizen comments. District citizens are allowed to comment to the school board. A 3-minute time limit is in effect. Do we have any? Uh first up is Mr. Barry Schmeling. >> [music] >> Good evening. Uh just about a bit. I wanted to take a brief moment. You guys have spent so much time here I could come back and spend a couple more. Congratulations, Rosanne, on your victory and serving again on the board for another 3 years. Thank you. We've not always seen eye to eye on things, but we've always agreed on the important things. Honesty, respect, and integrity. Thank you. Good luck. Look forward to seeing what you accomplish. Noah, congratulations. It was a quick time, but thank you for your time. The community needs people to get involved and engaged. We really do appreciate

003the effort you put in. Peter, almost a decade. More than a decade with just students, but almost a decade of service to this district. I understand the time, the commitment, everything that's gone into it. Words cannot be spoken to what you've given to this district, the time you have spent, the leadership you have shown to bring this district forward and always maintain that integrity and respect to the entire board. Not enough good words can be said. But thank you for doing this. Enjoy your time away. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Okay, next up is Logan, I don't want to butcher your last name, but first name is Logan. Want to go ahead and step step up to the mic, please. Thank you, Chris. Uh my name is Logan Pittner and I wanted to

004talk about um being able to take the ASVAB. It's cuz I just recently joined the military and I'm not really the smartest out of the group. Like I'm not very school smart and the ASVAB at school gives anyone who's joining the military in our district the ability to have two chances at the ASVAB to get into the military easier, which I think a lot of people would appreciate just cuz it's a very stressful test, especially taking the test, staying the night, doing the physical. And the one at school allows us to use that one if it's a good score and if not we can retake it when we actually go up to MEPS. That's that's all. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. All right, anybody else? Okay. Next up is reports. Board member

005reports on workshops or meetings attended. Does anybody have anything? Okay. Next then is superintendent's report. Yep. Let me load up to the TV here real quick. Okay, so there's been a lot happening in the last month here in the school district. So, bear with me as I share some exciting things that have taken place across the across BSD. First is in relation to the radio station. Our students in WBSD were able to go visit Lambeau Field for the Wisconsin Broadcasting Association conference and job fair. They were able to connect with industry professionals, attend sessions, took headshots, and practiced interviews. They also explored networking opportunities with stations across Wisconsin and were able to also visit the Packer Pro Shop. I'm guessing that was kind of exciting for them. As a reminder, WBSD is proud to be

006Wisconsin's only 24/7 student and community run radio station owned by the school district. It's a really incredible, awesome launchpad for our future students interested in going into broadcasting. Next is in relation to dual enrollment with UW-Parkside. We had 23 students that took the class intro to ethnic studies. That is a dual enrollment course through UW-Parkside and they earned three credits with our teacher and adjunct professor Julie Berhagen. Recently, 16 of those students visited UW-Parkside for campus connection day, exploring campus and attending a lecture by ethnic studies director Kenny French. When it comes to exploring the future of manufacturing, engineering and metal students explored local manufacturing with visits to Reader Precision, R&L Spring, and Medicoil. They saw classroom concepts in action and learned about real-world careers. Thanks to all three of these partners for their tours,

007insights, and also lunch. Additionally, we are excited to share that when it comes to engineering, we are going to have two new Project Lead the Way classes at the high school this coming fall. The first class is going to be intro introduction to engineering and design. For short, IED. And we'll also have digital electronics. DE is the short for that. These are two classes that we're excited to be able to run based on student interest and they'll provide more hands-on opportunities for students to build, design, and innovate as they prepare for higher demand careers in engineering and technology. When it comes to our sports marketing class, our students were able to visit the Pettit National Ice Center for a behind-the-scenes look at the business of sports. They learned about event management, marketing, sponsorships, and fan

008engagement while exploring the facility. Thanks to the Pettit team for hosting and helping bring classroom learning to life. Additionally, our students at the high school had the 19th annual driven Easter egg hunt. It was a huge success. There was more than 1,000 attendees that joined the largest free hunt in southeastern Wisconsin. We had over 12,000 eggs that were collected thanks to Burlington Kiwanis. Donations were supported to Love Inc. Food Pantry and driven and Key Club students also brought in a lot of fun activities, including face painting and even some real bunnies were present. Thank you to everyone who made the community event so special for all of our kiddos in the community. Next, we had BHS Opportunity Day. This took place on March 18th. It's where our BHS students who are in grades 9 through

00912 all were able to attend and connect with over 100 plus vendors from businesses, trades, and the military, and colleges. Treating it like a professional interview, they were able to explore careers and educational pathways. The event earned high praise from our students and highlighted the strong impact that community partnerships have for students here in BSD. Additionally, we had our Legally Blonde the Musical production. It showcased incredible talent, energy, and hard work both on stage and behind the scenes. Thank you to everyone that came out to support and congratulations to the cast and crew on a fun and memorable show. I was able to attend myself. I usually don't ever miss the musicals and it was super cute and enjoyable show. Educators Rising is one of our clubs at the high school. We had six of

010our students attend the 2026 Educators Rising State Conference at UW-Stevens Point where they competed, attended sessions, and connected with over 420 plus future educators. It was a valuable hands-on experience as they continued their interest in education as their career path. Our B B Squad up at the high school was wanted to engage in a coin war and were able to raise nearly $600 at a single boys basketball game versus Waterford and all of those proceeds went to Love Inc here in Burlington. So, thank you to the B Squad for that work. When it comes to our athletics, so our all of our winter sports were wrapped up and we're now into our spring season, but we now know which students were selected for some all-conference recognition. So, in girls basketball, the all-conference team we had

011Whitney Schmidt who was that first team, and Hannah Templin was honorable mention. In boys basketball, Grant Sulik first team, Cole Walby honorable mention. In girls wrestling for all-conference, Maggie Sue Hanson was second team at 138, Ruby Gold was second team at 165, and Lauren Haas was honorable mention. Boys wrestling also was conference champions again. I was kind of like, "How many times have they won conference?" Cuz I feel like it's like all the time. But, which is pretty awesome. So, it's nice for them to do that again. And in boys wrestling, we had quite a few students in the all-conference team. We had Cash Vander Wolf was first team at 106, Patrick Skruns first team at 138, Landon Jacobs Jacobs first team at 150, Mason Coldway at first team at 157, Porter Teet first team

012at 165, Carson Kramer first team at 175, Elijah Myers first team at 215, and Campton Neighbor second team at 113, Easton Jacobs and William Guerrera also were honorable mention. And then our girls swim team, we had Kelly Landerman and Molly Warren both made second team all-conference. And then last but not least, our boys basketball team was also regional champions. So, kudos to all of our winter sports. That was an awesome selection and awesome to have so many students recognized within the conference. Additionally, we did have FFA week, and it was packed with fun and engaging activities for all of our students. A few of the activities that the FFA students brought in were kiss the cow and the annual donkey basketball game. I feel like you've done that before, Mr. Oldenburg, a couple times. Did

013you ride a donkey this year? Yeah, no, I stayed off Arthur. Okay, he he didn't he did not ride Arthur Arthur the donkey this year. Um Yeah, I feel like you get bucked off every time when you're Okay. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> He said he hit the wall hard, so he took a little little hiatus from that. Um and also, congratulations to Sean McCain. He was the 2025 WIFA Master Angler. So, this is earned after catching four different qualifying species. This is for fishing. So, four different qualifying species this season, which is which is so impressive because it really showcases his skill, versatility, and dedication to fishing. So, congratulations to Sean. Now, moving on to some other things across the district. When it comes to community education, our summer activity guide went out. It is

014a 28-page summer activity guide that is available now, and registration is now also open. The guide features returning favorites and new classes and camps for all ages, including sports, arts, languages, workshops, and more. It's available online. It was also mailed to over 14,000 households across the district and is shared throughout the community. So, those interested in activities in summer, be on the lookout for that, and start signing up for those awesome classes. Becky Seegert is here. Thank you, Becky, for all the work that you put in to put that together. And then every month, we also highlight one of the schools across the district that's K-8 just to recognize some of the work that they're doing as well. So, this month is Waller Elementary School. They had some first and second grade winter concerts that

015didn't just happen at Waller, but across the school district in the past couple of months. Students were able to share their hard work in music and movement and it created some really memorable experiences for families and across the school community. Additionally, all of our schools I love I always love these pictures were able to celebrate the 100th day of school. They always engage in some fun hands-on activities and creative projects and always dress up as well celebrating their progress and accomplishments thus far in the district. Again, really love how cute they they get dressed up for that. Waller PTO held their annual family dance. It was a fun evening of music, dancing, and community connection for students and families creating lasting memories for everyone that attended. Additionally, throughout the school district, we do hold event

016that is called Seal a Smile program that serves students in 4K through sixth grade across the district. It is where we allow companies to come in and provide free dental cleanings, sealants, and exams for students. It promotes healthy habits and teaches students about brushing, flossing, and oral care while encouraging bright and confident smiles. Such an important program for the kiddos that take advantage of that and families. Additionally, we've had Read Across America week, which celebrates reading throughout theme days, activities, and shared reading experiences that encourage students to enjoy books and the uh love for literacy. Also, across the district, we had special guests come in as readers and be able to engage and share their love for literacy as well. Waller Elementary School also has a learning fair, and it showcases student creativity, curiosity, and

017learning. Students proudly share their projects, experiments, and classroom work giving families and the community a glimpse into the engaging and hands-on learning happening throughout the school and community. And last but not least at Waller is our Project Rise Up had a nice experience and time participating in a bowling field trip thanks to Town and Country Lanes here in Burlington. And then last but not least, two different events that are happening across the school district is we did have Youth Art Month, so our students in pre-K through 12 are able to submit artwork into the Kiwanis Art Show, and it was featured student artwork across the entire district with several of our BHS students placing in the top four in all of the categories. The exhibit exhibits were displayed at BHS and also in the Burlington

018Public Library with a banquet follow this coming spring. Thank you to Kiwanis for the event and kudos to all the students were that were able to have their work in that. It's always students are always proud to be able to display their work in the community. And last but not least also happening is the special needs resource fair that's going to be held on April 21st here in the coming days from 4:30 to 7:00. It's going to be at Burlington High School in collaboration with Racine County School Districts and the Aging and Disability Resource Center. It is a fair that usually does rotate around within Racine County. It's not always held at the Burlington Area School District, but we are fortunate to host it this year. There are more more than 80 agencies that will

019share information about disability services, therapy, education, employment, and community support. It is a free event for everyone, and it also includes some food, activities, door prizes, and family-friendly family-friendly resources. So, that is what is happening or has happened in the last month across the school district. Additionally, as Taylor had shared, I just want to say kudos to Noah Strom. Thank you so much for serving and for your time on the school board. You served for 3 years, and I've truly enjoyed having you in all of the meetings. Something that I was noting about you is always brought such a really nice even keel, and you can tell you really were an advocate for BASD. While also always balancing what's best for the community or the needs that the community members would say too. So, thank

020you for that. As some of you may or may not know, Noah's going to school to get become a nurse practitioner. So, that's part of his drive driving force in stepping away from the school board. So, thank you. We are sure you'll continue to support us from from behind the [clears throat] scenes. Additionally, thank you, Peter. You served on the board for 9 years. It's been a pleasure to have you on the school board. The thing that resonates with me that I think is going to be a loss for us is your experience and desire to understand school funding. Not many people want to really >> [laughter] >> sit around and really yeah, talk it up about school funding, but Peter just really loved it. >> [laughter] >> You really do, don't you? I'm I'll

