001My name is Bob Grande. I am a uh resident of the city of Burlington at 225 North Kain Street. In the uh March edition of the Burlington Standard Press leading up to the election, there was a letter to the editor written by three of the uh current board members. And that letter was signed as follows. Taylor Wishaw, Noah Stro, and Marlo Brown, BASD board members. Now, as a typical person reading the Standard Press, and this was a letter in endorsement of two of the three candidates, as a typical reader of that newspaper, they would have been inclined to think that, oh, wow, there's three board members here that are endorsing these candidates. The board must endorse them, and maybe I should consider voting for these candidates. Um, I I don't know for sure, but I'm
002guessing that the writers of that letter to the editor, you know, they knew what they were doing and they they realize that they can't express an opinion as the board. Um, they can express opinions individually. But the typical reader does not know that. And the typical reader looking at this was probably thinking, "Wow, it looks to me like the board the board is uh endorsing them." And then, interestingly enough, below the signature line where they're saying they are board members, it says we this is not these are not these are our personal opinions and not the opinions of the board. So, which way is it? You know, one hand you're saying, "Yeah, we're board members. This is what we recommend." And then we're saying, "H, not really. We're kind of this is just our our
003independent opinion. So I I I really um you know I was served as an elected official. I knew the rules. I think you do. Um I endorse people but I was very careful not to include anything involving the organization that I uh worked for. And I get the feeling you're trying to thread the thread the needle. How do we do this? How do we get the best of both worlds? will certainly imply that the board is behind it, but at the same time, we'll cover ourselves by saying, you know, we we are these are our independent opinions. I don't know who put the italics in at the end, if that was a standard press or if that came from, you know, the board members themselves. The standard 30 seconds, pardon me, 30 seconds. Okay. Um,
004appreciate that. So, this this was deceptive. It was poor practice. Uh, it was misleading and going forward, you know, as a citizen, as a voter, I would hope that this board can kind of keep its feet out of the muck and and work on the things that are at hand, providing a a great education for our kids, for having a safe and positive atmosphere for supporting staff. And those are the things. And I know your jobs are hard. You uh you know, politics has gotten into school boards, has gotten into local elections, the whole nine yards. I implore you to forget about the politics and just try and do the right things for the school district. Thank you. I appreciate you giving me the extra couple seconds and the opportunity to speak. Okay. Thank you,
005Mr. Grandi. Uh next up is uh board member reports uh on workshops or meetings attended. Uh before we start, I just want to congratulate Paul and Kate on their win and also thank Ombre for her uh service to the board over this last year. and we look forward to working with you in a personal and professional capacity through the WBSD Foundation as well. So, thank you. Okay. Uh does anyone else have any comments on meetings or workshops attended? I do. Rosanne. Okay. Last uh Friday and Saturday I spent in Madison as part of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and there are 15 of us that represent all of the school boards in Wisconsin. I I think I have 24 around here and uh we covered quite a bit and uh we meet every two
006months, but then we also meet virtually. But we were lucky enough to have Senator Diane Hesseline come and talk to us about how the Senate feels about education. And of course, she started right away by saying, "Don't don't hesitate to to talk to people or send them letters." She even suggested sending letters to the editor. Um, but to anybody who represents us talking about education because maybe the more they hear uh the more they'll do something, but uh it was interesting about voucher schools. Um most of us get 60%, they get 90 for certain things. Um they also talked about some districts that are going free meals for each child. We I know our district talked about it. Um Michigan thinks it saves a lot of money having doing it that way. Also we talked
007a lot about the need for more mental health in the schools both the faculties and the kids. So we talked about what that could be and um a lot about child care. many districts are having a lot of trouble getting child care uh for their teachers and for the you know just everybody it's and it's so expensive. They were talking and I was quite surprised. Uh they talked about budgets too and we have to make sure our budget is ready by June 1st. Um Wisconsin has about a billion dollar surplus. Sure be nice if they sent some our way, right? Education. Um, and I think part of the funding from this, uh, federal government ends pretty pretty soon. Um, let's see. Write a letter to the editors or anything like that. Um, all birds are
008all boards are concerned about money. So, the more we can let them know. I was lucky enough to be chosen to go to Washington DC and talk to our representatives there. And um, it was interesting. I learned a lot. I don't know if I'd vote for all of them to be honest, but um but I'm very very pro, you know, education. So, uh I pushed it pretty hard, but I also talked to people from other states. So, that's been interesting. Uh the dues for our area for WB are going up 3% next year, which isn't too much. Um they talked about some good webinar series we're going to have and they talked about Niola. Some people are not too happy with being part of Niola and they're going to a group called PRG policy resource
009guides and uh several districts have decided to drop NEOL and go there. They feel they're better. Um and we had a little talk about policy too. And then I was kind of interested uh learned that board docs is probably going to go out of business. They're you're going to have we're going to have to work with Diligent. So already at the at the state levels um they're not using they're just not going to be there anymore. So I don't know if we've heard about that yet or not. Have we? Yeah. My understanding is they're still in business. They're doing some sort of software update. So the uh facade might look different moving forward. Yeah. And I guess Diligent is just a lot better. So we'll see what happens. Um some districts uh will sign a
010contract to go with Diligence. So, we'll have to see how that works out. I'll keep you posted on that. And I think that's about it. It was a lot of fun. The people are very interesting. And then the 23rd of um April is the first the new board member gathering and it's going to be at Elorn and I will be leading that. And there'll be two lawyers and another one from yeah another one from Madison coming and that's really fun. and you'll learn what it's like to be a good board member and what a board member should do and take advantage of a lot of the place the things that they offer that teach you how to be a good member because there's lots of things they have videos um from April 15th to May
01115th one hour at noon hour you can join in go to WB and you know you'll find the way but um so anyway it was interesting and I'm hoping that Burlington will offer some proposals for the convention. We had one for the driven program two years ago and people are still talking about it, how wonderful that program is from Burlington. So, I'm hoping that maybe we get um somebody else to uh offer something that they can show at the at the uh convention that's in January. So, anyway, that's kind of what I did. It was wonderful. The traffic was terrible, but I made it there and back. Thank you. I have um uh something to report. After shortly after our last meeting in March, I attended the WASB legislative day at the Capitol up in
012Madison and that was a really um I felt like a very useful way to spend a day. Um there was uh we had the opportunity to um meet with our legislators and representatives and um there was a lot of school districts represented across the state. So, it's a day for school board members and administrators from all across the state to come to the capital. They set up meetings with everybody's representatives and you um got to go and kind of make your case and advocate for public education while they are in the midst of um preparing the budget. So, I had a really um productive conversation with Robin Voss. He was very open to hearing um about our needs in the district. um people from Waterford were um school district were also there. So um it
013was nice that he could hear um that multiple different school districts um from different parts of the state, you know, different areas, different types of districts all had the same concerns and um and then we also spoke with a representative from Senator Nass's office. Um that one was a little less receptive. Um but still that was a very very large group because he represents a very large area. there were probably uh 25 of us school board members and school staff members in his office. Um kind of all echoing the same sentiments of the need for some changes to the way that special educ um special education and public education in general are funded. Um so and again I'm going to echo some of what Roseanne has already said. It's really important that we as that
014you guys as elected officials um use your voice as an elected official. They take that um obviously all citizens they take that into account but um it means a little more coming from someone who has um is in an elected office and um the consistency so that they can get the right messaging. You know, they're not an expert on every possible avenue of the budget. How could they be? Um so they really need people who know what they're talking about to give them information about what what that budget area needs. Um, so I would continue to encourage my fellow board members to advocate that. And um, I also had the opportunity to um, collaborate with other school districts um, board members and things like that. And I'm um, one of the school boards that I
015talked to, they do have an advocacy committee, um, which is something that I think our board could benefit from, as I've mentioned before. and um they have templates right now that they're using to use to reach out and advocate and um I've asked for them to share those. I'm hopeful that I'll get those soon to pass along to you guys um to continue to use that um to just make sure that our voices heard um in that state budget cycle because things are looking unsteady. So, thank you. Anyone else? Uh just real quick before the superintendent's report, um Paul and I had the opportunity to attend um Carter um their fundraiser that they kicked off for Mr. Fiss this past Friday. Uh that field was packed over there with a bunch of kids and staff.
