May 11, 2026 Reorganizational and Regular School Board Meeting

001We're live. All right. Call to order. Uh This is funny. I'm sorry. I think I was new to this. Uh the meeting will now come to order. Going to roll call. Mr. Frost. Here. Mrs. Brunette. Here. Mr. Cowley. Here. Mr. Glonek. Here. Mrs. Grayson. Mr. Johnson. >> Here. I'm here. Please rise and pledge allegiance. Led by Mrs. Lynn or Miss Lynn. >> [laughter] >> I pledge allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The agenda was posted throughout the district according to school board policy, published as a legal ad in the Superior Telegram, and posted on the district webpage. The meeting was sent to the Connection for publication. Uh we needed

002an approval for the May 11th, 2026 agendas open and executive sessions. Looking for a motion and a second, please. I'll make a motion to approve the agenda. Second. Cat, Danny, and Cat. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Very good. Item four, election of officers. I'm going to pass this to Mr. Glonek. All right. Now we'll do the elections for uh president. So, nominations are now in order for the office of the president. Now it's time to nominate anybody. >> [laughter] >> I'll nominate Adam. Okay. Adam Landwehr has been nominated for the office of president. Are there any other any further nominations? Are there any further nominations? >> [clears throat] >> If not, nominations are closed. All in favor of Adam for the president, say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, say no.

003All right, there you go. Adam is our >> [laughter] >> president once again. >> I Congratulations. I was I was I think I was saved the I don't know what are you two today then. [laughter] It's the last year has certainly been worth the extra $100. >> [laughter] >> I didn't donate that. All right. Don't spend it all in I still don't know what I'll win. Uh there we got a new vice president. Uh so nominations are in order for the office of vice president. >> [snorts] >> Looking for nominations for that. I'll nominate Mr. Glonek for vice president. Are there any other nominations? All right. Uh nominations are closed. All in favor of Mr. Glonek for the office of vice president, please say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Congratulations, sir. Thank you. All right, next

004is clerk. Nominations are now in order for the office of office of clerk. Clerk is I nominate Mr. Probst. Are there any other nominations? Rule of three. Rule of three. Uh if not, nominations are closed. All in favor of Mr. Probst for the office of clerk, please say I. I. Anybody opposed? Congratulations, sir. And finally, we are going to go through treasurer. Nominations are now in order for the office of treasurer. I nominate Mr. Cowley. Mr. Cowley. Are there any other nominations? Are there any further nominations? No. The nominations are now closed. All in favor of Mr. Cowley for the office of treasurer, please say I. I. Anybody opposed? Congratulations, Mr. Cowley. The eyes have it and Mr. Cowley is our treasurer. We are done with this. All right. Item Uh well, maybe we should

005say welcome Mrs. Grayson. She is our newest school board member. Thank you. Give you some gray hair over the next 3 years. >> [laughter] >> I have two kids. I'm good. Uh item E, we got to do the appointment of the CESA 12 representative to serve on the board of control. Did you enjoy your last year as the CESA 12? It's been magical. Would you like to continue that magic for the next year? I will continue it. Thank you. Nobody else wants it. Is everybody okay with that? Do I need to go through this formal All right, Mr. Probst. Continue >> [laughter] >> CESA 12. You win geographically, Mr. Probst. Winning's one way to work for it. >> [laughter] >> Get that straight. Appointment of WASB correspondent. Mrs. Brunette, you have done this in the

006past. Would you Historically, we have always not always, but often times we have thrown that at the newest board member. She thinks [laughter] we can't be true. >> [laughter] >> If you want to continue with that That's fine. Is anybody opposed to Mrs. Brunette >> wants the pleasure of reading the WASB legislative updates. I won't fight you for it. But she summarizes it up greatly. >> [laughter] >> You nail it. All right. Well, we're going to So everybody's okay with that. Mrs. Brunette. Appointment of board committees. So we I don't We have some stuff here because Mr. Hirsch is no longer part of this. Um If everybody's comfortable, I will start with finance. Mr. Cowley, myself, and Mr. Probst, you okay with continuing that, Mr. Probst? So we'll leave that one as it is. Curriculum.

007Mr. Cowley, Mr. Glonek, Mrs. Brunette, are you three okay continuing the curriculum as it's written? Fantastic. Um Policy. Currently, Mr. Probst, myself, and Mr. Hirsch was on there. We could add Um one of you two ladies to that or if anybody else feels strongly about >> Kathy, you want to be on that last year? Um it doesn't make any difference. >> I thought you asked last year. No, I was on policy 2 years ago, but it doesn't I don't care about Well, the buildings and grounds and transportation committee is going to end up having some uh, additional work over the next 2 years. So, uh, I've talked to Mr. Glonek, who's comfortable continuing to stay on that. Uh, Alida, if you are wanting to continue on that, um, if that's something that you want to

008take part of. I I do anticipate, and Mr. Fetcho-Cotter could perhaps reiterate or correct me, but, uh, I think we're going to try to do as much as we can prior to board meeting, but I think there is probably going to be some additional dates that are going to end up those policy committee meetings. I think as long as we work around the high school sports schedule, I think we're going to be We'll find a way. The next If the referendum passes, this group will probably be together a little bit more than what it has historically, for for good reason. I'm talking about big projects here, and as you heard me say, I've said to the community sitting in here, we're going to make sure things are transparent. Um, that committee's going to be the

009first step into that when we start doing some of these bigger projects. So, you're you're comfortable with that. So, we'll put Mrs. Grayson on that one. Is everybody comfortable with that? Looks good. Uh, the only one that that, uh, I think is the policy we're going to have to add one person to that. Um, I can take policy. I can take policy and curriculum. All right. Do you Steve, do you care whether you are the chair or not on that? >> do not care. I can Well, then we are going to put Mrs. Brunette as the coup de grace, queen bee of policy. Look out. >> [laughter] >> So, do you want me to give you this afterward, or did you get all that? >> it. Yep. All right. I thought we are cooking through

010this bad boy. Uh, item five, consent agenda. Uh, uh, the April 13th, 2026 regular board meeting minutes opening and executive sessions. Uh, any questions on any of that stuff? All right. Item [clears throat] B, the treasurer's report, Mr. Cowley, if you'd be so kind. All right. Uh, in the general fund on April 30th, 2026, there was a balance of $5,238,471.92 in cash and investments. Receipts since the 1st of May and not included in April 30th balance are $66,145.69 and the disbursements from tonight's May 11th board meeting total $78,446.70. The flexible spending account on April 30th, 2026, there was a balance of $32,243.17 in cash and investments. The L3 investment account on April 30th, 2026, there was a balance of $5,719.38 in cash and investments. In the debt service fund on April 30th, 2026, there was

011a balance of $675.43 in cash and investments. Detailed report on financial activities is included in the financial statements. Thank you, sir. Uh, item C, payment of invoices. I would trust that everybody had an opportunity to go through that. Uh, ask any questions if they did. Was there anything outside of that scope that anybody wanted to say anything about? Very good. Item D, resignations, employment, retirements, Mr. Fetcho Guy. We are to that time of year where a lot of shifting goes around in the world of our school calendar. So, resignations, Kaylee Poe, NES third grade, effective at the end of this school year. Uh Deanna Sanine, uh NES second grade, effective effective at the end of the school year. Claudine Adroski, NES fourth grade, same deal, effective at the end of the school year. Diana Matson,

012IRES first grade, uh effective at the end of the school year. Bonnie Beliska, NMS seventh grade, same deal, end of the school year. Brandy Bush, uh NMS paraeducator, effective at the end of this school year. Chad Gardine, NMS special education teacher, effective at the end of the year. And Hannah Lower, district speech language pathologist, effective at the end of the school year. Those are resignations. If you have any questions, otherwise I'll move on to the employments for next school year. Riley Bell, uh eighth grade ELA and social studies, starting next August. Lucy Rugus, NES paraeducator, starting today. Uh Lauren Shawala, IRES fourth grade, starting in August. Kaylee Rover, NES third grade. Dennis Woller, NMS seventh grade math and science. Nicole Verdick, NMS and NHS choir. Lindsey Johnson, NES fourth grade. And Brooklyn Holsman, NES second

013grade. All those folks would start outside of Lucy the end of the school year. Any questions on those? Very notable, the internal transfers. Courtney Ross uh will move from the high school as a paraeducator to the middle school as a paraeducator next year. And there are no retirements to report. All right. Thank you for that. Uh with all of that, I need a motion a and a second to approve the consent agenda. Make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Second. I have a motion and a second. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Anybody opposed? Very good. Moving on. Uh item six, approval items. Item A, uh request for Mr. Niehaus for the FFA members to attend the Wisconsin State FFA Convention June 15th through 18th, 2026 in Madison,

