Board of Education Regular Meeting - April 13, 2026

001Never mind. You are They all kind of sell. All right. >> Got 7 o'clock Central Standard Time. Going to call the Monday, April 13th regular Board of Education meeting to order. Nikki, please call the role. >> Nikki Austin, present. Jim Curran, >> present. >> Mike Davis, >> present. >> Nicole Joseph, >> okay. >> Mike Process, >> present. >> Uh, Tracy Keane, >> present. >> Steve Mayor, Terry Montgomery, >> Bill Vasper. >> All right, we've got a quorum and we are officially in session tonight. Um, hope all the board members have had a chance to check out the agenda. Ask for a motion to approve our agenda for today. You're welcome. I'll second. >> You got Teresa. Motion second by Mike Davis. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. I. >> I. Nay. >> All

002right. We're all set. So, I want to uh just say a couple words before we kick things off tonight. Um in my second year of teaching, I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, and I got to hear I was lucky, very fortunate that I got to hear um Maya Angelo speak at Arizona State University. And one of her kind of themes of that speech was this idea of rainbow in the clouds. And I'm no I'm no poet, but she certainly is. And I know it's been a tough week for a lot of people. I think we also might have a storm coming in at some point here tonight. So maybe the metaphor works uh in that way, too. But um I I guess I need to say this out loud for myself given some of the

003the backdrop of challenging things going on um in our community and beyond. uh that it feels really good to be able to celebrate uh the the beauty uh and and the good uh within Monroe tonight. So, I want to say thank you to everybody for for making the time and and for all that you've done uh to help make the next kind of 20 30 minutes of our evening what it what it will be. Uh, and so I guess I'm saying this out loud to myself, but for my fellow board members, um, you know, we get to how we carry ourselves tonight and beyond is the the opportunity to be kind of a rainbow in a in the clouds. And I ask that we that we do that. So with that, we'll do our student

004excellence awards. We got a couple from Why don't we start with our February from from Abe Lincoln, then we'll go to March starting with Abe Northside Parkside Middle School High School. >> Sounds great. Pier Navo is our student of the month. Pull it up. Kind of stand like this because the camera's in that direction. Okay. All right. Vera is our student of the month and we are excited to celebrate her. Um when I think about Vera and all the work that she does at Abe, I just think um she's amazing for several reasons which m Mr. demyer we'll talk about but one of the reasons she's so efficient and effective in what she does um one small example of that is she was assigned she is safety patrol she does a lot of different duties

005at a to help our school run smoothly and um sometimes the secretaries have a hard time finding work for you to do right >> because she gets all of her tasks done and she's like what's next how can I help and um I think of you doing that in that position but probably also in the classroom. Mr. Nemire, can you tell us why you chose her as student of the month? >> Yeah, I mean, Ellie's Sorry. Sorry, Ellie. Ver, that's only happened a couple times this year. Uh, Vera has always been on my radar for student of the month. Like, just the sweetest kid. Like, that's a given. And like it was a moment I want to say a couple weeks ago, maybe two or three weeks ago, she was working with another student and

006just how kind and how patient and how thoughtful she was with that student really meant a lot. And like you obviously go above and beyond, but that moment really sealed it for me. It was just the sweetest. Um, speaking of safety patrol and I was talking about switching up the jobs and the office ladies overheard it and they like yelled at me that you were not to be moved. Just a heads up. But so some things that your classmates said about you like there were just so many like uh very kind, smart, funny. But really what stuck out to me was the number of kids that wrote if someone's not doing okay or someone needs help or like they're not feeling great that day, you go and check on them. And at least half the

007class wrote that. So, like they see that and that really means a lot. Um, you know, super funny. Um, let me scroll through my list. There's a lot. So, um, but like the one that stuck out said, "You're my bestest bestie and my ride or die best friend." Like, you mean a lot to these kids. And like I said, it's not usual that kid that many kids put like if I'm not doing okay, she'll come and check on me. And that's just huge for a kid your age and just shows your character and who you are. So proud of you. >> Hi, I'm Mike Davis from Education. Uh congratulations. Uh very very welld deserved from everything that we hear and just keep on doing that. Uh sounds like you're going to have a real real