016They raised over $6,300 for, you know, Brian and his family. As you know, they're battling uh with Brian is battling with ALS. So, um, it was great that this year's Carter fundraiser was dedicated to to Brian. So, just wanted to point that out. Uh, next up is superintendent report. Yes, lots in the hopper has been happening in just one month since the last time that the board has been together. Um, so bear with me. It's six pages long. I'll go as fast as I can, but it's all great things. I was like, how do I cut any of this stuff out? Um, so first and foremost is uh kudos and thank you to the eight municipalities that make up the Burlington area school districts for their support in the passage of the operational referendum uh
017that took place on April 1st. Uh we're so thankful for the community's support and the work that's taking place across BC for the students of the Burlington area. with these dollars. Um, most of it is going to be used in order for us to maintain what we are doing as of right now with a few dollars to make some adjustments to our class sizes and also help with some of the deferred maintenance that we've been needing to take care of across the system. Uh and also it's going to be great for us to really be able to focus on our strategic plan that was developed and approved by the school board last year and really work to make sure we hit those uh points when it comes to academic outcomes, business partnerships, and continue development
018when it comes to relationships with students, staff, uh parents, and the community. So, thank you to the Burlington area school district residents for your support to BASD. Then additionally things that are either coming up or have just taken place. Tomorrow is tax day everybody. Yeah. Um but it is also the rine county uh special needs resource fair. This is something that will be taking place from 4:30 to 7 o'clock and is at Union Grove Elementary School. It is in partnership with lots of school districts in the area and it is something that rotates from school district to school district. So this year it'll be in Union Grove Elementary. It's a really great opportunity for families with students who have special needs to gain or understand all the different array of resources that are out there
019and available to support their families. So, encourage families that are in need or would like to learn more to attend tomorrow at Union Grove Elementary School. Additionally, uh we have one more section of our community connection series that has taken place once a month all year long so far. And that one will be on May 7th, 7 o'clock in the morning and also 7 o'clock at night with a focus on uh business partnerships and community engagement and what does that look like in BASD? Also, um some highlights at the high school. There's been a lot happening, Amy, at the high school this last month. We had the HOSA chapter. So that is the Health Occupation Students of America um uh conference. The students that have been in that that if you recall this is the
020first year that we've had that club and there are well over 60 members in that 66 to be exact. Um students in that club again just started this year. They attended a uh Wisconsin hosta state leadership conference on April 6th through the 8th in Wisconsin Dells and it was really cool to bring together aspiring health professionals from across the state for the weekend of competition leadership development and career exploration. Nine BHS students competed in an array of events alongside around 2,000 students who were in attendance. The students from BHS that attended was Ian Baes, Ryan Demoon, Ava Fix, Alyssa Girth, Jackson Grant, Kira Hetland, Isabella Peterson, Brandon Piccolo, and Liam Piccolo. So, congratulations to those students um for their time up there. Um Liam Piccolo's third place finish did qualify for him to compete at
021the International Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, which will happen in June. And fourth and fifth pa fa place place finishers um are designated as alternates and they also have the opportunity to potentially compete internationally if first, second or third place students in their event are unable to attend which would also involve some of our students. So for our first year that is pretty awesome. Additionally, we also have for the first year educators rising club at the high school. Three BHS students represented BHS at the state educators rising conference held in W Stevens Point on Friday, March 7th. This is the first year BHS has had the chapter in which a group of students in grades 9 through 12 who are interested in becoming future leaders of education are able to participate. Heather Milky there in
022the picture on the right um left person on the right there is the adviser. Also at the high school, uh Amy and her team started students of the month. Each student, each department at BHS chooses a student of the month. The students of the month meet for a brief celebration to engage in pastries with the principles and receive a certificate. I'm sure they love that. Probably good pastries. Additionally, Burlington High School business students shine at Finance and Investment Challenge Bowl. On Friday, March 14th and 15th, our talented business students competed in a finance and investment challenge bowl. It was a fun and educational quiz bowl competition focused on personal finance and economics. Additionally, we had Shrek the Musical. It was an amazing cast that brought their agame and really delivered an unforgettable performance. I went
023and saw that and I would agree it was really an unforgettable performance. That was really well done. Kudos to your son Harry because he was the best little king. What was his name? Farquad. The best little guy. Um he was on his knees the entire time of the performance. So that was impressive. But he really played it really well. Um but kudos to the entire cast on their hard work and dedication and um huge huge uh applause to the entire team for that outstanding performance. Also BHS forensic team shines at the WISDA district competition. We're so proud to share that the Burlington High School forensics team had a great day on March 15th at the competition that was held at Wistosha. Congrats also to our spring 2025 BHS high school nursing assistant graduates. We're incredibly
024proud to announce that these nine nine amazing students from BHS have successfully completed the nursing assistant program this month. As a reminder, this is a dual credit course offered in partnership with Gateway Technical College and it's held on our very own BHS grounds in our own on-site lab. But my time is up, huh? BHS Future Business Leaders of America, aka FBLA, students competed well at the state leadership conference. They competed on March 31st and April 1st. There was 22 members of our high school team that competed at various business events at the state leadership conference that was in Green Bay. Additionally, a special shout out to Adrienne Iraqi and Miranda Omnis for completing their the 20 thou 2025 leadership academy. We were incredibly proud to announce the students who qualified for nationals in California this
025year. Satie Templan, Samara Estrada, Ben Beaglo, Aiden Beersley, Aninsley Schemacher, Kate Strungy, Dylan Marquesy, Brandon Piccolo, uh, yes, and congratulations to all of them and good luck to them in California. Also, our BHS advanced culinary students are taking on a meal on a budget challenge. The students received a uh a situation where they were only allowed to have $30 and had to create a meal for four to six people and really did a great job taking on this competitive twist within their culinary class. And a special shout out to all of our judges who are all BHS teachers and had the tough job of tasting and scoring all of the amazing meals. Also during uh for FFA there was a drive your tractor to school day at BHS. Amy I remember her first year working
026here was like this isn't a real thing is it? And I'm like yeah in uh Burlington it is. Yep. So the FFA coordinated a drive your tractor to school day on National Agriculture Day. So you can see there's quite a few students that engaged in that activity. BHS also hosted a job fair along with the partnership of Experience Burlington and it took place on April 9th. It's a fantastic opportunity for our students to explore job opportunities, meet local employers for seasonal, summer, trade or manufacturing jobs and get their resumes reviewed by Express Pranzed and also participate in on the spot interviews and/or hiring on site. This event was open to BHS students only from 2 to 3:15 and then it was also open to the public from 3:15 until 5. Additionally, as you know, we
027are celebrating 50 years with WBSD. On April 5th, the radio station 89.1 WBSD celebrated 50 years on the air. Did if you didn't know, this is the only 247 radio station owned by a school district in the state of Wisconsin. Alumni traveled from all over the United States to come and celebrate the impact of their involvement with the station and what it had on their lives. In addition to the documentary documentary that was created by Jeff Kirkman, who's a graduate from BHS, it they also showcased the profound impact on the station. And I just wanted to show this quick little clip. Um, it's only a 2-minute trailer here. There is a 30 minute video in relation to the radio station, but I'm just going to play this 2-minute clip here quick. It's really special that
028this town of Burlington has this megaphone that goes worldwide. This is a gold mine in terms of the students. It's something that really sets them apart. I don't even know if I would have graduated from high school had I not been part of the radio station. It's a learning experience they enjoy. You get that in school. I think WBSD has given me an opportunity to grow myself. I had a really tumultuous home life and WBSD gave me a place of stability and belonging. One of the best things about teaching whatever you're teaching, whether it's radio or broadcasting or mathematics, to have somebody say, you know, that really meant a lot to me. in terms of like applying to colleges. They see that you as a high schooler got radio experience, you are automatically set apart.
029From a career standpoint, it's made all the difference. Um, I've been in radio for 38 years and if I didn't step foot in WBSD and hadn't started there, I never would have had the career I did. I look back and I can honestly say like that's something that WBSD set me up for success with. If WBSC were just, you know, everybody coming on the air and horsing around, it's not worth the money that's expended to keep it on the air. But if it's a meaningful situation where people are learning skills that they can take with them for the rest of their life, communication skills are so important in this day and age, then it makes it worthwhile. I think of us as a community station in a high school setting. It's nice. You have the
030football games and your local stuff that's happening and uh it's a great thing for the community. I mean, there are a lot of communities that have a local radio station. Honestly, if WBSD wasn't here, I wouldn't be able to find what I really loved, you know? [Music] So, if you have not seen the full video, it it is like I mentioned, it's uh 30 minutes long and it's really well done. Um, so uh please uh take a look at that in the event you have interest in in seeing that. I just have to say it was a wonderful afternoon. My son and I went and boy, everybody was so happy and doing things on the radio and so forth. It was wonderful. Mhm. It was I There was a lot of people there that day.
031A lot of them. Yeah. There were 35 cars when we first went. A lot of people. Next up that happened uh this month was Star Stuff Theater. Uh it's our third through 8th grade theater program through community education. Had their uh performance of Willy Wonker Wonka Jr. this past weekend. There was over 750 plus people in attendance for the four shows that took place and they had just over 60 students involved in the show. Additionally, at Cooper Elementary School, Sila Smile was visiting and they also were visiting with our Whiskll students there and provided new toothbrushes and toothpaste to over 50 students. looks super excited to be able to use that right at Dyer. This past month, month of March was filled with incredible moments of success for our students at Dyer. Throughout the month,
032students were recognized for following the Dyer way, demonstrating respect, responsibility, and safety in all that they do. In addition to those core values, Dire Superheroes went above and beyond by showing kindness to others, supporting their friends, and creating a welcoming and positive environment. Kudos and congrats to all the Dire Superheroes this past month. Carter Middle School, I'd be remiss not to also mention this. The student council organized a fundraiser for the family that was battling with AM ALS. Uh Taylor mentioned it early. U father of a student at Carter. Carter raised three $6,36562 and presented a check to the family just a few days ago on April 11th. Waller uh w wants to just say thank you to the donation, a huge donation from the Burlington Walmart. All students got to shop the fun school
033store and find fun treasures. And those who saved up their bare bucks got to take home extra treats before spring break. The look in their eyes when they enter the gym was really worth it. According to the staff, look at all the stuff on the tables there. All donated from Walmart here in Burlington. At Winkler, uh we had the third and fourth grade students started the Wisconsin Forward Exam on March 19th. So, we also have forward exam happening across all of our buildings in uh third grade through 8th grade. That's the state required testing for all public schools. uh at Winkler to kick off this important testing window. Students in grades 5K through 2 grade lined the hallways to cheer on the third and fourth graders as they entered the building that morning. Also, this
034is super cute. 5K through 2 graders also delivered notes of encouragement throughout the days and said good luck to each of the students for taking the forward exam. Winkler also had their annual learning fair that took place on March 11th. The students who participated were able to showcase and discuss their projects with fellow students during the day and then showcase their projects that evening for parents and guardians within our health department. During our 4K screener at Dyer, 62 students participated in vision and hearing screenings. The health services department also provided information on car seat safety, toileting expectations, and immunizations. Additionally, the Seala Smile program concluded with 316 students across the district receiving dental services during the school day. Within pupil services, April is National Autism Acceptance Month. According to the Center of Disease Control and
