Board of Education Regular Meeting - May 11, 2026

001[laughter] >> Anybody here for the purpose of public comments, please come sign in. You're to give public comments tonight, please come sign in. >> [clears throat] >> Oops. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Got 7:00 Central Time Monday, May 11th, 2026. Call this regular Board of Education meeting to order. Nicole, please call the roll. >> Kela Barens. >> Present. >> Jim Curran. >> Present. >> Mike Davis. >> Present. >> Nicole Joseph, present. >> Melissa Phillips. >> Present. >> Reese Keen. >> Present. >> Steve Mayor. >> Present. >> Terry Montgomery. >> Absent. >> Phil Vasburg. >> Present. >> And with that, we have a quorum and are in session. >> [snorts] >> Um first item up is to approve the agenda for tonight. Would entertain a motion to approve the agenda for the May 11th, 2026 board

002meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Steve, second by Mike Davis. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed, nay. Motion carries. All right. Got the the fun part. Uh welcome to our May Celebrations uh portion. Thanks everybody for for making the time to get here tonight on a beautiful uh May evening. I'm going to start with our student awards, so we'll go Parkside, Northside. >> I'll go ahead. >> I'll go with Parkside last. My students aren't here yet, so I'm sending some messages. >> Okay, it looks like she's [laughter] ready. Great. Let's start with Let's start with Abe. >> Wait, they tried to mix it up on us though, Jim. Wait, they tried to mix >> ready. I took the stuff forward and then one step back.

003>> You got to keep them on their toes. >> [laughter] >> All right, shake it up. >> All right. And the camera's right up there, so that's why we're facing this way, okay? All right. Kylie Dunteman is our um Abraham Lincoln Elementary Student of the Month, and Kylie is in fifth grade. Um I was so excited when she was nominated because she was one of the students in um one of my groups her third grade year. And um I think Kylie, the coolest thing that I've gotten to experience is the fact that as you went from third to fourth to fifth grade, your confidence has grown each and every year. And I think that a lot of it is due to your perseverance. When things get tough for you or when you're excited to learn

004new things and you just keep trying and trying and trying until you get it. So, I'm going to let Mr. Niemeyer talk more about her, why he nominated her, and why she was chosen. >> Um yeah, I think Mrs. Judd like looked at my speech beforehand. Um she basically said everything I was going to [laughter and clears throat] say. Um yeah, this one those of you who know or the especially the board members who have to listen to it a lot, but usually I would bring in stuff from the other kids that they say about you that are really good things and I didn't do that this time. And I really did it because honestly, this one means a lot to me, Kylie, because I've nominated some fantastic kids. Some of them that are in

005this room. And are absolutely amazing. I'm going to be 100% honest, they weren't quite like me when I was a kid. I'm not I'm going to let you in on a big secret that I wasn't like the star student. I really struggled in school. And not like the perseverance that you showed this year and like you just when we started this year off, you know, that confidence I don't think was 100% there and we saw it. We had lots of discussions about it. And to see where you've come now to see the person that pushes through adversity and doesn't shut down. And I And I know school isn't like your favorite thing, which once again is kind of like >> [laughter] >> Which once again, I identify with that when I was your age and

006um that's why I think this one means so much to me is I see a lot of what I was like as a kid. You're probably a little little better behaved than I was, but uh I see a lot of you in me or me in you at your age, and I just I can't speak enough to how you've grown and the person you've become, and just really proud of you. I don't know. I'm having trouble saying it. That's how proud I am. >> [applause] >> Hi, Kaylee. I'm Mr. Diggins from the gifted education. Congratulations. Um I'm kind of like him. >> [laughter] >> I wasn't really the best and probably not the best behaved in school, but we made it through. We made it through. But uh if you can keep going, being kind,

007helpful, uh and keep growing from year to year, you're going to have a great future ahead of you. So, here is a gift certificate from Barnes & Noble and a certificate. So, congratulations. >> [applause] [snorts and clears throat] [clears throat] [cough] >> Northside is excited to announce that this month's student of the month is Evelyn Toewsna. She is a fourth grader in Mrs. Stiman's class. Um I think it's a real privilege to get to announce Evie because literally we go way back. Um I have pictures in my camera roll of holding Evie as a baby. Um we we started Northside together, right? Both of us were in Mrs. Shelp's kindergarten class, working hard. We moved together into the grade. Um and I've had the privilege of watching Evelyn grow into um, just an amazing girl.

008I I've thought of Evelyn like every since kindergarten and she's like this old soul. She is wise beyond her years. She just is this quiet girl who is very practical. Like she just sees sees the world, she thinks beyond things that most elementary students don't see. Um, I think one of the stories Mrs. Diamond told me was that she asked her the other day, "Do you need to bring in Allen wrench?" Like like most fourth graders don't even but I think that goes to to show the amazing models her parents have been as as far as like having hard work ethic. Um, you know, it just it goes to show and Mrs. Diamond, her teacher, wasn't able to be here tonight but she wanted me to share some words about Evie. Evelyn is always ready

009to learn and comes to class each day with a positive attitude. She takes part in class discussions, listens closely, and consistently puts effort into her work. Evelyn is excited to learn new things and is willing to push herself when she's faced with something challenging. Her strong work work ethic and determination really stand out and help her succeed in class. Evelyn is also responsible and reliable. She completes her work on time and take pride in doing things well. She pays attention to the detail and is always willing to ask questions when she needs clarification, which helps her grow as a learner. She's a student who can be counted on to stay on task and give her best effort every day. In addition to being a hard working student, Evelyn is thoughtful, respectful, and kind to everyone

010she interacts with. She's always willing to help classmates, give encouragement, or step in when someone needs help. Evelyn genuinely cares about others and shows that through the way she treats people every day. She also has a great sense of humor and a natural ability to make others smile, which helps brighten the day to those around her. Evelyn is truly deserving of the student of the month recognition. Way to go, Evie. Mrs. Cleary also has some great words to say about you. >> I've been fighting for you to be student of the month now. >> [laughter] >> Um, I've gotten to have Evelyn in the art room every year since she was in kindergarten and you are a true role model, a hard worker and somebody your peers go to for help. Your life, kind and

011your quiet demeanor are just a breath of fresh air. And it's everywhere in the building, not just in the art room. You're a fantastic artist, but it's your kindness that sticks out to me the most. So, just keep being you cuz your peers see it, the adults in the building see it and you're doing great things. >> [applause] [clears throat and cough] >> Hello Evelyn, I'm Caleb from the Board of Education. Uh continue to keep being a good role model, a good friend and a good person to your classmates. Uh I have a good I have a Barnes & Noble gift card here for you and a certificate. Congratulations. >> THANK YOU. >> GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. UH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL GOOD? NO, WE'RE GOOD. NO, WE'RE GOOD. Middle school's uh excited to recognize Ellie Jo

012Hanson as our this month's winner. She is a two-time winner and won at first grade at AIB, I think you were referencing that earlier. Um just a quick piece from me on Friday, uh she found out through the grapevine I had to slip it a little bit while we were meeting before we called home that she's one of our seventh grade web leaders that turning into eighth grade that just applied and found out that she earned uh that accolade for next year. What our eighth grade leaders do, there's a 20 select students uh that work in our home rooms with our sixth graders throughout the year every Thursday they do some mentoring with them and also make sure that they're not terrified quite so much when they come into the building that first day of

013middle school. So, it's a really cool opportunity for uh students to develop their leadership skills and Ellie was one of the top tier leaders that applied for the program. >> Mr. Heim and Ms. McGuire are going to talk more about her amazing qualities. >> Yeah, I get to go first. Um, so I get to know Ellie through student council. Um, and being your student council advisor has really made my school year a lot easier. >> [clears throat] >> You have to be one of the most creative, organized, um, people that have come through. So she is one of our officers this year as a seventh grader and the like, we need to have this done by this time in order to do this. Like, the structure and the way that you're able to see things

014is is not normal for a seventh grader. Um, and it really makes it exciting to be like, yeah, we can add another activity or do another thing again. Like, it's it's been a fun thing to watch, but there's two things that have really stood out. Um, we meet every other week to kind of talk through like, what's our agenda for the next big meeting? And the officers sit down and plan things. And there's two comments that you make almost every single time. Like, I think kids will be more involved if and like, you have an idea of like, how do we get more kids excited about doing things? And like, as a teacher, you're just like, you get it. Like, you you have an ability to like, bring people in and get people excited. And

015the other one is focusing on, I want to make sure I hear other people's ideas. Like, you are somebody who doesn't just let the loudest voice in the room carry. Um, you really make sure that like, every grade level has a say on things when we're talking at meetings or that if somebody has maybe kind of sat in the back corner like, hey, what do you think about this idea? Or what are your ideas? And really bringing them together so that it's not just like, this or that, but how do we come up with that compromise? And your creativity with that has really benefited our council and our building. >> Yep, so jumping off of that, like, what don't I know about Ellie Joy Hanson? I've been I've had the privilege of knowing Ellie uh

016ever since our days back at Abe Lincoln as a wee little kindergartner, getting to see her grow and just gain all that leadership and that confidence from having you on thing was even in the elementary school like our K kids program. Even if I needed somebody to like rehearse a line for a video that we were shooting or something to like thank veterans for Veterans Day or something, Ellie was always the first person to even just say, "I'll take the long one. Like I got this everybody." So, just that lock-in leadership, that ability to go above and beyond and just always do things with a smile on her face and be the first to volunteer, it's just remarkable to continue to see that so much. And Ellie's got the perfect ability to negotiate things and