021look for a hobby. I might So, I have no doubt that you'll continue to advocate and talk about school funding and support the school district when that time comes to just help everybody understand that it's not the same as your budget at home, right? So, just really appreciate you two and and for your time on the board, Peter. We have a couple gifts for you that I just want to point out so everyone's aware of what we're what we're giving to you. So, first is a picture. This actually is only given to people that retire from the Burlington Area School District, and now to board members. Okay? That served. So, you were the first two board members to receive this. Um but it is a picture of the Burlington Area School District. So, it includes

022all of our schools. So, it's just a framed image that so that you can always have BASD displayed at home, right? So, you never forget about us. That's lovely. Uh yep. And then the next one is from students at the high school actually did this on our CNC machine that we have. So, engraved a bee, so you can display that wherever you'd like to display so that you always have Burlington in your hearts there, too. And then, a little certificate for your service. So, thank you for your time, both of you in serving for the school board. Thanks, Joel. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay. Next up then is consent agenda items. This includes board minutes, bank statement bills, appointments, resignations, retirements, and donations. Just to highlight, we are incredibly thankful for donations this

023month with the total estimated donation amount of $3,762.27. So, with that, I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented. So moved. >> A motion by Ann. Second. Second by Kubornick. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Next up then is items for discussion or information. First up is the school improvement plan for Cooper Montessori. TJ George, the principal, will present the Cooper Montessori school action plan with his team. Hi. Good Good evening, everyone. I'm TJ George, the principal at Cooper Montessori. >> I don't think it's on, TJ. I hope it's on. I would I would probably hold on to it. Yeah. I'm TJ George, the principal at Cooper Montessori as well as Wisco. I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and thank both Peter and Noah for

024your service to our district and community as well, too. So, thank you for that. Rest of the board, thank you for your continued service, as well. And I'm going to kind of give Dr. Oelschlaeger a big shout-out. She has put together a really strong administrative team that kind of has the opportunity to be able to to lead a lot of dedicated educators throughout our school district that go into into all the different elementary schools. We have a lot of great people doing a lot of great things for our students here in in Burlington. So, it's really amazing to see as we all kind of work towards the shared mission of inspiring good humans and capable minds together. But, I'm here to celebrate our staff a little bit more. So, thank you all to all of

025you that came here, as well, too. So, what I decided to do here with our uh our report is link the BASD pillars and the strategic goals to how we've impacted that as a school building over the last school year, as well as So, we have the student, the staff, as well as the community pillar, and how it links to those goals, but also to talk about what we're doing within the Montessori programming because we are a little bit different in regards to that. Um The first goal in the student pillar is improving from 60.7% to 63.7% of students meeting or being meeting or advanced on the ELA Forward exam. Our school this last year was 84, which is significantly exceeds expectations, which that's a five-star school, which is amazing feat for our staff kind

026of based off of what I see them do for our students on a daily basis, and also, too, a huge testament to the work that they do that is the largest jump that any school has had in Burlington in the last 10 years from one year to the next. So, that's a huge testament of what our staff does on a daily basis. And then, we kind of a lot of these are linked to the scorecard here, as well, too. To where it kind of touches about on on the achievement aspect overall to where we were at 74.7% of our students were meeting or advanced in the ELA on the Forward exam, as well as with the growth area, we went from 4.1 to 4.9, which the standard deviation on that is a 3.0 overall. So,

027once again, huge area where we've done a lot of great amazing things. Also, the target group outcomes in that area on that scorecard, we went from 37.4 to 50.1, which is going to talk that's going to kind of be the students who had the lowest performance. So, those students are growing there, as well, too, in that area. And then, the the on-track to graduation area, which I focuses on third grade ELA, 65.2, we went up to 82.6 on that last state report card. So, we saw a lot of significant jumps in the Forward exam in the ELA for our school. The other two areas, because we don't want to just look at that state report card, even though that is the biggest and most important data point. I like to consider that to be the

028Super Bowl. But also, too, and I-Ready last year, we went from 52% of students who were at or above grade level in the fall to 77% in the spring. This year, we went from 51% in the fall to 67% in the winter to which that's kind of like the same trajectory that we were on last school year, as well, too. So, we're looking to see where that finishes come the end of April here. As well as with AIMSweb, which would be for all of our 4K, 5K, first, second, and third graders, we saw a reduction from the fall to spring of students who were at or below the 25th percentile of having 15% of students down to 12% of students. So, we're kind of closing that gap right there, as well, too. Once again, huge

029shout-out and testament to the work that our teachers do within that area. Next goal is the idea of math and improving the district goal is improving from 58% of students to 60% of students meeting or advanced on the math Forward exam, where last school year, we were at 58.6% of students meeting or advanced in math, to which we saw growth in that area, as well, too. In the increased value-added score from a 1.7 to a 1.8. This is an area that we have talked about multiple times as a school building of what we're going to continue to do to be able to see that number grow over the course of time. But, the achievement area is right where the rest of the district is in trying to get that, as well as the target group

030outcomes increased from 48.9 to 50.8. And I and and on I-Ready last year, we went from 30% of students being at or above grade level in the fall to 73% in the spring. So, we're kind of looking for the hope to see that correlation a little bit more of that I-Ready data to that Forward exam data. And this year, we went from 34% in the fall to 48% in the winter. Kind of the same thing, we're on the same trajectory as what we were last school year in I-Ready. The next area is the the strategic goal number five, which is elevate the student experience from 3.76 to 3.86 on the student student experience survey. Our school is at a 3.91, and kind of just laid out a couple different of the areas up here to

031which we are higher than the overall responses results. But then, a couple some a couple areas to where we are lower than them, as well, too. To which um we we had a lot of uh different areas to where our students kind of had our our teachers kind of, you know, believing that the teachers care about them significantly higher than the remainder of the district. Once again, speaking to the testament of the work that they put in with the students. And then, the lower responses pretty much kind of are like the idea of lunches and bus and those different kinds of things to which some of those are out of our out of our control, even though Tom, as well as Carrie, Carrie is phenomenal as a school lunch lady. They do a phenomenal job,

032as well, too. The next one is the staff pillar, looking at that strategic goal number two in that area to where that's increasing that student survey response from a 3.76 to a 3.86. Our school is at a 4.01 overall in that area to which same thing, kind of recorded the different responses that were higher and lower. Feedback was an area that our teachers That was an area that we focused on, as well, too. To where they feel as if like we're their response is is is much higher than what the rest of the district was. And then, the other parts are kind of like the idea of balance to which I think that everybody can always improve in balance at all times. I'm a big proponent of making sure you have balance in your life.

033Next area is the community pillar, which once again, focusing on that student exam uh that's experience survey. The strategic goal in that area is to go from a 3.99 to a 4.09. Our school result was a 4.37. Listed a couple different to where we had the higher responses, as well as we did not have any lower responses than the overall results for the entire district on that one. But once again, a big area that I really really stuck out to me was the idea of people believing in their teachers and staff that we have here within our school building. Another area I wanted to be able to highlight to which we don't have as much kind of influence on a daily basis on was just the idea of strategic goal number two and number three

034to where establish four to six innovative community and business partnerships. We did work with uh with Laura Kramer this year to be able to get a uh a donation for a flag within our school in the gymnasium, to which we also the American Legion was willing to give us that donation, and Laura kind of put that together based off of, you know, kind of just thinking of not seeing we didn't have a a flag in there. But also, too, it is something that we're going to be able to acknowledge the American Legion at some point, as well, too, based on their donation to be able to have them come to a concert or something. They offered to be able to have a color or an honor guard for us there. So, that's going to be

035pretty cool when we are able to do that. And then, the other part is the initiate be a good human into the schools. We had a kickoff upon return from winter break that kind of focused on those shared values. That's kind of like a district as well as community initiative, as well as the idea of communication tool on website Parent Square, to where majority of our communication, if not all of it, does go through there, and we do have parents who are signed up with that. Um and then the last one is the idea of Montessori and kind of what we have been doing within that area. Uh Montessori's been in the school district for over 25 years. A lot of our teachers have been uh part of that the entire time. Um so one

036of the pieces that we have been doing is we've been looking at in the essential in the essential elements rubric and doing a self-study to be able to see kind of where we're at within our practices as a school building, talking about those, identifying that, but then also too the plan is to be able to take those pieces in five different domains and kind of have like a a strategic plan for that of what we're going to be able to do to continue to bolster Montessori programming because our families really do appreciate it. Um you know, kind of what we offer to them cuz it is a lot different. Uh Paul and Roseann, you both were able to come out there one day. It's a lot different than traditional, but also too, our families were

037able to uh oh yeah, and and and know what, but I our families were able to um you know, be able to like they choose us because we do offer that to them. And on in giving tours, our families that are interested in Montessori, they believe in the program as well as the philosophy. Um and then a couple other parts that we've been doing with that is just increasing the family engagement opportunities uh to be able to kind of have those opportunities to get families to understand the uh philosophy a little bit better as well as the the importance of the 3-year cycle to hopefully uh attract and retain uh families within there, to which our numbers have been growing from uh over the over the years. We want to be able to look at

038that and have that continue to grow. Um couple other pieces are we've been doing vertical teacher walk-throughs to where uh observations are very important thing within Montessori to where our teachers were able to uh we were able to secure substitutes one day in the morning time we were able to have every teacher go and teach different classroom, kind of give observation because honestly we do have the professionals within our school building who have that extensive expertise within that area. You know, it's actually very formative to be able to kind of get some of that feedback from one another, but we are also able to go to a a couple other different schools during one of the in-service days to where we had uh a teacher from each grade band go to two different schools in

039uh Wauwatosa as well as Waukesha and kind of gets to observe there. Kind of I'm a big believer in stealing other people's ideas, making them better. Um so like being able to do that, see what they're doing well, but also too, kind of network and establish those partnerships with other schools and kind of open our doors for them as well, which they have not taken us up on, but we will continue to uh do those different pieces. And then the last one is we had a Montessori professional development on executive functioning, to which I was told that was the only Montessori uh professional development that has happened for our our teachers over the last 20 years. So we're looking at being able to continue those different kinds of pieces to be able to bolster um

040a lot of like the Montessori practices because I mean, I I grant that Maria Montessori kind of came up with her philosophy a long time ago, but I mean, it's just like in anything, evolution always happens and there's always ways to be able to make things better and continue to improve. So that is all that I have on my end. I don't know if there's questions, if I'm supposed to ask for questions. >> Yes. Anyone have any questions for TJ in relation to the work that they're doing over at Montessori? I just want to say after observing it, I mean, I definitely learned a lot that day. And then seeing like the 4K classroom actually doing work and not running all over the place was amazing. Can I thank the staff? I know some of

041you, and my kids went through the Montessori program, and they they're they were really well prepared for um high school and then beyond even to college thanks to the Montessori program as a cornerstone. It's great that we have it as a option in our school district for uh for free. Yeah, and to piggyback on that, that's one of my favorite parts in talking to families when they come for tours is just the idea of it is about the holistic child and being able to kind of make that well-rounded individual, to which the level sixes that we had last year that we sent off to Cart your phenomenal bunch. We had another whole bunch of other great students within our school building as well, too. And I truly do think that uh the program is a

042big part of it of how it kind of approaches the idea of uh the intrinsic motivation and making that well-rounded individual. Okay. I'm going to hand it over to Mandy Adams. Right. Uh Thank you, TJ. [clears throat] Next up is the school improvement update for Wisconsin Connect Charter School, and we'll have Mary Adams, the coordinator, present her plan. Um thank you so much for having me here. My name is Mandy Adams. I am the um coordinator for Wisco. We shorten it from Wisconsin Connect Charter School. It's just a lot easier. Um So you're going to we're going to talk through a little bit of our growth of enrollment. So this is our third year as a school within the school district. Um and I think it's really important for you to see the impact we've