035Prevention, about one in every 36 students or children in the United States are identified with autism. In BASD, we provide an array of services and support to students who are diagnosed with autism throughout both general and special education plans. Autistic students make up 17% of the special education population here in BASD. All students and families deserve the opportunity to receive a quality education in BASD. And we are proud of our very high quality, passionate staff here in Burlington whose primary focus is on providing outstanding services to all students regardless of their learning styles or obstacles. Additionally, within the world of teaching and learning, on Friday, March 14th, BH BH uh BASD hosted our first project lead the way showcase. Carter Middle School students engaged in a professional student panel discussion with teachers and leaders from
036districts around the state. Students showcased their passions within STEM, shared their ideas for the future careers that they're interested in, and also you just could feel the overall excitement for the opportunities within BASD when it comes to STEM. The group then also traveled to go see what's happening uh over at Waller Elementary School in our kindergarten classrooms because as you recall, we're infusing Project Lead the Way all the way down to kindergarten. Um and it was awesome for this group of leaders to also see a 5-year-old also engaging in STEM activities in BASD. Again, we're really proud to have STEM kindergarten through 12th grade. Last but not least, the tech department has received all the equipment that is necessary for us to change over the phone system at BHS to a voiceover IP phone system
037once the school year ends. They are also currently exploring new digital signage across the district since what we currently have is becoming outdated. And then last but not least, we as a team are exploring different website vendors in order for us to really upgrade our website. But along with that, we're not just looking at the website. We're looking at how we communicate with families and what tools we use so that we can have hopefully one all-encompassing platform or tool to be able to communicate with all families across the district and also have that embedded with our website. So that is the end of the superintendent report for April. Very nice. Thank you, Joe. Okay, next up is consent agenda. Consent agenda items. This is the approval of minutes, bank statement of bills, appointments, resignations, retirements,
038terminations, donations, policy updates, and looks like we have a field trip in June and July 2027 to Italy and Greece at the high school. Um, just like to highlight a couple things for donations. This month, PHS towards various programs and clubs had over $20,840 in donations. 25 I'm sorry, 25275 came from the BASD Foundation, four $450 towards special resources fair, and then of course a variety of treatment supplies to different elementary schools and the carts are covered. So with that, I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented. So moved. Second. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. All right. The general are passed. Uh, next up item for discussion. Uh, first one is the school improvement update for the Fox River Consortium. So, if you folks would love to
039come up and take your turn. [Music] You're okay. There it is. All right. There it is. It's your picture. It's green. All right. Good evening. Um, my name is Katie Pilski. I'm the principal at Fox River Consortium, FRC as it's so lovingly called. Um, I did bring with me Heather McMurray and Zach Wedig, two of our teachers. Um, we are all new to Burlington this year. So, it's a brand new start at F FRC. Um, but it's been a great year so far. We've had a great time. We're going to share a little bit about how the year's gone for us and explain what PBLs are because I know that's a big question that some people have. So, our mission statement, we kind of adjusted this year as we empower students through project-based learning, equipping
040them with their real world skills, critical thinking, and resilience. And our supportive student- centered environment prepares graduates to thrive in their careers, communities, and lifelong learning. So this is us as I stated um collectively we have just about 45 years of experience and education. Um the majority in alternative education which helps working with the population of students that we have. These are our kiddos, some from the beginning of the year. Um this was at a Hawaiian barbecue that they planned as part of um their PBLS, but F FRC is for kids who are struggling with academic demands of a traditional high school. Um they're credit deficient, at risk of not graduating on time with their peers, and we provide them with an alternative education and a pathway to graduation. So far, we've had 41 students
041this year. Um as of the time of this, we have 43 now, but we're getting there. All right, the big question. What is a PBL? Right, so this is our in-house term for projectbased learning. This is how the kids get their credits. So a PBL is this structured credit bearing curriculum component. They engage in extended inquirybased projects, demonstrate mastery of academic standards. This is a screenshot of the first page of a PBL. They are all set up exactly the same. Um each one is designed around a real world problem or a complex question. Kids have to use their critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving skills. And then every completion of a PBL is evidence of learning and contributes to their overall academic progress. So this one here that I have is the young professionals PBL.
042Um it's for a half English credit. And then the driving question is how can I as a high school student properly prepare to be a successful young professional? So, we add in the academic standards and then there's always a final product at the very end that the kids have a choice of. Um, if they don't like the choices, then they can do a really good job trying to convince my lovelies here of what they should do instead. They try really hard sometimes, too. This is just I know it's really small on here, but this is just another screenshot of what this PBL looks like. So on this left side of the PBL is the milestone and in the middle are the learning experiences, the lessons, activities and scaffolds that the kids go through. Um there's
043helpful links which are over here um that they can use to start their research and then it needs to be signed off by either Mrs. McMurray or Mr. Wedig before they can move on to the next milestone. Um for example, this one is the research and reflect on these questions and then they have to have a mindm. Um the next one is um adding a resume. So they have to upload their resumes to Google classroom. Um really preparing them for life after high school. This is kind of um another screenshot. Handshake etiquette is part of young professionals by the way because Mr. wedding and we all firmly believe that the kids need to learn how to, you know, shake hands appropriately, firmly, right? Um, professionalism and then the final product on this one is scheduling
044a mock interview um with myself or another adult and then reviewing how that goes. So, this is just one example of a PBL. We have 40 plus, right? Are we at 40 plus or did we hit 50 yet? PBLs that are created 45. But the kids can create their own, too, which is kind of nice. So if they find that something's not exactly what they want, then they have the autonomy to kind of create their own. Okay, Heather likes all this stuff. Um, self- advocacy and keeping track of where they're at on their own is a big part of F FRC, right? It goes along with PBLS with the kids being able to drive their own learning. But in that you have to be able to reflect on your own learning and see where you
045are. So the stairway to success is how many PBLs you have completed. You start out at, you know, 05 on the far right side. You go up and then down and you hit 35. The 35 is because we have um 17 credits for diploma at F FRC, but 35 is the civics test. So that's required. That's where he gets 35 from. But the kids get to move their names along every time they complete a PBL. It's really neat. Here's one of our young men. Very excited. They like, "I got to go move my name. I just did it." Once they're done, um, and they graduate and they're finished with their final presentation, their names then go into our family room on the graduate wall after they do their final presentations. So, this is another way
046to self-monitor their PBLs. These yellow sheets have all of these checkboxes, right? So, there's an English section, a math, a health and PE, science, social studies, and electives. And then there's a blank space and a checkbox for what PBL they're working on. The PBLs that are already on the sheet are required. So, Young Professionals, for example, is a required PBL for every student to complete. Regardless if they need an English credit or not, they need to complete it. There are five mandatory PBLs that are being implemented next year. Um, again, regardless of where they come in, they have to complete those five because those are the five that we decided were more the most important to prepare you for life after high school. They get all excited, too, by the way, because once their sheets
047are full, they're done. They don't have to go to school anymore. Mhm. All right. So, our goals for this year, the academic goal was to increase the time spent on PBLS. Now, when we started F FRC this year, again, we were all new to Burlington to F FRC and we drastically changed what was happening at F FRC and the way that the kids were getting their academics really, their instruction, everything. So, we have we just talked today about we are definitely building the plane as we're flying it. Um, and we've made a lot of improvements. So, in the beginning, kids were averaging 5.3 days per PBL. Um, which was pretty quick for some of them, but then there's been a lot of revamping, a lot of improving. Um, and now they're at 22.9 days per
048PBL. So, roughly a monthish to complete a PBL and get that half a credit. And then culture goal, we want them to be at school. We want them to want to be at school. So, they're going from a 3.05 05 on the stutter survey, that's what it is, the stutter survey during the fall and we'd like to see it at a 3.10 this spring. So, and then that survey that's done um at FRC is the same survey that's given at all buildings across the school district. So, that it's normed also nationally. Um so, it's a great survey for us to use. First year that we started it was last year in um 23 24. Excellent. Thank you. All right. So, some highlights from the year. So, these are some of our kids and some of
049their PBLs. Now, when I put this together about a week or so ago, we had kids at uh 422 PBLS have been completed this year for um a recoup of 211 credits. So, some of the things we have on here is um the young man holding up the sign, he um organized a diaper drive for some of our young mothers. Um, we have a friend down here who's making a water filter out of Oh my lord, Mr. Weddings. Sand, rocks, gravel, some fancy charcoal things you can find in the woods because it's part of the um great outdoors PBL. Um, which one? Oh, surviving and thriving. Sorry. That that's the here we're going to take you to the woods and see if you can find your way out. Okay, that's how that one came. literally
050from a dream. Um, it this one down here is a study guide for the civics test. Um, this one up here help correct me if I'm wrong. This the brain one was a student created PBL correct about science. So, she was very interested in how the brain works and how it operates. So, she painted and labeled and then created out of fabric and stuffing like a 3D model of the brain. Um, fun fact, she also created a hand, which I think I might have in the next one. Yeah, I saw that. It was very cool. Um, Mike Wallace is a big um, supporter of our kids at F FRC. And there is there's a PBL called F FRC with Mike or no, FRC maintenance with Mike Wallace. So, he comes over and he shows the
051kids how to fix things, how to take care of things, how to build things. So, this desk needed to be disassembled. So my friend here was, you know, taking it apart. And then this is the the luau that you saw at the beginning. The boys were creating. So um and cooking downstairs. They cook a lot with Mr. Wedig. They plan their meals. They do the budget meals as well. Um they make bread from scratch. Y'all, the food's really good at FRC. Really good. Now, here's some Oh, this is the hand that the student with the brain. She made this out of clay and I think like fishing line. She put fingerprints on it. It was part of some forensic pathology story that she was doing in this case book. Way beyond me, but very cool.
052Um, oh, science for chefs is the food one. Science for mechanics. This is where they use Mrs. McMurray's van as a model. Um, we won't get into that for you. Um, there was a culture one where they had to write to like an embassy of a different country and um, this young man ended up getting stuff back from Sweden. There is a fashion one. So, one of our young ladies created um, some clothing for F FRC spiritware and the boys cooking again. It was a great Hawaiian barbecue. Um, these are the final presentations that they do. Like I said, when they're done, um, this is kind of F FRC's individual graduation, if you will. There is still a graduation ceremony, but they come and they do a presentation on what they learned, um, what they
053accomplished and what their plans are after high school. Um, friends and family and staff at the high school are coming. See, Miss Leavonian, you made it right there. See that? Um, they do, they can invite whoever they want. Um, anyone. Sometimes we have a couple people. Sometimes like here we have a whole room full and then they get to move their name to the graduates wall. Speaking of graduates, we had um early graduation ceremony in February with 12 of our students and then right now we are anticipating 16 additional students in May to graduate. And then just plans for next year. We are um going with a updated and modified schedule from what we have right now. Right now it's morning and afternoon. There's an AM session and a PM session that's 3 hours each.