017be the perfect level of knucklehead to come down even to like to my classroom and beg for snacks and food and wonderful things that way, but if you even say no, Ellie will have 20 emails in your inbox instantly of composed arguments of why teachers and I I in particular should provide snacks to her. So, she's coming up with some very good reasons. It's hard to hold her off and I'm not going to lie, but Ellie has always been that amazing delight and just that perfect smile at the end of the day. So, >> [applause] >> Hi Ellie. Congratulations. It sounds like you're a really good leader and I'm hearing lots of really good things from your teachers about how you're able to uh gather people in and work with everyone's ideas. So, keep being

018a great leader and >> I like you. >> Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Ellie, do you want to join me? All right, come on up. All right. I'm Josh Wilson. I'm the associate principal at Mineral High School. Mr. Jackson couldn't be here today. Um so, I'll just be honest, I don't know Danny very well. He's not in my office very much. You got at least two weeks to to know where it is. >> Loose leaf. >> Okay. So, you got two weeks to figure out a reason to get down there. Um fine. Um so, anyway, I am just going to turn over to Ms. Hoyt and then just stand awkwardly off to the side. >> [laughter] >> So, I have had the privilege of getting to know Nate two or three years now. Anyway,

019and Nate is amazing. Um he has been He's so steady, he's consistent, he's super positive. He's not just a leader like for teachers, but he's for his peers. So, he's the kid that um people want to sit by because he is the paper that you want to cheat off of. >> [laughter] >> And uh and so, everybody is like, "Oh, I'm by Nate. I need a lab partner. Oh, we're going to do a project. Nate, will be my partner." Anyway, so sometimes the job of the teacher has to be to like protect Nate. Like, "Hey, do you want to work by yourself, maybe?" You know? [clears throat] Anyway, but he does an amazing job because as I've watched him through a few of these challenging scenarios, what I absolutely love is your ability to You

020actually bring those around you along. You don't just give them the answers. Right? Um you will sometimes just, you know, stubbornly play dumb and and just kind of wait. He's very patient. And so, he is willing to allow others the opportunity to learn, and you don't just give them stuff, and I love that. Um sometimes he sits in my room, and he impromptu becomes a tutor because I'll just be like, "Oh, they're working on this? Oh, you don't look busy. Can you please go help them?" And I know that he can, and he will. Um and that's amazing. He's so thoughtful. Probably one of my favorite stories is So, Nate is incredibly talented at a lot of things. Um, and um, how do I put this? Artistic things, not so much. So, last year we

021were doing um, we were getting ready for a respite day and I was hanging colorful curtains from a from a tent. And everybody was busy and I needed some height and so I was like, "Nate, come on over." And he was like, "Are you kidding?" But, you know what? He did it and he could not figure out how to hang those things to save his life. Then he just shoved them up there and when it was done, they were up there somehow and they stayed. But, he did it with a smile and he could laugh about it and he could still do it and so he's willing to do things even when it's out of his comfort zone and when it's not like his thing. Um, and he's a really just neat presence to have

022and I will miss you a lot when you leave our building and graduate, but you're going to go on and do amazing things. So, THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> NATE, I'M NICOLE WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. COOL SHIRT. >> [laughter] >> CONGRATULATIONS. I know that personally, um, my Nate has gotten to experience your great leadership and kindness and um, kind of pulled him along with under like your wing last year with the tennis season. So, I personally appreciate your your uh, very caring nature. Um, what are the plans for after school? >> Uh, I'm going to UW-Madison to study genetics. >> Fantastic. Well, I wish you all the best luck. I know you'll do fabulous. Uh, we've got a certificate and your uh, gift certificate there. >> Thank you. >> CONGRATULATIONS. [clears throat] >> [applause]

023>> OKAY. DON'T HAVE TO STAND. >> [clears throat] [snorts] >> WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT MONTH? >> LEE, come on up. All right, super excited to get to um take this one on tonight. May 17th, 1993, do you know what that is? >> Um I was at the year I got hired by Jim Burnett as an intern. >> Yeah, that was your intern contract. I sent Melissa an email this morning. I'm like, give me a day, like give me a So, almost to the day, right? It's May 11th, like May 17th. Like, how cool would that have been if this was next week >> [laughter] >> and we were standing here. Um but at Parkside, we send out a ballot nominations every month and we get lots of great stories. It's honestly one

024of my favorite things every month to see the things that come in where colleagues are just writing really nice paragraphs about the great things happening in the building and uh Lee's nomination came in and while every month it's usually a smattering because depending on who you work with, you're recognizing that, hey, this person did a lot for me or this person did a lot for me. Resoundingly this month for a number of reasons. Um and I feel incredibly privileged that I've only spent the last 5 years with you and I get to be the one to say, hey, since May 17th, 1993, 30 plus years of people, whether that be teachers, support staff, students, all their principals have said, Lee has been just a steady hand in our district for years. Um I look at

025my last 5 years and I was thinking about my 5 years with you. Every single year in the last 5 years, your team has been different. So, you were a team of three and then you were a team of two and then you went back to a team of three and then all last year you were a different team of three and then this year you're a different team of three. Um and I think that short 5 years summary summarizes Lee just being a steady hand and a calm voice. Um maybe it's not always Lee's voice. Like maybe some of the voice comes from home, too. Uh, because when I go to Lee's room and I say like, "What do you think? Like, how are we going to figure this out?" She gives me her

026opinion, and then it usually comes with, "But we talked about it at home, and I [laughter] recognize why as an administrator you would probably say." But that's Lee. She recognizes that there's always different perspectives to that, and while it might not be the way she would prefer or the way she wants to do it, whether she's a team of two and watching her, arguably your but your best work friend, go get shipped to another grade level, and okay, fine. I'll I'll be on the team of two. I'll do it. It's just that steady calm the entire time. Um, that's what kids get from her. That's what other staffs get from her. I think if there's been a district committee, you name it, she's served on it. Um, and the school district of Menomonie was incredibly

027lucky to say we've had her all to our own, and specifically Parkside for all of those years. So, thank you for everything. We are ALL SO LUCKY. >> [applause] [applause] >> LEE, CONGRATULATIONS. >> THANK YOU. >> UM, WE'RE WE'VE got this theme of talking about ourselves as elementary school students. So, I was a Parkside student until 1995. Um, I can only apologize for whatever hardships I gave you, Lee. >> [laughter] >> You were past the second grade year at that time. So, I was >> Well, you send my apologies on behalf of your colleagues. Um, but uh, it's incredible to hear about your years of service, uh, your dedication, and just thinking about the the hundreds of students who've been impacted by your steadiness, uh, and your your perseverance and dedication as a teacher is

028uh, it's inspiring. I just want to say thank you so much for for all that you've done both back in the early 1990s all the way until until now. So, congratulations, Lee. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Um before you speak, I also want to add um You do. You do. You [laughter] do. You do. Sorry. Um I was with one student um one deaf student my second year of teaching in Lee's classroom and I learned so much from you as a new teacher. And I can never thank you enough for that. >> Thank you. >> But this is from the Mineral Optimist for all you do for kids. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Wow. >> Kids know I talk too much, so I'll be short. Um no, I my people are here. I

029I wasn't going to cry. Get it together. Um Jill and I were sisters for a long time. I don't like all the fun >> Cuz we both were last year. >> There's just so many fun things that happened um with your people at school. Including the kids. Dang it. >> [snorts] >> I practiced the whole drive home today and I never cried once IN MY TRUCK. >> [laughter] >> NOT ONCE. ANYWAY, NO. Um I've been on a lot of great teams. Um I've had some really great principals that have been great role models. >> Jim Burkhart. >> He always hummed when you talked to him. >> [laughter] >> Um Todd and Jenna. Um not to mention all of the administrators at DAC that we didn't work as closely with, but um anyway, a lot of

030great people. And as you know, school is not an 8:00 to 4:00 gig. There's a lot of time outside of school and I want to thank Mark for waking me up when I'd be falling correcting essays or tests and telling me to go to bed or listening and sometimes he'd wear that administrator hat and I would be like, that wasn't the version I wanted to hear, but I needed to hear it. So, I appreciate that. Thank you. And the kids, they're not here, but a lot of time when you have to balance the running to their things and school things and it's been amazing. SO, THANK YOU. >> ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GOING TO DO OUR PARKSIDE STUDENT OF THE MONTH next month. The next meeting we'll figure that out. But, if we get all the

031the winners up front for a picture, the great we'll kind of clear the area so we're not in the background. If you won an award tonight, come on up. >> [snorts] >> All right, I'll do you guys first. Perfect. THANK YOU. CONGRATULATIONS. >> [applause] >> ALL RIGHT, SO IF YOU'RE STILL HERE, YOU HAVE TO stay through the end of the meeting tonight. [laughter] Just kidding. If you were here for a student award, you're more than welcome to stay, but if you would like to exit stage left, you're welcome to do that, too. We've got more awards coming up next. Maybe wants to stay. Excellence in Education grant recipients coming up. We'll take a 90-second break. Thanks everyone. Thank you for coming. >> Jill, I'm impressed. I thought once Lee went, you were going to go,