014Wisconsin. Mr. Niehaus is nervous. This is the first time he's done this. >> [laughter] >> What do I need to say? I had to bring back up. >> [laughter] >> It's a muscle memory. Okay. Um going to the state convention last year was awesome, one of the best things we did as a group. Being there with a bunch of other FFA members is made everything we do feel much bigger. Between the talks, the energy of the sessions, and actually getting to test our leadership skills in person, we came home feeling like a real team. I'm asking if we can go again because that kind of experience is our club sparks alive and gives us something to look forward to at the end of the year. We'll be going to the Madison, Wisconsin from June 15th

015to 18th with five people who where we'll be doing community service like packing Um so we're going to be going on kind of like tours also to the state capitol, stuff like that. Um there's going to be leadership workshops, and then we're going to have a keynote speaker, um, Temple Grandin. Um, there's going to be a college and career fair, which is going to have like a bunch of like UW schools and tech schools. Um, there's like an award ceremony that we're supposed to go to. Did you say Temple Grandin? Yeah. Really? That's pretty exciting. I'm also very excited about it. If anybody doesn't know who that is, there's a fantastic book and movie on her. Um, yeah, uh, we talk about her in my animal science classes a lot. Uh, and so when it

016was announced, um, I was very excited. Uh, and so I told a few of the students and they are also very excited. Um, for those that don't know, she's a well-known animal scientist. Um, really focuses on animal behavior. Uh, and she had a big focus in the the food world about tuna, um, bringing in more animal welfare to some of our food animals, um, and then working to design houses and facilities and things like that. And, uh, one of the fun facts about it is McDonald's. So, all the beef and chicken that, uh, are used in McDonald's restaurants have to go through facilities that she's designed. So, there's some pretty big name companies that only use her her facilities, so. She's also autistic. She's also autistic and so, um, some of her later career, um,

017pieces here have been how to include, um, uh, neurodivergent students in things in a lot of different industries. And so, I'm curious to see how she blends those two when talking to students. Is this Is this going to also include, uh, current seniors who will be graduating shortly? Yeah. So, we've got, uh, five students, um, so some sophomore current sophomores, juniors, and seniors are planning on going. Um, I've always opened it up to the graduating seniors as well if they're interested, simply because the FFA calendar is a little bit shifted compared to our school calendar. And so the FFA world we end here in June after most of them graduate. And so we do have a few that are actually signed up to go as one last little celebration of their their FFA careers. Other

018than that, I did mention this, but from a financial standpoint this will be paid for through the FFA activity account. So we're not asking for any financial support. Just to set of wheels I would expect. >> I think so. Yeah. Any other questions, Brady? If I be honest with you, I I would be excited to go listen to [laughter] to her. Adam's driving you. I could. No, I'm not busy in June. >> [laughter] >> I would I would go in December. >> [clears throat] >> Um well, there's nothing more I would entertain a motion in a second to approve this. I'll make a motion to approve the FAA FFA members to attend Wisconsin State convention. Second. Wyatt Shaver. Let me get on the Yeah. Support >> [laughter] >> You got to be quick sometimes. Uh

019any other discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Anybody opposed? Have a good time. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Good luck. >> [snorts] >> Uh I need a B authorization of an electronic signature block letterhead change. I don't think there's any changes. This one's pretty simple, so It's a strictly a formality since the officers are the officers. We still Yeah, we are the official meeting. We'll update the letterhead though. Letterhead will need to be updated. With Shannon's name and Nick Oh, all right. Well, I guess I need a motion and second for the authorization of the electronic signature block letter. I'll make that motion. I'll second it. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Motion passed. Item C, 26 2026-27 CESA 12 shared services contract. Mr. Fetzer.

020Uh yep, this is the annual time of year where we look forward to uh to 26-27 officially. So, CESA, as you all are aware, is an educational cooperative that does do a whole bunch of different things for a whole bunch of different districts. Uh we do use them for certain services. For the most part, it's pretty status quo with the exception of we'd like to add some instructional coaching supports in the areas of science and social studies, particularly grades 6 through 12, as they're going to start really looking at curriculum school by sequence. Uh we will Actually, we're a little bit less than what we were last year projected at this time. I think it's about $7,000 less. Uh and the biggest difference is since we hired a school psychologist for next year to be

021in-house, we used CESA for a few days to help offset some of the workload there. Uh that's the main reason why the actual cost is projected to be less this coming year than it is this current year. So, any questions I can answer with that? You do have a copy of what we're looking at, the shared services 26-27. CESA likes to get this from us so they can make some staffing decisions. In the event that we do need to add stuff down the road for unexpected situations that pop up, they usually have a really good working relationship with us. So, is this is this spreadsheet that was provided to us from CESA? It's there. >> And then and then we take this cuz you have purchased in 25-6, recommended for 26-7. And then in the

022is it yellow or >> Yellow. is the one that essentially we're approving? Yep, that's what you're approving. So that this is their Google Doc form. Um their formatting. But the place that the big area that you're really concerned about is that gold column. They had some recommendations. We as an administrative team had decided not to go necessarily with those. Nothing against CISA. We already have some of those in place. Um or they weren't needed at this point in time before. So So the one question that I would have is the cybersecurity support and implementation. Um do we on our insurance policy, do we have cyber Yes. cyber cyber/terrorism coverage? We do. Um and also we work closest with SiteLock and Trustwave, that's their new name. To do our 24/7 monitoring security. We also push out

023as our staff will be doing too. Educational materials are all being good cyber secure staff members to make sure that we're doing everything we can to not inadvertently cause issues. Uh it's part of the world that we live in now. Unfortunately, cybersecurity is something that we have to work with our staff on. Newspaper, there's always something. There was a massive data breach >> [snorts] >> Canvas just earlier last week. That impacted a little bit 9,000 mostly at the collegiate level. 9,000 schools and universities. I think it was recommended but not added. Correct. We didn't We feel like with with our support So that's CISA's recommendations for us. Sometimes we go with them, sometimes we do not. We do have cybersecurity in place through Trustwave. We feel confident in it. And we have it on our

024insurance policy. Correct. Um Oh. No, this this is more learning around cybersecurity and some of the different pieces of background on that one, so. Um, the general administration line item, can you just talk about what that is and how we use it? >> That is Yeah, it's mostly for superintendent support. So, it's a it's the what they call the background. A lot of it is broad in its nature. Some of it's professional development, some of it's state updates, uh networking. But, that particular support we've had for many, many years. It's directly linked to the superintendent. Uh so, that is no service most frequently. The general administration. Yeah. Is general administration? Oh, I thought that What Where What's the uh Isn't that just being part of CESA? Isn't that it? Or is that a different item?

025No, we're we're automatically part of CESA based off of the Yeah, but don't we have to pay them a percentage? I thought that was it. Is that not it? That's a core component of it, yeah. It's part of it, yeah. Okay. The other thing that's to note is that CESA did make the purchase of your building for a while, the new building. That last payment has been made, so we no longer have that as part of my agreement with the bank, so. It's also another way for us financially. The other question was around speech, cuz our speech therapist resigned. Has that position been It has been posted. Um Don't know what recruiting is like for speech in the schools, and You know how difficult recruiting therapists is, right? Um but, speech is a little hard

026to come by. Um I talked to our special ed director today. We do have one applicant. We are slated to interview a few, I know. So, whatever you part of that There you go. Um so, we have a fully licensed applicant at least on the radar, but uh we know that these positions are hard to fill. And we can add to this, can't we? We can. Um CESA's a lot of the same as we [clears throat] are. I honestly don't know what their availability is for speech language pathologists right now. There's not a lot of them laying around. But, that's what I alluded to. CESA's been good enough to bring me out of some unintended or unexpected situations that pop up frequently. out. Yeah. Cross off, work through it. I know a lot of dissimilarity

027to contract with telehealth speech therapist companies, and it is not ideal. We've been there. Thankfully this year we were not. We doesn't have anything to do with telehealth. It's just it's a different medium than having somebody face-to-face, especially with our our youngest students. Yeah. Um which the majority of our speech language needs are in that realm. Um we have a backup plan which we need to go down that road which we've covered in the past that it worked out. But our stance has always been to make sure we're trying to hire people to put in front of students when we So, hopefully that interview goes well and hopefully we can be able to to to fill that spot for next year. Any further discussion on the C-12 shared services contract? I'll make a motion to

028approve. We have a motion, I need a second. I'll second it. We have a motion and second, any further discussion? This is money, so we got to do roll call. Mr. Brobst. >> [clears throat] >> Yes. Mrs. Brunette. Yes. Mr. Cowley. Yes. Mr. Wyatt. Yes. Mr. Johnson. Yes. Mrs. Grayson. Yes. And I will also vote yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Uh item D, resolution to approve fund 46, a long-term capital improvement trust fund. Mr. Fetcho, come on. Yes, uh you guys have heard me talk about this one a little bit in the past. So, fund 46 is another funding tool that schools can access. Um in my opinion, time has come to really get that set up. Uh when we made the rounds around the the referendum, one of the the feedback pieces we got