043had and what we do um in those numbers, to how it impacts our district. So at the first year, uh total enrollment at the end of the school year, we had 82 students, 13 open enrollment, and 17 at our enrichment day. Last year, we ended at 126 student enrollments at the end of the year with 38 open enrollments and 31 that come in person for enrichment day. This is the exciting piece for us. At the end of year three, we are at 152 students enrolled, with 77 of those being open enrollments and new students to our district. Um in addition to that, we have 45 students who come in person every Wednesday to get our hybrid um education. So we have seen some drastic growth in a very short time. Um but where are those

044coming from? I think it's important to also see that. Um so this chart kind of helps a little bit. Um Yellow is new open enrollment. So we have 46 of our open enrollment students are brand new this year to us. That is showing our growth of outside the district uh where those numbers are coming from. Um the other piece to me that's really important is the red. Those There's 12 students who actually left our district um and decided to not be in BASD and have now returned to join us back at the charter school. Um so it's kind of opening that trust for some families who maybe lost it a little bit and went somewhere else and have now returned um home to us. The other three colors are uh students that either maintained with

045us or within the district, and we kept them in the school district. So like the orange um is well, it's orange on my screen. I don't know what color that looks like to you guys, but um this one that says BASD enrollment, that was 31 students who were potentially going to look at a different virtual charter or to go somewhere else, and we kept them in the school district from last year. So those when you put all those together, we had a really high number of families that we are able to support that um before we came would have potentially just left our school district. Um achievement. So while TJ said the school report card is like the Super Bowl, um it is for a more in-person school. For us, it does not have a

046big um data point because to get the school report card, you need 20 students in every testable grade level. So that is third grade through 11th grade, we have to have 20 students test. Um we're not there yet. Maybe one day. So the school report card really doesn't do a lot of data for us. So we use different data points. Um we have to do a alternative school report card um and a uh superintendent report card that we send out. Um so our areas of growth is in our ELA growth. So when looking at proficiency scores, uh we saw a growth of 3.6% of proficiency scores across our students last year. Um or from the last couple times. Um our goal was 2%, and we got to 3.6. For math, again, it was a 2%

047uh goal rate. We got to a 2.3% of increase in student proficiency across 4K through 12th grade. ACT. Uh this was a really uh cool one for us. So our average ACT of the class of last year was a 19. Um so that was a big piece that we're really looking at. It's not just the growth across different courses, but we are looking at that big assessment at the end. Um our mean score was an eight a 19. For the first time, uh we have students who are participating in athletics and activities at across our schools. So Wisco students are, as long as they're academically eligible, allowed to participate in activities and athletics at their respective buildings according to their grade levels. So in this school year, we had a two students a part of

048the one-act plays. One of them actually earned the one of the state awards. Uh we had somebody in the musical. We had a student in trap shooting. Uh one of our students was um their artwork was chosen for the Kiwanis Art Show. Um and then Battle of the Books. So we had a group that did Battle of the Books and did that piece. Thank you to Sally Nye um for her work with that and getting those students doing it. In addition to the activities, we had uh students who were part of the seventh grade girls volleyball team, seventh grade girls basketball team, seventh grade girls track team. We had a uh varsity boys soccer player who earned honorable mention. We had um a student who was on the girls bowling team that made it to

049state. Um and we currently have a um student on the boys baseball team. So for the first time, it's we're seeing the expansion outside of the academics, and we're seeing that success in the other aspects that come along with school um as we're growing. So those are just some of our pictures of our students who are participating in their activities. Dual enrollment. Uh this was also a huge growth for us this past this year. Um, through Gateway Academies and Start College now, uh, there's a potential for 42 earned college credits earned this year by Wisco students alone. Um, we have students in the Welding Academy, the Advanced Welding Academy, Cosmetology program, um, as well as other individual one-off classes at different universities. In addition to those credits, we have a seven uh AP classes being

050taken right now, which is an additional 21 credits. So, at the end of this year, Wisco students could will could have earned a potential of 63 college-level uh credits for when they leave us in a year or two years from now. Um, this is another gain for us in being able to really just look at the expertise we have and the um growth we have in our programming because it's not just just barely get by. We are getting students who are looking for college and life after high school, um, and they're able to kind of meet those earlier on. >> [clears throat] >> Back in February, uh, we applied for the federal government's charter school grant. Um, we ended up putting in for $564,000. We will find out in June if we get it. Um,

051it'll over the next 2 years. Um, it'll cover it cannot cover staff um salaries, cannot cover subscriptions, but it can cover things to help us put programming into place. Um, so, we were able to apply for that grant for the first 5 years of the school, so that's why it covers the next two. Um, so, there's a lot of amazing things we have in there. Uh, we'll find out in June whether or not we do get that grant, but I do want to say thank you to the team that put that together, the grant writer, um, Laura Kramer, Dr. Jill Oschlager, Principal T.J. George, um, Tyler Gullstad. It This was a undertaking to say the least. I think it ended up being a 21-page grant. Um, that could really help us grow um as we

052continue to move forward in the next couple years. So, I just want to say thank you to them, um, and I hope to come back in like July and tell you we got it and what's coming with it. Um, hopefully that's coming soon. I think this is my pet baby project and I'm really excited. So, this year we decided um we really saw a need to meet high school students where they were at. Um, with them being online, they are not necessarily getting all of the life skills they would have gotten had they been in person. So, we created what's called Beyond Wisco. And the goal of this program, it's a high school enrichment program, is to help students and families get opportunities to learn life skills that they need beyond us. Hence the name

053Beyond Wisco. So, it is um partnering with businesses and community members to create opportunities for our students and families to come in and either get trained or learn something um that they will use when they leave us. So, we have already um done a Stop the Bleed training with um the district nurse and Nurse Drugger. Uh, we had seven participants get trained in Stop the Bleed. We are having here in a week, uh, we will have a resume and mock interview day where our students can come in and actually either have their resume created and we'll work with them to make it updated or do some mock interviews with some um different community businesses and give them feedback of how can they improve. We are partnering with a local auto body shop who's going to

054actually close their shop down for a morning and let us come in and talk about basic car maintenance. How do you Do you know how much tire pressure is in your car? Do the oil? Um, window wash washer fluid? Where should you not put fluid in the engine? Um, do they know those skills? They don't necessarily. So, um we're very gracious for that and when that one comes, um, we'll be bringing more up to you again so that you're aware of that donation of their time uh cuz they are going to close their actual work their whole shop down for us for a morning and that's a big piece for them. Uh, we are also partnering with UW Madison, the Racine County Extension campus to do two different two to three different programs. Uh, one

055that is understanding your credit. Do you know how to build your credit? What hurts it? What helps it? Um, housing. 101 on housing. So, if you are looking to start renting, what does that mean and what do you need to include and what should you be looking for? And then a food-wise one that is looking at um healthy. What does it mean to be healthy and cook healthy um in today's economy and what do you look at? What should you look for? Um, so, those are just some of our ones that we've already created partnerships with that are coming. Um, we are excited for where this is to go further and where this kind of helps our students beyond us and beyond graduation. Um, so, it's just kind of a cool piece of it. What

056is next for us? Um, we are doing continual informational meetings for prospective students and families. So, about every week we will have um either a in-person or virtual informational meeting that if any family can join to ask questions. Um, if that time doesn't work for them, they can always schedule a one-on-one meeting. Um, but we tend to see them show up to those um if they need it. In this spring, we are upping our marketing plan. Uh, so, we have a mailer that we will be sending out to different school areas outside of our school district to try to up those numbers of open enrollment. We are partnering with Wind Lake. Um, there's a sponsorship opportunity there that we're going to partner with them um to get our name kind of out to that area.

057We are going to be working with some school districts and sending getting a information in their schools. So, if a parent is looking for information, they know where to go to and communicating that with the school district and their counselors and all the people who are kind of looking for it. Um, outside of that, I think the coolest piece is this year we will have 22 seniors who will graduate. So, 22 seniors will walk um our stage with their cap and their diploma in hand and cross that tassel. Um, last year we had seven. So, it was a gigantic growth in our high school numbers, um, but I think when you go from 126 to 154, that happens in there. Uh, throughout summer, we are going to be continuing to grow our programming options uh

058to be able to really foster that growth of students and what our needs are and what families are asking for. Um, so, as we are looking at what is working and what isn't working, how we can enhance what we are doing now and make what changes we need to make. Um, and then in the fall, we will have what's called Wisco Workshop. So, just cuz you're online doesn't mean you don't like to do things hands-on. It just might mean you need a different type of structure. Um, so, Wisco Workshop is going to be a way for students to get a little bit more hands-on in their learning. Um, so, if they want to do a class like automotive, um, but getting into BHS isn't an option for them, how can we create that option? And

059that's where Wisco Workshop is going to come in. It's going to open up doors for students to have individualized planning um in the areas maybe that they are interested in to help them engage in their learning. So, a lot to come. That's what I have for you. Uh, what questions do you have? I don't think there's any. [laughter] You did a great job. Yeah. You were real thorough, so it was good. Great job. >> I thought of the fact there was a question I've been asked every year, so I made sure it was in here so that I didn't have to didn't have to worry about it. Thank you so much for letting us be here. Um, we're excited to see where we go and appreciate the support. Thanks. Thank you. >> [applause] [clears throat]

060>> Okay. >> [cough] >> Next up is policy 5460, which is graduation requirements. So, uh, this is coming before the full board tonight because um uh, BASD currently requires 23 credits and administration will be presenting a recommendation to increase that from to 24 credits beginning with the class of 2030. And we'll turn it over to Reed. And while Reed is setting that up, also, I just want to give a kudos to the policy committee um for uh this this was first brought to the policy committee and then from there, all three members were like, you know what? I feel like this is too big of a topic to have this conversation only at the committee level. So, they wanted to pull this policy out specifically and have it as a full discussion with the full

061board. So, just kudos to them, too, for wanting to do that with everyone. So, that's why it is on the agenda. The policy committee did initially talk about it a bit, but really feel like they want to have that full discussion here at the board meeting. So, just note to self, too, this is an item for discussion, not an item for action. So, this would come back onto the board meeting next month um and and be a potential action item at that time. So, tonight's the night to ask um questions in relation to this so that you feel comfortable with uh administrative recommendation. All right. Uh, first, Nolan Peter, thank you very much for your service and uh best of luck in schooling and I hope you spend like time on the beach or something

062uh and enjoy your time, but thank you both uh so much. Um, so, we're going to get into the graduation requirements as alluded. Um, we looked at two different kind of options, 24 compared to 25 and increasing that um and that brought up some other things that we discussed, so we want to talk about eliminating non-academic credit options in our ACP and driven and then we'll go over our summary and recommendation. Um, so, the first thing is eliminating ACP and driven credit. This would primarily uh have students achieve their credits through academic coursework. So, ACP is our state is a state requirement. Um, we associated a credit to that before I was in Burlington, um, but it is a state requirement. We would still do that. It's just students wouldn't receive a quarter credit each

063year for doing, um, their academic and career planning. Um, there is no other conference in or no other school in our conference that associates a credit with ACP. Uh, so we would look at eliminating that. And then also eliminating the Driven credit. Driven is a leadership club, um, at the high school. However, we do have several other leadership clubs at the high school where there is not a credit associated with that. So, students can earn one and a half credits if they're in Driven for 3 years. So, they get a half credit every year they're in Driven. Um, any other leadership clubs, Key Club, National Honor Society, those clubs there's not a credit associated with that. So, looking at eliminating that as well. So, before you before you go on to that, does anyone have

064any board members have any questions about ACP or Driven? So, again, these are two things that no one else in our conference is providing students credit for these kind of activities, and we're just wanting to fall more in alignment with what other school districts would do. Um, and it's not removing either one of these, right? So, ACP is still a mandated program that we have to do academic career planning. So, we still have to do that, and it's really ensuring that with the 16 career clusters that students are aligned to career pathway, we're making sure that students are, right? Those kind of things. That's what ACP is focused on doing. And then Driven still would be a club. You just don't get to have a credit for either one of those things. Okay? So, neither

