001Call to order the meeting of the school district of Jackson Board of Education. We'll start off with the pledge of allegiance and the flag in the back to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Start off with roll please. Mr. Cton here. Mrs. Fox, Mr. Eagle here. Mrs. Mc William, Mr. Noing, Mr. Felier here. Mrs. Bman here. Right. Thank you. So, and we get to go into our recognitions. I know we have quite the full house for that. We'll start off with the high school, Mr. Oh, Mr. Layman, you want to come forward? Justin, come on up. We get to kick things off and get this party started here. Justin, this is Justin Shinarski, our senior
002citizen of the month. Justin, who did you bring along this evening? I brought my mother and my father. Outstanding. Thank you for joining us. Now, as you can see the font and my readers. I think I got to go to Walgreens and get different readers. So, I'm gonna hand these to you first because I got to get my arm stretched out. Justin was nominated by Mr. Fast, a teacher in the math department. Justin, do you know Mr. Fast's nickname? His nickname. Senior. He's my son. Everyone calls him M. Senior Re. Justin continues to grow as a leader and volunteers in a church's um vacation bible school during the summer, a week where he leads games and helps support the mission of the faith community church. Justin plans on going to Memphis this summer to volunteer
003in an organization called Street Reach. The organization provides Backyard Bible Club and organization activities for kids in marginalized neighborhoods of South Memphis. Justin is positive, kind, and helpful. He continues to excel in academics and sports. He's one of the leaders on boys soccer and tennis teams. Justin is an outstanding example for other students at JHS. continues to develop positive relations with staff and students. Mr. Buholtz also compliments Justin. Additionally, Justin is a great leader. He has served on this year's basic Thanksgiving um dinner that we have here at JHS. He's also a senior officer, class officer, and continues to participate and lead in his roles there. Justin is also involved in Rotary and not only was he RLA Rotary Youth Leadership Academy representative of somewhere, but he has returned as a volunteer the following years.
004Congratulations, Justin Shernarski, the senior citizen of the month. And was there another one from last month? Uh Sophia Rios, is she present? She's with you. Okay. I can't read JMS. I need to read your Mr. M. All right. Good evening everybody. We actually we have two citizens of the month to recognize tonight. So we're going to start with our December citizen of the month. So Sophia, if you want to come on up. All right. Sophia is an eighth grader uh with us at the middle school and was actually nominated by our exploratory team. So Sophia, who do you have with you? My mom and my dad. Welcome. Thank you guys for coming. Uh so I have a words here from the exploratory team. Uh they wanted to nominate Sophia for the citizen of the month.
005Uh she is a great example of a student that demonstrates high expectations of herself and a desire to do what is right. She is a hardworking student and a team player. Sophia is a total joy to have in class. She's a hard worker who always gives her best effort, but what really stands out is how she treats people. She's funny, inclusive, and always knows how to lift the mood out of the room. She truly represents what it means to be a good citizen, and I couldn't be happier to have her in my advisory this year as Mrs. Australia adviser. Uh, regardless of the task, Sophia puts her best foot forward and tries hard uh and is very deserving of this of this award. So, please join me in congratulating Sophia. We also have our January
006assistant of the month. So Hannah, you want to come on up? All right. Uh this is Hannah Marin. She is a sixth grader at the middle school and was nominated by our sixth grade team. Hannah, who do you have with you here tonight? Mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma, grandpa, and very good. Thank you guys for coming so much. We appreciate that. Uh so I want to share some words that our sixth grade team had to say about Hannah. Uh they were very pleased to nominate Hannah. She's a remarkable student and that they have had the pleasure of teaching this year at JMS. Throughout this time, they have come to know her as an exceptional individual who embodies the qualities of a caring and respectful student. Hannah consistently demonstrates a strong sense of independence in her
007studies. She approaches her work with an optimistic attitude that not only uplifts her spirit but also positively influences her peers. We have witnessed her ability to work collaboratively with her classmates on numerous projects where her respectful nature and willingness to listen to others shine through. This ability to connect with her peers has made her a valued member of any group. Academically, incredibly studious. She approaches her studies with a diligence that is commendable, often going above and beyond the requirements of her assignments. Her commitment to learning is evident and she inspires those who around her to strive for excellence as well. Summary, the sixth grade team fullheartedly recommends Hannah for citizens of the month, her caring demeanor, respect for others, independence, optimistic attitude, and strong academic performance surely makes her an asset to gener. We are
008confident that she will continue to thrive and contribute positively in her future endeavors. So, please join me in congratulating Hannah and Dr. All right. And from West, Mr. Howard, do you have two? I have two. Okay. All right. Hold on, everybody. Yeah, we're we're fortunate to have two at West as well. And uh this is Skylie down the center. Skyler, could you I'm gonna give you the microphone. You can introduce your family. Mom, dad, and my sister. Okay, there. How's the family? Welcome everybody. Um I know Grit's going to be spoken about here for Mrs. Fontine. Skyl's been fighting an illness and miss some school which you typically don't miss and she is back at it. She's working hard in FIA at recess a little bit. So it's proud to see your comeback and you're