029from the community is you know, what are we doing to show that we're saving money where we can save money because we know that eventually building A is going to need a roof, building B is going to need this, that, or the other. So, this is that step, in my opinion. So, fund 46, as it says, it's a long-term capital improvement trust fund. It's a tool that allows us to do a couple of different things. It allows us to plan for large-scale maintenance items. So, we have a 10-year maintenance plan there listed. That is really the facilities audit. You guys have seen that in the past. It's basically it's new to you, cuz you weren't there, but that is not necessarily an end-all, be-all. It's a guiding document that helps us kind of make those

030decisions as we go down the road. Uh what I really like about fund 46 is that if we have a year where we have an unexpected budget surplus, it was a a very light winter. We didn't burn as much natural gas to heat our buildings or plow as much snow. We, as a board, I've come to you and say, "I think we need to transfer this dollar amount into fund 46." And that, in the eyes of the 20 formula, gives us where we're expensed. Um So, that's the explanation. We're putting that money into a savings account, so they treat it like it's spent money. Awesome. One second. Go. That And yeah, I I I have it secure now. I'm I'm safe. He almost sent it to the wrong >> you anywhere. >> [laughter] >> Adam's

031smart to save from his chair. I'm giving him a folder. You got a seat, though. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Then I would just stay there with my phone. So, that is the pro of that particular end of things is we're able to basically invest that money into future projects that come up. The con is that there's a 5-year waiting period. So, as I alluded to, they don't necessarily care how much you put in, but we want to get a small um amount of money transferred to that account to start our 5-year waiting period. A 5-year waiting period to access the funds. >> Correct. So, there's there is what they call the five-year rule. We will not be able to touch that money if the board approves this resolution today until what is 2026 2031 officially.

032So. Can it be used on anything or is it only for the long-term room? It can be used on anything in relation to capital maintenance and improvements. So, that's would be if you read the the plan, there's you know, I don't have [clears throat] a crystal ball but you know what exactly is going to break five years from now, 10 years from now. So, the intent of this is to have some guiding documents but also flexibility to address things that pop up. So, if we put money in there four years from now, can we access it in the fifth year or do we have to wait? >> Okay. >> So, essentially May 5th or excuse me May 12th, 2031, we can start expensing that money. And we that after that five-year waiting period is done,

033there's no longer a you only put this much in so you can take that much out. It is up to the board and administration to determine that in any given year. Um it's a tool. It's part similar to fund 41 which I'd say we continue to do every year now for 12 plus years. This is just another avenue for us to uh from a building program standpoint if we do have those unexpected surpluses in budgets, we as a board can make uh deposit in fund 46 and save it for that. We also can make that money work for us. We can invest it so there is some savings in comparison. Return on investment there, too. So. Um questions you can you got the resolution there. We do have to go through the resolution in the

034wording. Um that's fund 46. Cody, can you dumb down this sentence? It's highly advantageous because contributions are often eligible for state equalization aid in the year the transfer occurs. What does that mean? So, this is going to sound strange but the eyes of the funding formula if we were good stewards of our dollars, it can actually work against us sometimes. AKA we don't spend every dime that we get. Which I would say at least from a budgetary standpoint is a good practice. Um there are some years that we're going to over expense potentially because you know, it's a heavy snowfall year or it's a cold year or it's we have some curveballs that happen. Um if you understand the penalize or equalization aid. Um basically what the state says is that okay, you you know,

035we gave you this money, but you didn't spend it all. So therefore, you must not need that much. Okay. Short answer. A little bit more complex than that, but that's the shortest answer. So this allows us to prevent essentially in the eyes of the formula to spend those funds knowing that we're not spending them at moment. We're putting them into this fund 46 account. It has to be a completely separate account. So this is on our books and the whole nine, but um it's a it's a good tool for us to explore. I would say 75-ish percent of districts across the state try out fund 46. Okay. Historically, Steve, I know and Wendy, you may be able to speak on this, but I know Paul always talked about in June he'd go through and say,

036"Hey, we have X amount of money. I bought 200 Chromebooks." Not necessarily that we needed 200, but if it was the same thing. You use it or you lose it. Um I think there were a few other things that he probably did that with, but this is instead of saying I have to spend it on actual stuff today, I can take it, throw it in the here. And and the five-year waiting period, is that a one-time from the day we start it? So four years from now we put in, we can pull it out of the 46. >> it Okay. It's it's just the just then there's no start the clock or start the clock and then once that clock is ticked, we can use it as frequently as we need to. There's no quote

037unquote cap that you can pull year in and year It is a nice tool that does solve some problems. Most importantly, Is there a minimum amount after the 5 years that you have to keep in it? Is there a cap as to how much you can have in it? It won't be a trust. >> that they have a 5-year waiting period when you start it and then no rules after 5 years. I think it's just a to It's that long-term planning component of this. It's the yin and the yang of some of the the benefits of the formula. They don't want to necessarily give it up to people that just have an asset balance in my opinion. We have the resolution language there. We probably have to read that out loud and then indicate that

038if you are wanting or does want to do this, which is our recommendation, we will get that started. We'll work with our local banks to set up the account and get the 5-year waiting period started. So, are you saying that the motion needs to say for approving the resolution? As presented or if you really want to I'll hear if you resolve. >> [laughter] >> Then I want to take that one. Can you read the resolution part of your motion? >> [laughter] >> It would help us to to read out the middle part of the 1 2 3s there. I don't necessarily want to read this whole thing. Any other questions Mr. Mayor I would ask. Then I would entertain a motion and a second. Can we read it first? Or does the person motion need

039to read it? I think you could just say a motion to approve resolution. A motion to approve fund 46 as written. Is that fair enough? That should That should cover us. Don't tweak it in the minutes. I I'll I'll make a motion to approve resolution but I already screwed it up. >> [laughter] >> I authorize long-term capital improvement trust fund 46. We have a motion, so moved. And a second? I'll second. Okay. You got it. You got it. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor This is a roll call vote. We'll start over here. Mrs. Grayson. Yes. Mr. Johnson. Yes. Mr. Groda. Yes. Mr. Crowley. Yes. Mrs. Brunette. Mr. Probst. Yes. I say yay and motion passes. Uh item E, the reauthorization of fund 49. Mr. Fetcho. So, another just cuz

040we like numbers and funds to keep everybody interested. [laughter] Since we're doing fund 46, we wanted to get fund 49 done. Fund 49 is and we actually have the account. I believe when we even get it, it was actually still checks. But, we had fund 49 open when we did the referendum project back in the 2006, 7, 8, 9 probably. Um and then it's since obviously kind of mothballed that account. It's very simple. The rules are that we have to put essentially bond proceeds money wise into a different account to account for that. So, we need a We're motion to approve the reauthorization of funds I guess to reopen fund 49. Again, we will not use this at least initially. This is not us the bond issuance and all that stuff is You're going to

041talk a little bit about where we have to sit on that. That's still a few months out. This is just us opening an account. So, it is there and available when I need to worry about all the fund codings and accounting rules that go with it. I make a motion that we reauthorize the opening of fund 49. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Motion passes. Item F, authorization of signatories for district accounts. Yep, we're in the the account range of things, so we just opened a fund when we opened a fund 49 and we'll establish the fund 46. So, our banks would like us to really in the board meeting clarify who is allowed to be a signer or signee

042of those accounts. So, this motion would include the school board president, Mr. Landwehr, Mr. Landwehr, um the school board treasurer, Mr. Cowley, and school board clerk, Mr. Host. Myself as the business manager and Wendy Stahli as the executive bookkeeper as the folks that can sign off on checks for these accounts. Um all withdrawals and disbursements of these accounts shall require a minimum of three authorized signatures as a checks and balances. Um but we are requesting that this approval apply to all five existing accounts that we have. Uh so, it's a encompassing motion. So, follow those uh more procedural steps to make sure that we're good. Mr. Stahli, do you want to add anything to that or no? We need [snorts] to name those people in the motion. It wouldn't hurt, I believe, from the the

043banking side of things. I'm looking at Mr. Stahli to help me on that. Yes, I have to send them the minutes and they would appreciate it the names listed as well as the positions. And I'll help you with that. >> [laughter] >> So, it's the Is it typical that the superintendent isn't? The superintendent will be, but officially she has not started yet. Or he is not most likely. Otherwise, I would have thrown that one on here as well. Yes. [laughter] All right. Who wants to work through this motion? I'll make a motion to approve that. I think that this could be I'll make a motion to authorize signatories for district accounts being the following: Mr. Landwehr, the board president, Mr. Cowley, the treasurer, Mr. Propes, the clerk, Mr. Fetchkauter, the business manager. And then who

044am I missing? Miss Stahli. Miss Stahli. The bookkeeper, the executive bookkeeper. Executive bookkeeper. I was going to say HR manager. And all other duties as assigned. And all other duties as assigned. [laughter] There you go. We have a motion. I would entertain a second. Which pulled second it. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Very good. Item G, review and approval of policy 5136, personal communication devices. I'll let you start with this, Mr. Fetchkauter, and then I will put my two bits. So, you guys have the policy that was recently approved, policy 5136, personal communication devices. And I use that term to to say it's beyond cell phones. If you read it, it's all-encompassing. It will include, obviously, computers, tablets, um anything that really can