008good future ahead of you. So here is a certificate and then a gift card from Barnes & Noble. Okay. Congrat. >> All right. Our March student of the month that we're celebrating tonight is um Aspen Corning. Come on up, Aspen. Aspen is a third grader at Abe Lincoln and it's not common that we nominate third graders, so she's already um exceeding in that area. Um one thing, one word that describes Aspen I would say is compassionate. So most siblings who enter the school split the moment that they enter through the door. They want nothing to do with them and they only want to see their friends. But you made sure and I saw it again this morning that your sister gets to where she needs to be. Right, Gracelyn? And she even was gave her

009a big hug and sent her off. And so your kindness and your compassion um really stand out to me, Aspen. And that's the type of leaders that we want to aid. So, thank you for being that person. >> So, I had to write this down because I'm very excited that I Aspen's up here. I am so proud to nominate Aspen that she's up here because she is the most incredibly positive, uplifting individual in our school community. Every single day, she brings an energy that is both genuine and very contagious. Aspen is a full-time cheerleader and supporter in every sense of the word. She celebrates the successes of others as if they were her own and offers encouragement when someone is struggling no matter how busy you are. Um she's always find time to check in

010on friends, offer a kind word or lend a helping hand. Her persistence is truly inspiring when faced with challenges. She never gives up. Instead, she approaches obstacles and determinations with resilience um in a belief that hard work, kindness, positivity will get you where you need to go. She continuously pushes herself to improve while also motivating um people around her to do the same. Aspen leads by example example showing that strength comes from kindness and success even sweeter when shared with others. For those reasons and so many more, Aspen is so deserving of this award and I'm just so proud of you. Hi, Aspen. >> I'm Steve from the school board and I'm so happy that the nice words that your teacher and principal had to say about you and the biggest one was kind. I

011mean, if you can be kind, we all need more kindness in this world right now. So, whatever you choose to do in life, you're going to be successful. You you stay kind. Um, I've got a certificate and a um a gift card for Barnes & Noble for you. So, congratulations. Right. I'm excited to announce North Side student of the month is Ray Kubli. He's also a third grader. So I think third graders are really this is a strong class of leaders coming up through. I think the one thing um the behaviors the plan that we talk about a lot at Northside is our proud behaviors, right? We always um and each letter stands for different things, but the D in proud is do what's right. And I would say that that is the behavior that

012Rey exhibits all the time. He is always doing what's right whether you're watching, whether you're not. He is an example for all all third graders and all students really at North Side. Um and just I wish we had more students like you, Ray, because you just you make it easy to come to school every day. That's for sure. Mr. Tim was gonna say a lot more about that. >> Yeah. So, kind of going off of what Mrs. R said, um he comes to school every single day with like a positive attitude. um he's wanting to learn and he's wanting to be challenged. Um but he always has a smile on his face and he's up for anything. Um and specifically this year about halfway through the year, we had a new student that joined our

013class. Um and without any hesitation, without anybody asking him, he really kind of took him under his wing. Um helped him at lunch, at recess, in our classroom. um just making sure that he's felt welcomed and he's continued that through the rest of the um year and kind of like what Mr. said, he's somebody that whether somebody's watching or not, he's going to do what's right or maybe it's not what everybody else is doing, but if it's the right thing, he still um makes that choice. So, we're super excited because he's very very deserving to be our student of the month. So, Here I am over here school board. How are you? >> So great job. Your teacher principal talked about, you know, doing the right thing, setting a great example, wanting to learn, and

014helping out your friends and and fellow students. So keep that up. That'll serve you well. And we're very proud of you. So to commemorate tonight, we have a certificate and a Barnes & Noble gift card for you. Congratulations. Good job. Good evening everyone. I'm excited to be here tonight with Carissa Johnson. She's a fifth grader at Parkside. Uh and when we get to recognize amazing fifth graders like Cararissa, it's exciting to be able to have that opportunity. as the elementary school before we send them off to the middle school. Um, but she is one that is incredibly incredibly talented in so many ways. She's involved in school activities. She's involved in community activities. She's a natural leader. She smiles like that each and every day. Uh, she's an easy classmate to follow. Um, she carries

015herself in a way that others want to be around her. They want to do what she's doing because they know if Carissa's doing it, it must be the right thing to do. Um, and Carissa, she leads so kindly and so caring and really is genuine when she checks on her peers. Um, and not only peers, but Carissa has a way of engaging and supporting adults as well. She's someone that walks through the hall and you say, "Hi, hi. How's it going? How's it going?" And Chris is like, "How's your day going?" And she truly genuinely cares about all the kids and the adults around her. And she really wants to make sure that everyone's doing well. And if there's something she can do to support her classmates or adults, she will surely do that. Chris,