009feeling better. Um Skyl was was nominated in December from Mrs. Fontaine in second grade. And here's what Mrs. Fontaine had to say about Sky. Skylie Dennis is our selection for citizen of the month from second grade. Skyl is an amazing person. She is kind to everyone. Skyl shows grit in all her work habits. She is always one to help out anyone who needs it. Skyl is a good role model for all of her classmates. We appreciate all you do. Congratulations, Sky. All right. Number two, there two awesome kids here. First grade, second grade. All right, Lyanna. Lyanna Pino. This is Lyanna Pino. Lyanna, I'm gonna have you introduce your family members if you're ready to go here, kid. He's all here. Don't forget everybody. Mom, dad, my sister, my grandma, grandpa. All right. Thank you
010guys. And who? And my brother. And your brother. Don't forget brother. Thank you. Helping the audience. Okay. And Lyanna. Sorry, Lyanna. I don't do two of these too often. Lyanna in first grade at West was nominated by Mrs. Peterson. And Mrs. Peterson had to say this. Choosing Lyanna as citizen of the month was an easy choice. She comes to school each day, each and every day, with a smile on her face and a positive attitude. No matter how hard our lesson gets, she gets right to work and always gives 100%. She is a student who seems to love life and love learning. She's kind, cooperative, and helpful to everyone and anybody who enters our Congratulations, Lyanna. Mr. Wickman. All right. This month from second grade, I have Isabella Palamino. And Isabella, who's here with you
011tonight? Just my mom. Not just your mom. Your mom, right? Right. And what do you love about East Elementary? Fath. What What do you like about math? Oh, learning facts. All right. All right. She doesn't know how to count to my age yet. You can count to 50. All right. That's pretty hard. All right. Here we go. This is what Mrs. Stewie wrote about Isabella. I'm pleased to nominate Isabella Ponamino for citizen of the month. She consistently demonstrates outstanding behavior, a positive attitude, and a strong commitment to learning. Isabella shows respect to teachers and classmates, follows classroom rules, and is always willing to help others. In class, Isabelle works hard, participates actively, and tries their her best even when tasks are challenging. She gives a wonderful example of being kind, responsible, and eager to learn
012every day. She's also the first to encourage all of her peers. Isabella truly represents what it means to be a shining east son. Keep up your amazing work. We are so lucky to have you in our class and in our school. And Mr. Isacson said the same thing when we went outside today. He was so excited for you when he saw that you won this award, wasn't he? Because you're amazing helper in class. Isabella and Miss Krauss. Good evening everyone. I think we have the youngest um citizen of the month tonight. This is Avery Johnson. She's in 4K and Mrs. Trust class. Avery, who's here with you tonight? My mom and my dad. as my dad's at work and I want my grandma, my grandpa, and my sister, my brother, and my mom. Thank you
013for being here tonight. Nice job. Avery is a wonderful little girl. She is full of smiles every time that you see her. And you can see that she is ready to go. This is part of the reason why she is picked as one of our leaders in 4K. This is what Mrs. Trust had to say. Avery is a very sweet, well-mannered, and cooperative student. She comes to school ready to learn and ready to give her best work. Avery will continue to work on something even when it is hard. She is patient with tasks and she stays calm and focused. Avery is so kind and so polite to her teachers and her friends and she doesn't need many reminders to follow rules or routines at school. Avery is a great example to her peers of how
014to be an exemplary student in 4K. We are so proud of Avery. She has outstanding character, will go far in life because she treats others with love and respect. Avery Johnson. Congratulations to all of our citizens of the months. I'm sure quite a few of them also have other responsibilities this evening. So, if you are looking to leave, now is a completely appropriate time. Of course, we always welcome people to stay through the full board meeting as we get down to the meteor stuff. Next up on the agenda is going to be public comment. Welcome comments from the public. Is there anybody here to provide public comment? Right. And next up on the consent is the consent agenda. Agenda this month is going to be our minutes from our previous meeting. Uh there's no new
015employments. There are the resignations listed there, presentation of caps claims and a nice list of donations. Any of this could be separated into a separate point of discussion or can be taken as a whole. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? So motion and second. Any further discussion? No, but just a comment. Um the three retirees I think have given the district over a hundred years of teaching and I think it's probably important to recognize that. So thank you very much for that and that that is any other discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. Any oppose say nay. Motion passes. Yes. Thank you very much to uh Diplet Lemoner, Jan Felton, and Kelly Traver. Thank you to all three of them for their support here. And then um
016uh think you're gonna read in the donations. Yes. I going to start with a $529.33 monetary donation from Jersey Mike to the JMS from a PTO Dino fundraiser. A $5,000 monetary donation from Dave and Lisa Hollandberger to the JHS teched department. a $350 monetary donation from SK Windows and Doors LLC in parenthesis Lloyd Glyner to JHS for Skills USA and wrestling along with the donation of three windows to the JHS teched department. A $67.50 50 cent monetary donation from American Online Giving Foundation from Nike employees that for volunteering time in PE class at S East Elementary and 200 free meal coupons for students from McDonald's to JM JMS in middle school with a value of over of $2,000 and an 880 monetary don a dollar monetary donation from NASCO Healthcare to JHS for 22 registrations