045communicate electronically, to be completely honest with you. Um as part of this prep, my goal is to give as much information to the board. Mrs. Landwehr, along with Mr. Smith, did a survey of our staff on cell phone usage, which I think is the crux of this particular conversation. It's a lot around cell phones. Um and that did go out to our high school staff. I I do want to reiterate this. Our elementary principal, middle school principal, want to chime in that it's working well at those levels. So, this is more of a high school conversation than another building conversation, but the reality is cell phones are part of life now, and there really isn't an easy answer on these topics. Little bit of data for you. We have 11 referrals involving 10 students this

046current school year. Um some staff do sometimes see frequent more frequent issues but don't necessarily have to report them or address them just individually in their room. Um, but we talked a little bit about a bell-to-bell ban. I believe, and we believe as an administrative team, that a bell-to-bell ban does not necessarily mean that cell phones will never come into our building. We think that it will still be a reality [snorts] as the road that we decide to go tonight. Um, and some unintended consequences, you know, we anticipate students asking to go to the bathroom more frequently, asking to go to the locker room areas, asking to go to the hallway to use said cell phones. Um, we're not really looking to solve a problem by potentially creating more problems. So, Ms. Landers is here

047for questions. Uh, if you'd like to talk with her about it, but our recommendation is to to maintain status quo. A new principal, new superintendent coming in, it's probably going to be one of those policies that we continue to monitor as future as these issues come up. So, um, questions, there's two two bits from uh, the administrators and their input. Ms. Landers is here. I'll give [snorts] I'll let you guys discuss. So, I'll I'll start here. I've had conversations with uh, I had a few of you school board members. Um, I have had a conversation with the incoming superintendent. Um, and I have some personal feelings. Um, I I I guess I I personally I'm not particularly interested in status quo. Um, but I think at this point I will open it up to discussion

048before I give my two bits unless you want me to start. Can you share what incoming the information that the So, [clears throat] and think it's written here that's part of what I I read this over the weekend and I read it again before I came in. I So, incoming superintendent as well as myself feel that bell-to-bell ban at the elementary and middle school levels >> [clears throat] >> is what we would like to see. Uh well, I'm not saying that's that that's what she would like to see. She is uh in agreement with that. Um the It does say here but I don't think it is strictly says high school. It says "Soon as they use PCDs before and after school, during their lunch break, in between classes, as long as they do not

049create a distraction, disruption, or otherwise interfere with the interfere with the educational environment, during after-school activities, uh extracurricular periods, or at school-related functions, the use of PCDs at any other time is prohibited and they must be powered completely off, i.e. not just in your pocket in the vibrate or silent mode and stored out of sight." So, I guess to go backward a little bit, we are in favor of a bell-to-bell ban from elementary and middle school level. And that policy, as I just wrote at the high school level. And it's my opinion and my interpretation that instructional time is during class. I don't care if if if you have a block of 90 minutes. Is that how long is a block? Is it 90 minutes? So, a block being 90 minutes and and I don't

050particularly Again, this is strictly my opinion. If you're in a study hall, that's still a class. No boy, no during that 90 minutes. You want to leave class and walk down the hallway, whip it out, take a look at it, don't care. You want to do it at lunch. Again, at this point, I don't think it matters. But, that's where we are at from a high school level. Does that answer your question, Mrs. Bruner? Is our current policy in compliance with the new state? >> Yes, it is. Yes. There needs to be a policy in place that just kind of discusses this. There's not a bell-to-bell ban at the state level. I know if that was part of the conversation at some point in time. That did not go through the legislature as a bill.

051It fell off. >> [cough] >> It did not move forward across [clears throat] the state. Well, looking at the >> some variability across districts I would assume. There is. Looking at that staff survey, it does look to me like 84% of the staff either wanted a bell-to-bell ban or cell phones banned during entire class period, including study halls, but not passing time. So, it was like 60% for that and 24% for total ban. So, it seems to me that the staff is behind that idea of not having them during class time, um which I would also imagine would be advisory as well, cuz that's considered So, any time during the day other than passing time is I know we've had some conversations with Heather China, and I know we talked about what's the definition of

052instructional time. And I don't necessarily just like the word they use, class time, because it's a little easier to define class time than it is instructional time. Is that teacher up at the board teaching? Is that the teacher working around the room? Maybe individually with with the student or a small group? Or Maybe it'd be easier to define it as only during passing time. And lunch. And lunch time rather than trying to say it any other way. That would make it any other time is prohibited. Yeah, cuz if I'm a student, teacher's done teaching, it's just work time and I have my cell phone out. Is that instructional time or class time or can I use it then? Can I not? Like I think that that's And I'm going to answer that from a teacher

053point of view. That's that's instructional time because when they're working on stuff, that's when the teacher should be going around and helping. Yep. And And they should be Yeah, interacting with you. I talked with Mr. Landwehr about this. I'm be honest with you. I I like the idea of having the same policy for our staff as we have for our students. >> [laughter] >> Um they should act as their phones during passing time and lunch time. I wouldn't bring that one back around. So, to elaborate on Mr. Cowley slightly, uh I did have that particular conversation as well with incoming superintendent. Um and I felt she had a very good statement in regard to that in the fact that I don't have intentions of holding our students to a higher standard than our Um I

054do think Now again, this is a personal opinion. Passing time, lunch as well as their prep time. I think if they're not doing instructions instructional anything, or I guess I would say monitoring students. If you're if you're sitting through a study hall, you have to be that's what you're doing. But if you're doing prep time, and you want to do what you're doing, I don't care. I have found that students are very honest as to which classrooms they can use their cell phones in more frequently, and which classrooms the instructional staff is more guilty of it than the students. I see a smile out of you today, ladies. >> [laughter] >> So, it tells me that I'm not getting fed a lot of garbage. But, that would be Um I don't know how to put

055that in here yet as far as that particular thing goes other than do we just say this is what we want, and that's what we do in addition to handbook stuff. The It It does also, and I know it's only going to get to you if somebody reports it. So, if a if a teacher doesn't say anything, and they allow stuff to happen, kids talk, and it'll come around. Um But, that becomes a disciplinary thing, which does talk in here about disciplinary stuff for a student, but it does not talk about disciplinary anything for staff, which makes me go how how do we do that, and it is perhaps now not the particular time to try to figure out how to write that. Yeah, I I think we approved the student policy and ate and

056said to Cody and admin We'd like this to come back to the board and That's where Yeah, we're talking about if it's a staff issue, that's more disciplinary in nature. That's going to involve our administrative team working with them and whoever that might be. Our internal process that we have is it's going to be a meeting first and foremost, and then I don't have an expectation that if it continues, then it will be of a disciplinary nature. Yeah. What we have to address is anything else. >> Termination. And I And I do know that there are And And I use the phrase the exception to the rule, but when the exception becomes the rule, you have a problem. Yeah. So, uh I do know and I I believe it does say in here as well,

057um there are some exceptions. >> Yeah. And that's written Medical emergency. >> emergencies and various other things. Yes, and that's I I I do want to bring that up cuz there are things that this is part of what it is. So, make sure it's clarified that there are, you know, emergency situations. Obviously, students can access their cell phone if there's a threat to the security and safety of students or staff. Uh there are some phones that have apps for health care management. The most frequent one we see is blood sugar monitoring. >> [clears throat] >> I will say needs to continue. >> [laughter] >> Oh, my But I was looking at like I know the middle school has like a zero all day ban and I just looked up just to see what percentage of

058the students 13-year-olds have cell phones in the United States. It's 70% of the 13-year-olds have cell phones. So, if if if the parents can get by at the middle school level with a zero ban, no communication on the cell phone all day long, I don't think this is extreme in high school. I would agree. I I mean, personally, I I I agree with you. Absolutely. Do you think that's really why they're even on their phones? Is that communicating with their parents? No. I would highly doubt it. >> [laughter] >> I don't know. I mean, That's a different situation. I mean, I'm sure it happens. That's where the whole app comes from. Yeah. I think we can all come up with a huge list of why they're a distraction in the classroom and I think it's

059obvious to keep it out of the classroom. Yeah. I think with the staff it's going to be hard because you have other duties like if you're a coach, there's a lot of stuff that comes through there and then you got to communicate to parents. I think that would be not as Does that come through on a Teams perspective, though? Do you get Team Reach after it? Team Reach. You should, but the coaches, you know, if Yeah, if Team Reach is set up, he's going to get a ring. Yeah, he can let the parents know and he can let the something True. >> Yeah, I again I think there are certain exceptions to the rule. But we have one I mean we have these stupid things. So everybody has access to something outside of their cell