065one of the programs are going away, it's just the credit tied to them would go away. Do you have any questions for Reed on either one of those before he moves on? That's just like step number one. Is only having credits be given to academic course work. So, that was one of the changes to make it more in line with our surrounding districts. Yes. Are we really concerned with surrounding districts, though? We're No. Okay. I I personally, I don't like the messaging or it's just a thing for me, that particular piece. If no other club that we have, Key Club, Honors Club, Honor Society is not getting that half credit, then it just makes sense that Driven not get it. But, just because, you know, someone else is the other district isn't doing it, you

066know, we're we're trying to set ourselves, our district, um, apart. So, I would just be cautious in the messaging Mhm. and how that's put out put out there. Just because someone else isn't doing, all right, fine, we're the front runners, you know, we're the front runners, so. Yeah. But, yeah, so, that's just my piece. Hear you, Marlo. So, currently, BHS requires 23 credits to graduate. And on the right-hand side, you can see the breakdown, um, of those credits and what they look like. So, um, continuing our effort to to level up and increase rigor, we would increase that requirement to 24 credits. The big thing is at the bottom, the ACP credit would be taken away. So, essentially, how my brain works, at least, is students now, if we were to take away the ACP

067credit, they're still doing the requirement, they're still doing everything, there's just not a credit associated with that. It's now at 22 credits to graduate. Um, by us increasing to 24, on paper, it's only a one credit increase, but in theory, students would need to take two more credits worth of classes at a minimum to achieve 24 credits or three more credits minimum to achieve 25 credits. Um, so, uh, state requirements, English is four, and then math, science, and social studies are three credits. Wellness is two credits, where one one and a half credits is for PE. Um, and then the other half credit is for health. Um, financial literacy, so, consumer econ or personal finance, that's the half credit. Um, we have a requirement, uh, for our freshman seminar, um, students to take that. That

068is not a state requirement, but that is kind of the the, um, jump-off point for students to learn about all the different career offerings and all the different offerings we have at the high school. We think it's a a very important class for students to take. And then the elective choice that, um, is currently at six, that would increase to an eight if that if we moved to 24 credits, and it would increase to nine if it moved to 25 credits. And just a good FYI, I put this in the notes to the board agenda for you guys last week, but just as a reminder, the state requirements on the number of credits that the state of Wisconsin puts out there is 15 and a half. So, that's what's required by the state. School districts

069are well above the 15 and a half, but it's all the rest of that, any credits above 15 and a half is all determined at the local level by the school district. Okay? So, uh, districts all have different amount of credits that are required, um, and it's just 15 and a half by the state, and then we as a school district can determine how many more credits above that we want to have. Okay? Um, so, this this slide shows what we currently have and and have seen over the past 5 years in terms of students and credits. So, on the left-hand side, it shows that roughly we're about 26 and a half credits for our average credits earned by an entire class. So, when you see that, you think, okay, well, we should have no

070problem achieving 24 credits, but it's really important that we drill down and look at all students. Um, so, this graph on the right-hand side shows a breakdown of the students. So, the top bright orange is the amount of students that earned 25 or more credits. Then this light orange is how many students earned 24 or 24 and a half credits. And then this gray is how many students met the minimum of 23 or 23 and a half gradu- uh, credits upon graduation. So, we don't want to ignore this almost quarter 27% a quarter of our our students, and we acknowledge that the increase to 24 credits essentially is a two credit increase for those students. And these students down here would not have reached graduation knowing that we would take away the ACP credit. So,

071they wouldn't have earned enough credits to graduate. Um, we'll get into that in a little bit, but I think it's you see the 26 and a half credits and you're like, oh, perfect. But, when you drill it down, about a quarter of our students year in year out would fall beneath that 24 credits right now, and so, it's just something to to acknowledge and, um, keep in mind as we move forward. >> was a great question when we met with a policy committee. Like, the policy committee wanted to know, like, how many students earn how many credits, right? So, that was, um, coming forward because of that question at the policy committee. So, hopefully that kind of helps answer that. Um, some surrounding districts, Marlo, I know you don't want to talk about them. I

072know. Um, so, [laughter] Burlington and Muskego, um, both have 23 credits as their graduation requirements. Uh, Muskego is a a successful, um, district. Um, Wauwatosa, Elkhorn, and Waterford, all within our conference, they're at 24 credits. Union Grove and Mukwonago are at 26 credits, and Mukwonago is at 27 credits. So, kind of a mix bag, um, you know, we are on the lower end of things there. Um, one thing that I do want to point out is the structure of the school day. So, if you look, Burlington and Muskego both have seven period days, and then the schools that have 24 credits, they're they're different structured school day than we have. Uh, Wauwatosa and Elkhorn are in trimester, so, they have a five period day, those classes are a little bit longer. Waterford's an eight period

073day, but it's a drop two. So, what that means is they have six classes in a school day and two classes that they're not in, and that just rotates. So, every day they have two classes they're not in, and that's just in a rotation. And then Union Grove and Oak Creek is an eight period day, and Mukwonago is a nine period day. So, when you think of academic overload, um, in my humble opinion, having eight periods in a single day, eight different preps, um, is something difficult for not just students, but also staff. And then nine is that's a lot. >> And I'd also like to just, uh, help everyone remember also that when you start to move towards an eight or nine period day, that does, uh, impact our budget. So, that would impact

074FTEs. So, a while ago, we had a eight period day, we had, um, block scheduling, and we went to a seven period day, and it did reduce FTE numbers. If we were to jump all the way up to needing 26, 27 credits, we would have to look at a schedule change, and then jump to something like a eight or nine, uh, period day, but know that that would be an increase in staffing and increase our budget if we were to go in that direction. But, if you went to 24, you'd stick with the seven period still? Yeah. Yes. Um, so, the pros for for the 24 credits, um, is it would maintain the rigor and still be attainable for that bottom quarter of our students. A lot of those students are special ed students that

075we have that want, you know, may struggle getting to 23 credits, but this is something we do feel would be attainable for all the students. In planning, preparation, all of those things, 24 credits is six credits a year, and we would certainly be able to support that within our students. It does feel like a larger increase. I know it's only one more than currently, but again, the removal of the ACP credit and driven credit could feel like a two to a three and a half credit increase for students. It allows student flexibility still where we're not overloaded with classes and students needing to take classes, so we would still be able to pursue or students would still be able to pursue their electives and their interests. While having being able to afford all of those

076opportunities. It supports a wide range of learners. Again, the accessibility is really important to consider when when raising the credit requirement. It still aligns with our current schedule structure. We wouldn't need to look at moving to an eight period day. Again, six credits a year would mean that a student has that one period where they might need pull out for testing if they're a special ed student. There are a lot of different things that we can do with those students, whether it's school to work or all of those things, so we do think we could support it still within a a seven period day. And then to in line with that, it avoids that immediate structural change. The cons that we discussed is it Some people may feel like it's not a big push and

077that we're not increasing enough just going from 23 to 24 credits. So just kind of that view of that. And then something that I think is important to note when increasing credits, there's going to be a potential for increase of staffing, increase of class size, increase of a financial impact. So 24 to 21, there's going to be less of that, but it I would be remiss to say that there's not going to be some impact in this capacity with the increase to 24 credits. When talking about 25 credits, it it shows that we are strong in our belief of academic rigor and committing ourselves to to academic at BHS. Um, students would be able to to main maintain a full course load throughout the high school and gain a lot of knowledge in things right

078now where they might be leaving school and graduating early going into the workforce, things like that, but we want kids in school, we want them there. So this would really support that. And again, it is a larger increase for our students with the removal of ACP. Some cons that we talked is this does not align very well to the seven period day. There would be no room for students to have those pull out sessions throughout the school day. School to work options might be eliminated for students that are seeking that option as they become juniors and seniors. So we would need to look at a structural change to our our school day. With the hours changing, our our bell schedule just changed a couple years ago, and so we would have to look at that

079again. Student flexibility would go down because with the increasing credits, more students are going to be filling up those classes. So again, that increase of class size might mean that some options are no longer available where they would be available now. And then the barriers for some students increasing to 25 could pose um maybe some struggles with some of our students, specifically our special education community. So in summary, when when looking through all the pros and cons, we do feel that moving to a 24 credit graduation requirement is the best path while eliminating our ACP and driven credits. This signals that we are committed to the academic growth and academic rigor at BHS. We would start with the with the current eighth graders, the class of 2030. It stays aligned with our seven period day.

080Student flexibility will be intact. It avoids major staffing or scheduling changes. And then it signals that two to three or three and a half credit increase for those students that may have done driven all three years and the ACP credit that they um they received. So that is our thoughts on things. Are there any questions? You have any questions because at the policy committee, the thought was should we do 24 credits or 25 credits. So that's why you're seeing a presentation that gives the pros and cons of 24 versus 25 credits. And again, administratively, recommendation would be to go more towards 24, but again, we're not making a motion to approve tonight or anything. It's just for discussion. So if there's anything else you'd like want us to bring for the next meeting or, you

081know, things that you'd like us to make sure that we provide, we can go into that before we talk about the PEPs. When was the last time we increased the graduation requirement? As far as credits are concerned? I >> Great question. Yeah, I would look to Joe on that one. >> [laughter] >> I'll write that down. Okay. I'm just curious. Yep. Did Didn't we also talk about the potential of requiring some sort of like CTE or like certification as a credit during the past? You're right, we did talk about during the policy committee. There was some talk within that committee like, "Hey, if we were to increase from 23 credits to 24 credits, should that extra credit of elective be a CTE aligned course?" So as a board, we can we can decide that like

082we can decide what everyone want on the electives really. So you could do that. And just for as a reminder, especially to I'm looking at Andrea and Benner in the audience, like what does CTE stand for? So that is career and technical education. So it's really like courses aligned to career pathways. So there was some talk like if we added by a credit, should that extra credit be where it has to be aligned to CTE. You're right, Noah, we talked about that. I I just think it would be something that would help set us apart from other school districts as well. Um just the growth that we've done with that program um has been has been great the past few years and um I think that we should emphasize it. I'm just thinking about the

083numbers. So like there's we're seven period high school. Over four years, that's 28 different courses you could potentially take. Um if you go to 24, a student could still have a study hall each year. I guess that makes sense to me. 25 seems kind of high for Yeah, in terms of study hall, that you're looking at two semesters where you wouldn't have room for that unless you were to do summer school classes. If you went to 25. >> If you move to 25, yes. >> 24 works. 24 works, yes. How does it work for school to work then? Do you get credit for that? Yep. Okay. Yep. Otherwise, you never make 23. It'd be pretty hard if you were working like half a day. Correct, yep. Yep. Okay. 24 seems like a good compromise. When

084you present all this information, it makes it look a lot easier to pick a number. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. The policy committee when we were looking at it without all this information, it's like, "Well, 25 is no big deal." I mean you know, just another credit, but then At the risk of getting hypothetical. >> Yeah, at the risk of raising Marlo's ire. It was good to see the comparison of different schools. No, because we are different than if they have eight or nine periods, they can have higher credit graduation. Correct, yeah. Well, thank you for the information cuz I would have said 28 and just caused >> [laughter] >> Marlo Brown, no study halls. >> [laughter] >> It does. Like even as a team though, when you start really analyzing it and looking into

085the data more, it does, you know, kind of lead you to a certain path, right? Okay, you can stay there to read for a second, but now another component to this that came up, okay, and I just want to make sure we bring it to the attention of the group. It's not in the presentation, but it did come up in the policy committee and you have it within the the the graduation requirement policy in front of you is in relation to PE credits, okay? So we kind of had this conversation when we were having to reduce our budget by 5 million, right? And and bring our our numbers down when we did not pass the referendum. And one thing that was discussed was you could require students to or not require, but you could allow