017for the WMSA student day, $199.35 monetary donation from Sullivan Pats Group to the Books for Bingo event, and a $1,450 anonymous monetary donation to the J Jefferson High School baseball team. total $11,226.18 and bringing in the school year to date total of $98,178.13. Thank you. Excellent support from the community there. Thank you. Then we can jump into reports. First up, Mr. Batson with the JMS good news report. All right. Well, again, uh get to do a lot of talking tonight. So, uh I get the the pleasure of being able to talk and share some good news from Jefferson Middle School from uh from this current school year and a lot of uh a lot of things that I'm excited to talk about. Uh so first off I wanted to just kind of cover information that
018I know you're you're somewhat familiar with. You've seen um our school report card data on this is as we all know this is a year behind. So this would be our 2425 data from last school year. Um and just our demographic data. The the one thing I would just kind of point out here obviously this year's enrollment is a little bit less. uh the percentages that you see I would I would guess are still pretty close to probably where we are percentage-wise uh with our economically disadvantaged uh ML learners, students with disabilities and open enrollment uh as well. So um just keep in mind that that data is a year old though. Uh so overall wanted to just share uh start off with some good news. I was really excited when I got the results
019of the school report card this year and I saw that we were over a 70 because I'm like yes we we hopped into the next level up which is exceeds expectations and then I came crashing back when I realized they they bumped that cut score up to 71. So uh we were within onetenth of a point of hitting that next level which gives us something to work for for the future. Um but uh overall we were we were very happy to see that score. Um we uh I did put last year's comparative on there too. So from a 66.8 8 to a 70.9 uh is pretty nice progress. So, of course, we're we're always looking to try to raise that score uh to the next higher level. Uh so, some just some celebrations here relative
020to that data. Uh first, uh overall achievement score of 71.2. Um it does put us in the top half of the 53rd percentile of all 68 middle schools in in Wisconsin. And actually for us, probably what helped us out the most on the score report card was our growth data from last year. Uh so so that score was a 67.9 uh which almost puts us in the top third of all schools uh 68 middle schools in the state of Wisconsin. So I want to talk a little bit about kind of what we've done to uh to get there and try to continue to do as well. Um also just a couple of the celebrations here. Uh so we are above state average uh for proficiency in in the core subject areas. So ALA math, science
021and social studies. Of course science and social studies is only tested through Wisconsin forward in eighth grade. Um, we did have proficiency gains in science, social studies, and ELA. Uh, grew proficiency percentages in each one of those. The only one that you don't see up there is math. Uh, we actually we we had a very small regression of two ten of a point in that. Um, but still uh above the state average in math, which it has not always been the story for the middle schools. So, uh, very happy of that. Uh, speaking of of math, actually our eighth grade math uh, score was was 77.4. And uh where that comes into play is the the fourth part of the school report card which is on track to graduation. So that primarily looks at attendance,
022third grade reading which obviously doesn't apply to the middle school but eighth grade math. This third grade reading and eighth grade math are strong indicators of uh readiness for graduation on time. Uh so that was a huge growth area for us as well too where we exceeded the state average of 69.3 in eighth grade math. Uh so we of course obviously still have areas of growth and areas that we're we're still working on growing in. Uh the biggest one is is chronic absenteeism or reducing high-risisk absenteeism. So this has been a continual work in progress. Uh I do want to give uh kind of a shout out to Mr. Ericson and to our people services team. Uh they have really been doing a lot of work on trying to to close gaps to communicate with
023parents and families uh to try to be preventative as much as possible when it comes to uh attendance concerns but then also responsive when we do find that there are uh students for whatever reason who are kind of exceeding those those attendance limits. Uh second growth area it says improving math proficiency and again that's just a a comment to the very very slight decline in math there. Um but uh more so um I would say just our performance gap. So if you you know if you look at our data um this is probably true of most schools and most districts uh and you subdivide by by race, gender, disability or ML status. Uh we we do have gaps in that data. So that's something else that we are working on trying to close um like
024a lot of other places are as well. And then our third area for growth uh we we have enhancing student agency there. So we do a a twice a year student survey. They're called student agency surveys as part of our advantage site teamwork. And uh one one area that caught our attention is being kind of low based on what students reported was a question having to do with uh feeling comfortable asking their peers for help. Just like all right, I wouldn't have guessed that one. Um but that was a relatively low score 65%. So that became uh it is one of our focus areas for our second building goal as well too. So just kind of our our main areas that we're targeting this year. Uh so Mr. Jackson and I did a little book
025book study over the summer. Uh we both read it's been on our over our list for quite a while. We finally got around to reading Atomic Habits by James Clear if you're familiar with that. And uh one of the things that we both took away from that part part of that book that I think resonated most with me was um his talk about identifying an identity, right? So establishing an identity and then finding habits to create that identity or that support that identity. And so with our building leadership team this year, we had a conversation about that and we tried to to build and identify both an academic identity for for JMS as well as a social emotional identity as well. So uh so first the academic identity um very simple right and and this
