001on monday march 21st actually just one second i need to start the webinar i am starting the webinar the now is starting okay so i'll second that bruce um i think we do a roll call we do and i'm sorry i'm looking for the all right so did i hear who was the first oh craig and i seconded it yes all right we'll call yes how are you yes yes all right we are in closed session i will be ending the webinar now and i will reopen it for open session [Applause] the webinar is started consent to jenna okay we are back in uh open session and first on tap is our consent agenda um let me take a look here that agenda contains the minutes from the march 7th 2022 board of education meeting
002it also contains our latest financial transactions and one professional and nine co-curricular staffing recommendations this agenda also contains one personnel item that does not need a vote a list of each of these personnel transactions is listed on the agenda if you'd care to see them otherwise i would move to accept the consent agenda items as presented i'll second them thank you bruce any other discussion hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carries 5-0 okay now we have public comments this evening and we have a number of them we have correct me if i'm mistaken angie we have 36 written submissions in support of the resolution and we have one in opposition of the resolution in in our hands right now so we're gonna start uh reading the uh
003uh comments in support of the resolution craig would you be comfortable with me inviting members of anybody who members of the public to register while we're speaking please please do all right just one moment sure all right if you would like to make a public appearance by speaking to the board please utilize the q a portion found at the bottom of your zoom window in the q a we would ask that you type your name address subject of interest and whether you have discussed the item prior to the meeting with either a district administrator or president hillary after submitting the information i would transfer you over to speak to the board all right so we can go ahead and start reading and i will let it let you know if anyone registers okay go ahead
004with the comments yep all right this is for megan adams indian mound drive i fully support this resolution ida balderrama trudell 4512 lakeview avenue in support of transgender non-varying all lgbtqia plus students i fully support this resolution and encourage the board to do the same next comment is from hillary brandt 6057 prairie wood drive i strongly support this resolution and feel it absolutely necessary for the safety of all our district's children that it be passed unanimously sincerely hillary plan i'm sorry hillary brandt next is from mike brandt 657 prairie wood drive i strongly support this resolution and feel it absolutely necessary for the safety of all our district's children that it be passed sincerely mike brandt next comment is from melissa carr 46144 belling grass street uh to whom it may concern i'm writing to
005voice my strong support for the resolution in support of transgender non-very not i'm sorry non-binary and lgbtqia plus students unwavering support and affirmation of these students should be a top priority for our district sincerely melissa carr next comment is from mel charbonneau attend matson matson court i am writing on behalf of myself my husband jason and my three daughters in full support of the proposed resolution for the lgbtqia plus students in mcfarland schools our family stands with these students and their families we advocate for their full inclusion into all aspects of their experience here in mcfarland and we hope for the continued support from our school board and community thank you um the next one's from matt fennell and i apologize if i am not getting the last names correct i support the resolution on
006the table thank you for promoting equality for all people the next comment is from casey fetchter 5303 broadhead street i am fully in support of this resolution and would love to see it signed into action the next comment is from luke fessler 6409 fox run i'd like to voice my support for the resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students as a parent of a student in this group i'm proud that this issue is top of mind with our school board while other states and districts are considering ways to create barriers for an already persecuted group our school board is thinking forward on how to protect and include the members members of our schools lgbtqia plus community recent events like the 2022 ncaa women's swimming championships highlight that we have a long
007way to go to increase awareness and acceptance of the lgbtqia plus community and this is a huge step forward on that journey thank you for bringing forth this resolution and voting yes to include it in our district luke fessler the next comment is from megan fessler 6409 fox run hello i'm so grateful this resolution has come to the board of the education for approval and acceptance this is an essential next step in the equity work our school district has committed to pursuing all students and staff deserve to feel safe both physically and emotionally in our district buildings while there is more to do beyond this resolution i especially appreciate the statements rejecting legislation that does harm to those identifying as part of the lgbtqia plus community as a mom of a kiddo in the queer
008community it is incredibly scary to see the types of bills being proposed in different parts of the united states that will directly impact the safety and acceptance of lgbtqia plus community members and allies it's egregious and terrifying for me personally as of the writing of the article below from almost a year ago 33 states have introduced more than 100 bills that aim to curb the rights of transgender people across the country with advocacy groups calling 2021 a record-breaking year for such legislation many of these bills are rapidly making their way through state legislatures on april 6 arkansas became the first state to outlaw providing gender affirming treatment to minors a move that the american civil liberties union said would send a terrible and heartbreaking message to transgender youth across the country unfortunately 2022 is shaping