060phone. >> [laughter] >> I should have called you. I shut mine off. The great irony. Oh yeah, by the way it's I'm good. >> [laughter] >> I already gave her the warning. The great irony. So I I I guess that's I think we could probably say right now that I think Steve let's approve the the student one with everybody knowing publicly that the staff one is coming. Fair enough. Can I ask you two ladies because you uh have two weeks and you can say whatever you want right now. >> [laughter] >> What's your two bits on cell phones? If this policy Go ahead. Say you were juniors and you're going into next year. Do you care? Um I mean I like the way you're like the high school one. I think it's like from seeing

061other students like I definitely think that they should not allow phones and like when the teacher's teaching and only passing time. I really like that. So I will fully agree to what's going on. That's just how I feel on it. >> [laughter] >> I feel like it's not actually about distraction but also just being more like engaged in the classroom setting. Like even at school like that like lunch is the only time of the day I'm you won't see my phone out cuz I like to engage in conversation and be present. >> [laughter] >> Believe it or not. But it's I think it's like very important I've definitely tried to like cut back on my screen time cuz I've realized that like it creates me a better conversational person when I'm able to just communicate

062with my peers and not even have like a distraction like that. So, on a like a deeper level of human connection, you know, it kind of creates this disconnect even when we even have it nearby. And then I think with the teachers, I think it is really important to hold them accountable cuz I know I've seen many times like teachers like playing Clash Royale. Like they're like, "Well, well, there's like a video." Like I don't know. I don't I don't know. >> [laughter] >> I don't need to say anything more, but um No, but but It's but and then you also feel that disconnect there that the teacher um it doesn't feel like they care to do their job sometimes or does it feel like they're present in the conversation or in the classroom as

063well? Have you done anything worthwhile with your cell phone during class time? Um so, the one thing is is there are some classes. So, in math, we upload our assignments on Google Classroom. You have to scan a picture of them, but there obviously are workarounds for that. Um and sometimes our Wi-Fi isn't the best, so it works better on our phones, but other than that, I cannot remember the last time I text my parents at school. So, unless it's like, "Hey, I forgot something. Can you drop it off?" Like >> Well, not just your parents. I mean, if you're texting friends and stuff during school, >> Yeah, yeah. you're not doing anything productive. No. So, I guess that that that just tells me that I think this is right. My one concern, honestly, is I've

064heard in the lunch room that so many people are just sitting here and not talking. >> Yeah. >> They're just like >> interacting with their peers, and so I would actually be okay with them not being at lunch as well. I agree. It's it's nice because For social interaction. >> really loud. No. >> I'm really loud, and then everyone looks at me, and like it's like the first time I see them like look up off their phones cuz like I'm just cackling up a storm. It's enjoyable. Maybe it's baby steps. My I think I honestly my concern is that people in general will go through and find a lot of reasons and they will put a lot of work in to circumvent the rule. Um I I I I I I I I I I

065I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I And I was I refused to wear a seat belt. So I went to a junkyard and got the same car and I cut the seat belt to get the little seat belt thing to stick in the thing so it won't beep. That's a lot of work >> [laughter] >> to go through. Just put the stupid seat belt on, you know? I I think this is the same thing. And I think I think if we were to do bell to bell currently at the high school I think Miss Lanpher is going to spend a lot of time doing something that we don't necessarily have to do right away. It It

066It I would expect in time it's going to get better, but I think Mr. Fetchet Carter also said he's heard of people I'm not sure if you guys do. I have all of my old cell phones. I got like four extra dead phones in my house. Where people are coming to school taking the dead phone out and throwing it in the thing and they keep their good one in their pocket. Again, it goes back to my seat belt thing. You go through a lot of work to circumvent the rule. I'm all for human connection but I'm not sure yet it's there. But maybe and maybe you want to speak on that. I'm up for whatever. Um I will say along there is a need like in the guidance office um with some applying for colleges

067and stuff for cell phones. Um I I will say I do worry that the kids are going to you know go go to the bathroom or you know ask to step out of the room um with their phone in their pocket even if they do something, but um It It Does Does that not I mean, from a I've never been a teacher. I was a horrible student. So, that I would be the one that would be leaving. But, wouldn't you think after a while, you know, Sorry, Adam, you don't have to go to the bathroom four times. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> And and you know, and and the fact that you have to go to the bathroom every single time you're in my class. And at the middle school next year, um, we are

068going to be getting uh it's an electronic pass. So, if a student asks to go to the bathroom or if they were to land in her "Can I go to the bathroom?" Um, and our teachers know about this, too. It will they if they are given permission, they'll hit that app on their computer and then the screen will turn green and they turn that towards the teacher. And then the teacher will see that and the countdown starts. And they have so much more time. They can also we can see who's in the bathroom at the same time. We can limit who's all going at the same time. We can reduce the number. And we can see who's spending 23 hours in the hallways and bathrooms for much of right? So, um, that is coming and

069um, so that will help with that as well because um, we just want to be able to track and monitor and make sure kids are safe and okay and and also reducing the number of out of cuz we need to be in the classroom. It's really important. Kids go to the bathroom, absolutely. But, um, and then our new monitoring our new cameras will help also with that as well. So, and we'll get away from paper passes and signing in and out. Things getting lost and all of that. So, um, it's just to help support students being in the classroom, which is why the phones were away at the middle school, too, is that focus just wasn't on the instruction. Um, and we've seen our our students' proficiency levels skyrocket and we've seen their engagement and

070we just feel we all know as adults how important our kids' mental health is and we also know one of the detriments to that is the device in their hands. So, um, we're just partnering with our families. Where are our kids during the day? Where are they in the hall? You You it's it's not to because of them getting in trouble. And I will say this, our kids are incredible and they thought we've got the best students in the nation. I believe that. I will say that till the end. And I do say think that children emulate adults. And so when you go places and we talk about what the kids are all doing cuz look at the adults at the table. Right? Look at the adults at the dinner table. Look at the adults

071out there at the restaurants. And so you look at little kids, they want to be adults. You look at everybody wants to be, you know, middle schoolers want to be high schoolers. And so we look at that. So I don't blame kids today at all. And I And I'm not blaming adults either. I'm just saying that like as a community, I'm proud of us for leaning in and helping support where our kids are, what they're up to. And it does take a village. So I'm probably going to be part of this village and I'm proud that we're all leaning into it. There There is the one uh there is a paragraph in here, too, when you talked about guidance and some of that stuff where it does say except as authorized by a teacher or

072administrator IEP team to be here. So there are again there are the exceptions. There was a time when I don't know if the staffing with the staffing situation is at the high school, but we did have a guy was a hallway monitor. That was my duty for half a period. So I was kind of expected to just take a walk through the hallway and see where everybody was and and uh you know, not going to go in the bathroom and check on them, but I mean, you know, just just to check the traffic. And so I don't know it what the staffing situation is at the high school if there's, you know, room to sign that or not anymore, but yeah. And we have the same thing, too. Our parents, you know, sometimes at the

073middle school level don't want certain kids in bathrooms together or don't want them leaving classes a bunch of times, you know. So this is really that call to action of like how can we help? And also, like I said, know where our kids are, especially in an emergency, what they're up to. I think one of the things that stuck out to me in the survey was the staff comments a little bit. You spoke a bit to it in the middle school, but the consistency or lack thereof in enforcing the policy. Why put in another policy if we're not going to enforce it or we're not enforcing the policies that we currently have. And again, it's pretty subjective. One person here could be one person put all of them, I don't know. What How can we

074like how do you look at that to to support that when you have sort of a you're allowed to use it at certain times, but not others. Will you do it at the high school too? To support the teachers to feel that every classroom is consistent. Yeah. I think Adam and I have already said it, but this will, you know, involve work with our teaching staff. They're going to have to because this will be a change for some of our students. Um and I don't know we're not going to do this today. We're going to do this September 2026 to implement this unless somebody tells me differently, but uh our staff will will have to help us with this mission because the front office can't be in every classroom. Um and the staff is going

075to have to kind of get on board with this. That'll be a little bit of an adjustment because there will be sometimes it's my classroom I get to set it up the way I want to. This is a a building by expectation. So, with all that being said, um I think that was a really good discussion that I think we're for the most part in a consensus. So, I guess I would entertain a motion and a second to approve this and we should probably approve it for the 26-7 implementation for the Well, it's got to be July 1. But this is going to take place for the 26-7 school year. What you're clarifying is classroom time. Yeah, so we should Yeah, so what does How does the How does this rule say? Students before and

076after school, during their lunch break, between classes, as long as they do not create a distraction. This is during after school activities, they should be powered completely off. That would be tough. Yeah. Well, this Well, this one says God, I can't Students may use PCDs before and after school, during their lunch break, in between classes, as long as they do not create a distraction, disruption, or otherwise interfere with the education environment. During after school activities Oh, I think I'm looking at the wrong one. These are extracurricular activities or at school-related functions. As directed by the Use of PCDs at any other time is prohibited, and they must be powered completely off. Students may not use No, it's the old one. Yeah, there's a >> There's a dated one because we we did update this policy