026is part of our conversation that this can't be overly complicated. It needs to be something that anybody can look at and go yep that makes sense to me. Um but our academic identity is simply at JMS we are readers and critical thinkers. Okay. Of course, we're also mathematicians and we're also into science and and teched and all those other things as well too. Um, but really kind of highlighting reading and critical thinking as an area that we want to target this year. Uh, so so similar to previous years, we do have a proficiency goal related to fastbridge uh a reading screening data, which is a screener that students take three times a year. They've already taken in the winter. They'll take another one here in the spring. um looking at a a fivepoint increase for
027proficiency from our baseline that was back in the fall. And then similarly, we have um and this would be measured by our student agency survey, but kind of back to that question where students had had scored themselves a little bit lower in terms of feeling comfortable asking other people for help. Uh but we were looking for a 5% increase uh in in that measure on that question on the survey as well. So when students take it again in the spring, uh we'll look at the total results obviously, but we want to really pay close attention to that one. Our second identity that goes with that goal was JMSs is a positive social environment where students and staff are caring and respectful. So again, very very simple, very easy to understand uh but something that we
028have been trying to strive for uh this year as well. So, these these uh pictures don't do justice to all of the clubs, sports, and activities that JMS offers, but uh and you're already familiar with some of these, of course, but wanted to just highlight a couple. Uh our student council continues to do really good work. They did a serial box drive here, I think, over the holidays. Uh you know, our athletics uh that uh that we get a a good number of students participating in over the course of the school year. Um the Wizard of Oz, I I no shade at Milton Middle School. My daughter's a seventh grade uh student there and uh and was in the their production of the Adams family which I saw three times this weekend and it was
029very good. Um don't tell anybody uh but I think our loss of us. So um so very very proud of the work that our our uh our drama club did with that uh you know AVID uh you know our jazz band as you know we had our investors club students do do well every single year. uh this year our sixth grade team won the whole thing which was the first time ever. So um very proud of that fact that that we're able to offer those things and uh I know that there are a lot of places that don't or are not able to offer that. Likewise, you know, just school events, things that we that we do to make things fun and one of the things that we talk about and I think back to
030my own middle school experience, I would have a hard time remembering, you know, one single maybe lesson that I learned in ELA or social studies that really really stuck with me. But I remember the dance and I remember the field trips. I remember the the special days and things like that. So, um I still get compliments every year and this is credit to um to administrators at the middle school who started this tradition before me. Um but every year when we do the Veterans Day ceremony that that's something that I hear uh really really good feedback on every single year. Um you know, staff students volleyball is fun. Uh the top left there that was from our sixth grade field trip to the uh Milwaukee Admirals game. I just really like that picture of Sylon
031put it in here as well. Um, you know, Fall Fest, Decades Day. So, Mr. Utri there, that was actually dress up for Decades Day, like 60s,7s, and 80s. And it just happened totally by coincidence that he dressed from the 1770s. And one of our students did, too. They didn't plan that, so it just kind of worked out. Um, so again, you know, just other things that that happen uh that are memorable and make make school enjoyable uh to come to. So, uh, Nick and I two weeks ago had the chance to go to the secondary principles, uh, conference up in Green Bay, which was, uh, we were very fortunate to have that experience. Uh, some of you might know the name Myron Dwek. Uh, I I had, uh, heard and read of him before, but
032I had never seen him speak. Uh, he was a keynote speaker at the conference, and he, so Nick and I actually both saw a breakout session that he did on AI, which is very fascinating, very informative. Um this keynote uh speak speech to all just all middle school and high school principles in the room uh had to do with the subject of what uh what educators can learn from advertisers. And it was like I wonder I wonder what this is going to be about or I wonder where he's going to go with this. Um and uh his his point or part of his point was you know if you think of Coca-Cola or if you think of Nike you know they don't just sell soda they don't just sell shoes. uh they sell, you know,
033they sell unity or they sell motivation or they sell uh a lot more that goes along, but it's what's part of what separates them from everybody else who sells soda or everybody else who sells shoes. And uh his takeaway that really stuck with me was uh the customer defines the product, not the company, right? And so companies want to define their own product, but at the end of the day, it's people who who utilize their product to really define, you know, that company and what it stands for. So his challenge to all the secondary principles in the room was to find he said 10. I took nine just because we have three grades and that was easy to take three students from each grade. But he said, you know, take take students out of each