009up to be similar for the lgbtqia plus community and there is a link to that article thank you for your efforts for our kiddos and i look forward to seeing you pass this incredibly important resolution the next comment comes from heather guy i fully support the resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students all children deserve to learn in an environment that is physically socially and emotionally safe they deserve respect and this resolution is an important step to ensure that they are the next comment is from jenny gotcher 6317 sighting road i am 100 in support of this resolution this comes at a very uneasy time for lgbtqia plus kids a time when anti-lgbtqia plus bills and legislation rooted in ignorance dis information and fear are sweeping the country this resolution is
010an extra step that shows all of the students at mcfarland that they will be seen heard valued and most importantly supported next comment comes from lara gatto 5201 cook street i support the lgbtq resolution and my final reading comes from elizabeth gregg 61 22 airpoint way and she notes i fully and wholeheartedly support measures put forth to support our gay transgender and non-binary kids all right the next comment is from julie harrison 6325 exchange street i support the resolution on the table one of my kids filled out the paperwork at imms to change their pronouns and first name three years ago the school embraced this change and staff used the correct name and pronouns almost always it absolutely makes a real difference in the lives of these students please keep up the good work that
011you've started the next comment is from caroline horswell 5103 marsh road and it just says i support the resolution on the table the next one is jackie clinton 5906 running dear trail as a mcfarland parent i fully support the resolution in support of transgender non-binary and lgbtqia plus students and i strongly urge you to vote in favor the next one is from angela cray 5 or i'm sorry 4531 red barn run i am writing in full support of the proposed resolution for lgbtqia plus students in mcfarland schools i stand with these students and appreciate all the great work the school board and mcfarland equity project have done to support progress for our student community sincerely nick and angie crave the next one is from amy lawrence 5219 north autumn lane as a parent of a
012current and former student i would like to express my support and appreciation for the proposed resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students medical and mental health experts agree that affirmation and support of lgbtqia plus youth are key to their well-being at a time when a number of states including wisconsin are considering or have passed legislation targeting lgbtqia plus students and staff it is more important than ever to make clear clear that we will continue the work to make our school community a safe and welcoming place for all the next one is avery lawrence 5219 north autumn lane i am a former student of the mcfarland school district i realized that i was non-binary when i was 16 but outside of my peers in the gsa i was very much in the
013closet i was scared of being dismissed and ridiculed by my teachers they would that they would lose respect for me or they would think that i wasn't really non-binary because of the way i prefer to present myself even though i could be reasonably sure that many of my teachers would be accepting if i told them any sort of uncertainty certainty there is concerning and even though i did well in school my grades often came at the cost of my social life and my mental health it makes me wonder how much more i would have accomplished how much brighter i would have shown if i knew i was supported by my teachers and classmates we don't just need to tolerate trans non-binary and other people in the lg lgbtqia plus community we need to be openly
014accepting of them we need to ensure that teachers will be accepting of them and discipline them when they belittle harass or otherwise discriminate against their lgbtqia plus students we need to ensure that other students will be disciplined if they are hateful towards their lgbtq plus peers we need to make sure that the lgbtqia plus students know that they can report this behavior and that if they do they will be lent a sympathetic ear and appropriate action will be taken to stop or correct said behavior i don't want other lgbtqia plus students to go through what i went through the crushing weight of not being able to tell anyone outside of a small group the pain of being misgendered day in and day out the anxiety of wondering what others reactions would be to a very
015important part of yourself it sinks you down it makes you wonder if you'll ever see the surface again i hope that this resolution passes and i hope that it will come with more than just words of support to truly be supportive of the lgbtqia students we must put actions behind our words thank you for your consideration the next one is from angela lay 4505 bellingrath street i 100 support this resolution the next one is from amy mccullough 4718 bellingrath street i support excuse me i support the passage of the transgender and lgbtq plus resolution the next one is from erisa mccullough 4718 felon grass street i support this resolution the next one is from suzanne mcmanagal 6104 forest ridge court i support this important resolution and encourage you to please support this as well to
016protect the rights of all the kids and students in our community and ensure more equity thank you the next one is from tom mooney 6205 pheasant run i support the resolution of transgender non-binary and lgbtq ia plus students the right of free public education is inclusive of all students the mcfarland school district's vision and mission furthermore supports and complements this resolution i'll read the next ones um this next one is from andrea norgaard 4975 marsh road she writes i would like to express our family support of the mcfarland school district's proposed resolution in support of transgender non-binary and lgbtqia plus students we need to ensure our students and families find our district welcoming safe and inclusive thank you for your time the next one is from amy puriton i hope i pronounced that correctly bellinghath