016I'm excited for you to move on to the middle school and check out all those cool clubs and opportunities they have. You will love it. We will miss you, but you will love it. And I know you'll do amazing things in a middle school and beyond. So, congratulations, CARISSA. >> HI, I'm with the board of education. I am so proud to present you this award tonight. Sounds like you're doing amazing things. You're an incredible leader and friend and everybody needs more of that. And so, thank you for all that you're doing to make your school better every day. Here's a certificate and a gift card from Barnes & Noble. And thank you so very much for all you're doing. Have a GREAT The Monroe Middle School is uh excited to uh present our student of

017the month to Josh Croll. He's an eighth grader uh and an amazing kid. Academically, uh socially, he's a leader. Actually, artistically, I'm going to talk about that a little bit. He was just nominated for the oh wait for it Monroe Women's Club Helen Farnsworth Mir's art competition with a 2D watercolor of some shoes and I've heard it's amazing and he also when we were talking about this award he won um he's also written some story boards with his friends for a comic that's going to be hopefully featured in our upcoming uh student newsletter called Do you remember what it's called? uh the comic or the >> the whole thing. The curd's the word. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> We're heavy in cheese over there. >> Um the what I really love about Josh is he's got

018some real critical thinking skills. Sometimes at the middle school level for us boys, it doesn't always click right away. We were talking about his comic and he said it's really good. We got a really nice start. So me and my friends have been working really hard on that, but we're only going to be able to share the first part of that cuz that's the part that can go in the school newspaper. And I said, "Buddy, I really appreciate you thinking about that for me because I have many of many of kids I wouldn't think beyond just because they want to do it. Um, but considering what's appropriate for school, too. So, congratulations on your win." Miss Burke and Miss Mcguire are going to talk. They both have had the pleasure of having him in science

019class. >> So, as Mr. Brown mentioned, we focus on cheese a lot at the middle school and um that stands for character, hard work, excellence, empathy, safe choices, and engaged learners. and Josh definitely exhibits most of those uh every day. And so I'm gonna speak on character and hard work. In science class, we recently learned about inheritance, how traits pass from parent to offspring. And we had a simple practice assignment and Josh consistently is always putting his best effort in, even if it is practice, but it is practice up to the actual graded event. And so he had to make a snowman uh based on some traits that he determined. And where his peers and classmates were making wonderful snowman, simple circle and lines and whatnot, he went above and beyond and really put a

020lot of detail and extra effort into that. And so that is Josh putting that extra um work into his assignments. I think we saw that too. We did a passion project at the beginning of the year and I think your project is one like for the records of like nearly college level research on your brain and stuff that's really going to help you. Like I hope you took a lot from that because you just look at it and you're like, "Wow, like an eighth grader did this." Like it it was really cool. Um it also made it very hard to lose you to Mrs. Burke to the point of like like let's arm wrestle to figure out who's going to get Josh in class because you are also a person that you notice when you're

021gone. Like because Josh is always doing the right thing. Like on a day where you're gone or as soon as you moved over to Mrs. Burke's room, you're just like, "Oh, like where like where is Josh?" and you don't have that like person who's just constantly keeping everybody around them calm or in check or doing the right thing. Like you are such a positive influence on your peers. And I think that shows with your friendships too. Like when we see you in the hallway, you are a really good friend and empathetic to the people around you to the point where like they search you out. They look for you and they really want to like listen and hear what you have to say about things. So good job. Hi, Josh. I'm Terry McGomery from the

022Board of Education. How are you tonight? >> Good. >> Did you know you were going to be meeting me tonight? >> Emma's grandma. >> Okay. So, all those wonderful things they said about you, those are all great characteristics and they're characteristics that I want in someone that wants to date my granddaughter. so far in this world because those characteristics will >> it will take you everywhere. Okay. So, congratulations and I'm sorry to embarrass you for tonight's recognition. And then you also have this Barnes & Nobles gift card which I know you'll put to good use. >> Thank you. You're welcome. had an extra gift card for >> Terry. I'm not sure we can top um Monroe High School is proud to announce freshman Mickey Andrews um receiving student of the month. And that is I've

023been doing this for a while now. I don't remember ever a freshman being even nominated, let alone um picked for student of the month. And what I can say about Mickey is she's not a typical freshman. She's someone who in the hallways she's smiling. She makes eye contact. She says hello. She engages you. She talks with you. You're just more mature, I think, um than a lot of other freshmen who try to keep their head down and blend in. I don't know if parents would say that or not, but she's she's pretty pretty mature. Um when we surprised her in class um that she was student of the month, she said, "Oh, I got that last year, too." And I'm like, "Oh, like I probably should have remembered that. But I'm getting old. So, sorry.