032too. >> Yep, she's a winner. >> No, I mean tears. >> [laughter] >> I knew you would Not for sure once she started crying, you were done. >> And then you have to look away. I was surprised she got >> Oh, really? Oh, I You could see it in her face when she walked in the room. Like she was feeling everything. >> All right, so we're going to go Uh all right, we have our Excellence in Education grant recipients. And do anything you want to say before we pass it over? >> No, I don't want to steal Rick's thunder. Just that, you know, this is an incredible um foundation, incredible process. Our district is so fortunate to be able to, you know, provide these kinds of awards. And I'm I'm thankful to Rick, uh who

033is the vice president of EIE, Terry Montgomery, who's the president, and the entire board, who put in a lot of time to make sure that this happens. So, thank you. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. I'm Rick Waski, and I before I became the vice president of Monroe Excellence in Education, I was the high school principal here, and also the superintendent for a number of years. So, it's good to see a lot of familiar faces and people who uh I've worked with in various capacities throughout my career. It's always wonderful to come back, and even better to give uh funding to your classrooms, your programs, and even in some cases uh educators themselves. So, this year I'm proud to announce Excellence in Education will be giving $45,392 and 4 cents to classroom activities in our

034district. I wish it was 2.3 million, but we're happy to continue to raise funds to make our classrooms more enriched and help our teachers bring their instruction to life. So, what I'm going to be doing today is giving out a number of big checks that are ceremonial. If you go to the bank with them, like, you know, they don't take these, but they're ceremonial. And also an envelope with some some instructions of what to do after tonight as far as making your grant claims. I also would like everybody I call up so that we don't have the back and forth delay. Everyone's going to have to pose for a picture anyway, so start a single file line in front of Mrs. Phillips and then we'll eventually have all the recipients consolidate for one picture when

035we're finished. So, to start out, the first grant that Monroe Excellence in Education supported was for $1,500. It's entitled Cafe 336, Reimagining Special Education Through Flexible Student-Centered Learning Spaces, and that grant goes to Alexander Pretty Veil at Monroe Middle School. >> [applause] >> OUR NEXT GRANT IS FOR $1,500. It is Summer School Kids Theater Aladdin Jr. And that it's a district-wide program and Brenda Davis and Joe Leisinger come come up and receive your Next, from Abe, a grant of $4,245 to support a kindness retreat at Abe Lincoln Elementary, Brett Niemeyer. >> I JUST I MISSPOKE. THAT'S A THAT'S A district-wide >> district fifth grade. >> District-wide fifth grade. He's He He took charge and wrote the grant, but it's for the entire fifth grade. Next, we have a grant for unlocking the imagination through literacy,

036$1,540.78. It will support Northside, Parkside, and Abe, Brianna Cleary and Julia Keller. Congratulations. [laughter] Next, we have Focus on the Future, a $2,000 grant award to Monroe High School AND REBECCA JABLONSKI. >> [applause] >> NEXT, WE HAVE COOLING Down the Cuts for $3,250. That supports Monroe High School, and that grant was submitted by Mr. Dan Saunders. Next, we have From Tank to Table, Growing Fresh Food with Classroom Aquaponics. That is $8,000 $2,263. Somehow I got my big checks mixed up, so we're going to play trade the big checks in a minute here, but Danielle Pernod. >> [applause] >> Yeah, you got nothing. We'll get it all to work out. All right, next we have this one teacher receiving two grants and that's probably where I got myself off schedule. Breaking down anatomy with hands-on learning

037from classroom to clinic real skills real practice. $1,039.03 and $474.72. Elizabeth Wright, Monroe High School. >> [applause] >> Yeah, that's okay. I actually I'm ultimately I'm ultimately responsible. I was hoping to blame Dan, too. >> [laughter] [snorts] >> Static electricity is also ruining me here. >> All right, then these two envelopes I believe are for you. >> All right. Next we have Northside 5,000 well, it's actually not Northside, it's district-wide. I apologize. Next we have a district-wide award. It's actually going to be supporting one band, one community supporting student excellence at Monroe High School for the band and that's $5,000 award goes to Aaron Henke. >> [applause] >> All right. Next we have $669 grant that will support Northside Elementary virtual reality headsets and headspace meditation. Karen Gunther. THEN WE HAVE A $794.48 grant music

038and motion supporting sensory needs through innovative music education. This is for Monroe Middle SCHOOL KENDRA JOHNSON. >> [applause] >> YES. IT'S ACTUALLY NORTHSIDE. Why do my notes lie to me? Here, you get a big check though. >> Oh, nice. >> I just got to make sure it's the right one. Well, at some point you're going to get a big check. Just hold the small one for now. Next, we have $1,500 for multi-purpose student support and regulation space from the middle school. I hope this time. LAUREN RITTER. >> [applause] >> I HAVE BOTH OF YOUR ITEMS HERE, SO THERE YOU GO. NEXT, we have one recipient for three grants. We have $2,723 for compound light microscope exploration at the middle school. We have $850 for Snap Circuits at the middle school. And we have $1,607 for

039KidWind renewable energy lesson, also at the middle school. Megan McGuire. I HAVE YOUR BIG CHECKS HERE. UH THAT IS NOT RIGHT. SO, actually yes. >> Kid Wind. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next, we have uh pottery wheels for middle school art class, $2,700. And that's to benefit the middle school. Michelle Mars. >> No problem. Thank you. Yep. >> Next, >> we have a $511.48 grant, the Peace Corner social emotional learning. And that is at Northside and that's Nicole Saunders. And then we have I'm trying to get my checks in order here. The next one on my list is is for the middle school, $3,723 and 80 cents. And it's for a school-wide novel reading initiative year two, Lindsay Daugherty. AND SOMEHOW, LET ME SEE HERE, FOCUS ON THE future who has who >> We're fine.

040>> And let me see what I have. Here's your big check, too. So, I knew that they were I knew they were all somewhere. I also want to make a mention is Chuck Lynch here? We Uh we also got a 3D printer that we'll be reimbursing the department for uh through Excellence in Education funds. Oh, is that the one? >> Is that the eight? No, the the eight one is >> Oh, okay, there we go. [laughter] Good. So, now we have >> [snorts] >> Now we look at this, everybody has a big check and a little check. Uh the one thing I just want to again, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to write grant proposals. Uh you know, one thing I know is that as educators uh and educational

041leaders, you're all very, very busy. So, to take time to fill out a grant on behalf of your students when you know that uh it's benefiting them and it's going to improve the quality of their instruction, uh thank you. Just thank you very much for doing that. And to everybody else, uh Monroe Excellence in Education, when we started, we were giving out we were happy if we gave out $5,000 a year. And uh we've given out 40 to 60,000 dollars each of the last several years. And continue to keep and want to keep doing so. So, we have a pickleball tournament that's a fundraiser in June. If any of you are interested. Our major fundraising dinner is in December of every year. And there'll be information on both of those on our Enroll Excellence in

042Education Facebook, Instagram, and our and on the district webpage also. So, thank you to everybody who submitted grants and they will gather you into like a two-row team picture here. So, I'll get out of the way and then you guys can >> You're on top. >> Oh, nobody [laughter] wants that. >> You guys make make your rows first and >> I don't think there'll be enough room for me. You know, I'm just saying. >> No, I did move everybody. You can move, say it. Yeah, but I'm not that much [laughter] taller than a black vest, you know. >> Nope, I'm I'm good. I can see. I found a good spot. >> Can one of you move forward? >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I was going to say that probably See, no room for me. >> No,

043that's quite all right. I like this picture. >> [laughter] >> All right. 1 2 3 Here, like my wife tells me. >> [laughter] >> Good shots. All right, one more, guys. All right. Thanks to all of you. >> [laughter] >> Okay, I think this actually looks good. >> Okay. >> See you next meeting, Brent. >> [laughter] >> Always happy to Always happy to >> That one was >> See you. Thanks everyone. >> [laughter] >> All right, next up we've got our consent items. Any board member who wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda for full consideration. None, I would entertain a motion to approve the consent items. And after a motion and a second, I'll read it in for the record. Motion by Phil. I got second by Steve. All right, we've got

044four items tonight. One approving our minutes from the April 27th meeting. Got a support staff resignation, Tony Pettit. Northside food services 25 years. Professional staff hiring, Jack Check. Mineral Middle School High School Tech Ed teacher. And then three professional staff resignations, Brian Run Run Hog. Northside Phy Ed, Kaylin Mills Parkside Kindergarten, Devin McCormick Mineral Middle School ELA. Any discussion before we vote? >> I I'll just say obviously we've got some some great people that are leaving us and we won't get into the reasons why they're leaving right now, but provided great service. Special shout out to Tony and his his dedication over the years. If you know Tony, he brings a special passion and energy and just love to the building. Um and he'll be greatly missed. So I was I was sad to see

045that one when when we learned of that news, but in all seriousness, a lot of appreciation for Tony and all he's done for us over the years. I'll second Joe. We've got a motion in a second. All in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed, nay. Motion carries. Public comment, double check in. Good. No old business tonight. On to new business. We've got five items. First two are about open enrollment. Turn it over to Joe to give us the context. >> Yeah, just quickly, as most of you are aware, this is something that we do annually. We have to Board has to approve open enrollment in and outs. I think the main headline is that for the first time in a very long time, we're we're in the positive side of the number of ins