034grade, take them aside, just sit them down for a minute and and just, you know, ask them candidly, you know, how do you feel about this place or or what how would you describe our school? So, uh, so I did that and the prompt that I gave to, um, the nine students that I chose after I assured them that they were not in trouble, because that's usually what they first think of the office. Um, and, uh, so my my, uh, my my prompt to them was, if you were to describe our our school to someone who knew nothing about JMS, right, what would you say or how would you describe it? And I also said, you're not going to offend me with your opinion. I just want you to be honest, you know, just, you
035know, what would you tell somebody about our school who didn't know anything about it? So, these are kind of entertaining. So I do want to just go through them one at a time. So in sixth grade, first student I talked to, you just said the teachers are nice here. And I said, "Okay, would you tell me anything else?" "Nope, just teachers nice." So I said, "Okay." Uh second student, you know, pretty cool that you make new friends uh from other schools. There are many activities and things to do. You learn new stuff. It's a good school. All right. Thank you for that. Third sixth grader. It's a safe place where I can hang out with my friends. They have a cool schedule where you get to connect with friends in different classes. That's the first
036time a student has ever complimented our schedule. So, so I gave that student an extra big thank you. I'm just kidding. And so, seventh grade, um, you know, these are quotes, right? So, yeah, it's really nice. The teachers are chill and sweet. Uh, they look out for you. Classes are nice. You do you do cool stuff in teched. And he really wanted to make sure that I understood that he thought the inside of the school is very nice and clean. So, I said, "All right, thank you for that feedback." Another student, you know, a safe place to talk to people. There are a lot of nice people there. Uh third, seventh grader are a great place. Teachers are great to be with. They make learning fun. Students here are great people as well. And uh
037I I'm like, "Wow, it's like I paid you guys to say these things." Uh and so uh so it's always interesting when you talk to eighth graders because eighth graders, they've been there a little bit longer. They'll probably be a little bit more authentic uh in in that their feedback. So I did uh and uh the first student I talked to said, "Most of the teachers are great, but I do avoid some." Right? Being honest. Uh he said, "I like the fact that there's an actual recess. I like the fact that the lunchroom was bigger than the elementary school." And he said, "It's a really safe environment." I said, "All right." Thank you for that. Uh second student, he said, "It's a fine school. Uh but there are problems with some kids talking and not
038doing their work in some classes." I said, "Well, some teachers would probably agree with you uh in that in that assessment." Uh and the final student said uh final eth grader said, "Teachers find a way to teach differently." Mr. Utri does fun stuff. So do any of the exploratory classes. um that student did want want me to know the sports seasons could be longer at the middle school and I said well good news you're in eighth grade when you get to the high school next year they will be longer so um uh this is uh so a couple things on this so I I do want you to know as well I did after I talked with each student I did say you know hey I am giving a presentation to the board here shortly
039do you mind if I'm not going to put your identifying information your names in here or anything but do you mind if I share your words with the board about kind of how you feel about our school and they were all fine with Um but uh this is something after going through this that I think maybe once a quarter I want to continue to do. Uh you know this is representative about 3% of the population at JMS right um but I think just just going and checking in and and honestly a lot of the students that I talked to I think genuinely just were appreciative that I I asked their opinion and I I listen to about that. So uh definitely something that I want to continue with that as well in the in the
040runup to tonight. Uh I usually meet with teams on Mondays and so I meet with our exploratory team and then sixth and seventh and eighth grade and uh I I I ran through this with them number one to just give me a little practice before coming and presenting to the board uh but also because you know I wanted them to hear the things that the students were saying about this as well too and they were they were also very appreciative uh of that. Um, so, so anyway, that that was a big takeaway and, uh, you know, I think if those, if there's truth to what's being said in that, I think there is, um, that's a pretty good definition for kind of where we are as a building right now. Um, and, uh, just things
041that we want to focus on moving forward. With that, um, just wanted to say thank you and so up to any questions you might have. I just have one maybe with the, um, the responses at the end. Would you consider doing that? I think it's good to do that, but then maybe do a written maybe also solicit for written responses. Those might even be more candid just because they're probably not going to say anything. Well, not too bad, but to your face different versus some sort of written response. Might be kind of fun to see those and just see if there's anything else that is being missed or some honesty that you might not get face to face. I think that's a good point and I do recognize that you know when you're even if
042the principal says it I'm not gonna be offended or you know there's probably still a little bit inclination there to want to hear on side of me go ahead question so much just comments um I really really really liked the the asking the students the questions they get in their feedback I that's really important and I think it's also good for the staff to hear that. Um I'm very very happy and you should be very proud of the growth the middle school has done in all levels. This is very refreshing to see. Um and you know middle school is inherently a a more challenging environment and these numbers they show more um that there isn't so much challenge. Um you guys make it look easy. So thank you for all that you do and all