017street mcfarland her comment is i am in support of the resolution to support transgender non-binary and lgtb qia plus students the next is from angie straub 6208 pheasant run mcfarland i fully support the adoption of the proposed resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students it is vitally important for all students to be seen heard safe supported and valued and adopted of this resolution and adoption of this resolution would be one additional visible step to ensuring that here in mcfarland school district next is kelly thompson 5906 badger street good evening as a parent educator community member i'm expressing support for and encouraging the board to approve the resolution support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students it is crucial that the district values and supports all students it is particularly relevant
018in light of our district's equity work that we express that we value students who are from traditionally marginalized groups including our students supported by this resolution a resolution is but one step and yet it is an important one thanks for your time effort and service next kelly wenzel 5201 broadhead street this is such a wonderful way to show all students that mcfarland schools and the board and village members that support them do not accept the hate and discrimination seen in cases like florida as a parent of imms student i am so happy to see this resolution and i am in complete support of it thank you next is enid williams 5208 church street thank you for supporting full inclusion of our trans non-binary and the full spectrum of lgbtq plus kids and gender equality next
019is kristin witt 46 4618 bellingrath street i support the resolution and support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students next is edward ray meadowsweet trail as we mature in our d and d e and i journey we must put actions behind our words and commitments our children deserve to be loved and supported it is in that spirit i formally voice my support of this resolution i commend this board for bringing forth this resolution and encourage you all to continue to be a body that represents all of its students edward j ray the second next is jane weingart weingart 5911 red oak trail i fully support the resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students next is samantha salinga 3615 rankin road i fully support the resolution regarding our lgbtqia plus youth
020thank you for making this formal and public expression of support and lastly jennifer zellmer 70 east red oak trail she writes i fully support inclusivity of all students however they identify okay we have one uh one more uh public comment that was sent in previous to the meeting and i'll read that one it's from jackie witter wood crossing although i do agree that no one should be treated poorly due to their serial orientation i absolutely do not support biological males participating in female-centered sports biological males are simply superior athletically based on muscle mass etc this does not change simply when the male identifies as female it is discrimination against young women to have to compete on the same level as biological males identifying as female has nothing to do with serial orientation and everything to
021do with millions of years of evolutionary biology i realize being woke is now considered cool compassionate etc but have some compassion for all students not just gay and trans and that's all we have so far for public comments angie is there any other we we do have we've had um two people who have registered one of them um is making a if i would be able to read the comment they left a comment this way okay um so from jb fessler address 6409 fox run the comment is i am a student at mcfarland high school i of course support this resolution as i believe no one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender i would also like to bring up the point of the point of trans athletes in sports trans
022athletes may have a competitive advantage or disadvantage based on their biological sex which can be a problem in competition however as an athlete i don't believe it should stop the resolution from passing at the high school level there are so few trans athletes that i don't think it matters whether or not they are allowed to compete in the sports of the gender they identify as i don't think it's a frequent enough occurrence to warrant any significant debate thank you for your time and then we did have one other individual who included a written comment and asked whether or not they could just submit the written comment or if they would like to speak i will read the comment here um since they did not respond to whether or not they wanted to speak virtually so
023scott and stacey mauricie ruler 6401 hidden farm road mcfarland we have read the resolution and are speaking in support of the proposed resolution we have not spoken to an administrator or president of the mcfarland school board that's what we have okay thank you very much one and all for your participation in tonight's meeting and we will move along to our high school student report take it away hi everybody um i just wanna ask is it all right if we wait like 30 seconds i'm just waiting for one more member to join me who's coming from my sports practice absolutely okay thank you so much all right okay i'm just she's gonna be on in one second but um so here one second i gotta get up my screen share here um all right so today
024we don't have a whole lot to talk about uh because we've been focused on oh no other things as a club but so we just kind of have a basic kind of update of what we are doing um as a club and like what's been going on at the high school um so oh wait is that one second she asked me not to get started without her so i'm so sorry for wasting your time is it okay if we wait like just a few more seconds sure zoe no worries i'm so sorry so it's a welcome break to pause and take a drink mr however if you want mr administrators report while you're waiting go ahead that'd be fine all right and part of the report you have two safety drills we had to have
