McFarland School Board Meetings 3/17/2025

001at exactly 615 okay um and I would look for a motion to go into close session f can make that motion okay thank you Chapman can second thank you chman okay okay so we can retire to the uh we need to do a roll call yes yes sorry about that that's right um Howry yes Mooney no absent yes absent okay fiser yes fesler yes Chapman yes okay session 6 16 okay let's walk down the hall do we leave our computers you can okay it'll be safe you okay and comp do I put down 616 we're going in yep okay e e e h e be careful don't fall e e e well EX I was like the what thought e for take e it is 7 o' uh we were in closed session we are

002back in Open session so we will start uh is there anyone on the board that wants to pull out any individual piece or part of the consent agenda because we are we can do that if we care otherwise we'll just do it as as normal you're not hearing anybody say they want to I will assume we don't so the consent agenda items are as follows minutes of the March 3rd 2025 school board meeting and general fund vouchers and purchasing card transactions uh we request approval for general fund vouchers number 18332 through 83558 and 29326 through 293 256 and purchasing card transactions dated uh 12125 through 22025 uh there are also some professional staffing recommendations um so I would request a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented I can do that thank you

003Bruce do I have a second I'll second thank you joh all those in favor please signify by saying I I I opposed motion carries 5 Z unanimously uh we also have some Personnel items unnecessary for vote and that moves us along to our public comment section and it has come to my attention that the esteemed former president of the McFarland School Board arand helberson would like to speak this evening step forward Please Mr helverson I just have a little bit to say not much I I uh sat in the with the committee I sat in the back and just listen and I uh I have to say to watch it from the beginning and work its way through and uh the people that they had come in and talk I as people that we should

004have down here talking to everybody because I just phenomenal just just phenomenal um and they the committee worked very well together it was it was going everybody shared everybody respectful it was uh it was a top shelf committee and it was it something to be proud of although I got a little thing I'm going to throw in there cuz I sit in the back I got to get my two cents in that's what I'm doing go and uh they're going to go through the process and and you probably know what what someone what they're going to be talking about you guys have to make a decision on stuff tonight too but uh um I I wrestled with a lot what we all what they all work through I uh if you change the name which

005is a big deal and and it can be done and it can't you know it's it's there's always going to be two sides of a coin on on anything that you do you know I mean there's always two sides but uh I I would rather see it have both names on it than to take one off uh uh he he was an important man that did a lot of lot of really good things and we were just lucky enough that he grew up in McFarland and a lot of people a lot of people can't they don't have have that happen and I never knew that we had it like it did I remember when Conor and Elgen got named but I was over here at the high school in sixth grade when that happened you

006know I was the last class then but and uh it was a big deal then and and uh I forgot about M lot of that but what he was about and uh he he was a very good person and and some of this gets caught up into um you know it's not like he threw a punch or anything but he did he he made a signature someplace and people were offended and but I don't think it was abused I don't think he did it in in meanness I think all the good things he has has worth also so it's a it's a hard decision for you guys to do whatever you're going to do tonight but uh don't be afraid to be the lone Indian and and uh get your two cents in because I

007you got you know like anything else you make your decisions from your heart and your head both so that's all I have to say thank you very much appreciate it okay I don't believe we have anything further in terms of the uh good public comments so we'll move directly into the McFarland High School student report if good anybody else there I think so there there you are sorry it took me a minute it's all right late okay all right the MC high school student report okay so some highlights this week is Hope week at mcin high and it's a celebration of selfcare kindness and Hope to celebrate today was C day and hope Squad handed out in the morning thoughtful Tuesday we'll Paint Rock during advisory your worthy Wednesday will be last color day and

008the day that a scavenger hunt for kindness Clips begin and it takes a team Thursday is Jersey day and there's a surprise of some sort after school which I genuinely like I don't know what it is and then Friday is meme day and there will be a backpack clean out during advisory all right then good Wisconsin Cal challenge for the past few weeks the student council was collecting cereal boxes and then I think last week or the week before they stopped it and we collected 512 boxes of cereal and donated it all to the McFarland food pantry and then our Spartan headquarters received the gold certification for 10 standards of retail business they earned it in the small business Enterprise category and this was a few weeks ago but we didn't put it in our

009last one so I just wanted to recognize it and twerp was cancelled which was this week its reverse proposals but I mean it was last week and it was supposed to happen last Saturday but it was cancelled due to lack of participation coming up sophomores are having the Wisconsin forward exam April 1 to 4th and then everyone else just has regular school but they just do it during their world history class and tomorrow at 8:30 the Juniors when I'm a junior will begin reality Zone at McFarland High School it's a simulation of what real adult life will be like financially to try to prepare kids for the future and all the Juniors have to do it concerts there's a band concert in a few minutes at 7:30 tonight and state solo and Ensemble on April

01026 actually yeah yeah and then the big little dance on Saturday April 12th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. we're having a big little dance at mcfallen high school hosted by Deca where little kids get to be optionally pampered by high schoolers doing their hair nails makeup at 3 Follow by and dancing at 5:30 make sure to register and pay in advance if you want to go because I think this will fill up quickly and at the end of it I'll ask if you want me to go back if anyone wants to do that Athletics so Boys Hockey congrats for a great season team played very well in theia semi-final game against Tomahawk but a full little short literally by one point the coaches and players should be proud of their efforts and season boys basketball

011had a very exciting win over Sten in the waa Regional semi-final and a tough loss to mount horb in Thea Regional final congrats to the athletes and coaches for a good season Trek and field started practice last week and good luck to all the athletes and coaches and Lacrosse is starting practice this week good luck to everyone in Lacrosse spring break next week is spring break and I hope you guys have an awesome week and is there any questions and does anyone want me to go back to anything I have a question you mentioned that the reality zone is tomorrow yes as a junior what do you anticipate to get out of going through reality [Music] zone I'll come for you wait could you repeat the last part sorry yeah what outcome you anticipate you

012will have personally having participated in reality Zone well for me I do handle like some of my own finances so I don't know if I'll get as much out of it as some people because I know some people don't like anything but I think I'll get a better idea of like the housing market and how much kids cost if I do have kids which I probably will but I know it's and I don't really know just like a better understanding of how much things cost yeah that's what I hope to gain anyways I'm not sure exactly how realistic it is but hopefully it's pretty similar and just see like what a how much a living wage has to be I [Music] guess that's right same is there any other question there anything no I just

013wanted to just compliment you I thought tonight went very very well so thank you so much all right thank you I just got back from running a mile and a half from Lacrosse oh oh you're a lacrosse we never would have guessed have you have you ever played it before now huh have you ever played lacrosse before now yeah I played it last year like I mean just for the season though nice yeah awesome I did a little shout out to Lacrosse thank you very much awesome thank you yeah thanks eie and we'll see you next time see you have a good spring break you too okay what we have decided to do is rather than strictly adhere to our agenda here we are going to move the citizens advisory facilities naming committee recommendation and

014discussion up to now we out of respect for you folks time we thought we'd move you up and and do our our thing here and then there would be no need for you to stick around for the rest of the meeting so uh Mr tarer if you want to yes so if we can have our presenting members come on up to the cold seat up front here here you go yeah that's right make sure to share that microphone um I'm GNA uh get us uh started and kind of kick us off and we'll just have them introduce themselves as they come up to speak uh I'll share a few things here on the screen at times as part of the presentation what i' asked for the board members to do is to please um hold

015your questions till the end so that we can kind of present everything in its entirety and um and then there'll be plenty of time for questions afterwards so so tonight what we're going to do is cover a few things uh kind of how do we get here providing some background and context now this is probably not news to any of us but we want to also make sure that those who may be watching either live or on recording have a chance to to hear the background about how we got here and um then we'll be talking a little bit um cie will be presenting about the the group the membership the topics that were discussed and and some comments from from Members about their experience then Yanni will get into some research uh about some

016of the things that we found we found a lot of things we've been told that we know more about Conrad Alum than pretty much anybody um by the historians so um so present that um and then finish up with Matt's going to share uh the recommendation on on the behalf of the group we also have U many committee members in the audience too um who are here to uh support their their other members and and answer questions as well so they're all open to question at the end yes okay thank you we're replacing us if we start throwing up yeah right oh I told them that you would be a nice audience so um we're very nice so I'm going to jump in I'm going to get you I'm going to get some background and

017again this is information you have this packet in front of you please don't look ahead I was like real to look at it yep you can look look I'm on I'm on page two with the background but these are things that you know this all began right when when Riley who um must have been with Evie at uh lacrosse trial tonight Riley sends her regrets that she wasn't able to join she's looking forward to watching this so whenever you are watching this online Riley um and so initially she brought this forward to the board as a sophomore now a senior raising uh thoughts about Conrad Alum and specifically related to a few issues one of which was signing a racial restricted Covenant and we'll talk more about that tonight uh the another thing was that

018at that point the board decided let's form a a committee to discuss this make a recommendation to us and we went through the process of of getting close to establishing that and the timeline was delayed and and primarily the first reason it was delayed was the board at that time felt that they wanted to get some more information before continuing on like let's see what history we can gather and Riley and I did a presentation for the board based on some information primarily gathered from local historian Ron lson that had shared with us about the situation from that the board said affirmed let's continue with the committee and um at that point a lot of the board's attention and the community's engagement was focused on the referendum and so we delayed forming the group until

019that time well when the referendum failed that just delayed the process for further that again that that was the focus of our attention so as soon as um in November when the referendum passed we began moving forward with this um process you know part of that issue with the with the referendum was just that we understand there's a cost associated with renaming and felt like that was sending a really mixed message to our local community um and you'll have a chance to make some decisions about that at some point so we started recruiting uh in December and January and you approved the committee members and two days later we had our first of what was to be before meetings ended up being six meetings and seven meetings if you count count an optional event that

020some of you attended in the Monona Public Library um about racial covenants so and I will tell you there wasn't a meeting that ended on time so um there was one that ended on time there was not oh there wasn't okay we were cons over time just for your reference and included in your packet there are two policies that apply to this situation one of which is the commemoration of school facilities which basically establishes only the school board can name a school facility and and therefore only a school board can rename a school facility so that's really Your Role the committee's role is to make a recommendation to you which they will be doing tonight and they serve as a Citizens advisory committee which is is covered under policy 9140 which is also included in