086students to receive 0.5 credits of an extracurricular activity. So if I played football or basketball, something like that, that [snorts] I could take that for 0.5 PE credits and have that count as part of my 1.5 PE credits towards graduation. Okay? It was brought up at the policy committee like what about what since we're talking graduation requirements, can we re-talk about that conversation? So I did include the language that Neola provides. Again, Neola is the company that we use that assists us with all of our policies. It is used by almost every district in the state of Wisconsin and across the nation, too. But that language that is in there is some language that you we could use if that were to be something that the board would support doing. Know that the strategy initially

087was in order to help us reduce FTEs, right? In this case, and actually state statute says that if you do allow a student to take 0.5 credits of PE as an extracurricular activity, they do have to replace it with a different course. So it's not it's not going to reduce staffing in any way. It's just allowing a student to potentially take PE instead of it being during the the school day. Now, we did ask our SLC conference like what they do and most of the school districts in our conference are not allowing the use of a PE credit as part of their graduation requirements. I'm finding my notes here that was specific to this. It's under the same uh the >> second. discussion. Yeah, sorry. I'm trying to find it. Um Elkhorn allows it, but

088it must be replaced by a core elective. So that would be ELA, social studies, science, math, or health. Union Grove allows it for only juniors and seniors who are involved in a WIAA sanctioned sport or dance at the junior varsity or varsity level. And they created a form that has to be filled out and approved in order for them to make that change to their schedule. Wauwatosa used to have it, but they got rid of it 2 to 3 years ago and went back to not allowing it. And then Waterford, Lake Geneva, Wilmot, and Beloit do not allow extracurriculars to count towards PE credit. So that's just another component that kind of plays into graduation requirements. Not sure if there's any questions about that or if you're wanting me to gather any more information on

089that to assist with the conversation for the next board meeting. The incoming board members, I think this would be a good one-on-one conversation you can have with them. Yep. Get their comments and feedback. Okay. So we'll circle back to all this at the next board meeting. We will put it as an item for action to take action with the recommendation of moving towards 24 credits, just so you know, that's what my recommendation would be on the board agenda. But again, if you disagree with that as a board, we can always make adjustments to it and amend it and all that kind of good stuff. But I will put it on there as an item for action. Does that sound good? Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Reed. >> [clears throat and cough] >>

090All right. Next up is items for action. First item is extra Sorry, extracurricular activities admission adjustments. We'll have Mr. Sulik, the athletic and activities director, present recommendations to update the extracurricular activities and admissions starting July 1st, 2026. Uh good evening, everybody. Uh two two items I wanted to bring to the board. Um first of all, thank you, Noah and Peter, for all your years contributing and being service members to to our our school board. Um thanks for the opportunity to speak tonight. I wanted to ask the board to consider updating our athletic event admission fees, an adjustment that reflects both the evolving landscape of school athletics and our continued commitment to serving students, families, and broader community. Over the past several years, there have been some additional costs to holding athletic events. Um our facility

091operation, day-to-day staffing, rising expenses of some of the officials that we that we contract. At the same time, we've seen necessary increases to these official stipends, but we also want to ensure and attract and retain quality individuals essential to maintaining safe and fair competition. In reviewing our current pricing structure, it was also clear that our admissions fees are no longer necessarily aligned with our neighboring schools and conferences. They're they're they're a little bit lower. Adjusting our rates would bring us into consistency with comparable districts while helping offset some operational costs. So some of the whys of the adjustments, and I'll get to the specific adjustments here in a bit, but we're looking to do a slight increase to the games that we host at home, really to address about a 10 to 15% increase in

092official stipends. Um the reason for the increase to the stipends for our officials is quite honestly, if I'm a basketball official and I can get $85 to go with to district A and would only get paid 70 to district B, I'm probably more often than not going to go to the place that I can get 15 more dollars. Generally, the officials that that we want to keep around, keep contracted, we want to try to keep them happy and and consistent with us because they certainly play a huge role in our athletic conference or our competition. Um admission prices are consistent with other local conferences, specifically our own Southern Lakes Conference. Talked to our principals and superintendents about increasing the adult fee from $5 to $6, so it wouldn't be a different fee for each school

093that you go to. You go to a varsity event, it's it's going to be $6 whether you're at Badger, Burlington, Union Grove, Beloit Memorial, list goes on. The other reason for the the move is we are moving to a digital platform to sell tickets called Bound. Bound is a a multifaceted company that deals with schedules, scheduling games, contracts, can get into facilities management as well. But one of the other items that Bound offers us is the ability for people to go online and purchase tickets. This isn't anything new. This has been around for a long time, but often when schools would offer online options, they would have, for instance, one company, Huddle. If you go to Wauwatosa, if you go to Elkhorn, they have GoFan. It gets all of us on the same pathway as

094far as buying tickets online, which has proven to be very efficient, very effective, and and kind of, you know, nothing new, but necessarily sort of modernize our approach to to selling tickets. The other piece to this actually might look to go in reverse, but removing barriers to help boost student attendance. Uh currently, we're the only school in the conference that charges our students to go to contests. Um I wasn't aware of that until last year, late last year. Um one of the things that when I've spoke to our our student groups, specifically as Jill highlighted them earlier, our B squad group, they talked about some of the barriers to attendance. And there was a lot of the the you know, a lot of kids are overscheduled between work and things like that, but one thing

095that came up in a lot of the survey questions that I had with them was the cost to go. And it it I mean, it's minimal at $3, but it is a barrier to sometimes to go into attendance, to to attend some of these events. The other piece that we wanted to also, and this is not necessarily a conference-wide thing, although there are some schools in our conference do that, an opportunity to show appreciation to the military by not charging them admission to come to their game. If they had valid ID showing that they are currently serve or have served in the military, we would allow them to attend our games free of charge whether they're from Burlington fan or or from another area. Um so the nuts and bolts as far as the dollars

096and cents of it, our current event rate for adults is $5. We'd be looking to shift that to $6. The season pass that we currently that that we currently offer is $50. We'd be looking to move it to $60. We would look to offer free admission for senior citizens, students, and those that are in the military. Senior citizens, we consider anybody 65 or or older. Our BASD students, all K-12, need an ID as far as if you're fifth through 12th grade. As far as the ones that are younger than fifth grade, we probably need to kind of brainstorm on how we differentiate that. Generally, they're going to be with a parent, and they can vouch whether they're in the school district or not. Military and active veterans, we're looking at an ID. I don't necessarily

097know if I have a picture of of the ones that some of our other school districts do, so a little bit more work needs to be done so we can let our ticket takers know what's a valid ID and what's not. Um one question that was brought up kind of in the planning of this is is talking about what I'll make this a little bit bigger. Um what what do we Is that big enough for everybody to see? Um, what do we take in? Um, there there we we we charge at boys volleyball, we charge at girls volleyball, we charge at football games in the fall, we do not charge um, in our in our soccer. Uh, winter boys and girls basketball and wrestling. So, as you can see in 2022, we don't have it

098for the fall season, but about $10,000. Uh, 23-24, um, the reasons for the jump for football, you'll see in 23-24, we were at 18. 24-25, that's generally based upon the number of home games that you have. Uh, so for instance, the 23-24, we had five home games, 24-25, we had uh, four. Last season, we had five again and this year we'll go back to a rotation, we'll be back to four. Um, having been to a lot of these contests, boys and girls volleyball, football, the basketballs and the wrestling, um, how many students are actually attending? I I would say roughly, um, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to [cough and clears throat] 12%. Um, if you go to a football game, that generally probably jump up to about 30 or so. Uh, so for about

099every 100 people that are in the audience, anywhere from 12 to 15 or so are going to be students. Um, looking to remove the barrier of the cost to going to these contests is something that I think would be um, something we need to look at and again, something to help boost boost attendance and boost school school spirit as well. Um, WIAA playoff games, um, and invitational invites are exempt from this process. So, if it's a WIAA event, such as a regional semi-final or final, um, the WIAA sets those prices, which would be consistent at $6. Um, and we would need to to charge that amount, that's what the WIAA has us has us do. Uh, invitational events such as a a multi-team indivi- uh, invitational for let's say boys volleyball or girls volleyball or

100wrestling, uh, those events would would would not be subject to to being free for students. There there would be a charge for them attending. Um, and again, [clears throat] it's one that, you know, addresses some of the financial realities, but at the same time, our hope also is to help boost attendance, which I think is incredibly valuable, not only for the ones that are attending, but also the ones that are playing and competing, having that support in the stands. Anybody have any questions, uh, Matt? >> Is that season pass like a winter season pass or is it just >> That's all year long. Yep, all year long. So, it'd be for fall and Oh, so that'd be for all events? All events, yeah. >> if I had a kid in volleyball and a kid in

101basketball, I'm covered. >> Just show it, right. So, it it ends up paying for itself if you end up going quite a few times, though. Quite honestly, it doesn't I mean, unless you have a really dedicated parent, a lot of times they don't necessarily beat that, but the ease of having it as well. Is there any cost to us for that Bound app? It it it the the cost that we have Bound's interesting in their business model. Um, we we're on the schedule function of Bound right now. It's free. Actually, we don't pay anything for it. We will end up occurring a little bit of a charge for the support that we get and the digital card readers that they give us, we'll we'll end up purchasing a couple of them. Um, the only contract

102that we have with Bound is that they want you to, when you use their app, address about 80% of your ticket sales should go through there. So, in order to do that, about it's about a 10% hit on your tickets, but the reality is the ease that it's going to offer us and the opportunity is is is well worth it. Um, we are going through the learning phase of using Bound, uh, a schedule. Uh, we had a a schedule software called Our School in the past. It's our bloodline, that's the the key component of communication. So, myself and Becky and and Trisha are working through the process of learning more about Bound, but getting back to your question, uh, it they only they only take in a fee up to about 80%. You don't have

103to meet it in the first year, either, they're pretty lenient. Um, overall, uh, there's definitely some kinks, some things that we don't necessarily love about it, but overall, it's been a good experience with Bound. Um, and it's one thing that our entire conference is using, so to kind of speak in the all of the same language is super important. Any other questions? Um, for the military active and veterans, um, with the ID required, do we have a specific ID that we're looking for? That's what we're looking into right now. You know, it's going to be to a point where you're going to come frequently enough where they're they're they're probably not going to even look at it. Um, but they're I I working with Wistosa, they had a picture of one, um, that they have

104used. It's been honestly, quite honestly, Marlow, pretty loose with that, but at the same time, I I like to think the best in people, but I also know the reality of some people, they may play that. So, that is something that we probably need to, you know, unless they're a Burlington person where we know they, you know, you know, Benson Whiteside's, you know, grandfather, he served, you know, was in the military, served in Vietnam, like we know him. Like but somebody from another community, we're probably going to not probably going to be sticklers about making sure that they have it present. And and and everything that we communicate to the other schools, like understand we let that military veterans or active duty to to come in, but just make sure they have an ID. So.

105Yeah, so there would be a military issued ID. Um, I would say that um, we should also allow um, DD um, 214s. Um, it's a little bit more difficult because that would be a paper copy or a photo copy. But for those veterans who are not retirees, um, you can get a um, designation on state issued IDs. So, um, okay. So, there might, as we however this vote goes, um, if we're going to list an ID required, we should probably also What what type? Yep. Looking for a specific type? >> sounds like Marlow might know the answer to the types. Um, only because uh, Marlow has his own Marlow served, um, speaking in third person, but I did not retire and I have my own belief structure in veteran designation. Um, that's my own thing.