025two medical holds at the high school one was on friday march 4th at 9 30 and on thursday march 10th at 9 15 both these were medical holds for we have a couple meetings coming up one is our next board meeting will be on april 4th at 6 30 we will start at 6 30 because we'll have a closed session to review the administrative evaluations then we have two special events one is april 13th at four o'clock which is the new teacher mentor dialogue dinner that'll be at the brook water in monona and on april 17th at four o'clock we'll have the mcfarland recognition ceremony and that will be at the high school does that conclude your district includes money reports so hopefully that bought her just enough time zoey how are we doing um
026so i'm just gonna go ahead and i'm i'm so sorry for wasting your time um but yeah so um just an update about what's been going on so uh last week on tuesday the 15th the national league of women voters visited our school we also went around to classrooms and we kind of helped some students register to vote and i'm pretty sure we got a good amount of students who will be registered registered to vote in time for the april elections which is extremely exciting um there was also a girl up dressing week in celebration of women's history month and international women's day so here are just some pictures from that um and then also a really big event that happened and so our district held district civil ensemble the high school on saturday march
02719th and uh several of our students i'm really sure made it to the state solo and ensemble competition in whitewater at the end of april which is awesome um we also hi okay sorry sorry i'm late i just dropped them from soccer practice yeah i'm sure it's always done great i just wanted to kind of update on like what we're doing i know you did the voter registration right yeah yeah so just overall we've reached out to other clubs recently and we got another club lined up for a future school board meeting so it won't just be us again i'm so sorry i'm late i feel terrible um yeah sorry and then we're just working on amazing i'm sorry i didn't mean to come in i just wanted something i think we all understand how
028busy you folks are so uh don't don't you don't have to apologize for being busy um well anyways we also on after solo and ensemble on march 19th um our student council also planned the glo dance which seems like it was a success from what i've heard at least and was a very fun way to bring some students together and that's about all we have for you today our club's just been working on plans for next year and stuff but yeah thank you guys so much well thank you did anybody have any questions or comments yeah i'm curious how many how many people did you get to uh did you actually register some students um i don't have an exact number um i think maybe we would be able to contact miss pliska about that
029but i think like a good majority of students in the classes we went to got out their phones and they registered to vote um so i'm i'm pretty sure like at least like 30 or 40. yeah that's great about half this class is going to be 18 by then a lot of classes where it was just full of yeah well congratulations on that you know that's half the battle now once you get people registered they just have to go do it so congratulations on that that's greatly appreciated yeah thank you guys it's exciting you bet anybody else okay thanks very much thank you thank ah you let me go past the district administ now we have a school school safety drill evaluation no more that was part we got the future meetings dialogue dinners business
030managers report mr mahoney okay so it is already done yep because i didn't have anything for this one all right uh onto our um i'll introduce this so in our last um joint board meetings between the village and the school board we discussed the topic of our school forest and i'm passing out to you a visual that just shows the different pieces of property that border the school forest of which is 6.1 acres to the north of it is the indian mountain park which is owned by the village to east of it is indian mountain middle school to the southwest is third marsh conservancy which is also the village and then also is jager park which is owned by the village which is a landing area for the river canoes and canoes kayaks so in
0312007 2008 i want to go to the next slide energy i think in 2007 2008 the community members a community member offered to develop an application to get a designated school forest and a grant from wheat which is the wisconsin environmental education board and also leap which is learning experiences activities in forestry and that's what's run by stevens point university grant was used to help pay for the development of trails of which the grant was 4987. we went through that very fast the forest is of a resource to our community versus being a dedicated educational area although it is used for education resources have not existed to maintain the area other than critical safety issues of downed trees and gravel washouts the grounds department does not have the equipment or personnel needed to maintain the
032area properly for educational purposes unless resources were allocated from other budgets we rent or hire out currently to take care of the issues that we have the area is too small for harvesting timber to make it a generating revenue stream to help maintain it leaf which is designates our area as a school force proves the idea of transferring to the village this property so that it can be better maintained and used by all for many generations it would make sense to partner with the village of mcfarland as would allian align more closely with the services it can provide to support this area versus the school district and could make the area more cohesive with the surrounding village of mcfarland properties so our group met two weeks ago i think bruce ireland were there along with
033the village members and matt i've been working on this concept of you know again kind of like what both boards have been asking administration to do for years is come up with things that make sense and if you were to go to the next slide angie you can see what i handed out to you um again there are four distinct areas of which we're kind of bordered almost on three sides by the villages land of which there are trails that go through each of those areas even down to [Music] yeager park it does exist i walked it again today making sure that it does still exist it's pretty dry right now so that's kind of nice um next slide please amg so one of the things that would make this a win-win is as you