046versus outs. So, we have 25 that have applied for open enrollment in, and we have 20 that have applied for open enrollment out. And while we have a ways to go to get our aggregated total number to the positive, um the way you do that is start stacking wins year after year and and getting it to move to the positive. So, um we're we're excited that the the number came in the way it did. I think part of that is a lot of intentional work by our our staff, our principals to stay connected with families and make sure that um we're meeting their needs and we'll continue to do that. We'll also continue to address um any open enrollment outs to see if there's any way that we can uh potentially support them and keep

047them in district. So, um at this time, starting with the open enrollment ins, we would we would ask the Board to uh approve that list. Just as a reminder, we don't talk about individual names. We protect the privacy of those families that have applied for open enrollment in or out at this point. Okay, I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Motion by Phil, seconded by Melissa. Also want to give a a bit of time for questions, just given we've got some new board members and folks have questions for administration about kind of what what this is and what we're doing. >> What form are we >> uh reaching out to the out families? Or is this a survey? Is this a phone call? Or what what kind of communication is it to try to gather

048some information regarding that? >> Yeah, I'm sorry. Phone calls. That's the plan is we'll start reaching out and uh having personal conversations and seeing if there's anything and and many In many cases, we won't be able to address it because it might be you know, a legacy issue of, you know, the parents went to a certain school district and they live on the border and they want their kids to have that same experience and we'll honor that. We won't be an annoying salesperson, but at the very least we need to make that attempt and if there is something that we can do to keep families in the district, we'll we'll absolutely take those steps. >> Okay. >> Good question. Other questions for >> the administration? >> Okay. Um so, we've got a motion and a

049second. So, there's a motion by Phil, second by Melissa to approve the open enrollment in applications for the 2026-2027 school year as listed. Any further discussion before the vote? Just want to say uh thank you to the admin team. >> Um >> Joe and I know Amy, this has been part of your core part of your work, too, and I know I guess after the results in in April, I was uh kind of anticipating that we would see numbers in the opposite direction of what we're seeing tonight. And so, I don't This isn't the the final stage of that, but it is a a positive marker. I'm sure it took a lot of work, so I just want to say thank you for the work you all put in. With that, take a vote. All

050in favor, say aye. >> Aye. Opposed, nay. >> Shukaris. [clears throat] All right, any questions on open enrollment out for a entertain motion. Okay, so I'll entertain there to approve the open enrollment out applications for the 2026-2027 school year as listed? >> So moved. >> Motion by Nicole. >> I'll second that. >> Second by Caleb. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed, nay. Motion carries. All right, next item is informational. So we'll turn it to Todd. >> Yep. Yep. >> Thanks, Jen. >> Appreciate you running this meeting, man. >> [laughter] >> There's some weird energy here tonight. >> Uh yeah, it's been a while since uh I've given an academic update. A few other things going on in the district, obviously, but um want to give an update this time of

051year, which is super busy. Administrators, teachers, um principals are all wrapping up a school year, but we're spending a lot of time, obviously, working on next year's plan, whether it's schedules, um looking at data, reworking, obviously, different things that need to happen over the summer for implementation for next year. All that happens, it feels like in a small amount of time in May, so we're in the middle of that. Um and we're starting to get some data back, so um from some of our state assessments, so I wanted to give a brief update on a few things that we had um established at the beginning of the year for goals, and then uh share a little bit of data on what I have up to this point, and then talk about some of the action

052steps and things that we focused on for the school year. Um you do have in BoardDocs a handout um that you can reference. Um we'll start with the goals. We established these goals last year when we met with um Eric Larson and worked with our leadership team. Um we focused on, obviously, ELA and math are two target areas because that's what's represented on the report card. Um so we have state testing point value proficiency scale um goals that are established there of 0.82 and 0.87. And then we had a writing benchmark score uh for grades three through eight. And then for grade 11. Grades 9 and 10 do not do a writing assessment. So, those were our our targets at the top. Uh things that we focused on um were kind of highlighted in three

053different sections here. Um starting with the district focus of our PLC work, which has been ongoing for several years. Um one thing we did this year connected to our instructional priority areas, which was relational teaching and uh student engagement, and then assessments, um we connected it to our educator effectiveness system and how we evaluate teachers, um which the feedback from that's been really positive. Um that system has always been super big and hard to navigate. Um this allowed us to obviously continue to meet state requirements in using the Danielson model um to evaluate our staff, but also narrow the focus to fit with our goals as a district. So, all of our observations, all of our feedback that we've given teachers has been around um specific things within those three areas. So, that's played out

054well. Um another big thing is evidence-based teaching and learning. Um we're obviously still going through the implementation of that with middle school and high school courses. Um this year was the first year that all of our middle school has made that transition. Um lots of different changes made through curriculum, assessments, um instructional work. Um each trimester getting better, and I feel like we're in a really good spot with our middle school. Um at our high school, we're at about 50% implementation. Believe it or not, seems like a lot more, but I did the numbers today, and we have 138 offerings at the high school. Um and we have around 70 that have been converted into evidence-based teaching and learning classes. So, roughly 50% um we'll add about 30 more courses over the summer for implementation

055next fall. Um per feedback from different teams. >> I have a question. >> a question at you. >> Yeah. >> In the high school then like what what type of what courses are in the ABTL now? >> What courses? All of our core >> Or math and science or >> Every department, every encore is represented. Um this year teachers had to take on at least one um if they hadn't already adopted a course, so that covered all of the different areas. And then it kind of depends on what year they're in. If they're in their first year, then there's you know one course that they might be doing. Um if they're in their second [snorts] year, based on feedback we added an additional course that they converted because it's a lot of work. It's curriculum,

056it's reworking assessments, so um everybody's doing it, every area is touched, but all of our core areas, core classes are in evidence-based teaching and learning. Um and then the 30 that will add for next year are additional electives in all areas, and that's based on feedback from staff that we're ready to make that transition. >> And uh part of that's been the the slow roll has been due to the feedback received from parents as well, right? >> Yeah, I think it's a combination of parents and certainly staff and the amount of work it takes to make the transition from the traditional grade book to uh cuz it's not just a grade book change, right? It's again it's their curriculum, it's the assessments, it's the feedback, it's there's a lot of pieces that go into that.

057Um which is why we can't just flip it all over at once. Uh middle school is basically core classes, not as many offerings, not as many classes to convert. Um and we'd already been making that transition. It just made sense to to make that um in one year. >> Is there any uh subject at the high school that are going to be completely 100% on the evidence-based grading app starting in 2026-2027 school year? >> The only area I think would be Daniel Pernod, but she's a singleton and she's done all that work and she's clearly a leader in that area. So I believe she's adding three more which would complete her entire course load and evidence-based teaching and learning, but No, I would say, you know, 50% for the building and probably 50% for each

058department. So, still work to be done. Uh AP classes um we're going to do all together. We'll start that work next year which probably will transition in 2017-2018. Um as we continue to roll that out. >> Yeah, what's kind of left in the 38 or so that >> Um I mean, I could go through by department. It's a lot of electives. Some electives we don't offer every year. Um so that's why the number seems high, but it's not actually the offerings every year. Um you know, it's um trying to give you an example of a core class like science. You know, we only move physics, biology, chemistry. Next year we'll move geology, ecology, material science, but there's still advanced chem, physics, anat phys, biomedical science, AP bio. So like you still list quite a few

059classes um that still need to make that transition. [clears throat] >> Are those kind of like the smaller offerings >> Yeah. Yep, smaller offerings um that fewer kids take and like I said sometimes it's on a not an every year schedule that we offer it. >> It'd be I'm assuming based on the numbers that most if not all teachers now have at least one evidence-based teaching and learning >> Yeah, that was the you know, ask going into this year that anybody that was not in wave one last year that took a class was in wave two which would have to be implementing one course. >> And the reason why I asked that I mean, to the the the branding shift or you know, the the way we the way I like the I I was

060really compelled as I'm learning about this that it [clears throat] it's not just about how we grade kids, it's about the the teacher actions that it prompts, right? Like how we engage with students, it looks different than traditional teaching. And so if a if a teacher is starting to practice that in one course where they've changed the grading system, you you would imagine that some of those methods would translate to other offerings, right? So we we could actually see the benefits across much more than just half of our high school, which I think is really smart. >> Yep. Yep, absolutely. The practices which matter, obviously, not just how the grades reported should change and shift as people get more accustomed to making that change. So, absolutely. Um one piece of that transition was also the

061adoption of the Otis um platform, which serves as our grade book um and data management system and LMS for some of our folks that choose to use it. Um I would say year two's gone really well. Otis has been a great partner for us. Um continuing to expand their features. Um it does does a lot of different things. It actually does our educator effectiveness for our staff. Um handles some of the data that we're collecting on practices from the classroom. >> Has Otis kind of helped slow down some of the questions coming from students, parents, and stuff like that compared to the old Skyward uh software? Or there's still questions? >> I'd say the questions are very minimal. Like when we gathered student feedback, kids are so flexible and adaptive. They're like, "What whatever, right?"