021your packet whatever decision that you make um it's scheduled for a vote on April 7th should that vote happen on then then um there will be a process moving forward if the board so decides that you will um rename the school then a process would begin for renaming finding uh determining names and that would be a process we decide together involving the community and if you decide not to rename then there's there's no additional process in terms of renaming but there may be other components that you wish to carry out uh just uh a message about about decisionmaking uh we Define consensus as 60% of the group that was something we had we want to be clear with the recommendation when it comes forward it was not a unanimous decision uh there's a difference between

022consensus and unanimity it's not my favorite word not a strength um so that's important to acknowledge that how many members total were there sorry there were you'll get to hear all the members very soon uh 13 members sorry 13 but one ended up um resigning from the group due to other commitments okay yep and uh so you can see the policies here we do want to mention that there were some several things that we considered here which you can see you know what can we learn about Conrad Alum how do you balance the good that someone did with maybe something that they didn't that was considered bad in quotes um and that there are costs with renaming that was not a primary focus of the group however um that is a focus certainly of the

023board should you choose uh vote to rename there are expenses associated with that so uh I think that covers yes my portion so now I am going to turn it over to our committee to talk a little bit about the meetings and process um my name is ky P um I'm one of the members of the committee real quick I'm going to read through everybody's names um folks that were on the committee Dr James hickey II Ella Chic myself Ellie Kaiser uh Nathan wire Matt vill Yanni McCrae Melanie robach Riley Brown Easton shet Greg Nelson and Karen Manley of that group there were excuse me two staff members two students nine community members eight of whom are parents are Guardians of a McFarland School District student and then one person who initially had expressed interest

024so just kind of level setting there just letting you know everybody's names and folks that were um their roles and other roles that they fill within the community we did not turn anybody away so just to go through very briefly um our meeting topics and kind of the structure of our meeting so the first meeting was just understanding the role of the committee um um reviewing the known history of Conrad alvim reviewing the history of similar similar School renaming issues our second meeting was reviewing additional information and then um like you mentioned the optional presentation at the manona public library that was entitled uh unjust Deeds of history of racial covenants in Dane County our third meeting was additional information fourth meeting we met with a historic from the area named St Levitan uh our

025fifth meeting was meeting with historian Dr Christy Clark pasara she's a parent in the community she's a Community member and she's also the chair of the W Madison Department of African-American studies and our final meeting was we met with another historian Gail Martinson and then she stepped out and we determined our recommendation to prepare for this meeting uh so our meeting structure the big things that we wanted to call out here were our working agreements within our committee and I know you guys all have this but I'm going to read them out loud anyway because I think they're really important willingness to serve the to serve in oh and the ability to make the time commitment be objective and open to others ideas when sharing and collaborating control our emotions even when holding strong opinions

026stay focused on the shared commitment to young people the district's educational Miss Mission and the needs of our communities leave your personal agendas at the door and assume all members have positive intentions um one of the things we did at our last meeting was we all had to pick one of those out and decide which one of those was important to us for that last meeting where we uh determined our recommendation and I just I thought that was a really good idea even though by the end people were trying to pick different ones and it was obviously okay to share because there's only a few there um so the last thing that I'm going to do before Yanni takes over with some facts is we've got some uh comments from some of our committee members

027about the experience um again I know you guys have this packet but for folks on the that are watching this later or live I think it's important to read these out loud so I will I just want to read through these fairly quickly um Riley the student that came forward with this initial project two years ago she said everyone came into this with an open mind and a desire to learn about our community each member took the time and committed the effort to read all of our homework and further their understanding with personal research um another comment being part of this committee has given me so much faith in the ability of our community to come together to learn and grow and support each other the information we learned from primary sources from historians and

028from each other helped us make a solid and informed decision it was an enlightening experience with lots of twists and turns and a very thoughtful group like others I found myself moving back and forth as we learned new information by the end we were pouring over even finer details of lm's life and the broader historical context in Hope of finding Clarity for our recommendation we all appreciated his life and and choices as complex as we work toward consensus I appreciated the many considerations pros and cons and careful thinking of this group and it helped that most of us had at some point felt sympathetic towards each of the two outcomes this experience with the leadership of Mr T was exciting challenging exhausting and thought-provoking this was my first committee experience and I went in with

029expectations that were shattered in a very positive way the group was open to each other's ideas and allowed the information presented and discovered along the way to sway the decision on what recommendation should be made I was blessed to be part of a group that respected each other and understood so the weight of the decision to be made and the impact of that decision not only on the people it aligned with but also those that would not be aligned with whatever our recommendation turned out to be and the last one being a part of this facility naming committee was a rewarding experience offering the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of individuals who bring unique perspectives and skills committee members seemed open-minded from the outset and everyone contributed to meaningful and thorough discussion additionally

030I'm thankful for the four different amazing local historians who shared their indepth research with us which led to a deeper understanding of Conrad alvim and the time in history in which he lived so just wanted to give you guys some background on our committee and how serious we took it and that a lot of people were going both ways and so next to inform you on the facts is y right over there don't be gentle that's right good evening everyone my name is Yanni McCrae I'm a parent of two here in the McFarland School District and on behalf of the citizens advisory facilities naming committee I would like to share the basis of our research more than anything else this cohort has committed to relying on factual information our history can be viewed with the

031lens of clarity that comes with time we insisted on a thorough examination of McFarland's first esteemed figure with both careful consideration and defined to co we would like to extend a special acknowledgement to the following individuals for their commitment to our shared historical knowledge and Community engagement Riley Brown the McFarland student who as a sophomore brought this concern to the attention of the district Ron Larson a McFarland historian whom spent many hours researching Conrad Elum Gail Martinson a historian who has assisted in similar projects for other school districts and spent many hours digging into the archives and presenting many files of information Stu Leviton a well-known historian and author Who provided context to his previous Publications on Madison and Conrad Elum it was his work that initially brought this issue to light Dr Clark kuara

032a resident parent or guardian and the chair of the W Madison Department of African-American studies who presented information about the history of slavery and discrimination in Wisconsin leaning into the keepers of knowledge mentioned above we realized that our task was not just about reviewing what is recorded but about challenging revisiting and ensuring that knowledge evolves over time with a deeper understanding we reviewed a wealth of resources provided by these highly regarded individuals and shared sugary snacks of been working beyond the allotted time for meetings to allow for questions and debate comrade elium was born in McFarland Wisconsin and educated in Wisconsin schools he made significant contributions to nutrition science and received numerous acknowledgements for his work he is particularly recognized for his discovery that the B vitamin called niin prevents pagar a disease responsible for

033the death of 87,000 Americans in the first half of the 20th Century the disease impacted impoverished communities to a greater degree with the vast majority of deaths being black females followed by black men Elm was a distinguished academic who was highly regarded for his commitment to the Integrity of the institutions he served in 1931 his signature was listed as number 82 of 106 influential community members and homeowners in the Nakoma neighborhood who signed a document endorsing the addition of a racial Covenant to the existing neighborhood Covenant this addition bar the ownership and occupancy of members of Ethiopian descent to any property in the neighborhood we do not have any evidence to indicate why Conrad Elam signed the document racial covenants however were a common socioeconomic practice used by developers real ERS and neighborhoods both locally

034and Across the Nation to uphold segregation they were often used as an advertising feature particularly when home sales were lagging and these covenants were deemed unenforceable by the 14th amendment in 1948 the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and Wisconsin Act 210 in 2023 since the beginning of Wisconsin's territorial days the issue of race has been contested while history is often told by The Victors we have synthesized factual documents from facilities around the state validating black presence in Wisconsin and the Reliance of settlers on trade with indigenous peoples long before the Inception of the United States the historians searched for evidence of Conrad elam's beliefs and actions related to race and racial discrimination however there was little evidence available prior to his death in 19 62 they brought forward three main events of notes the racial

035Covenant a suppression of a film about racial discrimination in 1962 and his statements against a student March but support for a student rally about discrimination in 1962 the historians consistently indicated that the latter two incidents were less relevant to our purpose as his positions were supported by many who were against r racial discrimination and his actions were taken within his role at W Madison and what was in the best interest of the institution an item of note also includes a letter from one of his daughters who indicated my dad strongly believed that all people regardless of economic or social status race or ethnicity should have equal access to education on the topic of race and political protests during his administrative role at a statement from McFarland's own son in 1960 reads quote I share your

036concern for the preservation and extension of Human Rights and applaud the decision of the student Senate in favor of the intellectual approach rather than the emotional approach to protesting violations of such rights next we will allow you to review the evidence and question summary provided to you in your packet and I will turn it back over to ER thank you so you can see some of the sources um here that we looked at and what I'll say is the last one called Gail Martinson files that has a lot of resources um within it that um link to many many many many documents um very thorough so um it looks like one item but it is many but we just wanted to to share that this wasn't items that we uh or the the committee viewed

037um um on their own these aren't opinions that are that are based on their own opinions this is pulled from the information I am going to summarize a few things for you um the one thing I didn't really point out and I think I should have is kind of my role on the group is really as a facilitator um when they made a recommendation I was not a voting member I was there to help them get their work done done um and stay out of their way um at times and provide those sugary snacks and so uh talk a little bit about Conrad elam's biography this is a nice list this predominantly comes from the work of of Ron Larson but you know born in 1901 here in McFarland you could see graduated from St

038High School would take a train um to to Sten and um you can see his academic degrees married in 1920 6 he was actually in an apartment before moving into Noma moved into noma in March or April of 1931 shortly thereafter in May had had they gave birth to their first child and um he passed away in 1962 so very young uh was U president at the time you can see some of his scientific uh achievements we talked a little bit about them you know nominated for the Nobel Prize um you know co-authored many scientific papers had a really esteemed ad administrative uh career you can see some of the things here uh a lot of leadership on many councils research a lot of awards and recognitions I'm not going to read them all to

039you but they are all there um so really a lot of honors and recognitions for Conrad Alum the the three main issues we have here are are the Covenant and so what we know um as Yanni explained he was one uh of several people that in the Noma neighborhood what they what they did was they really signed a petition endorsing adding a racial Covenant to the existing Covenant in the neighborhood and and that was notorized and approved uh in July of 1931 so he had been there for a few months um before signing that then he and his wife um signed that document among others not all of the community members did did sign that what we did with each of the topics is we moved we separated into evidence supporting renaming and evidence that