054We are changing our schedule based on how many credits the students have and then filling in some of their additional time with work. Um, community connections, so making connections with different businesses and members of the community. Um, increasing our attendance rates. I will say overall we're sitting right around that 80 82% attendance. Um, which is really good for our kiddos. And then just expanding PBLs to give the kids a wider variety of options next year. So I think that's everything. There we go. Anyone have any questions? Can you go ahead? No, I'm just curious. Uh what PBLs are you looking to expand next year? That's a question for those two. Make sure you're talking into a mic, Heather. Okay. Like you want to come up and share. It's just when we're live streaming, whoever is
055talking has to speak into a mic. Okay. Um, we start from what the students are interested in. So, actually during dinner, I talked to Noah. Do I call you Noah? Okay. We talked to Noah about we have a lot of students in the healthcare field, but they're not sure what option, right? So, we have a career exploration one. And then our big push is to get people to expand outside of our four walls at F FRC and figure out for themselves what they want to do. So they're going to start emailing Noah for some options, but I know that healthc care is going to be a big push. Truly, Taylor, it's all studentled. So that's why that's why we're saying we're flying the plane. Whatever you said, building and flying. um because it's what they
056need, what they want. They're creating a lot of it. Um and we're just trying to help them figure out what they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and and go. So, right now, the big push is healthcare and then um trade, electrician, welding, things of that nature. It's tough because we don't have things at F FRC to weld, right? Or um electrician. So, uh, getting out there, being creative, we just we just got to do it. Do you have any do you have any ideas? We have a welding academy. Do they take part in that? Do we transport them up or do they drive up there or what's how do we Well, that's got to use the mic. Amy. Yeah. I think currently we don't have anybody interested in the welding piece
057right now, but I know that's something that Amy and I keep open lines of communication if kids are interested in things that it's not like the door is not closed. So, it's an option for them in the future. Yeah. We just don't have anybody interested in right now. Okay. But there might be some. But yes, if a student at FRC wanted to be in the welding academy, then they'd be able to go to the high school and do that. Okay. That's good. Um, how's the response been from the kids interacting with local business owners? They've been great. Yeah, they really have. And they've gone to a couple different places. Oh, help me with remembering a tattoo shop was one. Um, a restaurant. They go restaurant. Help me remember where they went. They went to No,
058like even just individuals or they call um different places. That's part of one of the PBLs. have to call different um businesses. They've gone to the museum today. They went to Dyer, right, and read with the kids. Um the response has been phenomenal. They they really it pushes them out of their comfort zone, but they're really good about it once they do it, right? So, one of their PBLs that was kind of neat was um civic engagement of some kind. We had a student actually attend a operational referendum meeting. So, they had to go to a board meeting or something happening in the community that related to board governance of some kind. And the student was awesome because I didn't honestly know she was an F FRC student and she was asking questions um debating
059with another community member in the room. Uh and it was really really cool uh to see that. And then at the end I was like, "Oh my god, Katie actually emailed me and said a student came last night. How did how did she do?" and I was like, "Oh my gosh, she was a student of ours." Because she acted like she was 25 maybe. Y, you know, it was really cool. Um, but that's neat that she that you guys are pushing them to do those kind of things. And she had mentioned that she was an F FRC student. I thought she meant she was a graduate from FRC. I didn't realize she was like an active student at that moment. Yeah, she that was enjoyable to have. She was definitely well prepared because that's what
060I was going to bring up was that you had that student that nice attended and she engaged and that had thoughtful conversation. So, it's definitely working. She has she's and she's she's one of those success stories like she came a long way from the beginning of the year. So, to hear that she did that and it's incredible. It's Thank you for sharing that. Anyone else any other questions or comments? All right. Thank you. Very nice. Thank you so much. Thank you. Uh next up is school improvement update for project active citizen the pack house. It's good. [Music] What's good? I've never done this before. Yeah. It's not an option for me. Let me go tomorrow. I can present here from my computer. Okay. Does that work? You don't have to email it to me. I'll
061pull it up on a board doc. See me? Okay. Oh, no, it is. It just recognized. Oh, it did. Oh, you're doing it, Nora. I'm like, that is not my computer, y'all. That was that was I'm like, wow, that was impressive. Saving the day. Sorry, but how do I get this in present mode or You'll just have to scroll down because it's like a PDF. Yep. Not a problem. Not a problem. That will work. So, good evening. My name is Amy Enhold and I'm the coordinator of Project Active Citizen, which is our pack program. Um, for those of you that don't know, PAC program is a beyond 18 program. Got it. Is it on? It's on. It is. You might need to hold on to it. Okay. Pack program is a beyond 18 program that
062serves both Burlington and Waterford school districts. Um, this program equips our students with special education needs for real life skills in adulthood. We focus on building confidence and independence with communication, self- advocacy skills, independent living, social and vocational skills. This year, our program has 20 students. Um, in addition to myself, we have three aids that work with the program. Because we're working with both districts, we work with a transition coordinator from each school districts. And then this year, we um have had the pleasure of having a volunteer student intern two days a week. Some highlights of our program this year. Um, both Burlington and Waterford did qualify for transition readiness grants through the DPI this year. Um, and with that, the pack house benefited from having two new vans purchased for our program. So now
063we have a total of three. Um, which is wonderful because it allows us to kind of be all over the community at the same time. Um, we might have some students being transported out to jobs while others are making deliveries. um others are out shopping or going on um community outings. So, it it allows us to really get moving. One of the big changes we made this year was modifying our cooking days. Um this allows us to really focus in on skill development for the students. So, working on knife skills um in smaller groups and working on um using the stove in the oven. Um so those three smaller groups allow us to focus on that greater independence and engagement with the students. It's about five students in each of the groups. Um part of
064that one of the other wonderful things has been um the collaboration um with Grace Church here in Burlington and our program. We've been able this year to utilize their facilities for our cooking program twice a month. Um, so while we have a group at the pack program doing their cooking, we have another group of students who are getting ready to exit the program that are working um on their cooking skills at Grace in their kitchen facility there. Um, so it's been really neat to kind of expand our program that way. We also have been utilizing Grace Church for a lot of our outreach activities that we do. We host um our lunchon, our annual lunch in there. um we host our graduation and this year one of the things that our students did for outreach
065is we hosted a fund fair there. Um each year we picked different ways to get connected with the community and give back to the community. This year the students chose to plan a fun fair um that involved students from Mrs. Lton's class at Waller, Mrs. New Holm's class at Carter, and Miss Longoria's class at the high school. Um it was a wonderful opportunity for all of the students involved. They had different booths and activities that were set up with games. The students designed the games and ran the booths for the kids and it was just a great day to see students be able to connect back with former classmates and with former teachers. So we hope it'll be an annual event moving forward. In addition to that, our students have also been doing a lot
066the last couple weeks preparing for the special needs resource fair tomorrow with um putting flyers up all around Burlington and Rochester and Waterford. Um packaging all the goodie bags and um theformational materials that people will get handed when they walk in. Um, and we will be bringing some of these games that we had at the fun fair to the resource fair so that while children are there with their parents, they can stop by and do some of the games. Um, some of our students will be running those as well. Each year, um, pack program participates in a couple fundraising activities. We always, uh, have a rubbage sale. This year we had it in October. We're hoping to have it again in October of next year. Um, but we get a lot of generous donations from
067families, community members, and school employees throughout the district um, donating. And in addition to that, we also continue our dog bone sales. You may have seen our many dog bones um, in various places throughout Rochester, Waterford, and Burlington. We have 25 locations this year. And you can see between both we've raised a combined total of $5,683. Um we use those um funds to help just offset costs for outings to um do different home improvement things around the house. And also this year it's allowed us to get some additional cooking equipment and tools so that we're able to have the two programs running at the same time. So in preparation for this presentation um the staff and I got together and we interviewed the students just to kind of get their perspective on the program and
068what it means to them. Um so the first thing we did was we reflected with them about how they feel the program has helped them to grow as adults or any specific skills that they have gained. And some of the things that the students identified um was the variety of skills that they learned such as making phone calls for appointments, working on cooking and budgeting skills, learning to recognize social social cues from others, um and learning how to use soft skills in the workplace. They also saw growth in areas like planning for their future, understanding accommodations and how to ask for them, and working through social anxiety and talking to others. At the end of senior year for each of our students, um students and families have to make that decision of whether they want
069to continue with programming and go on to the pack program to continue further developing those transition skills or choose to take their diploma, which is always a tough decision to make because just like every student, they've gone through four years, they're ready to be done with high school, but they've got to make that tough decision. So, we asked them, "What do you think life had would have been like had you chosen not to come?" what really has been the difference with coming to the pack program. Um so just a lot of really great input that they gave us. Um one of the students said my parents wouldn't have known about all the resources that are available to me and how to use them. Um we had a lot of students working on kind of that
070social connection with their peers. So one student said I would be in my own little bubble and I would have sat at home not making those social connections. so much easier to just sit on our phone and kind of play games and be on social media. So, um, they really appreciate how it's helped them get out and explore and engage more. Um, when students said, "Pack is a safe space for me. I wouldn't have tried as many new things or gone to as many new places." So, as you can see, this program has had a tremendous impact on the lives of the students that attend. We're proud of all the growth that they continue to make each year and we look forward to wrapping up the year and beginning and planning for next year. Um,