062It wasn't a huge deal. Um I would say parents still go to Skyward because all of the other stuff is still in Skyward. So, we're still trying to get parents to use Otis and and log into the platform and use it on a regular basis. Um but I would say the feedback and questions has really been minimal um at the 6-12 level for for Otis. I think people use use it for what they want to use it for. Um I know that Otis is coming out with an updated parent app, which will be nice cuz parents like to use their phone to look at grades and updates, so that will be a nice feature that's added, but I'd say we haven't received a ton of questions. Year one was hard cuz obviously it's new and

063it's a change, but I would say year two has been much better with the Otis integration. At all levels, teacher level, student level, and parent level for sure. That's it in the top part. Literacy specific things, elementary, which is still an ongoing conversation is the implementation of CKLA, our curriculum that we use for ELA. We're going to be in year five next year, so we made some changes this year to address some certain areas, so that work's ongoing. In the area of writing, we aligned all of our rubrics, writing rubrics, to the ACT and forward, so they were more in sync, so we were giving kids feedback on obviously the most important things that they would be assessed on. And then middle school has done a great job, I would say, of embedding a lot

064more writing across the content area into all subjects, not just ELA. So, making sure kids get opportunities to write, not just in obviously English, but in all areas in their course load. And then for math, we're in year two of a full year math for algebra and geometry at the high school. And then at the elementary level, last year we adopted Bridges for pre-K through third grade, and then this year we adopted fourth through fifth. So, everybody is using Bridges, which aligns really well to CPM, which is what we use at the 6-12 level for math. And I would say specifically 6-12, like just systems wide, like with our ELA and math interventions, middle school's constantly making updates to better support kids. And I think our high school has done a lot of work in

065that area to better use flex in the tier two time and then to better use Hannah and Kyle, which is our ELA and math interventionist to serve kids at that level that still need extra support. So, a lot more kids are getting um support and have access to resources than I'd say ever before. On the back, um we're still waiting on ACT, pre-ACT for all the big assessments that align to the report card. We'll start to get ACT and pre-ACT back here soon. Um forward comes a little bit later um in June um and we'll have all that information and then um we'll meet with Eric Larson again in early July um to break that data down and really take a deep dive on where are areas of celebration and where are the areas that

066we need to focus on for the upcoming school year. Um we do have a little bit of data that uh the top part is what we collect um internally through AIMSweb. Um that's required by the state through Act 20. So, we give that assessment now in April, so we have a little bit of data um or K, pre-K through third. And up above, I just represented the number of students in each building that fall below the 25th percentile and then below the 10th percentile. Um and then I also provided the instructional ratios um and projections for next school year in terms of how we'll staff those three buildings for um support in the area of reading. If you remember, we reduced an FTE at the elementary level. Um so, you know, that three and a

067half is actually four that went to three, but we're using another resource to help kind of bridge some of that gap that was created at at North Side. So, North Side and Park Side will look similar with support and their actual students uh that are below 25th percentile are very similar. Um and then we still need to provide support at Abraham Lincoln that still has kids that need reading support. So, moving some resources around and and trying to make sure that we have each building covered, but also those ratios are are similar, so it's equitable equitable um in terms of our services. >> Hey, I have two questions. The um So, the ratio is this projected for next year or is this current? >> Projected for next year. >> You might have said this already.

068What's the What's the current ratio? >> Current ratios, I mean, I don't have those in front of me for where we're at. Um I'd have to look back and get that for you, Jim, in terms of where we stand. >> We're wondering like is there based on Act 20 or anything else like a range that that is like typical like recommended for interventionists to have or >> No, I mean, I think I don't know if there's a range specifically that is recommended. Um These These folks already serve a ton of kids. Um and in some cases probably group sizes that are are not best practice, but we're always in a place where we want to try to try to serve as many kids as possible in reading groups. Um so sometimes we take on kids

069that maybe are right on the threshold, so they're you know, maybe in need of a little bit of support, but we include them in groups cuz we want to make sure they get support. Some of those kids that are on the borderline will probably not get support next year. Cuz we just won't have the resources capacity to do it. >> Have we ever checked into I think it's called AmeriCorps? It's a supports group I think it's I think it's free to districts. Have you ever checked into something like that that I think it's um I don't know a ton about it, but it's a It provides support in reading and math and stuff like that in different subjects, I believe. Um there's some other district area districts that use it. I know like Janesville was

070using it pretty extensively that extra support. Have we checked into something like that? Or are there similar programs like that? >> Not that I'm aware of. I'm I mean I'm I'm not familiar with how that works, but I'm not Long as I've been here it's You have? >> Yeah, I remember looking at it last year a little bit. Um >> You've had to, Jen. Is it helpful? Or does it work like it's intended? >> It's not your professional staff, correct? Like >> I think the the challenge Let's talk about it from the positive side. The benefit that we have is we have highly skilled staff that have been through some intensive training that has leveraged those talents to help kids realize some very impressive outcomes. While there's a lot of good people that are always

071willing to help, uh particularly with literacy work, that's that's a challenge. And sometimes I would guess it can become uh an issue to to manage some of that versus having people that are very skilled and trained in those areas. I fumbled my way through that, Jen. I'm trying to read your Thank you, Phil. >> I didn't have a problem either way. I just wanted to ask a question of similar I'm sure there's similar programs like that I would have think. But I just don't know if something like that ever a possibility. >> Good question. >> Any more questions? We'll stop right there. >> Uh and then the second piece of data that I shared that we talked about at the curriculum meeting tonight was our ELL access data that we did get back in April.

072Um it just represents 3 years of of data at the three different levels um in terms of one on the left just overall growth. So, kids that grew on their composite score. Um again, it's from one through six. And then on the right, which has been our internal metric we've used forever, which is 0.4 or more, which is we kind of standardized it as our metric of typical growth that we'd like to see. You can see the percentages there. Um I did note this at the curriculum meeting that WIDA changed their test this year, so not knowing how we compare to the state is something we'll have to wait on um and get probably again this summer when we get all this data into WISEdash and can take a look at it. But overall looks

073good. Our ELL team does a great job and talked about their service model and um do some outstanding work with our kids um across the district at our ELL. At the bottom, I just highlighted a couple different things happening. Um we have June 5th in-service coming up. Um a lot of the curriculum work um that teams request, we'll try to fit some in on that day. Um there's always updates at grade levels, um departments across the district, so we'll we'll use part of that day to get started. And then like we've done um the last couple years, we're going to have June workshop days where teams can sign up where they come into this space, we provide support, they work with their team, they make the updates. Um with could be curriculum, might be assessment,

074might be pacing, might be some instructional strategies. Uh but they do that during June workshop days. And then I mentioned earlier uh Eric Larson will be with us on July 7th and 8th. He'll be working with building leadership teams to break down all the data from the state assessments. And then typically July, August, building principals, myself, Amy, um meeting with leadership teams to plan for the school year. And then I listed there that um August 3rd date, hoping for a data retreat like we did in the past with Eric. Was that with Eric? No, that one wasn't with Eric. That was just me. Um Eric we did I think in November, late October. So the August 3rd one will be a chance to review all the data and talk about our plan for the school

075year. >> Any questions for administration? Thanks for the update, Todd. >> [clears throat] >> We've got Our next two items are related to the uh staff reduction plan that resulted from our April 7th referendum. Turn over to Joe and administration to kind of talk us through this. >> Sure. Melissa, if you would be willing to Thank you. Um so, this is an extension of um the outcome of the referendum. Uh we're all certainly aware of it, and Jim and I talked, and we're not looking to create an extended conversation about you know, some things that we already know to be true. But what we do feel is necessary is to acknowledge the steps that the district is taking to uh honor the plan and be fiscally responsible going forward for the district and the community.

076So, Melissa, if you would Thank you. Um so, what we have here is just a couple of things to set the the frame or provide the context. Um The commit uh the community voted no on the referendum last month. Um and so, now we do have an obligation to implement the previously developed reduction plan. Um one thing I want to say very clearly is that I'm proud of the effort of um our administrative team and the board. Um we were prepared uh should the answer that was received for the referendum be a no. Um and we had a very uh specific plan that was well thought out, had a lot of information that was taken into consideration, and as difficult and painful um as that process was and is um we are going to continue

077to move forward with that because this outcome requires us to align our expenditures with the available revenues and we just have to to run our organization in a way that allows us to you know, be balanced and responsible going forward. As we as we go through with this plan, >> [clears throat] >> we do have a commitment to fiscal stewardship. I think we've been very good about transparency every step of the way making sure that people understand what this outcome would bring and also looking forward to long-term stability of the district knowing that we still have a responsibility to provide high quality education to our students and while we may have some new challenges in our district, we're going to do everything within our power to take care of our kids and our families. And

078then probably most important it's worth saying that while we will be looking at this in terms of numbers, it's not fair to reduce the people in these programs to a number or a list. These are incredible people that have worked tirelessly on behalf of students and families. They're deeply valued. I know the board feels this way. We're incredibly appreciative of all the work that they've done and just can't thank them enough for all of their contributions and their efforts over the years. If you would. So, it's important again to say out loud that the next agenda item is going to be looking at professional staff non-renewals. That number is going to be significantly lower than the 22 and a half positions that are being reduced. That does not mean that we've reduced the number of

079positions that are going away. We are losing 22 and 1/2 positions next year. Um and they're broken down in two different ways as seen on the screen. The first is that um when we look at it by employee group, you'll see that we're losing one administrator, one exempt exempt staff member, uh nine elementary teachers, four middle school teachers, five high school teachers, uh and two and 1/2 part-time custodians. Um as far as how we got to this point where we don't have to non-renew as many teachers as maybe we had initially thought or certainly fewer than where we were at a month ago, um that's because we've had a a lot of movement in the district. Um and some of that came through natural attrition. Um much of it was related to the outcome of

080the referendum and people that decided to make some decisions based on where they wanted to be or where they wanted their families to be. Um but uh 3.5 of the reductions will happen through a reduction in force. We're not voting on that tonight. That's basically for our support staff and our exempt staff member. That'll be handled at the next meeting. Um non-renewals for professional staff, there's three. Resignations, we had 12. Retirements, we had three. And then we had one unfilled position. So, when you add those up, that gives us the 22 and 1/2 positions that are being reduced. Um but as I said, the next item we'll be voting on three professional staff non-renewals. Um but in the aggregate, we we are absolutely making reduction to all those positions. And then the next slide, um

081Jim had asked that I I work with the business office to pull this information and and wanted to provide some context of how many employees had did we have, you know, four or five years ago and where we're going to be next year and what you can see um from this graph is that we we've gone down significantly. We were having around 360 employees for a number of years. Uh back in the 22-23 school year, we had 354. And once we follow through with this reduction plan, we're going to be down to 300 employees in the district. So, if you take a look over that that time span, um that's a reduction of about 15% of our employees. Um and by contrast, uh student enrollment has has gone down 7%. It's about half of that.