106So, for myself, if I say I'm a veteran, how can I prove that if I don't have a state ID? Mhm. I do have a DD214. Would you accept that? Um, Right. and then I just found out that, you know, there is a designation that can be put on state ID. So, I will be getting another state ID. That's good to know. Thank you, Marlow. So, how much revenue specifically by eliminating the student piece of this are you going to lose from that? I would say Taylor, I would say roughly 10 to 15%. What's what is that number? Um, if I'm looking at our our revenues earned from this past year at 36,000, we probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of 28, 29,000. We can't break it down because it's cash at the ticket counter.

107So, we can't separate students from adult pricing because it's all cash at the table. And that's just a ballpark number. So, with that loss of revenue, what's the what is the plan to recoup that that potential >> increasing the the the adult rate by a dollar and then the season pass by an additional $10. I think we always look at wait where what are more ways when we hold a game to be more efficient and effective, you know, um, we're probably on the low end as far you know, getting numbers of supervisors, you know, to sit some of these events, so that's a, you know, not that we can't ever have supervisors, but we look we try to keep it pretty light as far as what we have when we have For a varsity game,

108you have to have a a bookkeeper, but some of the other things I think we've we've done a pretty good job of trying to, you know, cut the things that aren't completely essential. Um, and I think there's other ways that we can be creative as well. Um, you know, on on on the back end of things, um, the I don't know what you can put a price tag on culture, to be honest. Um, you know, the increase, you know, the generation. I I I've I've said this numerous times that to our students that come to games and when they're loud and they're vocal, they have an effect on the game. Uh, if if I highlighted our boys basketball team, um, very well attended to a game out in Martin Luther, they probably dictated anywhere from

109four to eight points in that game, I can guarantee it. And that and that's a great thing for our district. I don't know if we can put a dollar amount on that. I do know it comes down to dollars and cents and we're not doing this for free, um, but at the same time, I think there's definitely some ways we can look at to be more creative moving forward. Okay. Some thought in uh, there is no we we don't know how this would play out or not, right? But if you as a parent knew that I have to pay as a parent to get in, but I don't have to pay for my four kids to get in, do we have more adults that will come? Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. But if I

110didn't have to pay for my four kids, but I myself have to go in and we increase the adult fee just a little bit, um, but then my four kiddos are going to want things from the concession stand. Uh, and you know, now they're at the game and buying things from our concession stand and things like that. So, would we potentially lose some uh, dollars on the overall fee of just ticketing to get in? Yeah, um, but the hope is that maybe more families come and buy more things from the concession stand. Yeah, and the revenue that we generate from our concession stand is is managed by a Burlington Coaches Association, which all those dollars go right back into our programs for for needs that that that they need. So, it it's it's kind of

111a win there as well and then we've you know, we we pay workers, but at the same time the profits that we generate from those concession stands they go right back into our programs. Good. All right. Anybody else have any questions, comments? Is this going to potentially increase um fees for the football team in and of itself? Not looking to, no. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> With that then um I will look for a motion to approve the extracurricular activities and admission adjustments as presented. So moved. >> Okay. Motion made by Brown. Is there a second? Seconded by Han. And then we'll do roll call vote. Kate, how do you vote? Aye. Okay. Rosanne? Aye. Paul? Aye. I vote yes. Marlo? Yes. Peter? Yes. Noah? Yes. Okay. Motion passes. Thank you. Appreciate that. >> No,

112thank you. Uh next up then is extracurricular activities, state competitions, student fee stipends, and you're back up. Okay. Um when when our our teams or individuals qualify for state, uh sometimes it's an overnight experience. Um sometimes it's just the day of. Uh so, for instance, we had a couple of boys swimmers qualify for state competition in Waukesha. They wouldn't stay at a hotel, um but, you know, the competition was stretched over a lunch and a dinner. Um state wrestling's a little bit different as far as competition goes. They go up on a Thursday. They may compete right away on that Thursday, Friday, and some kids if they're lucky enough to make it to finals or they're through Saturday. So, they're away from home. Uh we had a a fee uh not a fee, but a

113an allotment uh of which that we would allow um programs to take advantage of as far as feeding their athletes. It's a critical part piece of that nutrition while they're, you know, at the highest level of competition. Uh the reason for the adjustments and I'll get to the adjustment in a second is first of all, meal meal stipends haven't been adjusted in at least 20 years. It may have been longer, so um helping to ease a little bit of the financial burden for for state qualifying athletes. So, for instance, uh sometimes athletes, you know, a little bit at times are a little bit on their own um as far as paying for some of these things. This helps a little bit, making it a little bit more consistent as well. Uh the food allowance generally

114will fall short um of of what we need for them. So, we have to be, you know, really um on top of making sure we're going to places that we can afford to go to, but anything above that generally our our coaches have to pull out of their fund-raising account to meet that. Uh the WI does not offer any meal stipend for participating athletes. That's that's not in there, you know, that's not something they handle. So, these meals are completely covered by participating school districts. Uh so, what we're looking to do is is currently breakfast uh in the past was it was a $5 allowance. Generally speaking, we've really encouraged and and and coaches have done this mostly for the ease of it is is try to stay in lodging or motels, hotels that already

115have a breakfast for them. Um it just, you know, it's kind of baked into the cost of everything. So, we've eliminated that, but uh lunch and dinner were the were the ones that we're looking to make the changes. So, um before we're at you know, for a full day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner would have been $22. Uh essentially we're going to look up to possibly $24. So, lunch would move from $7 to $12 and dinner would move from $10 to $12. So, uh depending on when they end competition and they come home, that's kind of the way that we've adjusted this this budget as well as so to look at, well, if you're not up there for dinner, you've already come home at 2:00 in the afternoon, we're not going to pay for the dinner

116cuz you're already home. So, we look at their itinerary and and sort of budget off of that. Becky and Trisha handle um that being cut to them as far as in a check form so they can use a credit card at these places. So, the the proposal that I'm looking to to offer is to to eliminate the piece on the breakfast because I think we've already addressed that organically, uh but moving lunch from $7 to $12 and then dinner from $10 to $12. Um the reality is is that food just costs more nowadays. It just does. Um this is try to, you know, re-look at some of these costs cuz again, um in the end when you when you're going to over you know, you spend the program's picking up the the difference or or

117the athlete and family [clears throat] are picking up the difference. And quite honestly, and these kids are representing Burlington School District. You know, they're at the highest level of competition. We want that experience to be memorable and not be an a stressor as far as, you know, adjust and and all of our programs do a good job of fund-raising and and and but at the same time to offset that by a couple of dollars, I think would help and go a long way in building this up to be a really memorable event for for athletes and coaches alike. So, that's the proposal for the recommended adjustments to the state meal stipends. Any questions? Even with those numbers, you're still anticipating supplementing that with team money, right? Cuz They do. That's not going to buy lunch.

118It's not. It it helps though a little bit, you know. You can get to $25 pretty quick. You know, I mean, you just can't. Um so, you know, some programs will say, "Hey, you're on your lunch for the you know, on your own for lunch, but then we'll use the $24 and we'll go out for a nice dinner." So, no, it's not going to cover it entirely, but you know, the reality is is that, you know, what do we pay as a school district? We pay for transportation, which is a considerable cost. We we pay for lodging, considerable cost. We we, you know, invite coaches and staffs to go along as well. There's a a cost in that as well. Um so, there are a lot of things that we address completely not not using

119a fund-raising budget whatsoever, but this piece, yeah, would fall short, but we'd fall a little less short, I guess, with this. And it also makes it consistent so you're not I mean, I as weird as it sounds, like you don't have to figure out if it's $7 or just $12 for lunch, $12 for dinner. It makes it a little bit more simple, too. I mean, it is not again, not comparing it to other school districts, but it's more a little bit more in line with most of our, you know, neighboring school districts and what not, too. Uh question. When you say lodging, are we getting like a like a government rate? Like it's like $89 for like the the room fee? It kind of, you know, that's a good question. You know, I mean, I

120know we shop around. I don't know if we're if we are eligible for that. I don't think we are. Um generally, you know, coaches will try to find a place that obviously uh you know, is convenient to the trip. Um sometimes you do want to stay at a place that's not away, you know, that's with all the crazies and you know, like craziness that's going on. Um I know when I used to coach or I still coach track and field, but we try to stay in the dorms, which is is a reduced cost, but what would be difficult is you'd have athletes that wouldn't qualify for the next day and how loud it would get and it wouldn't be always the the best environment for the kids to to to stay in there. So, sometimes

121we've shifted to the hotels as a result of that. Um so, we do look at the hotels we're staying at. I mean, we're not staying at, you know, >> [laughter] >> five-star hotels or anything like that. >> exempt though. Yeah, okay. Oh, can you look into if we can get like the government rate? I don't know if we can or not, but we can uh I mean, if it saves you guys, I don't think it really matters what hotel you stay at. It's just Something to look at, absolutely. Yeah. You can get that reduced rate then. Why not? Plus if you're tax exempt. So. Okay. Any other questions or comments? All right. Then uh with that, I will look for a motion to approve the extracurricular activities, state competitions, student food stipends as presented. So

122moved. Second. >> Motion by Johnson, seconded by Kobylinski. Kate, how do you wish to vote? Yes. Rosanne? Yes. Paul? Yes. I vote yes. Marlo? Yes. Peter? Yes. Noah? Yes. All right. Motion passes. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Uh next up then we'll have Ms. Sagendorph come up for the fifth facility use fee schedule. And these adjustments to the facility use fees will be adjusted starting July 1st, 2026. I'll project I'll project it, Becky. Give me a second. >> Okay. All right. Um good evening. Thanks for having me here tonight to discuss the facility use schedule and the proposed fee increases. Two years ago after the referendum failed, we made it a priority um to ensure our buildings and fields were going to be managed professionally and consistently moving forward. Part of

123that meant revamping the facility rental fee schedule. There was some some hesitation that the fees would deter users from renting, but I can say that we have not seen that to be the case at all. Our facilities remain a hub for the community while continuing to prioritize our internal district organizations always being put first. On July 1st, 2024, the updated fee schedule and the online facility reservation system were implemented. And by June 20 or June 30th, 2025, which was a year later, approximately $50,000 in facility rental fees were paid. This school year, um so July 1, 2025 through June 30th, we're projected to see approximately $58,000 in facility revenue. These collective fees reflect continued command continued community demand for our facilities. And to give you some perspective, before we implemented um the that fee structure,

124we were collecting less than $16,000 on an annual basis. And you have that sheet in front of you guys in your board packet. So, the intended um the proposed fee adjustments being presented tonight are intended to be minor. Um we've had multiple discussions um with multiple people. Um we've compared the suggested fees with those of neighboring school districts and found that they are appropriately appropriately aligned to the space being rented. Um one other thing we're doing that in addition to the fees, we feel it is important to incorporate a tiered fee schedule when it comes to the use of the auditorium at the high school. Um we are rec- recommending that outside groups be required to hire a sound and lighting technician if they require anything besides a simple microphone or the preset lights. Um

125for the reason for that is simple. The equipment is specialized, it's expensive, and these user groups are typically not affiliated with the district, so they don't have an understanding of our equipment. Um I often times in the past, when outside [laughter] groups have rented our auditorium and have had free reign of that booth, they leave it in disarray, and then our directors of our high school programs have to find time to put it back to how it's supposed to be. Um so, by having a qualified technician hired, it will help us to protect our um equipment and prolongs the life of it. Um overall, our goal is to continue to keep our fees fair and competitive. They help offset utility costs, it's custodial time, and the maintenance and upkeep due to general wear and tear.