043the staff does at the middle school. This is great. Great. Great information to see. Thank you. Thank you. I just was going to ask because I can't remember. How many total years have you done the increase in math minutes? Uh we made that change. Um so this is my fifth year at the middle school and I believe that was in year you know that we had shifted over to three total years. Uh three this would be year number four. Right. But the data so this data would have been after doing it for three years. Yeah. Yes. Y. All right. Well, thank you very much. I do appreciate the folks at the end there. It was good to see. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Next up is the uh joint state education convention attendees
044report. Um, are you ready to go? Click. Perfect. Yep. So, I had the pleasure of going to the um state convention. This was my fourth one, I believe. Um every year I have um taken away a lot, a lot. It's just a very positive um experience and I look forward to it every year. With that being said, I'm just going to kind of discuss some of the topics of workshops that I went to. Um, and there's two workshops specifically that I'll give just a little bit more of a summary, but the first workshop that I went to was title nine and DEI in the courts, navigating federal court interpretations. The next one was right sizing district facilities for declining enrollment. I didn't really do too much of a summary on that one just because that
045is something that we're working on and I really think that that is more of an individual school district thing than um taking ideas from other people. Um NIL and student athletes impacts of the WIAA rule and more. I know when I heard this talked about in the local salon, I tried to learn a little bit more about it because just hearing people gossip and their, you know, thoughts without knowing who wore what um I represented. Uh I I wanted to learn more about it. And in a nutshell, it's just stating that um name image like this um you cannot um use for financial gain. Um, and it started at the college level and they just recently brought it to the high school level. Um, I had a very nice conversation with our athletic director and
046I just want to give him some mad props. Um, anytime I've asked him questions, the amount of knowledge that Mark Peterson has is just completely impressive and every time I walk away feeling that I learned that much more. And so we talked about NIL. He was very um I don't want to say unconcerned um but he was more matterof fact and kind of brought a different light to what I was seeing. And he's like Georgia, you know, we we um have very great community support. And he goes, "And I'm not so much worried about individuals." He's like, "Our community takes care of our district as a whole." And I was like, "You know what? You're right. I mean, anytime the community comes forward, they're taking care of us, not just one student." Um, we did
047talk about other area schools that maybe didn't have that benefit. And so that's something that I've really wanted to make you guys aware of is that we do have like the best community support out there, especially with our sports. Um, I'm new to the sports world, so I'm always asking more questions. Um, my other daughters were drama, so I could speak that all day long, but athletics is a whole new piece for me, and I'm really trying to learn. Um, but again, I just really wanted to give props to Mark. I just um anybody has questions on NAL or concerns, he is definitely the go-to and has welcomed more conversations with me regarding this. So um huge thank you to everything that he has spent um explaining to me. Um the next workshop was new
048developments in school law. Um and then another workshop was real talk parent focus group listening sessions. Um, that one was really intriguing to me because um, and I'm going to kind of cheat off the notes that I took from Mike's presentation, but um, when we're looking at our scoring for our ELAS, our math, all of those types of things, communication is key. And what I understood from this workshop is that they were kind of um, they're they had focus groups. And the focus groups were targeting like maybe your economically disadvantaged or some of the other subgroups. They were open to everybody but they would do things to kind of help those particular subgroups. Um as I went through this I myself am experiencing it in my own personal life. I um property manage for affordable
049housing. So that falls in line with that economically um disadvantaged group and we started doing a um tutoring for some of the students there and it partnered with Sun Prairie School District. Well um they're doing focus groups and the focus group that they're doing is for a superintendent and they want to come to the property and have parents input on that. And so this kind of all tied together in a magical way where it kind of made me understand a little bit more of the importance of focus groups. So again, it was just a great idea that I thought came out and I'm experiencing it with another school district and maybe that's a way that we can um communicate to some of these subgroups where our numbers maybe are a little bit low and beef
050up that communication. Um and then I just wanted to talk about the keynote speakers. There were two of them that um I really really enjoyed. One was Ann Marie Anderson. Um it was on cultivating audacity. Um she's an experienced female play-by-play sports announcer. So I found her very um fun to listen to and very inspiring. But the one that I really liked was Dave Weber. Um his was I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. And it was so relatable everything that he had to say. But the um the uh I can't think the takeaway I got was the uh oh to the wheel. So he would say when we're experiencing a stressful event you hit the uh oh uh oh and a lot of times we're not getting to the you know