024Um, but I I'll let Miss Bur talk about why she nominated you. >> Absolutely. Uh, despite teaching for eight hours a day, I get really excited about these things, too. So, I also have a script. Um, many of you are already familiar with Mickey. She's made headlines this year in our local newspaper, uh, based on her outstanding performance with our co-op hockey team, the Jainsville Bluebirds. She's actually been mentioned in multiple newspapers, and her coaches have spoken very, very highly of her this year um, for her great leadership skills. So, don't take my word for it. There's coaches out there that agree with me on this as well as our principal obviously. Um, but Mickey's more than a strong athlete. I had the pleasure of having Mickey in my geometry class first trimester and from

025day one she was just different. I mean her she came into high school with the ability to not only advocate for herself but also for her peers. I think I was most blown away within the first I think it was like the first two or three weeks. We do a lot of group work in high school math. And instead of working with her group and them going, "Oh, what'd you get for this?" and her just giving an answer like a lot of kids will do, she started by asking leading questions. Well, what did you start with? Well, what do you already know? She already has a handle on teacher skills that I myself am still developing as an educator. And I think it's really cool to see that not just in a high school student,

026but as Mr. Jackson said, a freshman. um she truly just blows me away with her maturity and the things that she can do. And as a fellow forer, I'm sure some of it comes from that. But wherever it came from, I'm I'm very glad to have it in my classroom. Um unfortunately, I did lose Mickey second and third trimester uh to my other co-math teachers. However, when I talk to them about Mickey, when I go in and chat about how their classes are going, they said the same thing I did. She is a bright spot in our classroom. She's keeping us smiling. She keeps other kids accountable. She's supportive. Um she doesn't just sit in the classroom. She makes the classroom a community, which as many people have talked about here tonight, we need more

027of in the world. Um her kind spirit is so so appreciated. Um and so she makes a great athlete, a great student, a compassionate community member, and she really truly embodies the cheesemaker spirit and what it means to be a cheesemaker in our community. So, I'm very very excited um that we can award you tonight the student of the month because as a freshman, if you're doing great things now, I can't wait to see what you do in the future. >> This feels very familiar. >> Yeah, >> I don't think it's been six months. Um, you know, everything that they said. Absolutely. I mean, I know you're probably a little better than than than some of the others, but um athlete, high honor student, right? Um volunteer. She's just she's she's a fantastic friend. U

028she's great at at everything she does at 4. So, um, brave, you know, we talked about last time, you know, the only student in my, um, career on the board that that actually came to a board meeting and advocated for something she was very passionate about. And, uh, of course, that is athletics and and because of that, she's able to play the the women's hockey. So, um, congratulations on another certificate. It's welld deserved. It's unheard of, not only a repeat, but for a freshman. So, um, a certificate to, uh, honor this evening and another gift card. So, thank you. >> All right. I'm not very good at speaking without notes, so I had to write all the good things that I have to say about Sarah. Today, it is my honor to recognize Sarah Warren,

029who truly represents the very best of North Side and our district. This u month staff member of the month is not only just an outstanding educator, but an incredible person and an asset to every team and every student she serves. Sarah is a longtime Northside staff member and a leader of our special education team. She models exactly what we hope all special education teachers strive to be. Student- centered, flexible, compassionate, and relentlessly committed to growth. This year, in particular, whether she liked it or not, she has challenged herself to step outside of her comfort zone, working with students with a wide range of needs. No matter the situation, she approaches each student with patience, skill, and an unwavering belief in their potential. What truly sets Sarah apart is her ability to handle anything that comes

030her way with grace and calm. Whether it's a complex student need, a sudden change, or a problem to solve, she consistently responds with a positive solution focused mindset. It's really it's to be admired. She doesn't just identify challenges. She works tirelessly to find ways forward. Sarah is also an exceptional collaborator. She's a strong voice in district grade level teams, bringing a unique vertical understanding of curriculum and content that strengthens our work across levels. No matter which grade level team she partners with, she becomes an integral part of that team, supporting not just her students, but all students in the grade. In addition, Sarah serves as a mentor to new staff, helping them feel supported, confident, and successful as they begin their special ed journey at North Side. She shares ideas, welcomes feedback, and truly believes