126Do you want to just talk through since I have this one up and you were just talking about the auditorium? If you just want to go through this technology and the three different levels really quick, cuz this is this is new. Sure. Okay, so we're proposing that the auditorium, if you look at your sheet, it has been $30 an hour. We are looking to increase it to $50 an hour, I believe. I'm going to go by memory here. Um with that $50, you would get a wireless microphone, the preset lights to the auditorium. You basically can kind of be self-sufficient. That is tier one. So, tier one would be the going First, the proposal is to increase to $50. >> Right, yeah. So, if you're going to just use the auditorium and you just want

127to the space, yeah, basically thing of it like that. Like you're needing the space for some sort of meeting, but you don't need the lighting and sound and everything to come from the booth up above, then you're renting it for $50. But we're starting to get requests to be renting it for more than just the $50, and that then is what um Becky has here as that next level. So, level one is that basic $50 to use the space. But then then if they move beyond that, do you want to talk through those two? So, as soon as someone needs um anything that happens up in the lighting and sound booth, that's when we would be looking at are you a level two or level three, and hiring a lighting and sound technician. Level two

128has a range because it may be a BASD student who has experience in the musical, um who we feel is qualified, and they you know, that it might be on the lower side. Um if it is is if it includes, you know, a lot more in-depth um something that requires maybe someone's experience like Rod Stoughton's, then we're going to look at the 45. So, this will be based on conversations with the user group, what their needs are, our our trust. Um and level three would go all the way up to two district-provided lighting sound technicians. Are you needing the wireless body body microphones programmed, advanced troubleshooting, in-depth productions that would happen in the auditorium. Probably you're looking at something like this once a year right now is what would be a request of us. Um

129So, we we've always had a hourly rate for a lighting and sound technician, but every group will say, "I don't need that." Nobody wants to admit they may need that, and then we come back to find they've adjusted everything in the sound booth, and it takes hours and hours to put things back, and things are missing and lost, and so. Um we've looked at other districts that have auditoriums and performance centers, and um modeled this off Bigfoot, I believe, but Waterford has something similar. We just think it's really good idea. Any questions about that component? Okay, let's jump back to the proposed um adjustments, and if we can just walk through the red the red components there. Um I'll zoom out just a smidge. And can you just Becky, just for people's knowledge of what

130group A, B, and C is here, and just in case people aren't sure about those three different categories. >> Okay. So, two years ago, we restructured the groups, and we decided to simplify it down to group A, B, and C. It's pretty simple. Group A is anything related to the district and community education. There are no fees if our programs use our space, including custodial time. Group B is everybody else. Um it's it's um scouts, it's Kiwanis, it's I'm having a hard time. 4-H, it's anybody anybody. Group C is um our BASD feeder programs. That's your junior demons basketball, football, your elite volleyballs. This was something we um established in two years ago with the field referendum when we realized that these are the groups using our facilities 80% of our time, and they don't

131pay a penny. So, we decided um we needed to somehow um incorporate some sort of fee structure. And it was a lot of discussions, a lot of reports ran, looking at hours, looking at what was fair. We didn't want to gouge anybody by all means, we wanted it to be fair. And we came up with a $50 per participant for our feeder programs that use our gym or outside facilities 25 hours of usage within a school a school year. In general, that is every one of our feeder programs are at the $50 per participant. We um only the junior demons football programs falls under the $100, and that's predominantly because of the football field lights that have to be used when they practice. That costs a lot of money. Um again, we were we were

132worried when we proposed these fees to them, um but we did it where they had time to share it with their families, incorporate that into their registration fees, and they and they truly did understand that it was necessary. So, what that gets them is once they pay $50 or $100 per participant, they they have um priority after school district um reservation after school districts are in our buildings, they have our gyms, our fields, and everything, and they don't pay anything except for custodial time on weekends if they have tournaments or games. They do pay for custodial time. And if a group were to be under 25 hours, then they follow the rest of the facility use schedule. So, these are groups that are wanting to use our facilities more than 25 hours within a year.

133Then they fall in the category C. Right. But a lot of this, too, you'll see in category B, we're wanting to make some adjustments to the um schedule. So, some increasing in uh dollar amounts, and more so, it really is being proposed because of uh the the amount of time uh and effort that is put in on our side for sometimes some very minimal support back to the district um financially, right? So, a classroom commons being only $8, uh there's more work than you think in setting something up for people. Uh so, just shifting that to $30, you know, and increasing that. These are all per hour rates here. Correct, Becky? >> Correct. Yep. So, these these adjustments are all um >> Those are per hour. >> per hour. The only thing that's per item

134or event is your rental equipment. Um your chairs, your tables, a TV monitor. A really good question um that someone had asked me was like, wait so if I rent a gym and the gym is $30 an hour but then I have to pay for bleachers and it's like no no no the the bleachers in the gyms are included in that use of the gym. The bleachers that are listed on here are in reference to our bleachers that are portable that we would that we sometimes have to load onto a truck move from one building to another building. The fee is really our custodial time our buildings and grounds time of moving that from one location to another. That was just a question that I had from a board member so I want to just

135share that. Any questions on the adjustments for the fees? These adjustments would go into effect starting July 1 of 2026 so this summer. Okay. There's no questions or comments then um I'll look for a motion then to approve the updated facility use fee schedule as presented. So moved. Motioned by I'll give it to Rosanne. Is there a second? Second. Second by Strom. Uh Kate how do you wish to vote? Yes. Rosanne? Yes. Paul? Yes. I vote yes. Marla? Yes. Peter? >> Yes. Noah? Yes. Okay. Motion passes. Uh next up then is the high school ELA curriculum adoption. So have Carrie Sett present recommendations for grade 11 English curriculum adoption. There we go. >> [snorts] >> Thank you. Peter Noah I want to also thank you. I've worked with you on teaching and learning and just

136loved having time with you and all your comments is wonderful. And you taught me so much about finance that I never really wanted to know. >> [laughter] >> But no thank you seriously. I really appreciate all that you've done. Um I am Carrie Sett. Thank you so much and I'm the instructional coordinator at the secondary level mostly at the high school. And I am super excited. I know it's 8:20 but I am excited to bring what I kind of think is an update to you in a way of our ELA curriculum because not too long ago you remember we adopted Study Sync for grades 9 and 10. And we went through a lot of work with our teachers um to get aligned and to think about what's best for our students to lessen cognitive overload.

137And we were talking about how do we incorporate that for our juniors as well. What is that going to look like? And we needed a little bit more time to do that. So this tonight is about bringing forward Study Sync for our juniors so our English 11 class. Now this might look familiar to some of you and I didn't change this. There is no need to change it. This is from our Study Sync 9 and 10. When I have been working extensively with our junior teachers we looked at what information can we bring to you that would help you understand why they think this works. And when I showed them this slide they agreed with every point that was on here. It meets all of our students no matter what level they're coming in at.

138If they are having a little bit more of a struggle with reading if they're not there are scaffolds in place in this curriculum that teachers can easily access. Another period I know that you can read all this but if there's a one more on here that I think is very very important that helps us move our students in a better direction when it comes to ELA. Embedded grammar vocab application that may not seem like a big deal but it is because it really does tie to the science of reading which has become a major impact um across the nation. And not only has it impacted our littles but it's important to think about our secondary level as well in even at the high school because it is necessary for our students to become better stronger

139readers and writers because science of reading and writing is something that's happening at the secondary level. Study Sync has a great grammar section. It almost ties back to that phonics if I can even use that word. And our teachers really enjoyed that component. So those were two particular pieces I just wanted to point out to you as well. Julie VerHagen is one of our wonderful English teachers and I wanted to put a face uh to >> [sighs] >> to you so that you have a teacher perspective. I've also been working not only with Julie but with Jody as a matter of fact I'm working with them again tomorrow. We've met so many times extensively working on how we can look at a curriculum for this. And this is just something that she looked at thinking

140about how it works for her as a group at large group instruction as well as how Study Sync would fit with individuals. And we've been able to utilize 9 and 10 at the freshman and and sophomore levels and she's seeing that work successfully and she can see that in the 11th grade curriculum as well. It has a strong connection and I think the biggest piece that as an educator we always want to stay aligned. We want to make sure that our standards are aligned. We want to make sure that we're meeting what the standards say our students need to learn understand and be able to do. We want to make sure that a curriculum provides that and that's exactly what this will do. So there's standards alignment along with a strong structure following how those

141standards fit into reading writing speaking all of those components of ELA. There's also a core instructional alignment so that might be some big fancy words where basically it's just saying there are key practices that are best practices that are spelled out for our teachers. Now of course they have freedom to use those practices and become better instructors using them but they are given in these materials and that's very difficult to find at the high school level. Scaffolding and differentiation this is so vital so vital to any curriculum. It is so necessary for teachers to have the idea of okay well if you have a student who isn't meeting what we would like them to meet when it comes to the standard what can we do to get them there? That's why that ladder is there

142that scaffold. We want to make sure that every student has equitable access to those standards at all times. And this particular curriculum provides examples of exactly how to do that throughout all of the units even thematically which is different from others. And that leads me to the thematic units and novels. You can teach this on a bigger scale making it more relational making kids go oh okay I see how I why I need to do this and learn this cuz we don't always want to learn about grammar. But if we can make it relational. So for example I know Mandy brought up resume writing with WESCO. That is something that's done even with our junior 11s too looking at okay how do we make this important when it comes to why did this individual do

143this in whatever they're reading let's apply it to our everyday life. Why would we need to use this? Why do we want to do that? And there are questions built into the curriculum that help our teachers stretch into that real world experience. And lastly I thought I would just share this with you as well. Um there are many gateways that can help us evaluate curriculums. Okay some are okay some are really really good to use. One of those is EdReports and we use that not as a way to say oh that they said it's great we take it. No no no no no. It's more of a way to say okay let's see what they're doing. What EdReports does is they look at the curriculum and they give it ratings based on different gateways. And

144so I thought I'd include this slide for you too just to kind of see what they say about Study Sync for junior 11. Those are very high percentages. I just want to make that very clear. Because some of these publishers and curriculums can go lower than 50%. So these are extremely high and they evaluate them on several different criteria. So the three that are here you have text quality. What does that look like? The complexity of your text the readability of your text building knowledge. How does that help students not only learn our ELA concepts but then be able to use them. Vocabulary grammar and then the usability for the teacher aspect. How is it is it easy for them to use or do they have to dig around to find something? And that technological

145aspect that can be troublesome. Study Sync's technological platform is very easy to use both on the student side as well as the teacher side. So I'm very excited to bring this to you because this is just an additional move that we want to do to align our grades 9 through 11 to make sure that the kids are seeing the same ideas in reading and writing and speaking and listening. Not that they're getting different curriculums. And that's what I have. What questions would you like to ask me? How easy is it to align the curriculum with our standards and the grading aspect as well? So, that's where I come in and I do a lot of work with that. I've worked So, I'll give you a very vivid example. I've worked uh pretty much with both

146uh Julie and Jody who are doing or will work with this junior 11. I'm looking at how do we build the curriculum? How do we maintain the integrity of the standards? And how do we make sure that when we say that the standard has these particular skills in it, how do we make sure that the proficiency that we're looking for is going to meet the integrity of that standard? So, if in the standard we're looking for the skills, cuz that's really what we want to apply. We want to teach the content through those skills. So, in one particular case, if you're talking about um analysis, so analyzing maybe the plot of a particular text, excuse me. We want to make sure that our proficiency statement really hones in on what does that mean for a

147student to analyze? What does that look like? Does it apply to their particular growth level? Does it make sense to uh what they should be able to do with that text? Does that standard fall in line with that? And we do we do work with that quite a bit. I will say that we have used throughout our ELA 9 10 and we're probably going to do the same with 11. We may adapt just a little cuz we adapted a little bit with 10 because you're talking about students getting older. They can take a little bit more. With our um standards with the ELA, we've kept some of the same proficiency ideas so that it makes it easier for the students to know, okay, if I'm analyzing a text, this is the number one expectation I