082Uh one important thing to note is that these employee numbers only reflect the school district of Mineral. Um it doesn't include uh Mineral public library employees. Sometimes when you pull up data online through WISEdash or other uh data sources, they'll include uh the numbers will be a little bit different, and that's because the Mineral public library employees are included. So, with that, I want to pause and see if there are any questions that the board has at this time. >> I have a question. Um Hopefully, I'm correct in assuming that there has been detailed plans put in place as to how students are going to be handled, especially in some of the programs uh that I feel are very critical uh with reduction of you know, this many I'll say staff members. >> Mhm. >>

083And I just want to make sure that the students that are there are going to get the quality of education that we expect. And they're not just going to be, I'll say, glossed over, passed along, or whatever. Um and in some of the cases with, let's say, with the behavioral or things like that, is there a definite plan as to what or where they are going to go? Are they going to be mainstreamed? Um any thought on that at all? >> Sure. Uh first, thanks for asking that question because that reflects really the work we've been doing over the last month and with our administrative team here, they can all attest that we've had a lot of meetings. Uh, they've been difficult, they've been emotional, um, and the point of those meetings has been to

084address exactly that. Like in addition to how we're going to move staff around particularly at the elementary level. So, to answer your question, yes, we we've developed a number of plans. Um, I think it would be disingenuous to say that we're we're going to be able to provide the level of service that we we have to this point because the reality is those people and those programs provided critical services for kids. And we can't just simply absorb that and say, "We're good. Kids are going to get the same level of service." That's not true. But, what we are going to do is everything in our power to make sure that the remaining staff is absorbing some of those responsibilities and providing services in addition to looking at opportunities outside of our district to potentially provide

085some contracted services um, to meet those needs. So, we're balancing some of the the costs associated with that, um, but we absolutely have plans to meet the needs of kids and and that'll continue to be developed through the rest of this school year and and our summer planning as well. Um, but I think this brings up an important point that there are a number of people that are losing their jobs and we're concerned about that. Um, certainly far fewer that we're non-renewing, but we also have to be considered of the people that remain and have to absorb extra duties because that's going to be a burden. And that's something that we have to weigh, um, and make sure that we're taking care of our people because our our our staff gives a lot already. And

086um we don't want to put them in a position where they don't feel like they can be effective and they get burnt out. And so um I I genuinely appreciate the question. Um we're working on it, Mike. Um and that's going to take a little time because you can't replace 22 and 1/2 people like that. Like we we've got a lot of people that are digging into it and we're going to give it everything we've got. >> No, I I totally understand and I appreciate that and I'm I'm certain that there's been a lot of work that have gone into it and just my concern was that, you know, you have I'll say uh you know, a lot of the regular classes and if all of a sudden you start mainstreaming other kids into some

087of the classes, it could totally disrupt you know, one or one or two students can totally disrupt everything for 20 kids. And then you're losing the education for everybody. Plus the teacher and everything. I mean, I I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I mean, it's it's something that I just want to make the point that I am absolutely sure that it that it is going to be addressed and monitored you know, on a regular basis. So you know, for the principals, the teachers, everything. You know, I want to make sure that that stuff is is followed up. >> Yeah, two things. I think number one, you're exactly right. Um there will be some absorption in into regular classes, but we also have some other interventionists that are um in the mix and we'll

088we'll take on some of those those duties and responsibilities and I think the good news is I one of the things that we do well in our district is we we collect a lot of data. We have a lot of metrics that we look at. And whether that be I think particularly for the the student population that you're talking about, whether it be attendance data, office discipline referrals, um any number of other things that uh that we collect, we'll continue to look at that and we'll be able to see if there's a spike. Um and so um can't necessarily predict and project what that's going to look like because this is a unique situation, um but we know we have a responsibility to stay on top of that and then report to the board as

089to any any concerns that we're realizing. >> Joe, I would say on the other end of the spectrum, I think we have AP advanced placement classes at risk. >> Mhm. >> And I would hope that if you let me back up a step first, you know, shout out of appreciation. I think I can speak for the board to the administration that's in this room, all the staff and all the support staff because we know however you do this, the workload increases next year. So, thank you in advance. We see that. But I would hope that uh you know, with the advanced placement classes probably being at risk, that we make sure our high school students are aware that what they have options. I'm thinking Jedi is probably a means to take those AP classes that

090may not be able to be offered in person in the school. >> Yeah, we're we're exploring some of that. I think the challenge with Jedi is there's a cost associated with that and then we don't want to inadvertently put ourselves in a a budget challenge. I I will say and whether it be Todd or Josh and I don't know if either of you are prepared to answer this, there's a lot of work going on to be to take a close look at what our course offerings are going to be in the future and trying to balance that desire to provide those options to kids with the reality of a reduced staff. And um I know some of the things that Jeremy has talked about is the frequency of some of those courses that have been

091offered to this point it will be lessened, right? So, maybe some AP courses that were offered every year will now only be able [snorts] be offered every other year. Um which which require still provide some opportunity but it requires some careful planning and then it limits options for kids because then they have to make tough choices. And if I misrepresented that >> I think exactly what Jeremy would say if he was here though. >> I don't want to get into that process. To me I think kids that are you know going to higher education these AP classes are important. >> Yep. >> And I I guess a question when can kids start taking AP classes as freshman or do they have to wait until they're a junior? How does that work? >> Most of our

092classes start their junior year. >> I taught AP for many years and so at the former school I was at there was one that was offered to freshman but at Memorial we there's no formal ban as far as I know from the college board about kids not taking freshman classes as as freshman. We just don't do it because AP is challenging and that's the >> I'm asking you you know it's tough because if if we're offering those classes on less frequency can kids start early making their freshman year or sophomore year to take Do you understand? Am I being clear? I'm not sure. >> Yeah you absolutely are being clear. I I think it's going to be one of the new challenges that we need to navigate. So and I think the best way to

093do that is by working with students and their families if we have someone that we know is going to be interested and want to explore some of those options I think we're going to have to make sure that our school counselors are are actively planning in a proactive nature to say all right. Hey as an incoming freshman pretty clear what you're interested in let's talk about the schedule as it currently stands and how we might be able to access some of that those courses. >> I mean generally where I'm trying to get to Joe is you know, we have less resources, but let's squeeze out the best opportunities we can. Let's not just let kids assume that well, we don't do AP classes till junior year. >> Right. You know. >> I mean. >> Yeah,

094I think I think both for your question and for Mike's, what we're saying is this is forcing us into a new reality where we need to change our practice and approach it differently. And I think maybe some of those assumptions that we've had previously we need to reconsider and see if there's a way in which >> [clears throat] >> we can do it a little bit differently. Um, and you know, I think the honest answer is we're probably not going to truly understand the impact of all of this till we get into it and start doing it. And we make some mistakes and we have some parents give us feedback and um and we're going to do everything in our power to to make it right. Um but it's it's going to take a little

095time to to work through it. Again, thank you. >> I appreciate all your work. >> Phil, they do have the opportunity to take A push in sophomore year though. Everybody loves a good AP US history. >> [laughter] >> Get Josh started. >> Do we have different enrollment capacity maximums for AP classes than we do other non-AP classes? As far as students that can enroll in those at the time at one time? >> Okay, we have Are they similar? >> capacities. I think our AP numbers have always been probably pretty typical much lower in some areas. >> But if we go from let's just say 15 students to 25 20 students, obviously not ideal, but we can make those accommodations. It's not like we're hard There's a hard number on that different compared to other classes,

096right? >> Yeah. >> And you might see those increases if you're offering something on an alternating schedule cuz I think cluster of kids will take, you know, one AP one year and then a different one the next year, but yeah, you those class sizes could be the same as what you're running in other areas. >> Which we, you know, sometimes we talk about unintended consequences and then you get into some unintentional tracking of kids where groups of kids are having to be placed in different classes. So, we're going to have to balance that out as well because that's not what what we want, but some of it may be necessary just to allow kids to have access to the courses they want. >> Other questions >> for administration on the president? >> question just about