031that we are better when we work together. Her colleagues respect her deeply, not only for her knowledge and dedification, but because she leads by example every single day. She is someone people turn to, someone people trust, and someone who makes everyone around her better. And you can see that by the amount of people from North Side that came in all grade levels to support and celebrate Sarah. Simply put, Sarah is not only an asset to the special education team, she is an asset to our entire building, our district, and the entire Monroe community. Please join me in celebrating our staff member of the month, Sarah War, >> Sarah. >> Hi. Uh, congratulations on being the strongest member of the MHS class of 2001 in the room today. >> I feel really blessed to be able

032to give give you this. >> Pretty awesome. >> It is pretty awesome. Um, >> and I I I think all the adjectives that um that Nicole mentioned hold true for me even when you were 16 years old like grace and calm. Um, and I think what's even more inspiring for me, uh, is to think when I first moved back to to Monroe with with my family. I didn't really get to know you as a teacher. I mean, I knew you as a classmate back in the day, but I got to know you as a mom and as a as a community member, a community leader. And you just you set the bar and model, I think, what it means to be a good relative and a good uh community member and a good parent at

033the same time, which uh, I think, as many of us know, is really, really hard to juggle. And so I just want to say thank you for inspiring me for what that can look like alto together and um thanks for being a phenomenal teacher at the same time. And we've got a tradition where the award winner has to sing a song and so congratulations. You got to apply PROTE Thank you. This means so much um for all the kind words from both of you. It is pretty awesome to get this award from you, Jim. Um, it is impossible to do this job without the incredible teams of people that I work with every day. Um, my special ed team that I um collaborate with daily is my lifesaver and our collaboration and brainstorming helps me

034so much and honestly just keeps me sane. Um, I work in third grade this year, but any I've been third, fourth, and fifth grade. In every grade level I've been in, the regular education teachers make it possible to do my job. They're accepting of students in their classroom, willing to work with me, following through on plans to make sure kids are successful, and that's why we're doing so well. Um, and I love everyone that I work with. So, I have I just thought I'd share some numbers. I think it's kind of interesting. I have 11 students on my case load this year in third grade and every day it takes eight support staff to help me make sure I meet the kids needs every day. So there's no way I do my job without those

035eight people. And then there's six related service professionals that are working with those same students all throughout the day every day. And then my amazing school psychologist Jess who is juggling everything at school constantly um steps in in a moment's notice all the time. Um, I've had the best principles, Amy, all the support over the years. And now Nicole, like in the last two years have been the most challenging years of my career. Um, and I'm still teaching and coming to school every day because of them. Because this has been a very hard year. And I could have given up, but honestly, Nicole has come in and sat at my table and said, "How can we help? I thought of this last night. Let's make this change. This is what I thought of. Let me

036support you." and let's rearrange this whole room and figure it out so it works. So, like I appreciate this so much, but it takes so many people to to meet the needs of our kids. And it feels really weird getting this award tonight, but I just wanted to give credit to everyone that helps make this our school so great. And I love working here and I'm so proud to to represent North Side. So, thank you so much. Thank you for all you do for kids. >> Students of the month. If you guys want to come to stand up here. You guys can come in front. Thank you. >> I also I need to say this. My amazing family. I have so many say been a rough ride home. pausing for a second because normally folks

037transition at this time but if you are here to stay for the duration of the meeting we would love to have you. >> Hi guys. Thank you for coming. You can sit next to me. >> My dog is Oh my god. >> All right, we've got >> one more recognition item tonight. We got a couple of uh retiring school board members to honor. I'm gonna turn it over to Joe to kick this segment off. >> Yeah. So, I mean, great to to have such an incredible celebration of students and staff and um really what we want to do is continue a little bit of that by honoring two board members that are going to be rolling off the board um at at our next meeting. Uh both Nikki Austin and and Mike Frostth will be

038uh leaving us and um while we're happy they're going to uh reclaim their Monday nights. Um they will be uh sadly missed. And I don't just say that because both of these people have been uh incredible board members. Uh I'll start with Mike. Um you know, I think I could read the notes, but I I think it's more important just to kind of speak to to who Mike is and what he's meant to us. Mike's a guy that came onto the board um asked a ton of questions and that's not even that doesn't even accurately capture the number of questions that Mike has asked over the last three years. Uh I think Mike came onto the board really with a strong desire to make sure that all segments of our community are appropriately represented and