040would not support renaming just to show that we the committee really wanted to look at it from all perspectives and you know for lack of a better term sort of Devil's Advocate very critical thing lers this group was um which explains why our meetings were as long as they were but but it was it was useful um so you can see the evidence here that would reference renaming um you know obviously there's an impact of these covenants the undusted Deeds um presentation that some of you attended really made that clear and the impact of housing SE segregation on generational wealth is is well established historically um and as I mentioned not not everyone did sign that and the most famous person in the neighborhood not to sign it was Oscar renom if any of you

041know that name evidence that related to The Covenant that would would not support it these were very common at the time um there was there was pressure there was pressure and these were often used as a as a tool to um address lagging home sales in areas which it it appears there may had been in aoma at the time um and there's also as Yanni explained no direct indication of his intentions we don't know why he signed it we just know that he signed endorsing this addition of the racial Covenant uh the film and the protest I'm going to I'm going to touch on quickly because um as yanny explained and as the historians made clear to the to the committee these appear to be issues he was in his role as W president and

042there's a variety ways to look at this so you had a housing discrimination video that was made and it had been endorsed initially by the university and it used undercover footage and video when it came time to re when they saw the raw footage the university felt uncomfortable sharing that felt that it wasn't appropriate due to privacy concerns and so they said we're not going to release this they ended up releasing a transcript of of it um what was said and eventually recreated a couple of the scenes from it reenacted it and you know at that time there was really mixed reviews you know some people felt like um okay they understood uh the Wisconsin um silver Liberties Union uh the national ACLU and the Wu Senate both agreed with with Elum and and the

043dean's stance on that um While others felt very strongly against it the NAACP Americans for Democratic action and and a US Representative Clayton Powell spoke out against it so you know you kind of weighed both of those together it was a difficult decision and a difficult time if the board is interested you can see the raw footage in its entirety um we have a link that was shared with the committee members I watched it uh it's very powerful I will tell you it is very powerful and they also interviewed some of the people at the time student protests there was there was uh a movement to have a rally this had followed some Woolworth protests um you know down south there had been some siins and things in Woolworth stores due to their segregation well

044warw worth hadn't um wasn't segregating um up here and there had been some some protest and action um in Madison at that time shortly thereafter students were planning to do do a March uh up to the capital to protest discrimination and at that time Conrad Elum um spoke out against the March and suggested they have a rally he felt that he wanted to have something more organized constructive educational and you heard Yanni um read a statement from that that was another one where you you sort of see this mixed review some people um disagreeing with his stance and others including the WW student Senate supported his approach I and the rally was held and and his full statement uh is something that that the the committee read um and we read a portion of tonight

045um so those are kind of the main you know incidents that we looked at what I would say is the committee ended up deciding to really focus more so on the Covenant while asking a lot of questions and learning from the other two incidents anything you would add to what I my summary sound good that's thinking I'm thinking but I do have okay thinking good I'm glad you a and there's a lot more information I also included um a summary of The Evidence as an extra handout for you to see that's a document that the kind of got updated throughout our process after each historian all right I think I'm ready to turn it over to to Matt for the recommendation so I'm just going to read this I was thinking about maybe performing it

046in a monologue version but I in that it's a little bit too long for me to memorize in a couple of days so um so as uh Erin said the process for making the decision was um 60% agreement versus unanimous decision um it was actually quite uh fun and interesting for us to kind of uh set up a spectrum here along the wall of you know over here was uh definitely don't rename and over there was definitely rename and then we stood in in various places and kind of just talked about why we we felt uh the way we felt so um so I felt like that was an an important and uh and insightful uh way to do it so thank you for setting that up Aon um so I'm just going to read

047this in alignment with our District's m mission vision and commitments we respectfully recommend that the name of Conrad lbm Primary School be changed and established a displayexhibit to acknowledge Conrad eliam's Legacy this recommendation is made with the school district's commitments of belonging continuous Improvement and compassion at the Forefront of our decision while Conrad Elum made remarkable contributions to the field of nutritional science and served as a distinguished president of the University of Wisconsin Madison his name is also connected to a document a documented event in 1931 when he was one of 106 people who signed a petition to change the neighborhood Covenant in the coma to exclude people of color though historical context suggests this action may not have defined his full character the name of a school should reflect our present day commitment to

048belonging and inclusive inclusivity for all students families and community members this recommendation is not a condemnation of Conrad ellam nor an attempt to erase history but rather a reflection of our responsibility to ensure that every student and family regardless of their background feels fully welcome and valued in our schools and Community the name of a primary school should be one that unites and inspires a name that reflects the students and families we serve today while upholding the district's core commitments at the same time and in order to represent those who may feel unrepresented with this recommendation as important and vital part of the community we believe it is imperative to honor Conrad eliam's Legacy in a way that better represents the full picture of his life and growth we recommend men that the district in

049partnership with the community create a museum quality prominent display that represents him not as a perfect figure but as a man who demonstrated the value of continuous Improvement one of our District's guiding principles this display should serve as both an acknowledgement of his flaws and appreciation of his achievements showing how he grew Beyond this stain on his legacy to become a great leader and scientist it should also reinforce that this name change is not a rejection of his accomplishments but rather a decision to ensure that our schools remain focused on the needs of our students and the people of McFarland today we recognize that change changing the name of a school is a complex and challenging process however given what we know now if the school were unnamed today we likely would not choose Conrad

050Elum as its name to move forward we propose that a committee be formed to explore alternative school names that better reflect our District's values this process should be transparent and invite input from students staff parents and the wider Community ensuring the new name reflects our shared Vision furthermore we believe that funds should be raised concurrently to support both the cost of renaming the school and the creation of a museum quality display about Conrad Elam ensuring that his contributions are recognized while reflecting our community's values we appreciate the board's thoughtful consideration of this recommendation our goal is to uphold the McFarland School District's Mission Vision and commitments which include our commitment to belonging continuous Improvement and comp passion not just in words but in actions that shape the experiences of our students in our community changing

051the name of a school sends a message to students that while you can and should embrace a growth mindset and learn from past mistakes your decisions matter and have lasting impacts alongside your own Noble Endeavors so it's important that they align with your values and the Legacy you want to leave so I believe that concludes what the committee was hoping to present so it is a discussion so we're open to your questions and comments as a reminder you are not making a decision this evening it is scheduled for a vote on April 7th um which provides an opportunity for the community to review this information and provide public comment at the start of the April 7th meeting or via email um or connecting directly with with board members so I have a question um first

052and foremost you got do amazing job so kudos to y'all um my question actually um has more so to do with the precedent of renaming um so in the notes it showed that um the UW Art Museum was changed from the lvm art museum to the chasen museum of art do we know if the covenants was reasoning behind that renaming we do it was because of a a donation not okay awesome thank you yes that was one of our early question just to make sure that I got on the microphone um a Committee Member shared that we know that the the museum the chasen Museum of Art was renamed due to a sizable donation okay thank you we're not aware of any thing that has been named after Conrad Elum that has been renamed because

053of this issue to our our knowledge and we do know that Madison's lvm Elementary School renaming has been put on hold correct they're in the process of it's on the list okay y it's on their list address I thought they were and then it got well it sounded to me like they had to decided more or less to move forward it is it is on the list of schools to rename it's just that they had in front of it okay um and the lvm neighborhood association is also um watching what we're doing here and I'm considering renaming okay thank you as well I want to just uh thank you guys I'm I'm like literally in awe of what you've put together at the same time I I don't know if my brain can only handle

054so much but I felt like I was being almost force-fed and I'm going like I'm not digesting everything that's being said that's okay could I have you if you don't mind turn to page nine I just there's a couple of things that I would like to have some further explanation on um and that would be um that I guess it's it's the continuation of it would be a third paragraph there it looks like it's third it's so the historian search for evidence did everyone find that and at the bottom says the historians consistently indicated um that the latter two instance were less relevant to our purpose as his positions were supported I got to make sure I'm talking in the mic here were sped by many who were against racial discrimination and his action were

055taken within his role at W Madison and what was his best interest of the institution and I just was wondering if someone could explain that in a little bit more detail I wasn't quite sure I understood it I know that there's three different categories you're looking at and it's the latter two that you're and so so the Covenant was I mean obviously like you said we don't know why he signed that he could have felt pressure from his boss he could have did it because his wife said so somebody came by with a piece of paper we won't know why but that was of his own doing whereas the other two were when he was serving as the UW president so he had a lot more a lot a bigger group to I guess worry

056about maybe maybe that's not the right way to phrase it yeah well I I would say also with one of the um the items in question the uh um the the rally it seemed as though it was more of a a concern with uh a an early issuance from a from a newspaper that that like put it in a very negative light as if he was opposing um the the the the protest altoe and then when the full description and his full quote came out about U what he had actually said it was deemed that um that that he was in support of of them protesting just not in in support of them marching down State Street because that had uh been been an issue the week prior I believe um and and so he

057was trying to confine that more um but he but he applauded them for for for standing up for what they believed in okay um the the other item uh it seemed as as if it was film yeah the film seemed as was being um kind of less of less importance because there were there were so many I mean there was a lot of um uh differing views right uh I mean there was a moral issue there with filming people without their consent and recording people without their consent so where again we'll never know maybe his personal beliefs he was maybe okay with that but as the as serving as the W president morally and ethically he couldn't be behind putting this film out into the world because there were no signed releases from the people

058in this video and um he he couldn't stand behind that as the W president so apparently they had received the idea or or had got the idea from candid camera to um to do this this recording without people's knowledge and then uh realized that camera when they recorded people not this situation but when they recorded people they had gotten permission to actually show those things and so the question became is it morally ethical for us to release this information without their consent I would also like to acknowledge that there are two typos in the third paragraph serving as US president omit those from my verbal you did a good job improv you did great that should say w yeah serving as W well thank you I I didn't even spot that soed right over it

059and I was like oh no I saw that too well it did and and if you don't mind I'd like to have that same explanation for that next paragraph where it just said um I will give you a little bit of insight on that next one thank you so the last paragraph reads uh with a quote from a letter from one of his daughters yes so we use the historians to reach out because we wanted to know about the character of Elia was he this way or that way we didn't expect Sensation from a scientist or emotion or or or you know for this person to be esteemed for being illogical we expected him to operate with ration much like a scientist would um and in doing that we received a letter of response from