077last month, but we have not got it on the website yet because we've been having some some technical issue issues with the old one. That's what I reported. Report notes. While you guys are looking at it, I'm just going to throw this in there, too. Um when we talk about like what is instructional minutes, I always go by with my curriculum director hat on. Our instructional minutes is what we report to the DPI. They They make us report what our instructional minutes and instructional minutes are from bell to bell, minus your lunches and minus your passing periods. So, at the high school level, those are the instructional minutes. So, you know, if that became something you needed to defend, I mean, that's how I look at it. What are the instructional minutes? That's what I

078report, aside from hallways and bell times. It just makes it sound like we can lean on that. Yes. >> Yeah. I would agree. I I think that the the during after school activities PCDs should be completely powered off and stored out of sight when directed by the administrator or sponsor. I think that that statement is confusing because above it said that you can use them. I think that they're saying if if somebody tells you you have to turn them off, you have to turn them off. But I just feel like that one is Yeah, it's kind of confusing cuz at the bottom of the one page it says you may use them and then it says you may not use them on school property. Or at a school sponsored activity to access or view Oh,

079that's the So it does say students may use. So everything that follows you can use which is Yep. before and after lunch break, between classes, extracurricular activities, school related functions. Yeah. Any other time it's prohibited. Yeah. Which is what we just Yeah. So then if you go to page two, the third little paragraph there. During the during and during after school activities. It also states that when directed by the administrator Yeah, that's just when the leader says no, put your phones away. Got you. I think So it's okay until you're told otherwise. As long as it's not a problem during after school activities but if you're told So is that that's I think that's Is that saying a coach is saying "Put away your phones, guys" or Yeah, we agree. Right? That's where that fits

080But then I think that use the term sponsor is probably a kind of legal Yeah. It would be. Yes. I would guesstimate that if the coach is telling you to get off your phone as a as an athlete or a club supervisor then there could be maybe some other repercussions. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> You're going to have a long day. It's a big dice. Maybe some natural consequences. >> [laughter] >> So does it is this date going to have to change as as far as last revised? We would have to update it. It would be updated. And we can we can table this today or we can bring back the updated language policy for you to review with a lawyer. Again, we're not talking about something that's going to happen here tomorrow. We're talking about

081at least September. No, but I think if we were to I mean, we can always bring it back. I I would think if we approve it today, that gives it everybody an opportunity to tell everybody, this is what you're going to expect coming in the next school year. Yeah, that's that's a good idea. And your eighth grader is transitioning in 100 and something >> Here's your new rule. >> They're used to this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it'll be the juniors who have to deal with the the seniors that are here. And I think the only thing that we're going to have to look into [snorts] and do a little homework on is how do we how do we do all this verbage to incorporate staff? Yeah. You have a great admin team, though. You know, what

082Who's on the policy committee? >> [laughter] >> There's a chair right there. Could you draft [laughter] something up for us? I absolutely will. >> I'll use my app. >> [laughter] >> All right. Well, I think we talked a lot about it. Anybody uh have any further discussion? Otherwise, I would entertain a motion in a second to I think approve the policy as written cuz I don't think there's any changes. Cuz it doesn't say instructional time, it just says This is what it's This is what it's allowed. >> Yep. Yeah. Yeah. >> Right? Mhm. I think they can handle the elementary middle school level. Oh, we should probably add somewhere that it Well, where it says under students may not use PCDs on school property or at school sponsored activity This is website. It Yeah, it

083doesn't split through the the two scenarios. I have a separate team from the elementary middle school. I'm assuming you want to be involved about that. We got to practice for That's our historic practices within the building that were away in shock. And if they're not in contact parents and parents are What do you have you pick up a week or two? >> [laughter] >> So well so under I where it says students may use PCDs before and after, that's where the >> [clears throat] >> students may use PCDs before and after. Students at the high school level may use PCDs before and after school during their lunch break, in between classes as long as they're Yeah. And then do a second sentence or another paragraph that said students may not use means that >> PCDs

084grades Yes. Pre-K through Pre-K through eight. I mean I want to I want to make sure we're You never know if the three-year-old's walking around with a cell phone, right? >> [laughter] >> And I have a question. I'm [clears throat] not mad against you. come in their lockers. It's not in their pockets. I don't know if that's in the policy, but the middle school we keep them in the lockers or they're supposed to keep them in the lockers. Something unique to the elementary level, we use the term communication devices because it's not just What's a Oh yeah. Personal Well, it says PC, personal communication device. Go ahead and read Uh but beyond that we also have surrogates, if you will, like ear tags. There's items, AngelSense is a popular one that's a recording device or

085a two-way communication device. It It goes on Johnny's belt loop and they wear it in the classroom, but it infringes on some personal rights. So a teacher could be listened to by parents. So we keyed in on communication devices form that from bell to bell is not listed. say Is that web enabled? Uh cell or web? So, it says here the last one here is any other web enabled devices of any type. So, it does fall under that. >> Also, wearable technology. So, what does this do to watches? It it falls under the same thing. So, they can have wear them, but they're not They can't. So, no no fitness trackers. Wireless communication devices. But, if it's like a good old-fashioned Fitbit, that's just No No screen. Although, somebody can take an old-school phone and

086still have to do the You know, to get C, you got to hit one three times, I think. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I think good for you. You can keep that. I kind of like a challenge. Mr. Leonard talked about how motivated students can get when they There will be attempts to try to circumvent this. This is a policy that will probably need to be might have to come back Can we We're probably not going to have black and white every scenario and situation that's beyond what we can probably even foresee right now. So, we want to add the I don't mean to cut you off. We want to add students at the high school level may use PCDs before and after school for that paragraph. Students pre-K through eight. How do we want to

087say that? Bell to bell. Bell to bell, then. Right. And must be stored in in your locker during that time. What does the What does the first paragraph read? Students may It's Currently, it says students may use PCDs before and after school during their lunch break in between classes as long as they do not create distraction, disruption, or otherwise interfere with the educational environment. During after school activities, e.g., extracurricular activities, or at school-related functions. Use of PCDs at any other time is prohibited, and they must be powered completely off, i.e., not just placed on vibrate or silent mode, and stored out of sight. So, that is going to apply to high school level. Yeah, and if we even extract that like all students are allowed before and after, right? Like that's that's fine. And then

088pre-K through eight students cannot use you know cannot use it any other >> That's what I mean. So so pre-K through eight And nine 12 can use them during their lunch periods and in between classes. We could we could just we could take that and extract it. You know what I mean? So like all students can use their phones before and after. We don't control that rodeo. And then the second part is um pre-K through eight cannot use their phones till the bell and then that nine through 12 will be students are allowed to use their phones during lunch and passing times only. Okay. So I feel like we need to update this policy. I agree. we're going to approve something that's not finalized. Or do we want to have two separate high school policies?

089>> I don't think so. I don't think I mean you can do it all within here. I think I would trust Miss Keller to do what we just said in a fantastic way. I think we approve this based on the on this we have And then maybe we revise it next month cuz at that point maybe we can look at can we get staffed up So approve it the way it is. I'll make adjustments that you're good with and you guys can review it and then if we up you know approve again the edited version, that's what we'll go with. But staff can tell students before the end of the year yes. Yep. Is that is that fair enough everybody okay with that? All right. We'll provide a quiet reminder at the beginning of the

090year about 12,000 times. No offense. All right, let's do a motion a second. Let's get them moving. I make a motion we approve the policy with the updates that Miss Keller is going to make to spell out pre-K to eighth grade. All right. I'll second that. Oh, we got Dan. I'll we got 10. Uh all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Awesome. All right, let's get moving on here. Yeah, that was >> [laughter] >> We'll get to try again next time. I think it was buying a tractor in the middle of Iowa. Uh item eight, review and approval of track resurfacing bid, Mr. Fetchel Cotter. Uh yes, you guys have the two bids that we received to resurface the track. So, this was Is this part of the referendum? The goal is

091to try to get a few of these projects done that work within the time frame. Majority of the work would take place in summer 2027, but we are kind of chipping away at some of the smaller items. This is a small item, but the timing works out. We have two bids on the table. One was from Athletic Field Services, the other one was from was from Fisher Tracks. Both uh become come recommended. Rettler Corp is the company that built that whole entire facility, so I have been in contact with them. Uh both work. Uh Fisher Tracks has the low bid of $127,399. Was able to complete the work this July. Uh Athletic Field Services has higher bid $128,700. Cannot complete the work till summer 2027. Uh this is a significant savings. We've walked the track

092with these providers. We do not need any subgrade work. This is truly a resurface with minimal cosmetic adjustments and then re-repainting the track as well. So, our recommendation is to approve the Fisher Track bid to get this project completed before They've talked about it with us. Fuel prices will impact a lot of this work in the coming months, weeks, years if they continue to go this way because this is a It is a petroleum-based product. How long does it take? So, this one's unique. Uh you know, they they'll tell us 5 to 7 days. Obviously, the weather has to cooperate. It's not only necessarily no rain in the forecast, but humidity has to be at a particular level. so it can be a little bit finicky. Um paint is not as bad. That's a one-day