051like we got through it. And so how do you get to that point? And so they gave a lot of um oneoffs on what you could do like take a walk, step away, you know, like just different things you could do to get to that wheel. And enough of us aren't doing that. We're stuck in that uh oh part. And that is where all the stressors come from and all the ick feelings. And so that one I actually kind of took to heart and I've been trying to concentrate and focus not so much on the uh oh, but oh, here we are. and then get down to the PH and it just seems to be a lot more um refreshing. So those are the things that I was able to accomplish at the workshop and
052like I said very much appreciate going and the extended knowledge and I look forward to next years. Thank you. Any questions from the board on that? All right. Thank you very much. Then uh we'll get to the superintendent report. Dr. Ernest, good evening. As usual, I have a memo upending my report. The first thing I want to talk about tonight is something that happened last or f it's actually Thursday, February 12th. Mr. Bant hosted a pre-proposal conference meeting and walkth through for interested parties at Jefferson High School and West Elementary School. We have this is for the RFP. This is for our food service management request for proposals. In total, we had 15 individuals attend that represented nine different vendors who are interested in potentially proposing and having a future partnership with our district. And
053I want to say kudos to Jefferson High School and West Elementary staff and students. They were all excellent hosts. Now, here's the uh important information. The proposals are due to the district with a public opening before the March 9th board meeting. Committee will meet will convene in March to evaluate proposals using the DPI scoring matrix. And board members, if you are interested or willing to participate in the committee review, please contact Bernie V. So, we'd love to have your partnership in that. Uh not more than three, but one or two. If you're interested, please contact Brian. Uh so that'll be a big event on March 9th. Give the board information as far as what that can look like uh as a possibility in the future. Uh the other thing uh as far as state convention
054I concerned I echo everything that Georgia mentioned for some of the speakers we were able to see together. Uh what I took notes on was the X's and O's of WIA. A few things that we don't always think about or the average person doesn't know. So I put a few notes here as far as their funding structure is concerned. Some people think that the WIA is funded by the government. It is not. 83% of its revenues come from tournaments. 12% come from royalties and then the rest of the money comes from official registration. So when you pay that fee for the tournament um especially the state tournaments, that's where the WIA makes most of its money. As far as the rule making and governance is concerned, uh there's tons of different committees and and conf
055committees. You have the advisory council, the board of control, sports advisory council, just to name a few. Uh and then a big thing that's been uh it's rather new to the WIA is the competitive balance and classification. So this is from 2023 to 2025. uh the if you win a championship or you make the postseason there's a tournament performance factor uh you can be promoted to a higher division for 25 2425 for example 79 teams that's 1.42% 42% were promoted based on quite sticky wording and then there is an appeals process they think that you were promoted on therapy for example transfer rules is a big thing that the WIA takes care of or is responsible for students transferring after the start of 10th grade without a full family move are ineligible for varsity for
056365 days there are waiverss for extenduating circumstances um and we have not dealt with that much in Jefferson but that certainly is a concern. It happens from time to time. We've got that expert expert Mark Peterson talk. And then the last piece because I'm old enough to remember the old days. This is the public and private school integration. So I didn't know it was this long. 1997 WIA membership voted uh 90% support to allow non-public schools to join. In 2000 2001 was the first official year. I remember the old W the WISA WA now we just won ever since then. So it's been that long. It's been 25 years since the WIA and the WISA schools combined into one. Um that was that was a informative. It's good to see Stephanie Hower and what she's
057doing. She's very um she's very easy to talk to and get information. And then the last thing I wanted to report to the board was the K9 search that happened last Friday. U so I want to say kudos to Mr. Screda and Mr. Layman Friday's K9 search and then also thank you to Mr. Ericson from the middle school and Mr. Peterson for their help in making the events a success. Uh I assisted with it as well. The dogs, highly trained dogs from Jefferson County, they hit on 11 lockers and two cars. However, no illegal substances were recovered. I've been used the phrase, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." And I wanted to point out where we get the authority to do this and why we do this. It's hopefully mostly for
058prevention uh to make sure that we keeping it out of our schools. We have the halo sensors in our restrooms. And we have a schoolboard policy 5771 search and seizure that provides the guidance in the parameters. And I've pulled out some really important uh pieces from that. Uh key to this is the fact that we own the desks, we own the lockers, and because they are public property, anything stored in them, that's why we can search those. And then the cars are on our our parking lot, which is our property as well. So uh the board utilizes specially trained dogs to detect the presence of drugs and devices such as violence on school property support on school property under the following conditions. They have to the presence of dog authorized by uh in advance by