060his daughter Penny hener and this is incorporated into the direct words from his response to the protest while in his chair position at the University of Wisin I believe in 1960 one of the articles that we reviewed is a direct source from the context of that time and they go hand in hand because we we are here today with the the same topics at hand of homeownership and social justice and race and school and how those are all intertwined yes so so the the two statements connect because they speak to the man's own words and they speak to his character as a person and not just as a figure thank you all three of you I think I don't know that I have any questions necessarily but what I I mean I Echo both Bruce

061and Megan but the the work that has gone into this is incredible moving even um I think in this day and age of cancel culture it makes it extra hard to figure out what is the right process and where is that threshold right and I mean you're all nodding that's obviously like why we set it up this way but um I think we have to be really careful to let people make mistakes and learn from them and um regardless of how I feel about it or what I end up voting on I think your recommendation really brings both of those things together so I appreciate all that that all that thought into all of those things that the whole committee did yeah so thank you thanks I did have one more question um so I'm

062looking at the biography and the timeline what page uh page 11 page 11 um under personal life the timeline from when he moved from an apartment to his home in Noma in March April of 19 1931 do we know when he signed the Covenant in 1931 what what month well we know that it was officially entered into the record on July 3rd we don't know when exactly he signed it we think it was not all signed on the same day but that's when it was the meeting was held and okay this was somebody stamped stamped it okay so it was somewhere in there I think it's also important to not that um that um Gail had told us that it wasn't as if this document for signatures was taken one day oh I'm sure but

063that it was presented numerous times to to people in the community to sign so if somebody wasn't there um that day then they would have had the opportunity to sign it again later okay yeah in fact somebody signed it twice yeah there was somebody that signed it twice there were some people that weren't homeowners in the Nakoma neighborhood that had signed it so Gail had suggested maybe there were people building homes and somebody came by with the clipboard hey do you want to sign this and so there may have been some people that didn't even have homes in the neighbor I mean there were people that didn't have homes in the neighborhood that signed this as well okay so there's really in the research that was compiled by Gail Martinson she also was able to

064use the US Census record and state archives to locate the roles of the people who signed the Covenant and their jobs and titles were quite impressive even by those standards um as well as sort of some of the the plots that were originally there in comparison to the signatures that made it to the petition so she argued that the majority that was obtained in order to enforce the Covenant and to have it added to the neighborhood document that existed was questionable at best MH in 1930 there were 125 households in the Nakoma neighborhood and 106 signatures in 1931 does it say how many were from the same household again like husband wife it's broken down it does it is broken down okay thank you all right s yeah we can share all that I'm curious

065Megan why did you ask that question well going back to the conversation of or the point about if um you know if he felt any kind of pressure seeing that it is such a short timeline between when he moved in to when it went through it just it gives me pause that's all thanks yeah I I would say that we considered that heavily and U um and it was ultimately decided in especially I think in light of what Gail had suggested in the last evening of uh that that it it must have been her her uh expertise would say that it was difficult for them to attain the number of signatures that were needed for it um so him signing it may have been more meaningful in that because there were people who who rejected

066sign so getting that um that uh majority of sign in the in the neighborhood uh there there were plenty of people who said no okay then that's what she had said did he ever make a public comment about any of this after the fact can't imagine okay not that we could find that's one of the challenges that would have been super helping right like I'm so sorry I signed this that was one of the things that are that the group talked about was that I mean he died I think from a heart attack at his desk while he was at work when he was 61 and just everything that happened in the 60s if he would have lived a decade longer we'd maybe know some more exactly you know more interactions with students on campus

067and more public statements but we yeah we just we won't know unfortunately another thing that Gail had said is that had he um lived to uh not be U president any longer um they would have done an exit interview and asked him his thoughts on pretty much everything but because he died at his desk or soon thereafter uh they didn't have that opportunity yeah she said they do that with all like Wu presidents as they leave and we were like man would that would have been really cool make it easier I certainly want to thank the committee for all the work and the amount of time that you put into this I appreciate the report tonight all factual information uh and I think it's great in depth I've learned a lot more tonight than I

068knew before coming in uh I only wish that we had had the report before the meeting so I could have digested it earlier yeah uh you saw that I R looked up there or report uh rather I was looking at you as the speakers you spoke with passion commitment determination and a sense of caring for the whole Community Beyond just our community but out there also but I do have one question and the question is this how was the 60% versus 40% decided you know 60% of the members voted for something why was it 70% or 80% for that consensus I think go you can go ahead why do we decide on 6 yes at least 60 we decided on at least 60 because that would have been more than half of the group of

06912 present with the moderator and witness um the activity that Matt mentioned which we partook making our recommendation um required each member to review a booklet of information we came in we were ready we said do we have further questions do we have further comments and we participated in what was called taking a stand where rather than having a vote of just hand raises members had to choose a place on a spectrum or Continuum of where they stood on the issue um after doing so there was a variety of stances and places and opinions and we were able to navigate from those who were strongly opposed to those who were strongly in favor and you were able to voice your concerns and your opinions wherever you were on the Spectrum without a need to be

070influenced by the opinions of others um do doing so had established consensus before the debate began but it gave comfort and it allowed for the sharing of opinions which directly came into the document that is before you um the considerations that were raised by members who were not in favor of renaming have been incorporated into the recommendation before you today I would I would just to add to that that I think was really as a Observer of this was that people when they provided their rationale they spoke about where they were at different points of their time in the committee you know I was you know they were standing on one place and they said I was way over there when we I walked into here over there and then I ended up over here

071and then I was over there and they explained how the evolution of their thinking and that was really interesting I think to hear that the people really were undecided many of them almost until the moment that they found a place to stand and I certainly understand that um as a board member I've gone back and forth also ever since the discussion started um but again why 60% why not 70% or 80% who came up with the 60% I proposed it I proposed it to the group and and they thought that was rational so just more than a simple majority um I will say that although that was our our minimum it the the final recommendation did exceed that that threshold by by much era and error okay then my last question is of those that

072didn't do not did not fall into that 60% or 65% was a cluster of Staff or not staff cluster of Representatives in that committee versus the other cluster you know were two clusters formed and was there any similarities within each cluster the members of the group all represent stakeholders in the community so there is no dichotomy between who agrees or doesn't agree because at some point we've all been in each area of the spectrum based on the information that was presented um and and our own personal bias and perspectives um as we work together through the factual information and that's why it was important to me to present that portion of our presentation um rather than leaning to emotion we did choose to operate in logic and reason to to reach agreement um and on

073some things we agreed to disagree um there was no particular split of who or how or which group belonged to which side um we're all stakeholders in the community I I would also say that um that it was uh Aon set it up brilliantly because there was an opportunity for people to give their rationale behind what they um what they deemed as important information and why they were standing where they were standing and the opportunity was given then for for for anyone else to move along the SP as they decided like oh that's really actually a good thought you know and move back and there was movement as well so yeah that was my question I I wasn't sure when this was done I was wondering was this done before you really got into it

074or it was at the very end yeah okay Wonder last Wednesday okay yeah in this room on that wall yeah see too like if you looked at where people fell um you know we you have the two extremes right of of of they were much closer to this middle you know and it was really really close it definitely clustered on the side of renaming um but but it really was you know the range kind of shrunk so I think that's important for you to know that it wasn't as though there was you know some people were just right down here and some people were right down that's not how it was it's not how it was so one other question this us given U the financial scope of things you know over the last year

075we went through the referendum and we're so thankful to the McFarland Community for supporting the referendum um I I did want to thank you for actually including a piece about raising funds um but as part of that did the financial piece come up in conversation at all yes okay just curious um is included at the Forefront because members of the committee say hey who's going to pay for that and what will our other citizens think of that so the the opinions of taxpayers were kept in mind as well as those who may donate later others who may choose to to contribute um it it it was one of the first topics y I will say that that that it's important um the part of part of the recommendation which you already have heard but that

076that concurrently the uh the funds are raised for uh the renaming if that's the decision along with that prominent display because it's it is very important to this committee that um that Conrad Elum is is viewed and and and and highly regarded for the for the things that he's done but also with a with a real picture of of the full man right and so but it was an important piece on that topic of raising those funds concurrently so that that it's not you know the can kick down the road so so to speak as far as like the the the display of of of him and his life and achievements so would this be an opportunity for the group or the district to work collaboratively in partnership with the McFarland Historical Society could be

077because I think there's something already there we're talking about expandion upon it um but I think we should be working jointly with the Historical Society uh yeah the the uh the the the consensus that we came up with as a group and maybe I'm misspeaking so please correct me if I'm wrong was that we thought that it should be in a prominent place within the school okay um as because it was because it was the scho the school's name or potentially right um and uh and so that people that wouldn't go to a historical society that go to the school can can see it easily interact with it however that ends up looking um but can read about the the man car of course that that can go the other way as well there'll be

078the people who would go to the Historical Museum true but their kids are long gone so that is true you know it goes both ways it was something we discussed quite a bit too at the end and I know Jim if you'd like to share you can share your thoughts thanks um maybe I'm an outlier you want a chair so you no I'm and uh but you know I think if this is my own personal opinion kind of I think I don't know but wherever the District board adopts to me uh that's a district commitment and to go out and try to raise funds for that and have a group out here trying to raise funds to me um it just doesn't make sense um you know maybe they have a committee the district has

079some funds but um and you got a group out there that wants some fund raise but I would uh I think the district owns it the district should uh should come through with it and I and I understand these maybe aren't the times and things might have to wait uh but the bottom line is I I just feel real strong about that um for whatever is worth you know I don't know I mean um have other groups had to go in this school district and have a fundraiser to name things I don't know probably not yeah so you got to kind of look at that I think and there's maybe other things up on Horizon but uh yeah so that that's kind of my thought just for what it's worth thank and I I'm sure

080I guess maybe I am an which is fine so just the the viewers at home in case you couldn't um pick that up as no it's okay it's okay uh Dr hi hickey was just sharing that you know there's a perspective that the district has a responsibility um should it choose to rename to provide the funds to facilitate the renaming process instead of going to fundraising going to the community and asking for funds and that's his perspective oops so one thing he did bring up um was timing so I know we're not voting on this tonight obviously so let let's say you know we we do decide to move forward what does the timeline look for that long term like when would we look to possibly have it renamed by it's really at the board's