093process. But they they anticipate by 7 days potentially. Um depends on what what weather forecast we have. But they do believe that July will work. Um want it done then, so that way we can access the field for practices football-wise. Um starting August 4th officially. They probably won't come back and repaint because they like to let that um adhere appropriately. But that's a that's a one-day process for them. It's usable as soon as the game is dry. I noticed on this one they added a 1% if you do a performance bond. Just for my knowledge, do you guys require a performance bond? We haven't until now. No. And then to the project this size, I would say it's probably not. I'll get it. That'd be my recommendation though. So, um this is one of those

094it's a it's a timing is right to get a win in here, get the project done, get the overall projected cost. Um There'll be a few more projects that I'm working on that I most likely will have lined up here. Camera system we talked a little bit about. We're not there yet. That's what we'd like to try and get started on. And then the other thorn in my side is the high school water heater. >> [laughter] >> We're trying to get that one done too. And I'll be I'm in process behind the scenes to get some things set up there too. So, just to clarify from a financial perspective, [clears throat] um because even though we have approved the referendum, Yep. we haven't actually received any funding for that. So, I assume we are essentially

095you're going to somehow come up with the funds to take care of this. And when the referendum money comes back, we're paying ourselves back on it. In a perfect world, I'd just make the referendum bond issuance. It's a little bit of It's tied to the geopolitical climate that we have right now. Um that impacts the interest rates. We're We're going to try to time that up. Um short-term borrowing, those of you who are familiar with it, happened in a very short window of time. This will be a a bit window where we're able to shop for a longer stretch. That's my best interest in this whole thing. So, um so um I right now rough capital art estimation, a lot of work will come to you, of course, but this is probably September-ish. We're not

096looking at a big lag time here in anything, honestly. But that's the going to be the process for this particular >> This particular one is the timing is you know, they want to get in here. We got to get on their list and do really our best work in July. So, that's why it's coming to the board. Okay. I think this is fantastic. Yeah. It it it's it's certainly a win right out of the gate for us, also. Um any other uh questions or discussion on this particular item? What was the budgeted estimated Uh it was north of I think 297, 207. >> goodness, gracious. Um but that's that was that number reflects a lot of subgrade work our track is is well put together. So, kudos to the people that built it back when

097we did. We do not have those issues, thank you. It's truly just maintenance and and repair. Who would like to make a motion to approve the track resurfacing bid for Fisher track bid? Now, they're pronounced Fisher tracks. Fisher tracks. Fisher tracks. And a second? Second. I have Shannon. Uh it's a roll call vote cuz it's money. Mr. Probst. Yes. Mrs. Brunette. Yes. Mr. Collard. Yes. >> Mr. Glidden. Yes. Mr. Jackson. Yes. Mrs. Grayson. Yes. I vote yes. Fantastic. And all the kids shins thanked us. What's that? >> And all the kids shins thanked us. >> [laughter] >> Yes. Are we going to have to get a new uh mat for the football players to run across? No, that was new last year. Yeah, okay. >> [laughter] >> All right, item seven, administrative report. A, referendum

098updates. Mr. Fetcho Cotter. Yeah, this will probably be part of you know, our meetings as we continue here, so I just wanted to give the board the updates behind the scenes. We're working on a lot of the stuff that I've already talked about. Trying to identify certain projects that we might be able to get done early in the process knowing that the majority of the work is in and out much like what we're talking about with our community. Uh we are in the back channel working through bond ratings. Um I'm working with Bear Financial to talk to you a lot of the different steps with that. So, that will come to the board eventually with a lot of time frame where we will open up our resolution basically saying that the board authorizes us to

099go out for bid within these parameters. We get those parameters, we come back, and we select whoever we like is the best situation for us to do that. Um we're having initial conversations around some of these big projects that I'm talking about, the roofs, the driveways, the HVAC upgrades, all of that stuff. The rough end time frame where we'll see a lot of that work coming to the board in terms of bids is going to be September, October, November, December is the rough window of time. Again, just nothing to hold on to, just more of where we sit. We're happy to pass the referendum. Um kind of work with that done. It's a different type of work now than we're having to Thank you for that. Item B, communications received. This is also you. Yep,

100uh we received a thank you from Mary Misdower's family. Mary Misdower, her mother passed away recently, so we sent memorials to our staff, so she sent us thank you to the district for that graduation. All right, item C. Graduation is May 22nd, 2026. We are looking for two board members to participate in said graduation handing out diplomas, shaking hands, and being eye candy for the audience. >> [laughter] >> Okey dokey. I have you need me. >> [laughter] >> Well, I have a dress picked out. I have a senior graduating, so I would really like to be able to hand him his his diploma. Um so if anybody's opposed to me, say it and I'll ignore you. >> [laughter] >> If anybody else, I know you've got a senior. I don't know if you You want

101to hand her your diploma? Or if you want to sit in the audience and cry up there, you're more than welcome to do that. I think I'm going to opt out. And I'll be participating in a different way. I I would love to hand out hand out diplomas this year if nobody else So fight me for it. Anybody going to fight? I'll arm wrestle her. She has a dress picked out. Well, I have my dress picked [laughter] out. All right. Well, I'm not serious running with the eye candy. >> [laughter] >> I'm going to I'm going to wear vertical stripes to look skinnier. Well, you two coordinate. That would be awesome if you guys wore colors. >> [laughter] >> Is everybody uh we're good with that? All right. Moving on to the maintenance report, Mr.

102Fenchel-Cotter. Yeah, nothing too out of the norm for the maintenance report. We are getting to summer maintenance season. We've had a couple of meetings with our custodial staff just to keep you all up to date. We're not there yet. We still have the About 4 weeks of school left. It's just hard to say how long it is. We are at the end of getting close to the end of the school year. Any questions on the maintenance update there? All right. WASB legislative correspondence report. All right, it is rather short and sweet cuz there was a little WASB website issues, but um Wisconsin lawmakers resumed negotiations over how to use the state surplus of education funding remaining a major discussion point. Um there is an emphasis uh that continues related to special education funding, so hopefully

103we'll see some changes there. Um the WASB also launched a setting the record straight initiative regarding public school funding. The focus is on clarifying the differences in costs and responsibilities between public and voucher schools. Uh the WASB is encouraging district leaders to use local data and messaging to explain school finances and the value of public schools to And then I did put the link in there. Hopefully the WASB website is now working for all of us. Miss Rediske, if I jump in here, so I >> Absolutely. We did receive um preliminary agreement with the state surplus. Um I have not had a chance to look at the details of it, so I'm a little bit skittish of talking through it, but the broad strokes is um they We hope we'll we'll put together officially approve

104these changes to the budget. Roughly 50% state funding for special education services, which is Oh, really? Yeah, it's it's it's very very nice number. Wow. Um that's our biggest financial surplus. Right now we sit probably about 38%, so getting a nice bump there. We're helping the state fund special education costs that do increase. Um they will put additional monies right now I believe the number is about $350 million into the equalization aid pool, which hopefully will drop taxpayer property taxes. and the other large one is a rebate check for those two taxpayers in the district. Very broad strokes of that. So, you probably will see if you This came to us from the education side roughly 1:00 this afternoon. So, I would anticipate that more information come up. So, I don't have the details yet.

105I don't have a lot of it, but Must have been why the WASB It's It was down today. So, you probably have seen something somewhere. How these people turn into a crowd? What's up? What do you More to come on that. You mentioned increase in special education funding. Is that a one-time thing or was that something that they're looking at making They're changing it to They're looking to make it sustainable long term. Also, there's some I'm getting into the weeds here. Some rules are all made at the federal level. Once you fund that level, you have to maintain it otherwise the federal government special ed funding, but that's beyond the scope of this conversation. >> [laughter] >> It was all It's good news ultimately in in my opinion for for us as school districts [clears

106throat] for our our taxpayers. Anyone who pays taxes in the state may be getting a small rebate check coming your way. I I keep the board updated when I get more details. It's all very very new. That's exciting. We have more information on that next month. I don't have CESA 12. Yes, the CESA 12 board of control met on April 21st. Few updates and actions. The Solon Springs superintendent search has been finalized. The board reviewed and approved policy 3140 regarding non-renewal resignation termination. The board approved the hire of Amy Zack as administrative assistant with the start date of June 15th, 2026. Reminder of the board superintendent dinner and learning reminder >> [clears throat] >> of the board superintendent Dinner and Learning in Hayward on May 7th, 2026. And approve Joanne Long as the CESA 12

107representative to the Northern School District Trust. Thank you. They all made up G. Donations, Mr. Fischer Clark. We have a couple. We'd like to thank the following for their donations to the district. Mission Covenant Church for eight March boxes of food and food supplements for the backpack program at Northwood Elementary School. Evelyn Goldberg Breakers Memorial Library and the Bayfield County County Forestry Department for providing our students at Iron River Elementary School sapling trees. Um We also need to thank Miss Pooler, Jackie Pooler from the library and a guy that we may know here from the Forestry Department, Mr. Steve Probst, for being a part of that. We have some of that online, so we do thank those folks for That was part of Earth Day, if I remember correctly, right, Mr. Probst? It was. So,