059district administrator and surgery emergency situations and then the dog must be handled by law law enforcement and the dog is represented uh by the sheriff or the chief of law enforcement. Uh once again back to Mr. Greta and Mr. Layman, they do a great job of, you know, talking with the kids if a boxer gets hit on, contacting their parents, making sure that everyone is aware. And to repeat, uh, no contraband was found from this, right? So, we do this once or even twice a year, it's not announced, make sure that we have that element of surprise. And once again, the main purpose is to make sure that people know that we do this from time to time and is uh for preventative measures. We certainly handle things if uh if something goes up as
060my report. Any questions? I was just curious is nine um do you know if nine um schools or nine sorry vendors is common or is that a lot? Is that that's a lot. Um, what I would say of that nine, certainly don't want to discount anyone that there's probably out of nine, there's four heavy hitters in the area. Well, but I don't want to make assumptions either. So, we'll we'll see what people put together. Uh, in our area, we have neighboring schools that those four that I'm thinking in my mind um are served in this part of Wisconsin. the the meeting that you're mentioning before the 9th. You said it was the sixth. I don't think it's set yet. Do you have a date yet? For the meeting, committee meeting all set out through the
061Okay. And what exactly is um discussed in that? I guess I don't know if I understand what that meeting is. Yeah. Good evening. Um so the 9th of public opening for the proposal because it's really just an opportunity to say hey everyone's had an equal opportunity that we haven't reviewed anything advanced. So um it really that meeting on the 9th um for the board meeting won't require anything. It's just an opportunity to say since we already have a board meeting if uh an interested member wants to come from one of the vendors to sit and watch us open the proposal packets to make sure that we haven't tampered with them or anything like that in advance. Uh but thereafter then what we get the opportunity to do as a committee and uh trying to get
062a good representation of our staff, our administration, community board um is just to look at just the different qualifying factors for who would win as a proposal um for a food service management contract. Um even if the committee decides who wins that, it still wouldn't be until April that the board would take action on that committee's recommendation. So uh that committee won't be necessarily making any decisions on behalf of the board. Um, but what we do is we work through a matrix of cost, staffing proposals, uh, professional development, uh, student interaction, engagement, wellness, a whole bunch of different criteria. Um, that's pretty well regulated by DPI as far as how that goes through. And again, just because there's federal dollars that's affiliated with these contracts, um, they have a very streamlined process, uh, to be
063able to work through that. So, the committee is going to be an opportunity. there'll be a lot of light work on my part on behalf of just preparing that filtering through the various uh proposals and trying to put that together for the committee to review and I'm hoping in about an hour's time. Um but it's just really that opportunity to see who who has put together proposals and how do they envision future partnership Jefferson. So the the bids are revealed at March 9th meeting and then at thereafter we'll set a time. Okay. Yes. Yeah. All right. Yeah. And nine is quite a few. Um DPI has a list of all um I think there's about 120 districts across the state that use a food service management company. Um and they're all publicly known, so you
064can look at them and I've sorted through them. Um there's a couple that I had not uh I had not seen before, but when we put out that RFP process, um we have to provide a uh uh an email and a communication to every known vendor that has contacted EPI is on their list. So, um I think originally I sent a large email sharing our request for proposal with approximately 25 or 30 different email addresses um of which we had some good responses, some of which that didn't. uh I don't believe that I sent the email to but they may be affiliated with a different parent company or something like that and decided to to so it was good participation and um thankful for people's time and attention but I don't think that might be
065you have a date when do you want board member to let you know if they want to be on the committee if you could let me know just by the end of the week just so that we can plan a couple weeks out that would be that would be great. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions or comments of the superintendent? Then moving into future agenda topics. We have uh some notes there. Any other additions or questions anybody has on future agenda topics? into announcements and I don't have anything uh an easy announcement. There's only one board meeting in March. So, make sure that we're aware of the March 9th date. Uh you can see spring break is the 21st to the 29th and then local elections coming up April 7th. And I want to just
066this one's a planting seed. We typically conduct a board walk through for facilities in April. The tenative date is April 25th, but we could also we can move that to the 18th or the 11th based on people's schedules. So, we should probably lock that in in at the March date. So, I'm just throwing that out there now as far as uh looking at which date in April looks best for what's the best way should be left. I would say if you have a preference like it counts like the 25th. Yeah. Well, I think we can stick with the 25th unless we need something unless people want. All right. And with that, is there a motion to convene in close sessions? Closed session pursuant to Wisconsin statutes 19.85 parents 1 C and E. No to discuss
067staff non-renewals for budget proposals for the 20 26 27 school year. Discuss private in donations of a press box concessor stand at Fisher Field and consider the employment status of employees. Second motion in a second. Could we have a roll call vote? Mr. Condom. Yes. Mrs. Fox Mr. Mr. Evil. Yes. Mr. Mc William. Yes. Mr. Noling. Mr. Peltier. Yes.