081discretion okay so the question is when would rebranding take place because there's a lot of things it's really at the board's disc yeah okay yeah I was going to say no pressure yeah I I will say that the recommendation uh though that we had was was to form another committee to to decide on a name so I imagine that'll take some time and that timeline could also be part of that committee's job as well to lay that out I would also acknowledge if you read the paper today uh the right hand column of the State Journal uh relative to Madison um there's some struggle there the teachers are you know like why did the district pay to rename Rebrand the different high schools and all that so recognize that absolutely and that's probably maybe another

082reason well that you know you make a whatever your decision is in pain you just it's like anything else you have to budget for it somewhere down the line and look at look at how it all fits in yeah another comment but yeah anyway so go ahead well I think that's that's good anyway sorry but take a look at that article I mean you know you know they the teachers union is very upset about that in staff allocation isn't it staff allocation are you familiar that's kind of what you have talking that's why maybe an all liar and you say Okay Community go and raise funds for this and you know I don't fundraising stuff kind of get well and I think just a I think a clarification and I and I don't want to

083speak for all of us but the way we've kind of always approached this is that it was two decisions really that it was do we rename or do we not rename and then do we allocate funds do we figure out a different way to fund do we put it on the you know on hold until we have more funds or but that they're two separate decisions so I think once you know once we get past next Monday then we decide after that it sounds like the committee understood those are two separate decisions to be made so y those separated as a facilitator I didn't want the committee to I wanted them to do what they thought was right based on the information they had whatever the case may be and not to feel that burden

084of the financial concerns in their decision okay that's a burden that you who unfortunately will will have and there was one other decision was just should we even have a a committee study this and that was we had to vote on that first you know so um I was just going to ask anyone back in the the peanut gallery who would like to comment want to share I was going to ask the same thing I I would appreciate hearing anything that any of the other members back there would like to I think Yanni and KY and Matt would be happy I'll give up the chair but just just so that everybody knows Aaron shared this Google doc with all of us and all of us kind of helped write all of this together people obviously

085can say whatever they want I'm just it wasn't just me like reading the one section and like we all we all had we all had assume collaboration yeah okay good I just wanted to make sure right up until not long ago right up until now when I'm the only one still s but I want to ask they had you said a packet Matt you you you you were given it's all the information can we I mean this is something that me really digested I I got to go through this this is a lot of information Karen is this is this document available ailable to the public mhm okay once we correct the typos right yeah US president yeah okay you know that was just double checking to make sure we were actually reading it as

086well so thank you thank you and it was why I displayed it too while we were going through too it's could you send us or me the uh link to the film oh I would like that yeah I'll well yeah that I'll send you a link to all of the the resources that includes that as well okay thanks I mean there's a lot be too overwhelm it is overwhelming yes it is I'm sure we will but thank you any committee members anybody else want to say anything I mean no pressure which opportunity I think U you know from my observations it was it was a struggle um right down to the end if you will um and I think for me personally um with the consensus I think that paragraph on page 16 sums it

087up you know I think that's the one no that's not it I know hang ONN was one it's actually one fer called yeah page 11 this is page nine that I was on Jim yeah you unfortunately that really God I should find it another open um maybe oh yeah go to page 16 uh second paragraph uh looks like the last sentence in a second though historical context suggests uh this action may not have defined his full character okay the name of the school should reflect our present day commitment to belonging and exclusivity uh for all students families and and and community members that one uh to you know uh hit me uh personally you know that that sentence through though historically you know and that gets back to the cancel culture D D whitewashing um

088you know um but that sentence really kind of kind of hits it and then um I I've been a historian historian I think I'm kind of once in a while um the the exhibit on Conrad Elum can be quite um you there's so many things that can be said even about what this committee's found and it could include not talk about Conor and Ellen but it can also uh discuss naming processes or canceling out history you know there's all kinds of uh things there so um anyway so that was my end that's my p y curiouser and curiouser so let me ask you this uh because I'm going back and forth in my mind you know you all know that I was involved in the school for 27 years you know I bonded with the

089con Elum name that's what hundreds thousands of students came through parents Associated that name with our culture and our environment the committee seems to have done a good job separating emotion from fact how do we convey that same type of uh process to to the community so they have a better understanding of the rationale if we decide to change the name a large portion of our latter meetings we spent trying to settle on what was the best way to provide this information to the community um for a time we through the idea out of public information sessions for a time we considered uh history days we considered using local media Outlets ultimately that responsibility fell a little bit on the board firstly for time purposes um we didn't want to extend our commun committee any

090further but all of us were very dedicated to ensuring that there was an education piece associated with whatever the outcome might be because to the committee it was important that we educate The Wider group that this is not a condemnation of Conrad elville however if it is deed that his name will no longer be carried on the school that that doesn't take away from his accomplishments as a scientist so the education piece on that was to provide the public with better information than Google and that is the reason for the resources that we dug into so far and that's the reason why we sought out so much information from trusted sources so that way we could provide that body of knowledge to you to provide better education to the and that makes sense again I

091still have that emotional dilemma I'll have it in two weeks when we vote on this and people will I'm sure will'll hear from people who will have the same so that is that is something that I think Melanie I think maybe you brought that up about it is nice to have you said it better but to have buildings that are named after people inad of just you know the Rock library or the lamp school I mean it's it's cool to have stuff named after a person and nobody's perfect that's it's the messiness of Being Human there's good and bad and again like Yanni said this is not a condemnation of Conrad Elum as a person it's the education of the whole thing and when Dr Clark puara came in she was her example was you

092can admire and abhor somebody at the same time and she referenced Thomas Jefferson that she appreciates and loves his writings about freedom and all that but then he was also a slaveholder and so she can abord that side of him but there's there's there's both sides and it's an and conversation not right or given you know given our ability today you know we've got instant information do we dare continue to name schools after people you know without betting them in such a way you know that every time it would be this long drawn out procedure are we going to end up with McFarland Primary School McFarland middle school and McFarland high school or Ps you know8 like they do in a lot of urban you know centers um and you're right nobody is perfect the

093problem I don't know if it's a problem but the situation today is such that we're able to find out how not perfect people are or how you know there there really is no longer any closets you know there are no longer um our concern I think one of the dilemas we've got is that an action that took part a hundred years ago you know do we hold that to today's standards or do we go research what the standards were 100 years ago and then make a decision how much good does it take to negate this much bad what did he have to do more um I don't know how much more he could have done obviously there's much to admire about the man um and again there's there may be some character flaws as well

094go ahead um uh so one one consideration that was was brought up when we were uh in the final debate was um the the the fact that things are so easily uh found on on Google right um whether factual or not exactly that's um people will make a determination about what McFarland School District represents right whether or not it's true yes based off of what they find and I suspect that there are there will be a contingent that no matter how much you save this is not a condemnation of Conrad alvan they're going to disagree 100% yeah and and that was certainly a consideration which is which that we felt that the compromise uh to to that was to be able to represent the man and honor him in a different way I just want

095to thank you because I've heard from various people that you did an outstanding job Erin and I just it's very difficult and I really like the fact I was a former teacher um and it bothers me that I miss that uh wuw because as a history teacher I used to love to get spelling errors and stuff like that but but the truth is I'm so glad that you you've you made the educational component important and just this kind of an aside if any of you have never been to the uh Lincoln Museum in Springfield go it is phenomenal because they deal with this right there they say by our standards today this president who we all admire would be probably considered pretty racist and they take it headon they don't they don't try to beat

096around the bush and kind of hide it they take it right on and quite honestly you leave kind of like okay now line up against the wall where you going to stand your and it's beautiful because that's what this is all about it's to learn and uh I I just again I love the way this whole thing has been handled but now gets a little kind of dicey I think we all understand how difficult this was I I you know we we were party to a fair amount of information you know and and I think we as a board thought we had a fairly good idea of uh how we should act and what what we're going to respond to um we learned that there was a whole lot more to this initiative and this

097process then he signed a covenant he was a w president that probably saved hundreds of thousands of lives with the research that he did um so that's why and I think I can safely speak through the entire board that we are so thankful for your um willingness to step in and address what we we all know is going to be controversial there there are just you know different demographics and and different backgrounds so this is going to be like any other big decision the board makes there're going to be 48% that hate you and 52% that love you and that this is just one of those situations where I think your you're your making emphasizing the educational piece will make that less of a factor I think because I I think you know right thinking

098folks sitting back and just objectively looking at something the facts are out there there's plenty of facts for people to make their decision but it doesn't make the decision any easier it it really doesn't um so anyway Ted like I say we want to respect your time but we do understand how difficult this was uh everyone was impressed by the collaboration between those on this side and that side and were able to do things in a professional upfront manner um and I just can't possibly thank every one of you enough and all of the people that U you used as resources uh all the historians r Larson he graduated a year behind me here in at McFarland I think he's a 72 grad at McFarland and he's been a been a historian since he was

099in his 20s so you can take what Ron says to the day I will guarantee you that um I like the idea of you know somehow involving the Historical Society in this as well um it it it is it does my heart well to know that we have community members and staff people that care enough about your schools and care enough about what we're teaching your kids not just in the classroom but how we comport ourselves um I I I can't there are no worries how much I appreciate your efforts thank you Craig if I could just add one more thing it's a what if what if Riley had never come to the board a couple years ago M with her idea of you know we should take a look at the name Conor delam

100school is because a student a sophomore here I think a lot of it was uh can be attributed to the teacher she might have had the courses she had maybe it's the family uh that she came from but what if she had not come would we have had this discussion or would we have continued uh on courses where where we are I feel confing at some point that it is valuable to have these conversations initiated here rather than to result from pressure from outside of yes I think that the opportunity is before you to set a trend and whichever way you decide that will have a weight and a wave and a consequence for the surrounding area and perhaps other areas as well is it appropriate that responsibility sign up for yes we will and

101arand I'm not sure it's appropriate but thank you for your speaking before that was nice too thank you come all at meetings and he didn't get any sugary snacks I don't think maybe we s and Aon where are those sugary snacks tonight yeah I thank you everyone thank you I mean you're welcome to stay but it's okay if you don't appreciate you I miss you on Wednesday or go catch some of the band concerts what will I do on Wednesday tell tell me how my kids doing in the vanand concert which the high school band tonight yeah it's the collage concert oh yeah yeah yeah I'm really sad I'm so exad I we're still having a board meeting okay sorry we are still can I take a breal items your mics are live people your