108we want to thank them for meeting with our students over there. Um [snorts] NHS, this is uh Mrs. Buckmaster. It is uh grad party season. All night grad party season, so she does a ton of work and there many, many businesses to thank. Um we do send out individual thank yous to each other, but overall we received over $5,000 in monetary and or gift card donations for prizes for our our outgoing senior class. Is it in the uh Where do we keep that now? It's not in the conference room. All the fun stuff. It's in like the Tiger Tech School Store. You can't walk in there, so. >> [laughter] >> It's a lot. It's a very, very neat thing for that our community comes over to and and uh our seniors love it. It's very,

109very nice prizes for that. So, big thanks to all the businesses, all the individuals who donate. Thank you for that. Item H, uh reports from the Northwestern Elementary School and Iron River Elementary School, the Northwestern Middle School, Northwestern High School, the athletic director, activities coordinator, and our director of special education. Appreciate all of those reports. I hope you all had an opportunity to read them. And you ladies now are your final report to the board. Have at it. >> [laughter] >> So, I'll be covering clubs and just some little things. So, student council um did has been supporting our testing month. So, April was busy um with the juniors taking ACT and the sophomores took the pre-ACT and the Ford exam and the freshmen took the pre-ACT. So, student council recognized everyone's preparation and hard

110work by serving them post-testing treats during advisory. Um that was on April 10th and the students enjoyed cookies and beverages like Bubblers and Gatorade. Um and student council is also awarding two seniors reserved parking spots for 1 week and one in the upper and one in the lower lot. Uh graduating students can enter their names for a drawing. Um and then the signs were designed, made, and hung by Tiger Man. Students also took on a sunshine cart around to the staff on Friday, May 8th for staff appreciation week. And then we have the senior social breakfast that'll be held this Friday. FFA um On May 2nd, FFA and Green Club did a highway cleanup and was able to keep our section of the highway nice and clean from the winter. Um and then on the

1116th, a couple members from our group brought a check to the Humane Society with donations raised from the pie teacher contest. Uh they will also be attending the state convention in the month of June as they requested today. As for FBLA, uh they were had a very successful state competition and Sophie Navarro finished in first place in um human resources and she qualified for the national competition in Texas. Our club had a senior art show from April 27th to May 1st in the commons with 16 seniors participating. And then they also had their art show and auction this past Friday at the Pops concert uh where they sold 58 items and raised $477 for art club and the participating artists. Choir just had their Pops concert where many small group performances and solo acts performed.

112Um they also showcased the seniors in a slideshow and sang the song they were performing at graduation, which is For Good from Wicked. Um the band has also been working very hard preparing pieces for their Pops concert, which is this Friday. Um FCCLA has their last meeting on May 15th to send off their seniors and select new officers for next year. And as for DECA, we sent two students to ICDC in Atlanta. Um Isaac did an aspiring leadership workshop and Wilson competed in marketing communications, uh which consisted of a test and two role plays. And then in their free time, they went to the Atlanta Aquarium and got to see a seal show. They also went to the Coca-Cola Museum, but overall, it was um a fun-packed week with a lot of great net- networking

113opportunities um and workshops for our students. Tigerman also built and put up the signs in the upper and lower lot as well as a sign for the daycare off of Highway 2 called uh Heart of the North Learning Center. And as for the seniors, they just had their senior banquet where many different students were recognized. And the seniors have 8 days left. >> [laughter] >> But who's counting? And commencement will take place on May 22nd, and the class speakers that were selected are Shelby Hassell and Haley Gilderman. The seniors are also preparing for the all-night grad party, and the officers and others have prepared many fun gifts and prizes for everyone. Um which is just kind of cool to see how all of our fundraising and obviously the community contributions have played a role in

114that because every student who stays the whole time will receive a prize of over $100. So, that's kind of exciting. Um and there's a lot of good ones. There's like a Ninja Creamy. There's really good prizes. Really good prizes. Laptops, TVs. Who would know? I helped put together the baskets though. There's some good ones. Uh but that should be a really fun night with the activities to conclude all the seniors' success over the past 4 years as a class. I did not know that. Okay. Sports have been buzzing all month with practice almost every day after school with the baseball team heading towards the second place finish at the Heart of the North standings this spring. The team is senior heavy. They concluded last week by beating Ashland 17 to 2 and will play six

115games over the next 4 days. The team has been practicing in Lake Nebagamon this spring to allow more time to practice and to save on gas. Older players have been very generous in driving young players who don't have a a license to practice and games. Just like baseball, softball has been very busy with JV having more wins than loses this season. Um the last game was last Thursday at home against Spooner, and they won 17 to 4. I believe they had to stop in short uh cuz of the third inning because of the run limit. Um they're having a game today. It's a double header in Proctor. So, let's wish them luck. Um track is at a steady pace one to two meets per week with the last week having an invite meet in Bloomer

116with girls getting fifth and guys getting first place. >> [laughter] >> They had a meet the same and meet that same [snorts] Thursday in Spooner. Um I believe they got first. Our next meet is tomorrow the 12th at 4:30 in St. Croix Central. Um another this week on Thursday the 14th. It's a home meet, so come and show them some support. Golf is currently undefeated in conference play. Noah Burke is up for conference player of the year and they are looking forward to the upcoming playoff run. I will also add that um varsity softball is at home right now and they have their senior night. And they're taking on Ladysmith. If you want to work the track meet, reach out to Mr. Smith. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Well, thank you very much, ladies, for all

117you've done for us all year. It is uh really nice to hear it every month and uh I know it's super exciting to sit here for as long as you do to give us exhilarating [laughter] And thank you very much. And congratulations on your upcoming graduation and good luck afterward. Thank you so much. It has been fun. Did they pick for next year yet? I don't think so. Not yet. When does that happen? Uh it's We got to talk to Mr. Smith, though. I'll be They do it in They should be doing it in the like They should be doing it soon, right? They don't start till September, right? Really? All right. Item by staff, student, community recognition, Mr. Fechter. I do have a couple. First and foremost, I would like to thank our student

118representatives. >> [applause] >> I know I have to be here tonight, but they were Thank you. All for taking the time to be a part of it. It is something that I know we as administrators and board members do like to hear about all the changes that are going on. And there is a lot. Thank you. Um couple of thank you's. I'll reiterate NHS staff. I'd like to thank Tiger Manufacturing for the two senior parking spot signs that were created. Um The student council would like to thank Sweet Spruce Coffee and Iron River for giving 10% off coupon coupons to staff for staff appreciation week. And also QuickTrip donated $200 in gift cards for buying stuff for the senior social. Uh which would be a breakfast on May 15th. So, thank you for that. Uh

119the middle school would like to recognize the fact members, particularly Willow Johnston and Gabby Burhans, for the work on upcoming national webinar town hall event called Truth About Nicotine. Tell all. Uh Gabby Willow have been part of the planning process for the town hall meeting and will also be on a panel which will allow them to share their concerns and their own issues uh related to youth nicotine addiction. So, we want to make sure to give them congrats um and making a difference in our our community and abroad. I'll also thank you, Ms. Kaufman. Um she's been leading this initiative down there and it's something that she's done for many, many years, I believe. So, thank you to to those students for recognition, those students and Ms. Kaufman from staff student body. Um I'm going

120to give congratulations to Iron River Elementary School. Um Mr. Laraby is here to chat a little bit about this, but they did receive a award from the DPI that is a sustaining teacher Um so, with great excitement uh April 23rd we got recognition that we were notified by DPI and Dr. Underly that Iron River Elementary School received the 2024-2025 School of Recognition Award. Hopefully if that works it'll be up there. Um real slowly. Um what I really want to point out with emphasis is the prestigious nest of this award. So in order to receive a School of Recognition Award you have to be a school with high enough poverty rate that you qualify for Title 1 services. So I did a little Google searching in Wisconsin last year there was about 1,150 elementary schools. So

121of that the school award that Iron River got is for high progress schools. So what that means is we're taking students that are maybe underperforming and we're moving them farther than anybody else. And in the state of Wisconsin there's only nine elementary schools to get this award. So again out of 1,150 estimated Title 1 elementary schools nine got this award for moving the needle the most. So kudos to our staff, to our parents, to our community because this is a really big accomplishment and they've gotten it a couple years running now. So we're very excited about it. I've already talked to Mr. Charlebois about getting another banner made because there was one for 23-24. So I said hey use that same design to make another one. So we're going to need a bigger gymnasium over

122there to keep adding on to it because if you go into the the gym that's where you'll see there's already one from I believe it was 2021 and then again 23-24 and now 24-25. So very very much a sense of pride for our community and and kudos to our students and our staff. Thank you guys very much so. That is it for every student and staff? That comes with like a $300 check. >> [laughter] >> It's for everyone else too. It's a big check. I'll keep watching the mail. Keep an eye out. Item eight is now comments from the audience. Now that we have concluded the business of