071we want to thank all of you for your continued support of our program. It really means a lot. Um, as you can see, it's been incredibly beneficial to these students. So, any questions about the program that I can answer? All right. How do you go about getting your donations for the rumage sale? Um just for um offsetting cost. Yeah, so we have the rummage sale each year. That's something that we hold annually and we usually announce it um to people throughout the district and you would be surprised. We get people calling all the time wanting to drop off donations for our rumage sale. We have a storage room down in the basement where we the students organize and sort all those things to get ready for the next sale. But then, like I said, our
072dog bone sales are probably the biggest way that we bring in money. Um the students sit down in groups and package up all of those little um bags of the dog bones. And honestly, it is probably a favorite activity of our students. They love going to the different businesses and checking in and seeing how many sold and collecting the money um and restocking. So, that probably is our biggest donation generator is our dog bones. Okay. Um is there a list of current needs for the pack house that's available? We can definitely create one. Yeah, that would be wonderful. Yeah. So, this year they're really um we're starting to work on doing some renovations at the house, some painting. We've got a bathroom we're finishing up on, and then we're looking at doing some painting on
073some of the trim and things outside and maybe getting adventurous and tackling the basement. So, so yeah, any but also in addition, wouldn't you say sometimes it's just the need for dollars for to support all the community outings that you're wanting to do? Definitely the community or the food items for the for the cooking on the the days that you're cooking activities like uh last week we had um kind of a split group. Some of us went to the zoo and some of the students stayed back and they did tie dying and bracelet making and so just being able to afford supplies for things like that. This week diamond art has been a big thing. So we've got some students that are going to be working on some diamond art kits that they can learn
074how to use and then take home and finish up. So, some of those consumable supplies that they that they use to kind of build those wreck and leisure skills. Yeah. Cool. All right. Thanks. Thank you. If uh a person wanted to donate financially or off your supplies, um how would they go about doing that? Just contact contacting you specifically or the district office or foundation? The best way actually would run it through the BSD foundation. Um, but they can contact the district office and then we can funnel it to through the BSD Foundation and say that it's for the pack house. Yep. Excellent. Wonderful. Okay. Any other questions? No. Okay. I love it. Very nice. Nice job. All right. Next up is the school improvement update for project win. What I need [Music] Hi, I'm
075Shannon with Project Win. Oh. We both went down. just for a moment. Hi, Chris. Hi, I'm Shannon with project win, which stands for what I need. It's was probably a two-finger scroll down. It looks like two fingers on the keypad there. Wow. Oh my goodness. The camera's working. Oh my gosh. Arrow arrow key. Yeah. Arrow down maybe. There we go. There we go. Oh boy. All right. Well, project win is a highly structured individualized behavioral Oh my gosh. Now. Okay. It's like Oh, this is going well, guys. I'm g have to do that. So, yeah. All right. Well, Project WIN is a highly structured, individualized behavioral academic program where students learn social emotional skills so they can successfully reenter the general education population or the least restrictive environment of their home school. So, students come
076from any of our elementary, middle, or our high school. Um and the district saves between four and 500,000 per year thanks to project wind. That number fluctuates depending how many students we take. Um the school so far um has served 13 students this year. Um right now we're a little bit below capacity. We have nine students. Um typically we um max out around 10. Um but we can do a little bit above that depending if we have a relationship with the students. Um, our typical students are amazing individuals who are traditionally high functioning, have an IEP, and have current mental health and behavioral struggles that are contributing to them being successful unsuccessful in their homeschool environments. Um, our students do access common core traditional curriculum. Um, I think that's a common misconception um that people
077think our students are lower functioning or that they're maybe accessing things that are not what other students are accessing in maybe say Carter. Um, but we get our curriculum straight from the other schools. So, if you were to come over and see what our seventh graders are working on, for example, you would see the exact same curriculum that the seventh grade students are being taught in a seventh grade science room, a seventh grade ELA room over at Carter. Um, we pull our high school curriculum right from the high school as well. Um, Project Win is relationshipbased. um we follow like the CPS model which really really looks at um believing that students don't lack the the will, they lack the skill. So we don't think kids are acting out because they want to, it's just
078they have not learned the skills to be successful yet. Um speaking of our students, um a lot of them wanted to be here tonight, as did some of our students who have recently graduated. um specifically one who works at Pizza Ranch and it's right down the road. So, we have to be really quiet so he doesn't hear us and try to deliver pizza, which may or may not be a good thing. Um but the students who are current students here for art class today, they drew very large self-portraits. You guys can come over and I asked them two questions. I said, "What is project win?" So, fill in the blank. Project win is what? And this year I learned what. So these pictures are self-representations of the students. So what they learned and what they
079think project win is. That way the students could be here um with us. So the first student we have here is Bella. She's a third grader. She said, "Project Wind is my happy, safe place in my heart where I see my friends and my teachers. This year I learned cooking and how to calm down when I'm upset and how to do pretty art. [Music] All right. And we have Dakota who is in sixth grade. He said, "Project Win is a calm place for me to focus on work and my social skills." This year I learned a lot of math. I also learned that Miss Shannon was serious when she said, "If you keep doing those crazy things at Culture, you are coming with me to Project Win. And we have our fourth grader. O R
080O R O R O R O R O R O R O R O R O RJ says, "Project win is fun and where I go to get smart in every area. This year I learned science, reading, math, and how to be a good person. Okay, this is Alex who's in uh 11th grade. So he's a junior. Project Win is where my friends are. This year I learned that time goes too fast and that you need to enjoy it while you can. And my buddy Dean who is in second grade project win is helping me learn to control my anger and emotions so that I can go back to Waller and be successful there and have friends and be awesome. This year I learned coping skills, the plant life cycle, sorry, and math. Okay, so
081this is Skyler. He's in seventh grade. Um, he says, "Project win is weird, but it works. This year I learned that hard work pays off because my reading scores went up way up and I ready." And I'm actually proud of myself for once. This is Chandler. Chandler's in third grade. Project Winn is nice. And this year, since I came to my new school at Wyn, I learned to be kind to others and to finish my work. Mr. Strait would be very proud of me. A he [Music] would. So, this is us. Um, I am the lead teacher, special education teacher. I have a master's degree. This is my seventh year in Project Win. Um we also have Miss Alyssa, who you just saw. Um she has her bachelor's. This is her second year at Project
082Win. Hopefully many more to come. Uh we have Donna Anderson. She is in the blue. She's been with me for six years. She's also amazing. I don't know what I would do without her. She's one of our two beautiful pair of professionals. And we also have Miss Sam, who Sorry, Mr. Straight. We just shouted you out, but we stole Miss Sam from Dyer. This is her second year at Project Win and she is another just amazing, beautiful person who loves the kids as much as we all do. We also could not function without her. So, it's true. Dean told me. All right. So, instead of doing um what we did last year and kind of highlighting a lot of things, I decided just to go month by month and I thought that way we would
083be able to highlight a lot of different things that we do on a daily basis. So, for September, uh we had 11, uh classes between students enrolled at Carter Middle School, which is a lot for us, and then three classes with high schoolers at uh Burlington High School. Um it doesn't sound like much to say we only have 11 classes at Carter Middle School, but it's a lot. Um, if you were to see where some of our students came from, for some of them, just being able to emotionally handle one class um, in such a rigorous setting as Carter Middle School is is a huge success story for them. So, I'm really proud of our students that we were able to enroll them in 11 classes there. Um, and Nick and John are just incredible,
084as are all the teachers, inviting them there and making sure that their supports and everything in their IEPs are followed through and creating a welcoming space for them. We also always try to do something to make each of our students feel special and unique. And one of our students is obsessed with sharks. And every Wednesday he wears or Thursday he wears a shark costume. So, uh, Sam knows someone who creates t-shirts. So, we created Daniel Shark Day. So, on Thursdays, we wear our Daniel Shark t-shirts and he just loves it. And then our, uh, high school student there is holding up art because we do a lot of artwork. October, we had our first high school graduate, and we were really proud of him, not only for graduating, but he also worked uh part-time locally
085at a title wave here in town. So, we always try to celebrate everything that they do with a party, cuz who doesn't love a party? Uh November, we had our first Project Win students successfully transition back into their home school. In this case, that was Waller. And Annie did an amazing job of welcoming her back as well. And last time we checked on her, she literally was like, "You're embarrassing me. Get out of here." She was doing so well. And I was like, "You just were like, "What? Come on. You know us." Like felt like, you know, like she was a celebrity or something over there. So doing amazing. Uh November continued. We had our second uh high school graduate of the year. Um she could not make it for the midyear ceremony. So we
086brought the celebration and the graduation to her. We even got her a little pink graduation cap. I think that's part of what makes us special when we say win of what I need that we will literally give them what they need. So, she couldn't come to our graduation. So, we brought graduation to her. We're not going to let anybody miss something as important as graduation. Uh December, we really focused a lot on our cooking. Um the kids love cooking. Um everyone else talks about a budget. Our kids have no idea what a budget is. They've asked me to import Wu from Japan that cost. So, we may need to borrow some techniques because uh budgeting is just not our thing. They've also asked me where Mr. Chris's Magic Money card is, meaning their credit card.
087Um when our staff don't come back with things that is up to their standards, like what do you mean you got the generic cheese? This is ridiculous. Like, where's the craft? And I'm like, guys, we have like a $30,000 budget. Like, um but they love cooking. They're getting really good at following a recipe. Um, we have one student who has celiac, so they're might very mindful of that. Um, and they also love the younger students in elementary school love bringing all the extras up here and passing them out to the administrative staff upstairs. I love watching them do that because it helps me monitor their social skills, making sure they're saying their pleases, their thank yous, working on making sure we knock on people's doors, especially the superintendent because they'll just be like, "Yo, superintendent."