102mics are liveg a little bit supp and I'll turn the floor it's warm though sure again I think many of you know that we have uh three service organizations here the Lions the Lioness and the Optimus club and I just like to talk about the Optimus club and the Lions Club uh as we know throughout the year they have numerous fundraising events and sometimes you don't fully realize what the outcome has been for our students here in our school district so I just want to go down a list of things that both of those organizations have contributed to to I would say the success of students here in our school district uh and this is on an annual basis I'll talk about the Lions Club first uh they provide $10,000 worth of scholarships for seniors

103they have four or five $2,000 scholarships vision screening for our younger students at uh con delum they still do that uh they do a community food drive uh that goes to the food pantry that impacts our students here uh our fam sir and they do that twice a year they provide uh funding for 1,000 books before kindergarten to help kidss really start uh with a keen interest in literacy you know they start with picture books and then they work up and if they read a thousand books before kindergarten they receive a certificate what a great way to uh sort of accelerate the literacy progress of kids they provide eyeglasses to those students who require them they do stuff the bus uh every August and they provide school supplies to each of the four campuses here

104they make a significant donation to The McFarland Youth Center which directly benefits uh students at the U Middle School here they provide funding for Shop with a cop where they pull our students uh did shopping before Christmas they sponsor a peace poster contest for middle school students and uh our top students have gone to the state several times went to a national National level uh they bike helmets for our students uh they provide the McFarland Ed lock library library book and activity kits and they certainly are one of our big sponsors for the weekend snack sex that benefit about 45 to 50 families here in McFarland the Optimus Club again another community service they provide um three three SC I think three Scholarships in the amount of $3,500 total for for the three uh to

105high school seniors they make donations and do food drives for the food pantry again they provide the um funding significant funding for the McFarland Youth Center again benefiting our Middle School youth they conduct the bike safety rodeo in conjunction with the police department uh to talk about safety and to provide bikes and pumps and helmets uh for those that participate uh they have initiated a cuddle up with a book program as of three years ago where they promote uh Literacy for early readers all the way up through high school and they're all developmentally appropriate books uh they put them in pillow cases that Community has sewn and they're attach a little flashlight is attached to it they disperse those through the food pantry and I think at Christmas time they dispersed like 60 and now

106the P food pantry has asked for another 80 so we do get those books into the hands of kids uh we do the indl Middle School uh student of the month recognizing outstanding students we sponsored the McFarland High School senior of the month uh where one senior is recognized each month for uh outstanding attitude Behavior outcom teachers nominated by teachers but anyone in the community can make a domination m uh this year we're at Valentine's Day uh free Bingo for families uh we do uh weekend snack sacks we uh the Optimus Club organizes that in the amount of uh 6 7 $8,000 a year for select families and K8 uh we help um re resupply the final little libraries with the cuddle up the book things we do a trunk Retreat along with the I

107talk about social safety out there we do funding with the shop with the cop and we adopt a family here at McFarland around the Christmas time so those are just the end products of all the fundraising that those two clubs do I just want to acknowledge that without them we'd be in a different place all together with the kids my father was if not a charter member of the that's right but he was a member for 40 you know plus years uh well aware of the lions from the G have been incredibly generous in this community I mean they've touched this community in every way possible over the years they have a rose sale they there's just it I actually had a question to do the lions and lioness work in tandem on some of

108these things yes they do separate uh they're separate entities but they join hands for certain things okay well much appreciated I know that um the whole gazebo you know the L Arnold LaRon Park yeah Arn LaRon park down there that was that was the Lions they built the Gazebo and that was a that property was a badger petroleum place and I I can't even imagine what the ground you know situation was but they went through all of that in order to make this you know Park a reality the Lions the lions are amazing and and like to says if it were not for what those two groups do for the school the school would be different we've become I guess used to it over the years they they're just you know everything they do is

109for the good of the community and part of that is part the community school I know I knew about every single thing that you mentioned I knew about but had no idea that they were all the lions or then the Optimus so thank you so it's kind of unfortunate in that it's over the the I guess last couple of decades probably it's difficult to bring younger members into the organization for whatever ever reason I don't I don't know if it's a commitment thing but the Lions generally their median age is probably pretty high it is high and I don't know what the solution is to get you know more young blood in it and you know reinvigorate it but these are a bunch of gentlemen and ladies that our seniors that do a Yan's job

110out there handling all of the you know the infrastructure that goes into providing all of these opportunities and gift but it's fantastic thank you very much I do think it's something that the board should think about Tom I really appreciate you bringing this forward um but just how we might be able to as a district truly recognize and thank those service organizations for all they do for our kids because when you put that all together and I know about all of those things I knew about all those things but when you put them together the way that you did it's it's pretty overwhelming a and I I do think that it's something that maybe the board should yeah I just encourage you to think about how we might be able to as a district truly

111thank I like that idea them that's not why they do it but that's what they deserve and a minimum thanks anything else moving on school safety written Grill evaluation notification and review per Wisconsin State Statute 118.0 74 CP Mr turn yep so you can see in your packet there are two uh administrative holds that occurred one at Waba one at CS uh to protect uh privacy of students in crisis uh everything very well I always some lessons learn but appreciate the staff for their care and concern and just the way that they can quickly Implement a process as needed you know 10 years ago we couldn't so and their ability ability to be readjust things yeah for for their Improvement I really appreciate getting getting those Aon even if it's just a sample uh because

112it lends uh Comfort to me to know that student safety is on the top of everybody's list student safety and student Integrity also and staff app operate as a team yes and addressing some of this so thanks thanks for providing that to us yep of course okay next discussion board meeting self- review results so you have in front of you and I'll I'll share on our our screen for the public the summary from your results every few months the board takes time to share your feedback on how you feel things are going for uh yourselves in terms of your performance as a board and how the meetings are are functioning each year in April at our Retreat we'll do a full review on the functioning of the board you will so I'm just going to

113highlight a few things um here and invite your discussion at the conclusion several strengths were noted by you in your results and I I typically look at about 80% saying fully achieved that's a very high level so the agenda is being provided in a timely fashion and including relevant information I'll note that um the the agendas for each of the meetings being realistic to accomplish in the time allotted showed significant growth um for you so I so I wanted to highlight that you went from 40% fully achieved uh saying fully achieved to 100% so so very significant increase there the board packets you're feeling that they're comprehensive without too much detail focused on key facts data provided in a timely fashion the board members are coming prepared for meetings you feel also um you feel

114like the right people are present at the board meetings to share information administrators are prepared to address um topics there are um an area of of growth here that I thought was interesting is opportunities for stakeholders to provide more input um you felt like that was something that we're doing better than we were than you were in October the opportunity to discuss things before deciding also um increased and you can see the model that we're using that we' started using of for these heavier more complex topics having a presentation followed by a later vote instead of in the same meeting I think that helps with that um opportunities for public comments they following procedures there's clear goals very consistent there um common goals that the meetings are really evidence of the of the Shar goals

115of the district the participants um that the board members are respectful professional the consent agenda feeling that that's a sufficient record that was a nice increase in terms of administration followup you're feeling that the Administration has clear things to follow up on um and and know what to do to take next steps I did highlight an area that while it wasn't at the 80% fully achieved it showed significant growth and that was related to the board not encountering any procedural issues that interfered with the meetings or with taking action on any item so kind of issues around Rules of Order you felt that there was an increase in that still still still an area of growth from your comments you can see some themes that that speak to what I just shared solid organization and

116planning respectful and positive atmosphere effective communication discussion flexibility being efficient and um also the administrative team being support and accessible when needed can jump on a zoom um and then in our areas of growth and this is where you probably want to have some more discussion again an area this has been a repeated concern um over time and at least in our discussions is about the recognizing really feeling like we could do more to recognize staff students and community members so that's something I think you might want to come up with some ideas and we can do that tonight or at a later point at your discretion but really in your comments you didn't feel like there were any major concerns a couple things were just making sure that we continue to share information people

117reference specifically the way that Tom shares his reports and finding that as a good model to replicate in other areas and um in terms of procedures you know still a little clunky at times oh that wasn't the word use but that's what I would attribute to Robert's Rules of Order um we have a a kind of informal formal process but sometimes it gets in the way when we run into some changes um and the idea of making sure there's plenty of time for discussion uh checking in with each member before a vote is made to just make sure you don't have to say anything but is there anything you want to add anything more you want to add to make sure all voices are heard so that was my findings and my summary of your

118results anything you'd like to share go ahead got to be something come on I'm I continue to maintain that this is one of the most effective and pleasurable boards to serve with I and I agree but I I'm also a strong believer and there's there's no need to solve problems that don't exist and as I went through this thing I keep telling myself over and over that's too I can't it's too good I mean I can't just keep putting all of this down but I'll be if I'm I'm going to create areas that we need Improvement obviously you know no board or group is is perfect in terms of you know all of these things but man I you know I have a a hard time recalling anything any initiative major or minor that wasn't

119handled appropriately and and this is my 15 year and I honestly I I cannot recall a vote that I regreted and I think that's a testament to you know the the vetting and the preparation beforehand that it enables us to make informed decisions you know knowing full well that all of us at the at the end of the day the students are you know what we're here for you know what this is all about and and we just have to make sure that we can figure out a way to do it as best we can and I think we're all like-minded uh I think that's probably a reason why you know never had a a real problem getting consensus you know because we we sit and talk about things yep and we're not all the

120same no you know and and I think we all appreciate that and we respect each other and I I don't know what more you can ask I find it a little sometimes difficult to fill them out kind of perhaps the way you're you're mentioning Crick um I'm going like you know are we getting enough information well okay there's times I've actually had to meet with you eron because I didn't quite understand something as well or I thought there could have been a little bit more information about it but I I I I sat there so do I go 80% do I go 100% And you know I always do these things and then I go back and do it again and it comes up slightly different but I'm I think I'm quibbling over little tiny

121whatever I'm just glad we do them I think it's really important that we do these CU it doesn't make you think about things yeah well we all different strengths I think yeah you know well we all similar strengths but you know we're all our own people and yeah you know there's no carv and stone way to get from point A to point B and everybody has an opinion and every perspective and as long as you know we all respect that about each other pretty Coptic I think yeah I've said this before you know I feel very proud to serve on this board um I think it's an exceptional board uh there's always room for improvement and I think Aon had mentioned a couple things here that we probably should address maybe at a later date