039honored. Um, and I don't know that there was a a meeting that we had where Mike didn't take the time to ask questions. Even though Mike very well knew the answer, he absolutely wanted to ask the question so it would ensure that there was an open dialogue for the benefit of the community. And um, people have heard me say this far too many times, but I think it it's important to say it again. I believe that the dynamic of the school board changed when Mike came on the school board along with Jim and they would have dialogue and they would disagree about things on both ends of the table and it really kind of gave the the board permission to have the debate, have the discussion, object to things that people were saying, but do

040it in a very kind, compassionate, civil way that has led us to this discourse that I don't think you often fine on school boards, certainly not on school boards today. Um, and so as I think of Mike's time on the board, I will always remember him as a guy that wanted to do what's best for the community, cares deeply about students, families, and staff. Um, and has worked really hard to make sure that every single day he lives up to that that responsibility boarding. So, I appreciate you, Mike. Thank you. Um, so what we'll do now is just kind of open up to board members to if there's anything that other folks want to want to share just to recognize. You got a gift plate. >> Um, you didn't. >> Now Jim wants to roll

041off the board. >> I need someone else to disagree with. But no, I I want to just say a couple words. I do think um I think Mike you you came on to the board at a really important time for the district and to think of what is true now compared to uh three years ago. Um, I mean, the the biggest thing that I think about is the the high school is, you know, just about done. And, um, I think you you brought far more to the board than you think in a lot of different realms, but for sure, I think when it came to the construction of the new high school, I had so much more confidence in us as an overall entity because I felt like I was able to rely on you

042both to ask questions and lift up things that it seemed like sometimes, you know, other members of the project weren't thinking about or weren't thinking about yet. And so I just I feel a lot smarter and more rigorous from your partnership on the board. Um and so I just want to thanks for your friendship and thanks for your service. >> No pressure to folks. We don't have to go down the line or anything, but want to open it up. Yeah. >> Thank you to Mike too. I appreciate it. all your background knowledge on buildings and construction and that was very very helpful during this difficult time of building the building and we were on the committee together to hire the owners forget the name of it >> owners rep >> thank you owners rep and

043you were very um insightful and helpful in the selection of that person but you always did ask questions um that got us talking and discussing about things that we needed to have a discussion out loud about. So, thank you. >> I'll just say thank you, Mike, for your service. Your inquisitive nature is is just I think been really healthy for the board. So, thank you. >> I kind of echo thank you. Thank you for coming on to the board and asking thoughtful, meaningful questions. I agree with Jim. like it was really um it felt really good to have someone who had such great um construction background as we were looking at the new high school and all that you've offered to that. So very very appreciative and and grateful. So thank you. >> Yeah, I

044agree. I mean everything they've already said. Appreciate the time and and your expertise while you serve. >> And I'm the same way. >> Get to the end. That's why we went first. Mike, >> the one the one thing that uh I really appreciated though was it seemed that somewhere in the whole program, you always took time out to say thank you to the people that were retiring uh resigning. You made a uh really a special point of doing that. And I think that that was critical. That's what's going to stand out to me from you along with all the other good stuff. But but no, it was a great job and we are definitely going to miss you. No question. >> You've done a great job, Mike, and as a friend and associate. I couldn't

045have asked for any better mentor than you to sit beside. So, I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Thank you all. >> Um, if I can have a couple words. U, you know, Nikki and I chose to to come into the board at a not you were here. Terry and I chose to come into the board at a a very u you know hard time. We had just passed the referendum. The community was very divided. They they felt that that you know the the district had had misled them. And um I I joined to make sure that the district was, you know, good stewards of the funds and and got the best that we could um with with the new high school construction and and those funds and push for transparency and open honest dialogue. And

046I truly believe in in what I like to call constructive conflict. So um challenging with respect and um I'm very proud of of everything we've done as a board and everything we've navigated. uh but also very uh excited to see the new board members who have both been attending every single meeting for the last what two two months. So it's um you know happy to see your faces here again tonight and and congratulations to both of you and please uh carry on challenging respectfully and and don't accept everything as as perfect because um it's it's not always perfect, right? We we need to have the open honest dialogue and we need to ask those questions that we already know the answer to because the people watching don't always know the answers. Um and they want