034can see signage you have this beautiful signage from the village of mcfarland on the left hand side and then we don't really know what that is um but it kind of says this is the school forest entrance for the school district you can also see on the post that there's a area to drop dog refuge and there's also bags to take if you're walking through a school forest which by the way it is school land so we don't allow pets on the land however an organization donated to the village that bin and the sign and put it up there further if we go to the next slide you can see the dogway station which is actually on the school district property at the north entrance you'll see the signage that says mcfarland school forest but
035the signage inside the cabinetry has been gratefully updated by the village and working with the girl scouts to have interpretive areas the next slide from left to right is kind of a washout area um and then on the right hand side is where you know we continue to have concerns we have lots of downed trees that if we do have hikers right now everything's fine but we do have an amount of work to do the village subcommittee and matt and sayer who is their parks forestry individual is very much in support of this cindy white who does run some of our school forests and our prairie activities and our outdoor education field trips for our elementaries is in support of this our buildings grounds department is really in support of this idea very much a
036what would be a win-win for the community and the district to a none of us would be in violation of our own board policy of walking a dog through that area which isn't allowed but it happens and as you can see someone decided that we should probably have a dogway station there so in a way they've they've come in to play the village has to help and it can take it to the next level um if you see uh second to the right it looks to be the old power station sign where you could do the uh sit-ups and pull-ups a little recreation thing all of those signs have come down fallen apart you know it was wonderful to have a go at this i myself spread probably about 20 yards of the gravel with
037the bobcat because we didn't have staffing we had to do an in-kind donation so i did the in-kind donation of spreading for about 15 hours on the bobcat which is a blast after hours because it was supposed to be in kind so there i think we'd be putting this in the right organization um it could still be maintained as a school forest we would work with leaf in the village and they would just we just have a memorandum of understanding that it can still remain a educational area the nice thing with that is the village could expand it for the whole area then it might make it into a very viable total acreage area to start going after larger grants that would be the village going after those grants so i think it's a real
038win-win um i can't come up with a real problem with this one and it's kind of nice to have something to bring to you to make a recommendation uh with an action item later to move forward okay that works so that brings us to discussion items no no no we've got uh something about the 2021 mrap program recap we should be on covet 19 protocol okay and right now we're not it's just any changes hopefully you've been reading the good news and lauren's been passing on about the low number of cases that we've been having yes so that's always good news when i see the zero come up when she said we have cereal cases it's always a a win-win so as of right now we're not looking for any changes in the kova 19
039protocols that seems to make perfect sense to me anybody have any comments or questions for dr anderson before we move along okay so there needn't be any action there next is discussion and possible action on resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students i think i will go ahead and read the resolution here first and then i think we have some folks with us this evening a resolution in support of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students whereas the school district of mcfarland is committed to a learning environment that is physically socially and emotionally safe for all students and whereas the school district of mcfarland is committed to cultivating a climate in all our schools that is welcoming safe and inclusive for all students and whereas the board of education and school
040district of mcfarland are committed to honoring valuing and affirming our transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students staff and families through our policies practices and curriculum and whereas title vii of the civil rights act of 1964 and title ix of the education amendments of 1972 prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex and whereas on june 15 2020 the u.s supreme court held that discrimination on the basis of an individual's status as gay or transgender constitutes sex discrimination within the meaning of the titles of title vii of the civil rights act of 1964 and whereas president joe biden issued an executive order on january 20 2021 affirming that discrimination against transgender individuals is discrimination on the basis of sex and that children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access
041to the restroom the locker room or school sports and whereas in 1985 the wisconsin legislature enacted section 118.13 wisconsin statutes which prohibits discrimination in public schools on the basis of sex race religion national origin ancestry creed pregnancy marital or parental status sexual orientation or physical mental emotional or learning disability and whereas the department of public instruction and the wisconsin interscholastic athletic association affirmed that denying a student the opportunity to participate on a sports team consistent with their gender identity is likely prohibited sex discrimination and whereas the wiaa supports transgender students participation in athletics based on their gender identity expression not the sex they were assigned at birth therefore be it result the school district of mcfarland board of education affirms supports and values the gender identities and gender expressions of all of our students and