122um but one thing that I found find very effective is um the high level of respect that that we each have even though we might disagree on some things but just as important Aon is a great resource person true you know if we have questions yeah he can answer most of them if he doesn't have the qu the answers he'll get back to us immediately the next day so that reaffirms you know the the decision making that I feel I'm involved with um so I would just say let's continue along the path that we are in uh and just take a look at a couple items that we can improve upon sure yeah it's great anything else okay so when will we talk about those things for you know that recognition of students and staff

123so a couple of ideas for you to consider we we could do it at a a future forward meeting and open session we could also do it during the uh upcoming April work session I like that idea that's what I would mhm go with the work session as long as I can remember that is a item for improvement every year yep I think we try harder every year you know to to be better about recognizing folks that don't get you know all of the the high high levels of um I I just I feel like recognition although it should be easy you know I've always found it much easier to commend somebody on a job that they've done or a project that they finished than to go the other way you know and and I

124think I think we've made tremendous strides in knowing each other and being able to reach a consensus without necessarily forcing any change minds I think well you know think about it we can talk about it during the work session and let's fix it yeah yeah we've always come to the conclusion that they that it's possible that as a form of recognition time off would be the most appreciated gift that's awfully hard to do you know a time off over and above what is already in on the calendar but you know I don't know if money is a motivator I don't think so I don't think so I think um I think staff just want to be acknowledged and recognized for the work that they do don't you think they are well I think if this

125helps so when I answered this question I was specifically thinking about that time during our school board meetings when we ought when Aaron has done his district recognition it is and um and giving more effort to that because I I and I did this from my perspective I this is no judgment on anyone else but I know I could do a better job of that um in part because I know that if I did it just based on what I see now I'd probably see a lot of repeats just because of what my kids are involved in what I tend to you know attend and things like that and I think it would also um encourage me to get outside of that Circle more to to meet that goal of trying to get into more

126of the schools and more of the events so that's where that's with my perspective so yes I think I'm right there yeah I like that idea though too that's that's true that you know that's something we kind to Breeze over every now and again God these kids and staff and they're doing so much and it's so much good stuff you know it the things that go on in the school it's predominantly awesome it's just the small hiccups that occur in you know any organization or District or you know whatever and it's how you handle that MH then I think part of the reason that our school is the way it is is because of the way that administrations and Boards have worked together y for sure and that's not for sure necessarily typical there there

127are people that that firmly believe that the only effective board for for a a school district is one that takes on an adversarial role mhm and so from the get you know there's this and it's just never been that way here I would assume that maybe before I you know was was Uber involved that there was some negotiations in the past that were less than present but you know I haven't heard of any you know awful things that went on but as long as I've been involved my 15 years on the board are relationship with our with our staff and our uh Union is incredible and I would agree with that it's always been aable and I just think things are easier to accomplish and you know looking at it from that perspective sure okay

128let's move on okay yep yep uh District administrator report all right uh time to give some recognitions oh there you go conferences oh my gosh our conferences a lot of work for our teachers um yes thank you families for coming to conferences the amount of time that our teachers prepare for families making sure there's things to show and and that they're able to to give a good holistic picture of somebody's kid they know that how important those are to families and they take them seriously and put in a lot of extra time so thank you so much to our staff for your commitment to providing that um valuable conference experience I I also appreciate our administrative team that is listening to families listening to staff about the best model there's no perfect way to do

129conferences there's never enough time um to do them and they try to balance all those needs so thank you do we still do some virtually yes that was a that was kind of a CO leftover that I think a lot of Staff like m well it's really more about families they like it if the families like it you know I think it's it's pretty shout out you saw a little bit about youth art month um just a wonderful time and just a great if you haven't been um to the edock public library thank you for hosting and uh please check those things out amazing before the month ends uh thank you board members many of you came to the legislative listening session um with our our local Representatives I got a little message of of

130thanks from Senator Roy today and uh just I appreciate you being there to hear what was shared and be a part of that process it's important for your voices to be heard we had the soul Ensemble Festival you know about 170 High School performances of course yeah down by here par acoss the street yeah and honestly it's I mean we've been to I mean my kids are in the musics so we've been to several of them and ours has always run so smoothly I don't know how it is either I don't know how that scheduling works one dad said that his daughter had to sing seven songs over the course of the day yeah well the music departments um that are involved in the in the 15 schools work well together and ours are very

131organized our music professionals and also the music boosters do a lot the event to help make it successful so they take a lot of pride in providing a good experience for our visiting students and families so appreciate that um the there was a choir concert a Middle School choir concert I wasn't able to attend but I'm sure that was amazing um her good things the kindness retreat at fifth grade was last week unfortunately I was out sick but um you have high school students right that come over and help with with the fifth graders during that experience um wanted to recognize Jeff Mahoney he shared his expertise regarding our implementation of a new camera system um that we're using he presented at the brainstorm educational technology conference so really yeah really neat presentation about how

132we chose the system that we're using why we chose it how it's been working for us I have the slideshow if you if you want to see it that would be interesting it's a great system um that using it's really really made a difference for us safety wise um Becca H I wanted to recognize Becca I wasn't able to attend this session I was under the weather but she presented a presentation she had attended uh from the National Association of school psychologists about resilience and uh well-being and preventing burnout for educators and she shared that information um in an opportunity with staff and is going to do that again so I thought that was really neat that she went out of her way to do that awesome Angie bazan um coordinated a speaker on the

133Holocaust um it's one we've had before um Marty um returned to to share his father's story who was a Jewish Jewish partisan excuse me who fought against the Nazis um and that's a very powerful um story that that's a moving Shar experience yeah that happened so thank you to Angie for that uh we also had a it's a generous donation um and it was in care of Jan Hartwig um for Alpha GMA who donated for negative lunch accounts oh so appreciate that thinking of that for our students um wanted to give a special shout out to to Britney Brazzle and Daren Riggins um coordinators here in the district office who this week are finishing up their final week of teaching life skills at count red elv and Primary School uh they took on that role

134uh with the reduction of the associate principal um position and it allowed student freed up time for student services staff so they've been teaching at at CS um the life skills curriculum and given that they will not be in that role next year um they're starting to transition to new student services staff starting to teach it so they want wanted to start transitioning now and so they're finishing up their time there um both of them are are by training and experienc high school teachers so um great experience they have learned a lot yeah um and and just really appreciate them they they have enjoyed it also yes oh yes yeah they have like little kids yeah I think it's good too for the the staff there just to see you know uh people with you

135know that they know are high school teachers you know kind of going whooo this is a lot let's not TR places so and and I think the students benefit also yes M yeah because those two individuals bring a whole different perspective and I know there was a curriculum to follow but there's nuances when they present definitely so and like you said eron it's a good model for all staff to take a look and know that there's district office staff coming into the class classrooms yep well said uh few photos from from around the place um you had the the music uh first grade music show here see Olivia there with a student uh wonderful program there also we're going to have a little bit of math Focus so this is middle school math 24 um

136you know it's such a cool game math 24 and the students have been practicing and practicing and and competed in that event I think there's actually a picture in the thistle today of that here's fourth and fifth grade math 24 teams so it's a great tradition here and it takes a lot of coordination so thanks to our Educators for doing that and taking the groups um math meet teams as well in the regional math meet um that that's the one I think that's in the paper actually this one um the two teams that competed against six other area teams so we always do very very well you got some smart kids yeah we do uh thanks to the PTO they provide food for conferences for staff and they so appreciate it they've been doing more

137boxed meals which is really well received um and and we know it takes a lot of work and so thanks for those donations this is just the one at at at whis can see that there we go pictures from family fun night you can see the making CPS as they say and those are not I say crepes and yeah but having fun with it and some fencing there going on so I heard over 500 oh it says that over 500 people I heard that too um so very exciting well attended event hockey team what a great game they played so well they lost to the event eventual St Champs that's right the hair and they actually scored more all of the teams did it mm oh all of them oh yeah it was kind of

138the thing to do they did it the best I would uh do you want to know why it's because they used toner they used toner so it didn't turn orange exactly there's your hair Obsession came hairs very important but congratulations to that might a great to see and a classy classy team that showed up showed a lot of class and a great Community Support well just take a walk down to the pool and check out those trophy cases that's pretty cool too the um the the student council had uh collected cereal I remember they did that last year 512 boxes of cereal to donate and I know the pantry really appreciates this they do do you have space down there for all no cereal for Judy bring some of it home she has it in

139her own in her she got to store it yeah rotate it in it preserves and you have the string fling I know we've mentioned before a couple shots of that from that event the girl Scots donated a a um through a a bench through the neutrex community recycling program so sustainability and provid a function now I think that's probably the longest those two have ever sat in the same um they don't sit I've never seen sit except when they're watching swiers very cute we better move that bench yeah that's right right under the sign and of course I mentioned about youth art month as well nearly 1,500 students taking required so how talented they I know kids are aome music in our schools month and of course we're well known for our outstanding music program

140um that we have um so those are what I wanted to share some things coming up and then the board can share any recognitions uh reminder it is still women's History Month still you art Youth and music and schools month we also um let's see tomorrow is the great hunger and Ireland day that the is recognized by the state and also reality Zone which you mentioned earlier um Wednesdays a an educator recruitment fair in Cambridge that Melissa fo and I will be attending uh we will have some positions for next year we're hoping to get the best candidates last year we did ended up getting somebody we hired from that very fair um coming up on Thursday we have employee Relations Committee where we'll be looking at possible handbook changes for next year spring break

141and then next month um we've got National autism acceptance month mung Heritage Month arabam American Heritage Month National School library month National bilingual multilingual Learners advocacy month occupational therapy month that's a lot of months a whole month yeah jeez wow it's a busy month April Fool's Day is election day uh for real we do have two for real not a joke we have several local elections um uh as you saw if you didn't see the candidate Forum I I watched during during my illness um kept me awake uh find School Board candidates yeah two school board members and with Village trustees and Village presidents so well organized thank you chamber I will see them tomorrow and I will be sure to thank them uh we also have the 4K spring craft night coming up on