047to hear it from us and and they want to feel confident that they're hearing from the district and the board what's going on. So thanks. >> All right. Now let's turn our attention to Nikki. Um nine years. It seems longer than that. Nikki, >> it does. Thanks, Joe. >> Listen, I'll tell you how I feel about you in a minute here, but I I I do think it's worth saying that, you know, while it's been nine years, there's a lot that's happened over that those nine years. Is that fair? >> That's fair. >> That's why it feels so long. Um, and I would say, you know, we've had the the great benefit of having an incredible uh board, great board members. you to me have kind of always been the rock that's kind of steadied

048us and um whether we're in good times or bad uh controversy or celebration um you've always been a person that's provided a strong voice and um I think of all the things that you've done, all the roles you've served on this board, for those of you that don't know, if there's a job that is necessary on the board and no one wants to do, Nikki's usually the one that would take that responsibility. whether it be, you know, a CISA 2 rep or a variety of other things, Nikki always said yes in the best interest of the board, uh, the school district, the community because that's who she is. If you know Nikki Austin, you know that she is a servant to her community. Um, I've never met anyone that I think is as invested in

049her community and wants what's best for uh, Monroe and kids and families uh, as Nikki does. And I think that speaks to who you are and your character. Um, and I will just say I wouldn't I wouldn't have taken this job if it weren't for Nikki being on the board because Nikki gave me um a level of confidence that we had steady leadership here. Um, and so I just wanted to say thanks. I appreciate you. >> Um, we can we can switch the order up this time if you want to. >> Certainly. Uh yeah, Nikki, my my three years here, obviously, you know, as with everybody on the board, we've we've had our debates and differences and and I've appreciated every single one, right? And I think you do bring a lot to the board.

050And as Joe said, if if you're out in the community somewhere where there's volunteering and you haven't seen Nikki, you you haven't looked because she's there always. Always. I I think there's rarely a event that I've gone to at the school that that is board related that that you haven't been there whether doing board activities or just to be there. So, thank you for your dedication to the the district and and to the community and I'm sure you're going to carry that on, but it's it's very much appreciated. >> I'll go next. I guess >> Well, I appreciate you being on the board, Nikki. I mean, it's it's been obvious to me in the past year that, you know, you always want to do the right thing and um you are you are so connected

051to this community. You love this community and you want the best for this school district and um that's been obvious to me from day one. So, >> thank you. >> You're going to be missed. >> Yeah, I would agree with that. And the thing that I liked was the common sense. A lot of that that uh that you would bring and sitting right here, I could cheat a little bit and just kind of, you know, ask about this and this, you know, and it was always, you know, it was very good, very good dialogue. Uh I really appreciated your mentoring and and things like that. And um you know, it's just happy that you're going to be able to spend a little more time at your cabin up north. Um >> I don't have one.

052Yes, we do. It's on Monro Sylvester Road. >> It's a nice neighborhood. >> It's a great neighborhood. >> And if I see a fire going on that hill, I might head up that. But no, thank you again for everything that you've done for the school district, for the community. No, very very pleased. Thank you. >> Um Oh, we're going we're going south. Let's go. Yeah. I just want to say I appreciate your dedication. You were on this board when I was an administrator here and I always always liked your comments, questions, concerns, and you're you have been a rock on this board and you have done a lot of jobs that nobody else wanted to do and you did it and you did it with grace and thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Nobody says

053it enough, but thank you. So I would add to that, thank you. Thank you for your service. Nine years, it's a lot of commitment for a body like this. Uh probably the one biggest thing I see in you is you care deeply. I mean, you're so intertwined in the community like other folks were saying, you just absolutely care about the community, the people. The other thing uh that was personally for me, you were on the board, had some tenure when I came on the board and uh thank you for being a good mentor, somebody that I can bounce questions off. Thanks for being a fellow board member and a good friend and so u thanks really appreciate all your efforts. Uh thank you for your leadership, for your being a mentor, for being a friend,

054for tackling tough times, um for being such a servant in our community, not only in the board, but in every aspect all the time. Um, thank you for being willing to do what's right even when it's hard. Thank you for Yeah. just being a huge mentor and friend to me. Um, thank you for your honesty and your dedication and just your willingness to um, continue to serve and to make a difference each and every day because you do. >> I'll close this out. Um, you know, I think based on student data, Monroe School District has had one of the the strongest turnarounds that we've seen in the state of Wisconsin. >> I believe that and there's only a couple members of this board who've been kind of through the with the district and and kind