042will continue to further efforts in our schools to create a welcoming safe and inclusive learning environment for our transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students and therefore be it further resolved that the school district of mcfarland board of education supports human rights and equitable educational opportunities and practices for all lgbtqia plus students and therefore be it further resolved that the school district of mcfarland board of education rejects any legislation or action that dehumanizes marginalizes or violates the rights of transgender non-binary and all lgbtqia plus students and therefore in witness whereup the resolution is adapted by the board of education in the school district of mcfarland so from there do we have uh anyone that would like to speak or make presentation wendy are you out there actually miss meyer just raised in here oh okay
043i will ask ms meyer to unmute sorry i think some of the students who came left thinking that the beginning part was the only part for this so our apology so they might be coming back we'll see what happens um i just wanted to share that i am so glad that this resolution is here because um in preparation for this meeting i looked at the current data with um the glsen 2019 national school climate survey and then the wisconsin report specifically and there is work that needs to be done to make our schools a safer place but i think the more compelling argument for me is information i learned when i read the supportive family's healthy children research project from the san francisco state university it is from 2009 but there's some really important information
044in here it says that if families are worried or not supportive of their children when they are lgbtqia plus um it's often because they're worried about their kids safety and their lives and in order to help them survive in the world often families try to get them to be normal or fit in with the cisgender heterosexual world around them and quoting from page 8 of that report it says these behaviors such as trying to change their child's identity or trying to keep them away from gay friends to protect them instead isolates their children and makes them feel alone and unwanted many youth who are rejected actually feel like their parents and family members hate them and um so when things like that happen it can it gives really really serious health risks on page five
045the report it says that once um kids become young adults aged 21 to 25 they are eight times more likely to have attempted to die by suicide are nearly six times as likely to report high levels of depression and more than three times as likely to use illegal drugs and are more than three times as likely to be at high risk for hiv and sexually transmitted diseases now this is more at risk than people with supportive families now i know that's dealing with families but when i look at this as an educator as someone who works with lgbtq plus students every day and more specifically with the gesa i see that as we at school are a last line of defense for the students who are not getting this at home getting the support seeing
046that they are okay just the way they are and that the world out there is different and that they can eventually make the life for themselves that is true and authentic to them that they don't always have to hide and have things eaten away at themselves that gives students a chance to see a brighter future and work towards a brighter future and make it through today for a lot of students school is their safe place it's their place that is keeping them holding on and i'm not being melodramatic when i'm telling you it can be life and death so passing this resolution is really really important for our students because this might be the only place school might be the only place where we say we see you we value you we are spartans is
047what we say at the middle school they are spartans they belong here they are important to us and a few of the students wouldn't come to this meeting because they don't feel safe coming to this meeting and one of them shared something with you for with me to share to you so their voice could be heard but their voice could be heard safely and this is what the student wrote i'm known as mystery person number one in the gsa club because my parents don't know that i'm part of the lgbtq plus community but already seeing the tiny bit of support i get here whether it's seeing people like me in the books we're reading for ela or coming out to teachers i trust and explaining my situation or even just lunch gsa where i can
048joke around and be my authentic self is really relieving i don't think that i'm speaking just for myself when i say that more support for the lgbtq plus youth where whether they are out to everyone or whether they are mystery people will be widely accepted we want to make our school a safe place and letting kids be themselves without fear is the best way to do it thank you okay thank you very much is there anyone else out there who would like to speak to caitlin and wendy both have their hands up on the left oh okay wendy hey thank you all for letting us speak um so i'm the gsa advisor at the high school and i don't think i can add anything to what heidi said she did a really great job of
049sharing what what a lot of our kids experience i can echo what she said i know that miss firmino gave our gsa students at the high school the opportunity to look through the proposed ideas and share their experiences and our students really first off really appreciated their voices being heard but also wanders wanted me to share that although i as an adult wish that things were better and i think often we were like we think hey it's 2022 we're better we've learned things are better than they used to be [Music] our kids still hear discriminatory language every day whether it's at school or outside of our walls this is not an issue that we as a society have fixed it's something that we definitely still need to work on and so the board affirming our