148have to have. And then we use what we call success criteria to build that proficiency. So, in 11th grade, we're going to have different success criteria with a similar proficiency. Does that make sense? I can show an example. >> that criteria that the teachers have to develop to to see whether or not they're meeting the standards, you're developing that now for this curriculum or We've been working on doing that, yes. Okay. That was that was my question. Sorry. Lengthy answer, sorry. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Anybody else? Okay. So again, currently using StudySync in 9th and 10th grade and this is just extending it to 11th grade, also. Okay. Um first, I just want to say thank you. It's clear your passion for this really comes out in your uh your presentation. So, thank

149you for what you do. >> [clears throat] >> Um with that said, uh I'm looking for a motion then to approve the high school ELA curriculum adoption for grade 11 English as presented. So moved. Motion by Brown is our second. >> Second. I'll give that to Kate. Seconded by Kate. Kate, how do you wish to vote? Yes. Okay. Rosanne? Yes. Paul? Yes. I vote yes. Marlow? Yes. Peter? Yes. Noah? Yes. All right, motion passes. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Carrie. Next up then is an international field trip and that's where Dr. Olschlagel will present uh the France international field trip for June 2028 request to the board. Looks like teachers Penny Yankey and Chris Fidler are seeking board approval for the 2028 France and the Chateau 10-day international field trip. Yep, and just

150a little reminder, if you remember, field trips used to be sitting in the consent agenda. We shifted it out of the consent agenda because the policy committee, we met and decided to allow all field trips that are within the United States to be approved at the superintendent level or principal level and only international field trips need to be approved at the board level. So, just felt like it would be a good idea to pull it out as an item for action all the time whenever an international trip does come forward. So, that's why uh you'll all of a sudden see this showing up there instead of in the consent agenda. Does that make sense? So, this field trip is a 10-day trip to the France and the Chateau. The approximate number of students that they

151would be bringing is 45 students. Cost of the students is uh $3,800, almost $3,900. That would be completely on the students in order for them to go. Um and just looking for a uh motion in order for that field trip to be something that can take place. And again, this is for 2028. Okay. Any questions or comments? >> Yeah. No. Sorry. Okay, thank you. Uh then with that said, looking for a motion to approve the uh field trip as presented. I so moved. Second. by Turk, seconded by Brown. Kate, how do you vote? Yes. Rosanne? Yes. Paul? Yes. I vote yes. Marlow? Yes. Peter? Yes. Noah? Yes. All right, motion passes. Next up then is uh policy second readings for board approval. Reminder, this is the first month where policies are going through the first

152reading at the policy committee level. This is therefore the second reading before the full board. So, with that said, I'll turn it over to uh Chairman Kobanek. All right, so um policy 3111 is creating a position and policy 3122.01 is a drug-free workplace. They were reviewed and there is no changes for those. Um policy 3120 is the employment of professional staff and it was modernizing the language um by removing specific steps instead of focusing on the expectation that employees provide a valid licensure in alignment with the DPI requirements. Um it also gives flexibility by allowing people who don't have a license yet to demonstrate eligibility for alternative licensure pathway um rather than requiring extension filing so we can basically vouch for those people to um say that they're on their way to getting their teaching

153license and allow them to have some employment. The next one is policy 31 20.01, which is job description. Um we're going to recommend to rescind this policy because well, we don't need it as a policy and it's more for operating procedure, not as a policy. Policy 3120.06 is uh student teachers and administrative interns. Um instead of having the superintendent make this decision, we're going to allow the building principals to do this job because they're more in line with what they need and where they're at with um selecting these teachers. Other than that, that's pretty much it this month. Okay. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, I will for a motion then to present the I'm sorry, to approve the second readings just presented by Mr. Kobanek. Hear a motion? So moved. Motion by Strom is

154our second. Second. Seconded by Johnson. Kate, how do you vote? Yes. Rosanne? Yes. Paul? Yes. I vote yes. [clears throat] Marlow? Yes. Peter? Yes. Noah? Yes. All right, motion passes. >> [snorts] >> Uh next up then is the school board annual reorganization meeting. This initially was set last year for Monday, April 27th at 7:00 p.m. Um does that date still work for everybody in attendance, even for the new board members? Okay. The question then does arise, can we potentially set the time earlier than 7:00 p.m.? 6:30. 6:30. We could do we could do 6:00 if that is easier. >> [laughter] >> Everybody? Monday. Does 6:00 work for everybody? Okay. That date still works? You're okay, Marlow? Uh yeah. Andrea? >> Andrea. >> [laughter and snorts] >> Yes. Yep. 6:00. 6:00 p.m. Okay. All right, 27th.

155On the 27th. It's all good? Okay. Then with that, we need a motion to approve the um updated uh date and time for the reorganization meeting. So, with that, do I have a motion? So moved. Motion by Johnson is our second. Second. Seconded by Hahn. Kate, how do you vote? Yes. Rosanne? Yes. Paul? Yes. I vote yes. Marlow? Yes. Peter? Yes. Noah? Yes. All right, motion passes. Okay, that is it for items for action tonight. Uh next up is school board committee updates. Uh we'll start with building and grounds, Marlow. Um we have not met and we will set a meeting once we have done the reorg for um committee chairs and committee members. Okay. Uh teaching and learning, Rosanne. Yeah, we had a great one a great meeting. Um it was one of the

156most and well-planned ones that I think we've attended uh although they're all good. Uh first of all, we heard Chris, our director of uh pupil services and he shared the internal assessments and what and that were used to support our student growth and achievement across the district. He shared the AIMSweb, which is used for phonetic uh assessment through second grade, and shared that FastBridge is used to assess math. And he kind of explained what those programs are. He then showed the committee Edge Climber as that is the platform the team has used is using to track reading plans. And that's required by Act 20, which we're all pretty aware of. Along with being the platform where all student data merges together for the team to utilize to support students across the system. And that too

157was very well explained. Then Joel Graham, who happens to be the principal at Winkler school, talked about the i-Ready, which is used to assess students' proficiency on grade level standards [clears throat] starting in grade two and it goes through grade eight. It is very aligned to the state forward exam, which provides good practice for students as well as uh how to take tests cuz they all need to learn about that. Lastly, Reed Oldenburg shared the Progress Learning, which is called Horizon as a format we use at the high school for our students uh to have the opportunity to practice the ACT. And they have the ACT style questions and each individual student and family um gets to know what the ACT does as well and how the scoring is done. Uh all these programs provide

158great data for our staff to use in order to inform their instruction. And as I said, it was so well uh planned and so well explained that we all understood it and I want to thank them for their hard work and time. And our next meeting has not been set. Okay. Uh thank you very much. Uh next up then is policy, Paul. So, we met on March 11th to talk about the policies that we just approved tonight. Um we will have another meeting set after the reorganization meeting. Okay. Uh board governance and communications, Kate. Um we met last Monday and we took a look at some of the superintendent evaluations that are conducted um throughout other schools um other school districts, not just in our conference, but really across the state. And there were um

159two that we really liked and the reason for engaging in this um evaluation process is so that we as a board can offer a survey to the administrative teams um at each within each building in our district. Um so, we've actually narrowed down ones of interest and we're um continuing to look at those. We're going to be discussing um the next steps at our next board governance meeting, which will be scheduled after the board reorganization meeting. Okay. Uh next up then is finance, Peter. Yeah, we haven't met uh since our last monthly board meeting. I don't care when the committee meets again. >> [laughter] >> But I will say I For the record, I did not say that. But uh yeah, no, no, but uh I didn't I thoroughly enjoyed working with Kate and Paul

160on the finance committee. We had a great year and um Yeah, it was uh We're going to call you at the next one. >> [laughter] >> Hey Peter, we got questions. Help. I think we made a lot of progress though towards thinking about the next operating referendum. It was a really good year to plan. And the the plan was that once we uh have new board members set that we would have a finance workshop in May at the end of May, early June. Um but once we have have the reorg meeting, we can try to set that date with the with the new sitting board because we do need to start having conversations about the next operational referendum or continuing them from the last meeting. Okay. Uh and you're welcome to come, Peter, if you

161want. >> [laughter] >> Last committee then would be personnel committee, Noah. Uh personnel committee, we met virtually this past Wednesday, April 8th. Um discussed the appointments, resignations, and retirements from our previous um board meeting. Okay. Again, as Jill just mentioned, uh we'll be selecting two different dates in May or June. One is for one is for the onboarding workshop for new board members, but then also current sitting board members. Be a good refresher for everybody. Um and then we could potentially use a second date then to discuss the operational referendum as Jill just mentioned. Um so, I'll probably have Jill and Aaron send an email out to everybody including the new [clears throat] uh board members to try to coordinate uh schedule for everybody. I think that's the best route to go at this point.

162So, All right. Uh future meeting dates, we have the Southern Wisconsin School Alliance monthly board meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30. Um And just as a reminder, that is um something that we signed up for that really gets us in tune with what's having happening at the legislative level. And the board governance committee members are usually the ones that are encouraged to come to that, but any board member can attend that um if you have interest. So, if it is of interest to you, just let me know, let Aaron know, and we can get you the link. Okay? It's a 7:30 to 9:00 in the morning once a month. Um and it is very informative about what's happening at the state level when it comes to what bills, policies, what are they you know, what's the

163rhetoric happening around public school funding um is what that kind of meeting is all about. Okay. Uh next then is personnel committee meeting. That will be May 6th at 1:00 p.m. Uh that is virtual. Finally, our regular school board meeting May 11th, 2026 6:30 here at the district office. And just a reminder for our new board members, Region 13 Wisconsin Association of School Boards is hosting their new uh school board member gathering here in this room from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. So, I would really encourage you if you can make that, please do. There's no registration. You don't have to register for it and there's no charge. So, just come and it's we're lucky to have it in Burlington cuz we've always had to drive to Elkhorn before, so. I could give you a

164>> [clears throat] >> Thursday April 13th. I'm sorry, April 23rd. Thank you very much. We got a handout up here for you. From 7:00 to 9:00. And you're all welcome. Okay. All right. Um Peter, before we do the motion to adjourn, can I just say a quick thank you? Sure. Uh um wanted to uh thank everyone. I appreciate all the uh kind words that Noah and I received tonight. Noah is a great colleague to work with. All everyone on this board though, I really appreciate you as colleagues um and the folks I worked with in the past. Uh Jill, you were excellent to work with. Thank you. Um I thoroughly enjoyed having you as superintendent. And district's in good hand and the entire admin team staff. I mean, we got an amazing district here. Um

165and I was I'm grateful that I got a chance to work for a little bit in the school district. And uh We've got it's one of the best things about Burlington. We've got great public schools here. Thank you, Peter. Noah. Yeah, I uh I will echo those um words by by Peter. I mean, the the past 3 years have gone very fast, but um really proud of the work that we've done as a board. Um and just really excited to see where you guys will continue to take the district, Jill. I'm could not be more happy with what you've done as superintendent and likewise with the rest of the admin team, so. Keep up the good work. Thanks. Very nice. Okay, with that then uh Um one sec. There are there in the notes to

166the board agenda, just so you know, there were three additional things at the very bottom. Just wanted to share there's a link to the Wisconsin referendum results uh that Baird put together. It's just a good little summary of like how did the referendum referendums go across the state of Wisconsin. So, that is linked in there. The new board gathering is in there, too. And then everyone is also invited to the senior recognition night um at BHS on May 6th. So, that's where the academic students are given their scholarships and academic recognition. So, just wanting you to be aware of those two. And there's a um need to RSVP to Aaron for that final one there if you're going to attend. Okay. Just a reminder, once we have the reorganization meeting, we can then establish uh

167committee meeting dates for members that may be changing for some or all the committees. So, with that then um make a motion to adjourn. Is there a second? Second. Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, we are adjourned. Okay, don't leave without your stuff now, okay? >> [laughter] >> Oh, no. Um