088Like, "No, no, no. You can't do that." like this is a very important person. She could be in meetings with very important people. So, you know, we're working on it, but cooking is they do a great job. Uh January continued. Um we had a couple of our students show very significant gains in the I Ready Diagnostic. Again, very much in part to Miss Alyssa as well as the students. She does all of our um reading intervention with our students, not only elementary, but middle as well. Two of our students went up between one and two entire grade levels in the winter I Ready Diagnostics. So, we were very proud of them. Um, we did big celebration for both of them. That's actually what one of our students referenced in his little picture was that he
089felt proud of himself finally. He has very low self-esteem. So, I was really proud of him. Really excited just to see his self-confidence rise from those scores. Uh, January, we had our third Project Win graduate of the school year. also really proud of him because he not only attended full-time um at school, sometimes more than we wanted him to. I'd have to actually kick him out, but he also worked 40 plus hours um at Pizza Ranch. Um there's a picture of us on the lefthand side there actually visiting him at work to make sure he was at work, but he was. So um no, he does awesome and we're really proud of him. Um he continues to do well and is a very very successful community member out there. So that was really awesome to
090see. Uh February was our students walking in the midyear ceremony. We're very very proud of them. Parents were very proud of them. Slate queen, that's what my student says. Uh February continued. Um we try to incorporate, like I said, we do all common core curriculum. If we do do anything additional, that's like PBL, STEMbased projects, um we make sure it's in addition to what we're doing with the common core. We don't ever replace anything. We just do things um on top or additional. So, in this example, our elementary classroom, which is Miss Alyssa's, we worked to create recycled paper. Um, it originated from student questions during a whole group reading lesson. They delve further into understanding the paper making process, research how to pulp the paper, create homemade methods to press the paper. Throughout the
091process, students had the opportunity to work collaboratively, use their critical thinking skills, design skills, and math skills. Um, our little girl here was having a lot of fun. She made a really big mess. I was really happy to say these are, you know, elementary students, not my students. Have fun, Melissa. So, It was very I did, you know, I got some nice pictures and then I just took off there with my nice high schoolers. But no, she Alyssa does a really great job with um um doing all these enrichment things. Um but it's really fun with the elementary students because you can do a lot of that add-on stuff, but we're really make sure that we are religiously sticking to the Common Core curriculum as well and just doing add-on things just to make it
092fun for them. We don't have all of the fancy things that Carter and the high school have in terms of like the robotics things and a lot of that really cool stuff. So, we do the best we can um with the limited resources we have. But, I think that we do the best we can and then when the kids are ready and able, we sign them up for classes over at Carter in the high school where they can access some of those more high-tech things. um February we made handmade um cards and we delivered them all to every single elementary school, the middle school and the high school to administrators and then to some of the kids' favorite staff um teachers that they missed, people like that. Um we try to do a lot of
093things like that just so that the students can kind of continue to build those relationships, keep those relationships. Um and also introduce them to new staff members and administrators who are going to be their administrators when they do make those transitions. So I try to take a lot of the elementary students, especially if they're going to be seeing like the middle school or if they're going to be going to schools where this is going to be your new principal because of the redistricting. Um, and you can see here, um, our student is just absolutely hugging Mr. Strait, even though he sees him kind of frequently, but he really loves him. So, Mr. Straight, I hope you're watching. If you are missed, you will be missed. Um, in March, we did a really awesome art project.
094We do a lot of art in Project Win. Um, we will do this again if anyone would like to come. This was really awesome. We got uh Tom from food services, the director, to come do this. So, we laid out a copious amount of plastic wrap in our sensory room. We emptied everything out of it. We laid down plastic wrap the entire sensory room. We laid down a ridiculous amount of um canvases and then we put paint into squirt bottles, took the kids, put them on the swing and just swung them as hard as we could, which is crazy. And then they just paint squirting everywhere and we turned out some very beautiful artwork, which is now downstairs. It was very messy. It was very fun. Um, I don't know if our custodians thought it
095was very fun, but we did. So, you know, very great though. Very memorable. Uh, for 2025 2026, for next year, our goals are students taking more classes at their home schools. So, we have a couple of elementary students and elementary students who will be middle schoolers. Um, so Alyssa and I are going to really be working on getting those students emotionally and behaviorally prepared so that they can start attending some of those schools and attending Carter. Um, and Miss Don and Miss Sam are amazing with going with them until they're ready to either transition to shared support or just go on their own. Um, we're very lucky that they they never say no. They're just always there to support. Um, we also have one high school student who's going to be graduating next year with
096us. He spends his mornings at the high school, comes to me for his academics. Um we're also going to be looking at um a possible transition to that house for him. Yay. Um we also would like continued academic growth, especially in the area of reading. That's been our strongest area of growth. Um especially with ACT 10. We want to continue that. Um but also just because it's so important. We have students sometimes who come to us who are grade levels behind. And that's just something I think we all feel really really strongly about that that's you can't get by in life if you can't read. So that's just something I think since day one we've always felt very strongly about. Um and then equity, voice, and representation for wind staff and students by wind staff
097and students. Um we don't always have an equitable voice at any table in the district and I think that's something we'd like to work on. Last but la last but not least is my why. So these students are just a couple of my students I've had throughout the years. um he could really replace them with any others, but these two are special to me, especially because one um they both graduated this year. But um when I started at Richardson School, which is the school I came to before this school, which is where the students were primarily being sent out of district before project was created, I had these two students. Um the little girl I started with in first grade, started teaching her in second grade, the little boy in fourth grade. Um, and they
098have come and gone, but specifically the boy I taught fourth grade through 8th grade, went to the high school for a little bit, came back through 11th, and then graduated with me in 12th. Little girl came and gone. But it's been amazing to see them grow up. Um, I think one of the most beautiful and amazing things about Project Win, this kind of alternative teaching, is that you get to see some of these kids more than anyone else will in any other kind of teaching. Usually, you get kids for a year or semester, what what it may be. Um, and I think I've had opportunities, maybe many other people don't, to see these kids at their highest, their lowest, and just to continue all the way to graduation, and they're both doing amazing now. now.
099And if you'd seen them in first grade and fourth grade, I mean, I would just go home and cry. It was so hard. And now you it's it's crying of just joy like that they've made it and they're doing well. So that's my why is knowing that there's an end to this and there's a reason even if it takes from first grade to 12th grade like you will get there. So every time that we get a new student like this is my why knowing that someday you'll get there. So I just wanted to share that that's my why is knowing there is a someday. So thank you. Are there any questions? I have a question. So you me you just mentioned Richardson. I know a lot of our wind students have been attended Richardson before
100we started the program five years ago or so. Yeah. How how does win compare to Richardson? Um or can you give me some compare and contrast? I'm just curious. Yeah. Um well quite different. How's that? Um I think positives and negatives to both I would say. Um I guess what aspect would you? There's so many I guess for well we talk a lot about students like there's so many I don't even know where to start with that because there's so many our students I mean I imagine it's one advantage but Richard's in Milwaukee. They're all over. There's locations in Brookfield and West Dallas. They have them in Madison now. So, our kids don't have to travel. Correct. Hour back and forth. How large of a school is Richardson, too? Like, that would be the other
101question. Um, when I was there, it could be like 30 to 40 kids. Okay. My classroom there was maybe seven or eight [Music] kids. I mean, did Richardson have more resources though? I guess that'd be one thing. I mean, here we have more individualized care or individuals teaching. Um, it they had more money. I don't know what they did with it. They brought in a lot of money per student. I can't tell you where that money went. I didn't always I don't I don't know where the resources were. I didn't They weren't in the curriculum that I had. They weren't I know exactly how much it cost to send kids there cuz it cost I mean I know exactly what it cost to bust them there. I don't I can tell you I didn't have
102new curriculum all the time. I can tell you that's I don't know. Yeah, that's a hard question. So I appreciate Yeah. I I guess I have to know like what aspect but yeah. Yeah. Anyone else? Thank you. Thank you. Very nice job. [Applause] Okay. Uh just to recap again, thank you to FRC, uh the pack house, and again project wind for you folks coming tonight. We really appreciate you. Um next up is pupil services. That is the transition readiness grant update. All right. Hello. Good evening. Good evening. Um Michelle will be up here. She's just getting her computer ready. So um when we had applied for the transition readiness grant, part of the grant was coming and providing an update to the board as to how um we have been working towards um using the
103funds that were allotted to us from the state. And so tonight we just wanted to provide an update as to um where the the grant money had gone um that was provided to us and and how that has helped move us forward at the pack house. So, I have Michelle Obab Owen here who is our transition coordinator and who helped write the grant and has um taken over as far as um making sure that the opportunities and activities that we listed um have been followed through on and that the staff has received um some of the education and opportunities that we had hoped for. So, Michelle, thank you. So, um, as you know, in July of 2024, we received a grant for 47,220 from DPI. Um, a major part of that was we had budgeted
104$30,000 uh for uh transportation for a new vehicle. That was the maximum that we could uh budget for. We were able to get a 2024 Chrysler Voyager from uh Miller Motors and we also purchased seat protectors. So, currently we have just a little over $1,100 left that we're looking into if the or the orange van, the original van needs any improvements, um if any of our vehicles need anything. Otherwise, we're also looking at other transportation budgets that we might be able to help with. One of the other bigger items was a $3,000 uh curriculum, the Next Up uh curriculum. This curriculum is aligned with Common Core standards. It's also aligned with the social emotional learning standards and very importantly the paths are the areas of transition for the beyond 18 program. Uh the other thing
105as Amy had mentioned the pack program runs a couple of businesses. The dog bone business being their maiden uh business and next up has a business platform so that students can learn about uh inventory, point of sale, all those things, management of their um time. So that entire portion of the budget was already used. Another part we had budgeted for um and to be honest we weren't sure how we were going to use this money but we had budgeted 3600 for post secondary education. Uh we were able to have a student from the pack program go to WCTC uh to complete a hospitality and culinary arts management course. Um so her cost is listed there. We still have a little over $3,300 and Chris and I are looking into how we can use that budgeting