050students right to exist and live their lives the way they deserve to live them is a real gift to our students so i just want to share our appreciation of that because this really will send a message to our gsa students our student body as a whole and our community that our kids are welcome here thank you thank you wendy thanks very much uh caitlyn hi um i'm a student at mcfarland high school and i'm just here i want to say thank you for letting me have input on this resolution and having my friends be able to speak on this and share their own opinions and stories and adding on to miss kliska and miss meyer i've seen a lot of situations even at school of kids still not fully understanding what's right and wrong
051like i've heard multiple students say the effsler not to me directly but i've heard them say it to friends they've called my friend the friends of the suicide squad um i tried to ban gay people at one point and even one of my friends was told to stay in the closet from his family because his family had a family member who was um out repeatedly and forced to move i've had teachers misgender friends say their name doesn't have meaning because of what their name is like it's it's not good and i really hope that this resolution can help my friends and me because it's definitely not fun being told that you are wrong and that your name is wrong or your pronouns are wrong so thank you for bringing this on the floor and having
052this recreated um thank you well thank you caitlin we really appreciate your stepping up thanks very much lord comments questions i have a comment i mean on the opposition but they talked about unfairness of the athletic but the wia has worked all the way through it yep and it seems to be you know seems to be moving on so it must still be competitive and fair no matter what you know the wia has addressed it and i suspect that's the overriding it's you know similar to the public health than yes yep i believe so anybody else i think it is an important point i think by passing this resolution it's going to show support for those students and i think every time there's support showing you know just adds a certain amount of dignity that
053they feel when they come to school you passed a similar resolution before i got here last spring when you're looking you know basically racial injustice so i know these aren't exactly the same i think it is an affirming step that the board can take to make sure that you know mcfarland is an inclusive school that everyone involved i would agree that um and i when i read through this this afternoon and really looked at it i mean each of the whereas statements i'm like how could you be against any of those and i just kind of went through one by one and i think it's something that again it's important for these these students to feel like there is a place um and it's not an easy this is not easy for them it's not
054easy for their families it's not easy for perhaps even some of their friends but i think it's some way of just saying that we support you as you as you go through this um i actually just want to make a comment i think that it's very important for us to kind of show our support with this group but i also want to thank some of the public comments we received specifically one detailing the difficulties that they faced in school and reminding us that we're still not at a point where everyone feels accepted and so until we get to that point i think we always need to remember that there's work to be done and i'm sure it was not easy to write that letter but i just want to show my appreciation appreciation for that
055it's a never-ending education that's for sure anything else yeah i would agree with what's been said and agree with kate i think it takes a lot of courage a lot of courage to speak out also takes a lot of courage to be quiet because people where they are in their own journey or with their family or or all sorts of different reasons needing to you know hold on to their identity at the moment is that's okay um certainly um appreciate that so i want to say thanks to all of the students and you know staff who looked at this this is a kind of a template that various school boards across wisconsin are using it's definitely something that as kate was saying is is you know it is the the very um that's what i'm
056looking for a formal uh resolution but there's also a lot of work that needs to come from this which is what the the students gave us as feedback so um but to have the umbrella to have the the resolution to be supported and certainly the community members who spoke out um thank you all well said uh you know i i would certainly agree and and bruce like you say you read these things and you wonder how anyone could possibly be against it yet here we are you know i think i think we'll be making real progress when there comes a time that you don't have to have these resolutions that it's just assumed that the school is a safe and healthy place for everyone we're not there yet but i think this is a great
057start so i would look for a motion to accept the resolution as presented this evening i moved to approve the presented resolution in support of transgender non-binary in all lgbtqia plus students thank you i'll second christine any other questions or discussion okay hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carries 5-0 thank you and congratulations action on mcfarland high school fall early college credit and start college now program requests all right so we have students 29 of them that are looking to further their education by going to madison college in the fall so i presented you with a list of all of the students and all the classes that they're looking to take that have been approved and would move your acceptance and approval of letting the student take
058these courses just if you don't mind i was just going to ask that question it's probably dumb on my part but that is then through madison area or madison college yeah okay as i was just wondering and some are uw madison okay that's what i was wondering if we would everything that's been gone over and approved by the appropriate yes faculty and such all right i move approval okay arlen do i have a second i will second that bruce yeah any other discussion hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carries 5-0 next is action on mcfarland school district village of mcfarland school forest land agreement as jeffrey spoke of earlier any discussion or comments question do you want a motion first yes i'm sorry that's okay i do