097the the well wellness of staff and burnout. I think I worry about that a lot just because of who I am and and how I think, but is there a plan in place for that at all or is that to be continued? >> That's an interesting and very good question. I I think Jim and I have had these discussions I think since the referendum one of the things that I'm struggling with if I'm being completely honest is how how to lead the staff during this time when people are upset and frustrated and not to rehash everything, but we've had so much hope and positivity and optimism and success and momentum that has driven us to this point and now we took kind of a left turn and I think what what I've come to is

098it's appropriate to allow people to be sad and frustrated and upset because it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do the you rah rah, hey everything's fine, it's going to be okay when we know that a number of the people we care about and the programs we care about um are going away. So, I think right now qualitatively I can tell you that it's not great. There's people that are really sad and frustrated and they're putting on a brave face and they're doing a great job for in front of the kids every day. You saw it in here. We know these people. They're great. They're smiling, but they're hurting. And I think we need to use the the summer as that natural reset to allow people to process what's happened, and then trust that, you

099know, the team's putting together a good plan so that when we do come back together in August, um that we're ready for the push to give them everything we got. And we will. And you know, I wrote in one of my uh weekly staff updates that, you know, I appreciate Chris Wellington giving me a a history lesson and telling me we've been here before, and we'll get through it, but now is not the time to preach that to the staff because they need to be upset and sad, and that's okay. I don't know if that answered your question. I'm sorry, Don. I didn't mean to make you upset. Appreciate the questions. >> [clears throat] >> Anything else from the from the board before we move on to next item? Okay. Anything else you want to

100say before we go to No, just I mean, I appreciate all the support from the board. I want to thank the board for for all the work you've done and your support, and I want you to know this team feels that this work is really hard, and if we didn't have your support, um it it would be impossible. So, thanks for what you do for us and and allowing us to work through some tough stuff. >> Thanks for saying that, Joe. And I'm I'm just I'm struck right now to the >> [clears throat] >> I mean, to hear Mike what you shared referencing, you know, the the services at the at the high school, and then Phil talking about uh I think referencing your family's experiences as well as many other students' experience with the

101AP classes. [snorts] We had the ELL update earlier tonight, and just the the Herculean monumental task that is on the shoulders of this team to figure out how do we stare down this impossible prioritization and meet the needs of so many phenomenal young people in our in our community. So just want to echo the the appreciation that other folks have named and um name that that we're here for you. Okay, with that we've got action to take tonight to approve the final non-renewal notices. Anything else you want to say on this Joe before we >> No, just that these are three very talented dedicated people who um have given a number of years to this district and and I feel awful that we're in this position, but um it's required given our budget situation. So

102um much respect and appreciation to these folks and all they've done for kids in our community. >> Any question for administration before we take action tonight? Okay, I would entertain a motion to approve the issuance of final notices of non-renewal for the 2026-2027 school year for the professional staff as listed by administration. >> I I'm I'll make the motion, but I really want to make it with regret. I want it to be noted in there because I think um to Joe's point these are incredibly dedicated um people who've done a lot for our district who have strong relationships with colleagues and kids and it's and it matters and it sucks. >> Yeah. I'll second. >> I will also be abstaining from >> I'll second the motion with the same regrets. >> The motion by Teresa

103seconded by Phil. Noted regret. Any discussion before we vote? Okay, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed nay. Motion carries. >> [clears throat and cough] >> Okay, with that we're going to go on to informational items for tonight. Leanne, we'd love some good news. >> Yes, lift our spirits [laughter] Leanne. Take care of the adults in the room. >> Great. [laughter] >> The AP exams began last week, so that's just great news. >> [laughter] >> And they're continuing through this week. Um, last Monday was the last uh high school band concert where we celebrated the seniors for their last concert. And uh we got some solo and ensemble updates. There were six events that were nominated for the exemplary performance recognition, um which was one of the most that we have received so

104far with four high school nominations and two middle school nominations as well. Uh judges choose two performers who exceeded their expectations throughout the day. And this year one of our middle school tenor bass groups received the award. Um a little sports update is uh last week boys track won their seventh consecutive conference championship, and girls track won their third consecutive championship. And for this week's sports events, uh track has an invitational today at Darlington. Um a conference meet uh this Friday at Clinton. Um softball has a home game against East Troy tomorrow, a home double header against Delavan Darien on Thursday, and a double header against Whitewater on Friday. >> Thursday for softball is also um senior night. >> [snorts] >> So I threw that in there. >> [laughter] >> Um baseball has a game

105at Portage today, a home game at East Troy tomorrow, and then an away game against East Troy Thursday, and a home game against Platteville on Friday. Girls soccer has a home game this Thursday against Big Foot, and a home game against Dodgeville this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Uh tomorrow golf has a mini meet at Willowbrook Golf Course invite on Wednesday and a meet on Thursday. Boys tennis has a JV game in Freeport and a JV 1 and varsity game at Bigfoot tomorrow and a home match against Luther Prep on Thursday. And I think that that's also a senior night. Yes, it is. >> Nice work. >> [laughter] >> Um this week there is the Pay It Forward fundraiser, which is hosted by student senate and assisted um through John and Katie Bauman. Students have the

106opportunity to donate to local charities and that donation is taking place throughout the whole week. And in return, those donations will have a matching donation multiplied by 10 by the Baumans. So, if someone donates $10 to a charity, it'll uh be added 100 as well. And then next Wednesday will be the last choir concert of the year where the uh seniors will be celebrated. And then next week is also the seniors' last week of school. Uh next Friday they'll have their graduation rehearsal and visit the elementary schools during the school day to say goodbye and have the graduation at 6:00 p.m. And that's all I have. >> Where are the home girls soccer games? Are they at Holy Oak or >> Uh they're at the high school, I believe. >> So, Leanne, question for you.

107As a as a junior watching all these seniors go through their their last thing, are you starting to look forward to what that's going to feel like for you? >> Um yeah, a little sad, too. Like nostalgic. >> Yeah. >> Can't imagine there's anyone else up here who might be nostalgic about >> No emotion whatsoever. Thanks for the updates, Leanne. Any questions for our student representative? Compliments? >> Thank you, Leanne. I was just about to say to add that last part about the seniors. >> [laughter] >> We know. >> We got it. >> [laughter] >> No, appreciate you, Leanne. >> Thanks for the updates. All right. We've got boardmanship, administration. You want to go first? >> Well, I don't I don't I don't want to steal anyone's thunder. I have some stuff. I didn't know

108if you wanted to talk about the big news of the day. Um >> Sure. I mean, I >> [laughter] >> We Let's We can tag team this. >> And Ronald >> And then Ronald Ronald might have an opinion. Um so, uh big announcement out of the governor's office today um that uh we're not I wouldn't say crossed the finish line, but we are we are maybe on the 5-yard line mixing metaphors here, but um >> [laughter] >> but I it seems like real progress is my sense. And um in in terms of special education funding, property tax relief, which I know has been on the minds of many taxpayers in Wisconsin including in our school district. Um I think I'm I'm personally uh hopeful and cautiously and perhaps optimistic on and kind of how this

109can play out and eager to hear more on in the coming days, but also just if if you all you've had more information from last couple of hours, we'd love to hear it. >> Yeah, I'll just say uh we've been busy all day and so we started getting text messages this morning about, "Hey, did you hear about the bipartisan deal and um what this is going to mean for you guys?" And you know, I think Ron's inbox was starting to fill with people who had questions and you know, Jim, I heard you voice this a little bit ago, "What does this mean for us?" And I think the reality is it's too early to tell unless Ron has been >> It's It's too early to tell. I can give kind of a summary though of

110it. So, uh Jim, as you said, it's it's been an announcement by the governor and the the the heads of the uh assembly and the senate. And so, but they haven't taken votes on this yet. And I know there's some people on both sides of the aisle that have expressed some concerns about it. So, let's we're hopeful that it'll get approved. Uh but we we will have to watch out the next couple days. Yeah, the two components Jim kind of touched on is uh there's the tax relief side of it. So, uh as as we've talked about a lot since uh our annual meeting and including during the whole referendum season, um you know, this this last year there was an increase in uh the revenue limit, however, there was no increase in state aid.