142the 3D it's the end of the third quarter which mostly applies to the middle school but it means we're halfway through uh second second semester School librarian day is on April 4th the music high school music uh Los Angeles trip is coming up the 4th through the 8th going to La and uh we're back here on the 7th for a school board meeting those are my recognitions anything the board wishes to share I just want to say these are outstanding what you're presenting here I I I just I think you do outstanding job well thank you it is a privilege I would just like to acknowledge uh Ken Manley and Greg nson who are here tonight yeah is part of the uh committee that presented representing the schools because I know that took a lot

143of their time and they don't have a lot of extra time no so I appreciate that has extra time but you always manage to find those that are willing to do more hard it's hard yeah it's hard to do more than what's going on today ask a busy person and what's interesting about having car and I would like to thank you all for celebrating St Patrick's Day with me today I thought and putting up with my Shenanigans it's you know it's fun it's been a big holiday in our house so it's fun to be here sorry to keep you away from celebrating it's fine I if if I'm not there I'm happy to be here you're full of malarkey and I would she's not going to appreciate this but I'm also would like to recognize

144Melanie over there who has been in our audience since the day she became engaged in the community and she's in so many community events and really encourages the community to get out and be engaged and we need more people like that so thank you we do we probably don't acknowledge you you helped us and I don't think she sleeps engaged I don't know if she sleeps she's like you though I don't think she sleep either know she's pretty smart yeah bring pop and I would like to suggest that maybe we Implement a um dress code in the future oh something formal like this or something informal like that oh you would like both ends of the spectrum is that what you're saying we'll take do we need to stand on the wall on how we

145feel about a dress code let's let's address that at the work session I will say the committee members were they did ask you know they said well you know what should we wear to the board meeting and I said wear whatever you want I think you both modeled that that's true we did yeah we just appreciate them showing up yeah amazing doesn't matter what they wear so yep I I just hope I hope a good number of people watch I do too they will do your best to promote it I'll do my best I think we can get a lot of viewership if we publicize that we're taking a vote on this on April 7th y because lot of people are interested in it y either way yeah for sure well we could have watch

146parties also true we could as well we could but yeah other people get have a watch party that's true that's right M I'll talk to the chamber about organizing stu okay that's a joke are you through with your report I'm so through all right action items here uh the first is action on D County School Consortium withdrawal from inter agent agreement Aaron do you want to some background on this yes I'm going to provide some context for the the viewers the board is is aware of this um so the school district has been a part of the Dayne County School Consortium for many years and that that is really the where there's 16 area districts that come together that work together to provide youth apprenticeship programs in their respective districts and and McFarland certainly one

147of the the um um highest use of the youth apprenticeship program so we have over 70 students involved in the program and what has happened is with a Consortium like that where we all kind of work together um there has to be a Fiscal Agent that sort of receives the grant funds distributes money moves between them and that has been the manona Grove School District and last year they they indicated that they no longer felt that that they had the capacity to serve in that role and so they did the proper procedures to um to indicate that um and looked for volunteers from one of the other districts to um serve as a Fiscal Agent and assume the administrative responsibilities and at this time there hasn't been any other District who has um agreed to

148Ser as the Fiscal Agent McFarland included I can speak for the McFarland School District to just say that given the the size of our district office we don't feel that we have the capacity uh to assume to assume that role and the responsibilities that are are involved in managing the financial transactions reporting requirements and compliance um with these various state and federal guidelines we already run very we try we try and that's our responsibility to be fiscally responsible certainly um what that is left is all of us districts needing to kind of decide what what the next steps are and and it looks like a possible uh dissolution of the Dane County Youth or D County school consorti and so there's a couple ways to look at this and you you have the opportunity to

149take action on this tonight the first is is that we have an opportunity for the district uh to make a decision tonight for the district to withdraw from the Daye County School Consortium so uh you do need to provide 90 days notice prior to June 30th to do that which means we're running up onto that and deadline um to do that and that would just mean that as of June 30th we would no longer be a member of the D count School Consortium I'll talk about what that'll mean in a minute the other thing is um that as as districts um are looking to leave uh I'm asking the board to give me the authority should should there be a call to for a vote to dissolve the school Consortium um that you would authorize

150me to vote in the affirmative to dissolve the Consortium if the Consortium does end up dissolving then the the fund balance the balance of of the funds are then dispersed to all the districts um after that point so it looks like got two two motions to make yeah there's two separate um action items on our agenda for tonight and the the biggest thing that I want you to know and the public to know is that the youth apprenticeship program continues what it means is that we will need to find some way to support Penny Thompson who is our very talented dedicated CTE coordinator who already provides a lot of work for our youth parip program there's additional responsibilities that our district will assume in order to facilitate our portion of the Grant Department of Workforce

151Development is prepared for that a district of our size and more importantly a youth apprenticeship program of our size has the the capabilities to justify that and that's what most of the districts are planning to to do at this point is to assume their responsibilities at least in the short term for that and so um what it allows us to do is to take some of the funds that we receive from the Grant and we will no longer be giving those funds um to Dan County School Consortium to facilitate and we would provide an opportunity for us to to pay for some support for Penny to coordinate that work or pay for Penny although there's only so many hours in the day and she works a lot and so um the the the opportunities for

152the board um tonight are to um I think the first question is is an opportunity for the board to determine if they would want to withdraw from uh the Daye County School Consortium and then the second opportunity is to give me the authority to vote for um the dissolution of the D County School Consortium should it be be coming up for a vote I will tell you that um including during this board meeting tonight I have received indications from other boards that they are doing the same um and most of us are on that timeline of bring it to our boards either last week or this week before break anybody have any questions Forin Erin you talked about this is part of a grant what is the duration of the grant so it's a twoyear

153grant cycle um that we're on we're kind of actually in the in the middle of the year but this is an ongoing Grant process it's it's one of those um ways that the that the state facilitates the the transfer of funds and so we'll be working directly with the Department of Workforce Development um who the D County School Consortium works with now so so they'll be receiving 16 Grant applications instead of just one Poss is that correct okay possibly yeah yeah and who would write the grant for our district Penny okay yeah Y and Penny's already on on that okay any other questions if not I would look for a motion um do I move to authorize the M School District to withdraw from the Dane County School Consortium inter agency agreement thank you do

154I have second fesler can second that F second discussion hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying I I opposed motion carries 5 unanimously and now I would look for a motion um that would authorize our district administrator to vote in favor of the dissolution of the Consortium sure I'll move to authorize yeah I move to authoriz McFarland the McFarland superintendent to vote in favor of the disillusion of the Dan County School associ intra agency agreement if if such a vote occurs very good do I have a second I can second that thank you Bruce discussion hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying I I oppose motion carries 5 Z and then we have action on the recommended weeva Des Nations Career Academy and insight School of Wisconsin Wisconsin statute

15511848 G student transfers to resident districts um at this time WEA destinations Career Academy and insight School of Wisconsin are requesting approval of the recommended student transfers back to their resident districts due to a lack of Engagement if you are in favor of this recommendation I would look for a moment I can do that I move to approve the weeva the destinations Career Academy and the Insight School of Wisconsin recommend students student transfers back to their resident districts due to lack of Engagement thank you do I have a second I can second thank you CH Chapman discussion Erin have you heard anything about I thought I read somewhere um there is a bill that's being proposed so if kids leave let's say Virtual School often times they're in limbo that they're going to try to

156change that somehow have you read anything I have not heard that okay I thought I read that somewhere but I know we would love that to be the case when they're between and their home Home School District home school district and their home school districts I are they obligated to to accept them back if the people reenroll them so I think what what I I would say we would argue and and and that the Wisconsin virtualy would argue is that instead of it being yes we're transferring you back to your home District but they need to reenroll would be that it would happen electronically so that they're automatically transferred back to the roles of their home like they're automatically re-enrolled I think uh is what you know then they're the responsibility of the resident district

157and they're you're not coming we need we need to get you here but right now it is go reenroll in your resident District where you may very well have had issues you know that maybe maybe the reason you went to a virtual school because you know you had compatibility issues with rck Mort right so then you know so you're saying they're not necessarily doing that and that's yeah I mean it's up to the families on whether or not do that and if not then they are what what Tom was just saying out in limbo well and if you look at how few parents actually attend the confence that last conference it's it's easy to assume that next appropriate re-enrollment steps probably aren't being made either that's probably a good assumption uh again I'll do the

158uh figures here again what we are presented are the numbers we're talking about more than numbers here we're talking about children um there's one second grader that's a bummer one fourth one fifth grader one sixth grader 3 sth graders and 78th graders so these are youth pre-adolescent uh children they're human beings I just want us to you know reflect on that uh we have to talk about numbers when we're dealing with students but that's my only comment well I think what I took from because we don't see students in those grade levels very often on these reports anymore correct so kind of what I take from that is that these students they that weeva has really been doing everything they can to not have these students to engage these students and to not have them

159on the list so so these are but the question is can we do more no I know yeah yeah but I I agree I mean their efforts have increased multifold over the past three years probably so yeah okay then in that case we've got a motion and a second so all those in favor please signify by saying I oppos carries unanimously Z and I believe that takes us to A J can I do one more recognition before we jump to that I'm sorry I just thought of it but the um the Milling project I know Aaron included this in our thing but the coverage that it's gotten and then the the partnership between this the school district and the village but that podcast on the what US Farm reports.com oh yeah that was such a

160cool thing to listen to to and was penic camp right who yeah that represented us that was really I just want to shout out to him because that was he spoke so highly of the whole process and like that we're modeling for other school districts that really deserves a shout out I think they have other school districts to have their students come down and when of them told me about that I just oh my goodness I mean what a phenomenal thing to do and have happened and we should we should make sure that people know about it yeah thank you amazing yeah but again I think this is a reflection uh starting with the board and the administration and then the teaching staff working well together uh listening to the teachers because they're you know

161right there they know what they need and what they want what the students need and uh as a board we generally support all that MH yep exactly that's what happens when you have you know good people right places MH our our our teched her DEA you know it's it's they they are second to none you know and this is a little you know 700 student McFarland out there against some significantly larger districts that that we don't take a back seat to in in any way M I think you know I think's a pretty good place it's a great place I haven't left landed 60 years ago um okay anything else I would entertain a motion to a I can make that motion thank you Bruce and I will second Chapman Chapman it's a good thing

162we're I don't have a third Megan on here on this board watch out okay um two is enough I know right like I've got a motion in a second all those in favor of adjournment please signify by saying I I opposed motion carries unanimously we are looks like 9:30 on the button Daron thanks for bringing back yeah m