059have a question i'll make the motion so we can get going christine do you have a second oh second ireland discussion and jeff it sounded like there is no disruption to educational opportunities or access for students and and students and teachers educators around the use of this correct that is not going to be an issue at all we're actually looking forward to be used more use more okay all right just wanted to confirm thanks does it get used a significant amount now would you say i'm not there every day yeah but today was very busy it's gorgeous out yeah enjoyed that today be money by the end of the week i think and again this is just allowing the administrations to draft the documents that would then come back to both respective boards get final
060approval and i i just wanted to say i'm just so pleased that you know what you're doing jeff and what you know the village is doing and you know working together i just think we need to continue doing this i'm just really happy about this i couldn't agree more bruce this this is kind of the way that that we need business to be done and and we're headed in the right direction okay uh any other discussion if not i've got a motion by christine in a second by ireland all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carry 5-0 action on joint planning committee memorandum of understanding with village of mcfarland yes so speaking of the partnership what i presented a couple meetings ago was a draft so we have now talked
061about that at our joint meeting so this puts into a more formalized structure the meetings that are already going on between the village and the school district we think that this is positive and beneficial for both groups and this just basically makes it something that was kind of informal formalizes that this will be an ongoing meeting between the two parties going forward and it's very positive and it's both sides sitting down yep straight across the table working with each other good comments it's it's what it's supposed to be it's working it's working good again yeah the wheels are wheels they're turning again i move approval okay i will second that any other discussion i have a question about committee structure so we always had a village liaison or a board member who is a village
062liaison this is an addition to that is that correct or well when we do the reorganization meeting in may we'll we will basically have for the two board members that will represent us at this meeting gotcha so they'll be able to select and wants to be those two gotcha and i think also the village is actually going through its reorganization of all the committees and i think that's part of why they wanted to do this that's what i understood yeah yep that's so amazing thanks any other discussion [Music] all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carries 5-0 action on revised support staff employee handbook language related to personal days and i believe we all have something in our packet here jeff yes so um cesar has been talking about a
063number of language changes and before we end this fiscal year school year we would like to take and move forward the idea that school year support staff with 186.5 day contracts would be paid out for their unused personal days if a balance remains at the end of the 21 22 school year thus avoiding you know use it or lose it concept those days would be paid at the last paycheck in june after the school calendar is complete this would be for 21 22. for 2223 down below i'm not going to go through this this is what's going to go back to suzuk these are the suggested potential changes that that whole committee needs to relook at along with their looking at snow days and stuff like that inclement weather days for 22-23 but for this
064evening it would be just taking one of the main points we're wanting to have happen which is not penalizing people for not using their uh personal days so previously if they did not use them before the end of the year they lost them right which would usually mean that we have a lot of people out on those last fridays or mondays in may and people would say couldn't i just get paid so if this is a win-win so we have no banking system after the one year at a time these are personal days yes you're correct harlan it's not a banking anything else oh i think it's it's good i'm just i'm really pleased again that you're doing this jeff okay anybody would like to make a motion i can make it christine i moved
065to approve the caesar handbook language change as presented above by mr jeff mahoney regarding the use of personal leave days i'll second that okay any other discussion all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carries 5-0 thank you uh administration recommends approval of the attached 2022-2023 season 2 contract so what we do each year is work with season 2 and the certain services is more economical for us to purchase through season 2 than to have on our own some deal with curriculum some deal with special education and every year we have to pay a certain minimal amount just because all school districts have to contribute to their cisa i've had melissa and lauren and jeff review it to make sure that we are purchasing the services that we need to purchase
066and not purchasing anything we don't need they've looked at it they have basically made the recommendation to me that the contract is now the way it should be so i'm asking you to approve the cc2 contract for the 22-23 school year okay any uh questions or comments none okay i would look for a motion then i'll go to them which one is it do i have a second i will second that bruce any other discussion all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed motion carries 5-0 and i would look for a motion to adjourn i'll make a motion to adjourn all right a second a second christine all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye closed meeting is adjourned at eight is that 11 or 17 11 11 at
0678 11. thank you very much one and all