111And so, across the state, including in the Minnetonka School District, uh it it it led to increased tax rates. And so, um they're going to be addressing some of that by um I believe I saw a $300 per individual, $600 per uh couple, um you know, tax reduction check coming back to people uh because there there wasn't that aid in place uh for this year. And then, they made they're going to make an appropriation to the uh state aid formula, the general equalization aid formula for next year. A lot of the questions I had that I've been clarifying is you know, they're not changing the revenue limit. So, this isn't new dollars coming to the district. What this is is the revenue limit uh limits the combination of uh state aid, state equalization aid, and

112property taxes. So, by putting more aid into the formula, it will reduce property taxes, but it's not additional dollars for the school to use or to operate with. So, that's the first half of the equation. Second [snorts] half is the uh uh special ed ed- education aid, uh which, you know, we we were excited and endorsed last year when uh they made they made the announcement of the raise to 42% for for uh uh 25-26, and then we were quickly uh, alarmed because it wasn't on some certain amount or wasn't at some sufficient amount. It was at some certain it was a set dollar amount and reality was it was only going to pay 35%. Um, me being a pessimist, I'd hedged a little bit below not thinking we'd get the full 42, but many

113districts budgeted expecting they were going to get the full 42 and so, um, that left yet another new hole in their budget. And so, uh, part of, uh, the proposal would be to make sure that that gets to the 42% this year. Uh, so that's a good thing. And then actually for next year, um, they're projecting that they'll be able to get it to 50%. And so, that's that's a great thing. So, using rough math cuz I think I used like 40% this year cuz I wasn't optimistic we're going to get to 42. You know, when you go from 40% to 50%, that's actually a 20% increase. And we have a little over $2 million in special ed aid and so, when you take 20%, that's uh, potentially another $400,000 coming to the district. So,

114uh, we need to see the specifics and we need to get it across the finish line, but certainly that's a that's a a step in the right direction and a helpful thing when we knew that even after all these reductions, we had a plan that said we likely would have to make continue to make reductions and so that that'll go some way to help alleviate some of that. >> Any, uh, Is this ready to go to the floor for a vote or is it going to go to your committee? >> [clears throat] >> My understanding is they're taking it straight to the floor, uh, I believe to the assembly tomorrow and the Senate the following day. Um, >> [cough] >> again, I was in I was running today so I haven't read a lot about

115it. >> We're just happy to have Ron back. Don't put too much pressure on him right now. >> He's catching up. He's catching up on all the new stuff. >> Uh, we typically don't have a ton of discussion in the the admin boardmanship that given feels like pretty big news today. The folks have questions or >> Uh so I was actually lucky enough to run into the Lieutenant Governor today, and Monroe, and she was very optimistic for this and what it'll do for schools, daycare, just early childhood and students coming up through the system. So, that was positive to hear. >> Yeah, because [clears throat] there was other pieces of that, too, that Ron didn't mention, but it was >> No, there's there's like a small portion for the tax relief that applies toward the

116tech ed schools as well. And yeah, there's other little bits and pieces that >> [cough] >> they they didn't highlight in the article, and I haven't seen the full summary of the bill yet, so. >> Awesome. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> Couple of things from from my end on the board membership side, we just wanted to say thank you to folks from the board for weighing in to give you a perspective on committee interest. I sent out a draft. I think I folks have had enough time now to kind of like let me know if if you want something else. I'll send out a final kind of committee list tomorrow morning. I made a couple mistakes there, so thank you folks for catching those. Um and then the only other thing I was going to

117the communications that we've or sorry, I'll get to correspondence next. >> Do you have anything? >> I have a list of things, but I don't want to steal the thunder. I'd imagine there's some board members that want to talk about some pretty cool things that have happened recently. So, if we don't hit them all, I'll catch them at the end. >> Okay. Great. So, board of ed correspondence, we received a few different notes, kind of especially from students at the high school. So, just wanted to name that we've responded to to to all the ones that we've received and work with the administration to to kind of navigate that. Next, we'll go to committee reports. And I guess maybe just a a note on this. Um So, this section of the agenda is typically where

118you're you're giving an update from any committee that you've been a part of or or chair, but I think it's also just been a spot where folks can kind of share maybe a highlight that they've seen or kind of something special from So I think we could probably expand this from committee reports to committee reports and >> Cool. >> Good positive good yeah good news updates, so Caleb, any >> I don't have anything to add at this time. >> Okay. >> No. >> Um probably a finance committee meeting or prior to the second board meeting. >> Yeah, it's uh the last I heard was that potentially Thursday, May 28th, uh we [snorts] would have a finance and a second special board meeting. >> so we don't have a second meeting scheduled in May due to

119the holiday, but we given my evaluation process, I think we've got it sketched out that potentially there's going to be a special board meeting on Thursday, May 28th pending working through schedules, and if that's the case, we were thinking that combine finance, so you could get >> Well, the finance committee is committed, so we'll meet on Memorial Day. >> All right. Great. >> [laughter] >> I like your energy, Phil. >> So we'll go with the 28th. >> Okay. Thank you. Might have to take that into a vote, though. >> [laughter] >> Cheers. >> Uh cur- uh curriculum met tonight. Thank you, Jim, for heading that [laughter] up, and we got an update from the ELO program and the progress that they've made in their plans for next year. Um let's say Nicole and I had

120a chance last week to hand out scholarships to uh the graduating seniors, and there was I think it was 81 seniors who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. It's amazing. >> 2,000, I think. >> It was over 300. I didn't know exactly, but it was incredible. It's just a reminder of how amazing our kids are, but also our community and and the faith and the belief they have in our kids that they're willing to support them like that. Um tonight we had the open house at the the housing cooperative. Um so the student this house that the student built. Um it's a beautiful home if you got to have a chance to see it. It was a study full of people all night and I think what was most cool for me is

121the kids were just proud and excited each one of them we could talk about like what was their favorite thing. No one liked painting. They all hated painting. >> I love painting. >> No, they all hated painting. So we won't talk about that. >> [laughter] >> Um but it just the pride and the excitement they had was was fantastic. Um and I'll mention next Wednesday is the launch um open house. So the launch program's at the high school 4:00 to 5:30. Um the launch yeah, so all the other presentations will be at the high school in the M room, I believe. I just maybe just let you all know I've been to a lot of track meets and the track team is doing fantastic both the boys and the girls are um doing a really

122great job. It's been fun to watch them. >> Thank you. All right. Down to the north. Melissa, what do you got? >> I we had a great post prom event. Um so thank you to the community for all of your donations and the kids left happy with lots of goodies which was exciting. >> Um last Friday I had the privilege of hosting some kids from the high school came out to the [clears throat] fairgrounds and spent the morning doing a lot of different tasks and I must say that they did a lot they got a lot of work done in a short amount of time. And but I am glad that they no longer put lead in paint. >> [laughter] >> But they had a the kids seem to have a good time too, so.

123>> Can I just jump in So, So was one of the things. Day of Service was last Friday. It was a beautiful day. We had a sea of purple going out into the community. Um our kids are so incredible in terms of their energy and enthusiasm, and they're going out to do hard work, and they were all laughing and smiling, and I was able to get out and see a few of the teams, and they were working, and uh and they loved every every minute of it, and so it just thankful to the Bowmans again for their support. Um it's a great tradition that's been in place for a number of years now, and um it's a it's a great way for the kids to give back to the community that does so much for

124them. >> Um EIE was able to have a meeting to select the um grant recipients, which we all saw. Um that was so fun to hear um those presentations. We were definitely hanging out for a few hours. >> Yeah, it's a [clears throat] long day. >> I would just like >> I just like to add that I When you guys asked me to be the EIE liaison, you didn't tell me the first meeting was 5 and 1/2 hours long. >> [laughter] >> Sorry to kill it. >> Too late. >> I was very confused when I got the first meeting invite of like uh I think I called Melissa. I was like, "I don't think this is right." She's like, "No, Fitz right." >> [laughter] >> They're not all like >> And you're in. >> You

125got like half a Jimmy John sandwich and that >> [laughter] >> Sorry to interrupt. >> Um also [clears throat] um tennis, the boys team um is ranked number 10 in the state for Division Two, um which is the first time they've ever um had that ranking in the 9 years of Coach Boardner, so they're kind of out there crushing it. >> That's awesome. Awesome. >> Um well, I just want to say thank you to it sounds like uh everyone on the board is is giving a lot of your your time and energy and evenings to um go [clears throat] beyond the the kind kind every other Monday Call of Duty. So, appreciate you all. Um nothing else for me to add on the community report side. Um All right, we've got uh any agenda items

126for future discussion that folks want to [snorts] want us to come back to in the future. Okay. Liaison reports. >> Next EAA meeting is the 19th of May. >> Um I guess connected to committees and liaison reports, how how soon do we need to assemble for the MEA and MAS >> Negotiations, [clears throat] yeah. >> We have an anchor meeting on Thursday. Um we'll know more after that. We'll we'll keep you updated once we get that information. I would I would assume that's going to be coming up pretty quickly. >> Okay. Great. All right, we've got 5 [clears throat] minutes for the press to ask questions. Not here tonight. Keep rolling. Next up, we've got closed session for tonight. Um so, we've got uh we're talking administration evaluations and compensation. Um so, I would look

127for a motion at >> We've got >> 8:45 p.m. >> [clears throat] >> So moved. >> Motion by Phil. >> Second by Mike Davis. >> Mike, we're not or sorry, Jim, we're not going back We're not coming back into open so, we'll leave after like we'll adjourn >> Sure. Yeah, we'll adjourn out of closed. Uh so, adjourn into closed Sorry, motion by >> Phil, second by Mike Davis. Um >> [clears throat] >> to adjourn into closed session per Wisconsin statute 19.85 1 C. We we've got to call >> Roll call vote. >> Roll call Sorry, any discussion before we vote? Nicole, please call the roll. >> Um so, Caleb, you start. it's roll call vote to go into close session, um, yes or no. >> Yes. >> Tim Curran. >> Yes. >> Mike Davis. Nicole

128Joseph's, yes. Melissa Phillips. >> Yes. >> Teresa Keen. >> Yes. >> Steve Mayer. >> Yes. >> Terry Montgomery is absent. Phil Lasberg. >> Yes. >> Motion carries and with that we will be proceeding closed. >> Thanks, guys. Peace, everybody. >> I want to point out 45 was better than 40. >> That was going to be my next >> I don't know about the IE and all that but >> You either go back door or you're right or something.