106that money uh potentially looking at some post-secary education scholarships for students in special ed department who be able to take classes whether it's over the summer when we don't have the start college down money um or even in the All we part of it was paraprofessional training especially for those uh par profofessionals at the pack program. We had budgeted $2,000 um for them to learn more about transition. We were able to take uh two of the three um paras to the Wisconsin transition conference in the Wisconsin Dells. Um and we still have some money uh left over. And so I've been looking at some paraprofessional education that CISA 2 has that we may be able to take advantage of over the summer. We also had budgeted $44,000 for continuing education for certified staff. Um we
107were able to do quite a bit with that money. We were able to spread it out across things. We took five educators to the PTP training uh in Whitewater through CISA 2. That's where we learned more in depth in-depth uh planning of our po our what does PTP stand for? My mind just went blank. Uh pre-transition planning post transition post transition planning. That's where we work with students to say, "Hey, what do you want to do in the future?" We want to make sure that their classes that they're taking in high school are aligning with their goals. Um we I'm part of the SECOT which is the county uh committee on transition. I'm one of the co-f facilitators and so I was able to go to a SECOT training program. We also took four educators
108to the transition conference with the two paras. And then just recently we had five uh staff members go to the autism conference which was an incredible conference. We have a little bit of money left in that but uh wish I'm still waiting on some bills from the autism conference. We had budgeted $1020 for salaries for subs. Um we went that PTP conference only three of the five of us needed subs. So that is reflected there. And at autism conference only two of the teachers that went needed subs. So that is reflected there. Um we are taking some students from the high school to visit UW Whitewaters Horizon Day in um on May 2nd. And so we will be using that some of this money to cover the subs for those teachers. Um staffing network groups,
109we had budgeted $1600. Not sure. I have to contact DPI and see if we can move some of that money. uh the staffing network group that I was hoping would be able to allow staff and paras to participate in. I found out today doesn't exist anymore. So, I'm going to see if we can reallocate that money to another area. And uh finally, we had budgeted $2,000 to employment and postsecary experiences. We haven't used much of this at all. uh the pack program went to tour the uh UW Whitewaters life program which is a college program for individuals with disabilities. Um we do have some projected activities coming up. Uh when I said about the horizon program, um so if there are any um expenses related to that and also looking at taking BHS students to
110go see the life program at Whitewater. So, we may have a little bit of money that we are left over there, but that's it. So, we're we're spending, but you're very frugal. We'll try to be. Any questions about that? And Chris and I are hoping to put in for the grant again for next year. So, we'll see. Fingers crossed. How many other grants fall within that same type of uh field that you're applying for? How many um Yeah. Are there additional grants out there that are similar to the one that you were just awarded? There is one through the um the board for individuals with developmental disabilities. Unfortunately, we didn't get that grant last year, but I will be applying for it again. Um, we just turned in a grant for the speech department. We
111won't know about that until summer. Um, if you know of any other grants, I'm happy to write them. Yeah, I was just curious. Let me know. I'll ask anybody for money. Yeah. So, okay. Anyone else have any questions or comments? Just as a reminder, to receive this grant and have this grant, they have to give a update to the school board about the grant. Correct. So, that's what they're doing right now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Uh last item for items for discussion is the ongoing policy review, which is first reading. So, we'll have Mr. Cobber could take that over. So the uh first policy reviewed was policy 5200 which is on attendance. Um basically it was revised to add additional excused absences that were recommended by
112state law. Excuse me. Um the next policy is 5330 which is the administration of medication uh emergency care. Um it was revised to include the option of student receiving non-prescription drugs that are provided by the school consistent from the school supplies um with the parental instructions of dosage and other healthc care provider instructions. The next policy is 5411 which is act 20 uh third grade promotion and retention for atrisisk students. This is a brand new policy. Um, in 2023, Wisconsin enacted Act 20 to strengthen the early literacy efforts. The law states that school districts must implement a policy for promoting students from third to fourth grade. Um, we followed the model that was provided by DPI and districts are required to adopt this policy by July 1st, 2025. Um, but the enforcement can be delayed
113up until September 2027. Policy 5430 is the class rank. Um, this was updated so that we can incorporate the class ranking requirements that must be implemented for students to participate in the University of Wisconsin systems guaranteed admissions program. The requirements for grade 11 class rank and notification to the top 10% first applies at the end of 24 25 school year with guaranteed admissions in the 2526 school year. Um, adoption of this revision is recommended and required for any district that wants to participate in the guaranteed admission program or the Wisconsin academic excellence scholarship program. Policy 5460 is the graduation requirements. Um, the policy was revised to reference the newly enacted half credit requirement for financial literacy for high school graduation. The addition of financial literacy as a half credit graduation requirement is required by state
114law effective for the class of 2028. Um so that means that students that are entering in 2425 school year will need to complete this requirement. Uh just to add to that, we already had financial literacy as a requirement here in Burlington, but this is a requirement that DPI now has put in place. So it reads more from that lens. the policy. The next one is policy 5505 which is academic honesty. Um we revised it to incorporate concerns regarding the emergence of AI technology and its impact on academic integrity. Um the next one is policy 5610 which is suspension and expulsion. It was revised to include optional language for the board to express preference for nonexclusionary discipline and is also updated to cross reference the policy on discipline for students with disabilities. Um definitely want to
115look at these and consider the these revisions uh to be recommended. Policy 5610.03 is alternatives to expulsion and re-entry plans. This is a new policy uh and it's to address the common practice of providing students with the opportunity to avoid expulsion hearing process in circumstances where administration determines it is appropriate to offer a re-entry plan with conditions designed to correct behavior. Um this one's important so that it allows the students to continue their academic careers. Um so that's a important one. Policy 5771 is search and seizure. Uh it was revised to make it easier to follow and specifically note that a student search may be directed by an administrator other than the principal. Um that's the big change for that policy. Policy 6610 is nond district supported student activity accounts. The policy was revi revised
116so that it provided a replacement to the account for significant revisions on the recommendation of school district auditors in response to GASB 84 as it relates to accounts that are under the control of but not audited nor managed by the district to support specific student activities. the activities are funded by students, parents or other organizations and are approved as appropriate student activities but are not do not receive direct district financial support. An example would be um like the class accounts that for like the class graduates when they do like a gift or something like that. Policy 7540.05 is assisted technology and services. The policy was updated to address new technology being used with certain students as a way to communicate with them and to monitor their location and behavior. The policy update reflects the expectation
117that such functionality will be disabled during school unless expressly provided for in the students IEP plan. Policy 7544 is the use of social media. Uh, it was updated to provide additional language to address the continuously evolving environment of social media and the potentially dangerous circumstances in which staff interact with students through social media and related forms of electronic communication. Policy 8395 is the student mental health services. Um, it was revised to account for the delivery of mental health services using virtual platforms in addition to face-to-face on-site delivery. language was also added to reference coordination between the delivery of student mental health services with the students IEP programming requirements. Policy 8500 is food services. Uh it was updated to streamline the dietary accommodations language and to reference the appointment of special dietary accommodations coordinator as required
118by regulations. Also added is the required grievance procedure related to the disability related dietary accommodations process. Policy 8600 is transportation. It's been updated with language previously in policy 8680 uh transportation service contracts. Um since policy 8651 is the non-ine use of school buses regarding district owned vehicles had been rescended. So it's just like a combination of the policies. Policy 8640 is transportation for field and other district sponsored trips. This policy has also been rescended. Um and this content of that policy is now in 2340 which is district sponsored trips. Policy 8651 is the non-Rine use of school buses which was also rescended. Um it's been moved to that policy 8600. Uh it's also strongly mented recommended to asssure consistency with other pertinent policies which are included in the update as well. And then finally policy
1198660 is the transportation by private vehicle. Uh the policy was updated to provide additional options to better control private transportation for field trips given that the need to do so continues to increase frequently. Um I believe we also talked about the use of cameras so that it protects the district and the students. um in the event something were to happen. And that should be all of them for now this this month anyways, right? Yeah. All right. I have a May I ask a question about one of the policies? Um in reading the surge and seizures policy, I noticed there is nothing included in there about um communication with the guardian or parents. I'm wondering is that included in the administrative guidelines or should that be included in this policy? Yeah, that's always that's always something
120that happens anyway on the but yes, it's on on the administrative guidelines side. It would say that we always contact families. Yep. Anytime that happens, that's just routine part of our our administrative guidelines available for the public to view. Okay. And then I just had a I guess it's a question, maybe a question, maybe a comment. Looking over the social media policy, there were certain areas where um volunteer was removed and then other areas where volunteer was left in. I was wondering if that is like if it's intentionally left in in certain areas because volunteers would be allowed to communicate on behalf of the district or is that something that just needs to be streamlined? Um I'm just pulling it up so I can see where you're you're referring to. So looking so if you're
121in the policy the section that starts on page like you can see in a lot of the first page volunteer language is removed and then as you go on to page three. No. Where is it? On to page two and three. There were a couple sections. Oh, page two where it says towards the bottom, social media for instructional and school sponsored activities. The um volunteer is not crossed out in that section. You reading that little paragraph there? Yeah. under I'm not seeing where you see volunteer in there right at the so in that paragraph staff including district approved volunteers may with and then it says it again towards the end but all the places prior to that volunteer language has been removed right at the bottom where it says students are prohibited from posting or
122releasing personally identifiable information about students employees and volunteers. Well, that's that and then also right at the beginning of the paragraph. Yeah. The only spot I could see maybe that the removal of it is right behind that staff. I see where you're saying that in that paragraph. Yeah, I think the one at the at the last part of the paragraph. It makes sense. It's referring to the posting. Right. Right. But the first one and then there's another section um where I know where it is under expected standards. question. Um, and this is another section where it maybe is relevant to keep it in, but the very last um, on page three, it's the expected standards of conduct section. The last paragraph in there again references volunteers because they're prohibited from using district approved social media.
123So we would right that one would make sense. Yes. Um I think that those the previous paragraph is more where Yeah. I think the only spot to also cross it out is that behind the word staff there after social media for instructional and school sponsored activities. Good catch. I mean the policy committee only reviewed I don't know I know they had a lot of right and that's why I didn't they did a great job. There are certain parts where it makes sense to keep the volunteers included. So I wasn't sure if that was one of them. Um, I also appreciate um the uh student mental health policy making that adjustment. I think that's a great change for the district. So, thank you. Okay. Um, I know Jill kind of just mentioned this, but again, thank
124you to uh Noah and Paul and Jill for your time each month uh working together on revising and updating policies. It's tedious, but it definitely needs to be done. So, definitely agree. Thank you all. Okay, Mr. Harrow, thank you for patiently waiting. Uh, next up is items for action. First item is signs on district property. And this is where I'll have my good friend Pastor Harrove come speak on behalf of Racing County about phase three of the Underground Railroad project happening in our community. So, uh, Melvin will talk about two locations that are on school district property, and the goal tonight would be to grant that approval. And turn it over to you, Mr. Much appreciated. Much appreciated. Um, first of all, thank you for allowing me to come and share a few minutes so
125y'all can get go home. I was on school board and receive so I understand school board meetings as well. So we'll be very brief. First of all, thank you also for not just allow me here but also for your cooperation in phase two where we're able to put where we're able to actually put the markers in by the Lincoln statue. So I'm here now as I was talking to President Wshaw um about uh there's two areas. We're in phase three now of the of the um underground railroad markers and we have 10 to put in. out of the 10, I think it's seven that's going to actually be here in Burlington. Well, six six be here in Burlington and we're asking for at least two to be on school property. And um you're more familiar
126with the different properties. Um President Mushaw, if you don't mind sharing those properties, what happened is we were trying to get them we I met with the Burlington Historical Society. Um Dr. Dyer, um we had a couple of places where talked about Dr. Dyer and um and they were like well they have plenty of stuff on him by Burlington Historical Society and they they were making recommendations where we could possibly put some of the markers and then I I called Mr. Wishaw and he as always helped me out um and also um Vice President Marlo Brown too. So they've been, you know, instrumental in helping us get this taken care of. And so, um, if you can share what I can, if you can share the two areas that we were talking about would be
127great. Yeah. Uh, first location would be at the former Lincoln School now, FRC. So, we'd love to put a plaque there. And the second will be, um, at some location on Dyer School. Um, obviously, of course, that building is named after Mr. Dyer or Dr. Dyer. Uh so we would like to see if we can place a marker there as well with the board's uh permission. this this has been um probably an ongoing project for about me the last three years with the county involved uh with with the projects and so we just because I'm I'm a history I I'm I love history and then and and to know the history of the Underground Railroad here county I think is something that we should all be definitely proud of and you know and all this
128it accomplishments and so uh I'm excited about being able to partner with the district to put those signs where they need to go. I just left, you know, Rochester. We got two signs going in Rochester and got one going in Nor in Norway as well, too. So, I just wanted to um share with you this is what we're trying to do so we can go complete this the phase three and then hopefully have a great celebration once again like we did before um once we get them all put in place. So, that's really all I want to share um with the board and also to tell you thank you again for phase two and then thank you in advance for helping with phase three as well. Absolutely. What type of information will be on the
129signs? Well, it'll it'll be just some basic information about for instance from I actually have I may have one or two here. So for instance, the one for Whitman school just had some real basic information as to like for Whitman school it says Brother Burlington's first schoolhouse was moved to this site in 1986. So some real basic information on those sites. So it won't be nothing very detailed but it will be some some basic information. These sites have been also approved by the National Historical Society as well too. So basic information but more than just here's a little sign saying this is a historical marker. that's going to give at least some some information about it. I can I can at least show you a couple of some that's been that's actually been Thank you.
130those are just some examples some of the ones that that's been there. Um you know and so it'll be it'll be a mark and I wish I don't have the actual the marker's going to be pretty big. Yeah. Pretty big. And you won't be able to miss it. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I was hoping for. I was hoping these were going to when you're driving by the Lincoln statue um in Burlington. There's a couple markers there. Um so they'd be that same look and feel of those. Couple paragraphs are on them uh in relation to the Underground Railroad and significance of it here in Burlington. Awesome. Correct. And also um along with this with the various markers in various locations, there is somewhat of a walkable app. Yes. um a tour that would give a
131lot more information and detail in that. Yeah. And actually that that is um available on we're seeing county website and it is also available I believe um Brotherton Historical Society put it on their website too I think. Um don't quote me on that but I think they did. Um but definitely Racine Racine County then also Racine Historical Museum Racine Heritage Museum has it on theirs and they're also developing actual app itself too where you can literally put it on you can download it on your phone and you'll be able to see all the sites as to where it uh was involved with Underground Railroad. Fantastic. I have a question. So the procedure for this is the same as the Revolutionary War plaque that we put up. Yep. Okay. So yeah, these are just the two
132that are on school district property. Um there are a plethora throughout the city. We already have three adjacent um from the Fox River Conor Shima already than we did last year. Um there's several locations throughout downtown. We're working on a few more locations because we just keep learning. Yeah. Nazarine Church. Yep. Yeah. The Nazarine Church. um which uh 2026 or 27 is the 160th anniversary of when uh Frederick Douglas spoke. So, we're hopefully trying to work on something cool for that. We'll see. Um but I think it's a big win for um the work that Pastor Harrove is doing along with uh the folks he's working at with and of course us here in the school district. So, um, does anyone have any other questions or comments that they would like to ask? Are these
133going on the buildings or will they be like on a post? Well, right now they're they will be on the post, but I believe we were talking to one gentleman, Mr. uh Scott Herman. Yeah, that we we may be able to actually put it on the building, but Staint County is going to actually put all them put everything in. And so, um, I I believe we have the capacity to also put it on the building if necessary, but all of them right now are literally will literally be on post in the ground unless it's not conducive for that. Once approved, uh, buildings and grounds and myself will work with, um, with you to determine location and things like that. Sounds great. Yes, sir. Okay. Have you been able to go down by the Malt House
134and walk all the way to Browns Lake through that? Where? No, I got to do that where I was. Yeah, you need to tell me about that right there. I need to know that. Those are the uh the prohibition tunnels. I need to know. They also used it. They also used it. Yeah. For the other two. Yeah. You know, and it was actually interesting because I did get a chance to to visit the Nazarine church and the pastor took me through some areas where they actually had the where they hid them away and know and there was actually tunnels underneath the ground that went across the street as well. So, but I need I need to check out those tunnels all the way from the World House all the way to Browns Lake. Yeah. So,
135it's talk about that. Right right over here across the river. It's the old uh theater. The theater. Wow. And then allegedly allegedly the there's a a tunnel that goes from there to yes some location or multiple locations. Rosanna is saying she's walked in it. I don't know if it's a legend. I also asked Rosanne like how do I get down there cuz I want to go I got to go. Right. Wonderful. So, um, with that, uh, I'm looking for a motion to grant approval for the placement of two Underground Railroad, uh, signs at the Fox River Consortium and, uh, Dyer School location should be determined. Some moved. Second. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. Congratulations, Mr. Once again, thank you for all of your help. Thank you. Appreciate it very much. Thank
136you. You even got clapping on that, too. Good. Okay. Uh, last item for action is, and this is just to set the date, the board reorganization meeting. So, we can kind of get our calendars out. I think there was a tenative date of April 28th, 28:30. Um, well, we need to probably push that back to seven. 7 o'clock. Yeah, it's a Monday. Taylor's saying seven o'clock Mondays. I don't know because someone can't make it at seven. I'm available on the 28th. Yes, that was April, right? Mhm. April 28th. Yep. I'm good. Works for me. Peter, give me a second. Sorry, Paul. Uh, looks good, Rosanne. Yes. Taylor, you said it's good if it's at seven. Yep. Yeah. Good for me. Okay. We will set the board reorg meeting for 7 o'clock on April 28th here
137at the district office. Okay. Um I guess all those we need a motion for that. Yeah. I'll move to set the meeting on the 28th at 7 p.m. Okay. Second. Second. All right. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. All right. That is set. Last, we have committee updates. So, we'll start with uh Paul for committee updates. So, the policy committee met on March 19th, and that's that long list of uh policies that you just heard about. And then we also met again on April 9th um to review the seven policies that are usually signed. and then the technical updates and revisions by Niola. Okay, great. Um, board governance communications, Mr. Brown, we will set a new date to meet. Um, I don't know that once we have a reorganization. Yeah. Right. Uh, personnel
138committee, Mr. Stum. Uh, yes. So, we met this past Wednesday, April 9th. um discussed um appointments, resignations, retirements, and terminations. And then our next meeting is going to be uh I believe May 7th if I'm correct. Yes. Which I will uh not be available for that one. Okay. So it'll be up to I'm sorry. What was that dated? May 7th. Yeah. I may not be available as well. You may you may have a new committee by then too though. So yeah. to see the committee structure. So, yeah, that's true. We can uh revisit that date. Okay. If we need to. All right. Okay. All right. Uh finance, Mr. Turk, we haven't met since our last meeting. Okay. That was uh teaching and learning, Miss Thompson. Yes. We met earlier today at Burlington High School um
139to learn about Project Lead the Way at the high school level. We were able to observe three classes, a principles of engineering classes, a auto shop class, and a wood shop class. And that was um a really great opportunity to see um it's it's an alternative learning day for us as board members, for those of us who went to the high school. Um, and so that was really cool to see um, a lot of the different materials that have been donated to the district and things like that, see them in use by students um, and the ways that they are able to benefit education. Um, and also just see these students um, we've seen a lot of students really well engaged in um, more book learning and um, hybrid book learning and online learning and
140this was a lot of hands-on learning today which was really cool to see. We have a really awesome program. So that was really nice to see the different things that are offered. Next meeting date is uh to be determined based on class schedules. Okay. And Miss Han for building grounds. We have not met yet. We'll be meeting soon. Okay. All right. Very nice. Okay. Next is future meeting dates. As Jill mentioned earlier, community connection series is May 7th at 7 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. That would be the last one for the year. Personnel committee is uh tenative for May 7th, but may change. The next schoolboard meeting that is set that is for May 12th at 6:30. And then the next policy committee meeting has been set uh for June 3rd but may change depending
141on um committee structure and whoever is on that committee's schedule to meet that. So, okay. Uh, last one. Additionally to um once we have our reorganization meeting at that meeting, just an FYI, some of you already know this already, but the desire to set at least three board workshops uh between May and June. There's quite a few topics that we have not been talking about with the board as much and giving updates on with the focus on the operational referendum. So kind of um would love to have some sitdown conversations with you and get your thoughts on direction on a few things. So just know that also once we had that reorg, we'll want to line up three dates that work for everybody. Okay, that's great. Okay, we did have a closed session scheduled, but
142uh that was just informed that that was no longer needed. Um so I will look for a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. We are adjourned. Thank you everybody. Thank you for coming. So we don't have to go