055of on leading the board through that entire time and you're one of them and I hope you feel really proud of that. Um, one gift that you bring to the world that I very much appreciate is that you I feel like you lead at the intersection of being concise and h having strong opinions that are also loosely held. And so you're convicted about things, but you're also very open to feedback and kind of changing your mind. And I it's just it's been a great model for me on how how do you how do you actually get stuff done in a in a group of nine people with different opinions? And I think you model that incredibly well. And lastly, I just want to say, you know, when um I I just remember you're one of

056the first people who who reached out to me after my dad had passed, and I'll always remember that. And so, thank you for that. Very much appreciate. I think it just speaks to how how connected you are to the community and um it just it meant a lot. So, thanks for your service. Thank you. We got a gift FOR Thank you uh so very much. When I reflect on the last nine years, I think there are times when it felt very um hard and long and yet it has gone really fast and it has been so rewarding to serve um among all of you and all those who came before you. Um, it was kind of weird about a month ago I realized like I'm I've been on here the longest that I don't know

057how that happened, right? Um, because it feels like I was the new one. Um, I am so proud that I've served through all the good and all the bad. I mean, it has been hard and challenging and so rewarding all at the same time. And I love this district. I love all of our admin team and our staff, teachers. We have amazing people here and we have to keep remembering that. This is a really hard time right now with the recent election, but we'll get through this, too. We've gotten through all the other stuff and you guys will get through this, too. And I'm just I'm honored to have served. Um, I was not going to get emotional. Jennifer, tell your husband. I'm channeling my inner Ron Spielman right now. He can always do this

058so well. Um, he's been a mentor of mine forever. Um, but Truly, I'm excited about all the work that we've done already and all the work that is to come. There's a lot of great things that are going to happen yet for this district and um we just keep the kids always at the focus, all the good things will fall into place the way they're supposed to and I believe that with all my heart. Uh, I would be remiss if I didn't thank my mom and dad who came tonight and my husband Kevin and my mom and dad uh or my or my kids Tyler and Abby because they gave up hours and hours and hours um so that I could serve and so I'm so grateful for them and uh just thank you for

059allowing me and for the community electing me for three terms. It's it's been an honor. Thank you. All right, if you guys want to open those treats up and pass them down. >> Just kidding. >> I was going to say warm cheese. >> Okay, >> we are going to keep >> You can go >> rolling here. >> You can go. >> Thanks for coming. >> Thank you for coming though. >> Can we go now? straight shooter. >> All right. Next up, we've got our our consent items. So, I want to give every board member the chance just to look these over, make sure there's nothing Make sure that there's nothing you want to pull off of the consent agenda. Hearing none. Let me make sure I'm connected so I can actually read these out. Just

060go paper copy. Okay. I would uh entertain a motion to approve our consent agenda and then I'll read this after we get a motion in a second. >> So move by Mike Davis. >> Mike Proa tie there. Um, okay. We've got approval approval of the minutes uh from our March 23rd meeting. We've got support staff resignation from Danny Danielle Hartley from Abe Lincoln. Uh, we got two hires of support staff, Elaine Zimmerman, educational assistant at Abraham Lincoln, and Scott Hansen, custodian coordinator at Abraham Lincoln. Uh, we've got four professional staff resignations. Uh, Brenda Seaggreaves, ELA teacher at Monroe Middle School. Uh Haley Richard, second grade at Parkside. Gracie Sammon, special education at North Side. And Sarah Harrison, first grade at North Side. We've got the approval or acceptance uh approval and acceptance of two community

061donations. So donated materials for Monroe High School advanced metals and welding class and Jared Weber of Monroe >> Fasinel. passing all sorry donated materials needed for the uh welding booth practice tables for the new high school. And finally, we've got uh an item to approve library board member Adam Compton that all in favor. Sorry, any any discussion before we vote? >> Just thank you to Brenda for her years of service. She was here before and then she came back. So, thank her for all of her years of service and the other people as well who served us. >> Yeah, I think we need to acknowledge all all all of the resignations that came in tonight are are a direct result of of the the referendum at least in part. So, you know, thank you to

062those individuals that that resigned and and are out searching for for new roles and um you know, moving on with with their careers. Um and best of luck to them, you know. Um, just want to acknowledge that that we appreciate that their service and and what they've done for the district. >> Of course, thank you to the folks uh and Jared Weber for their their donations. We appreciate the continued support. With that, all in favor say I. I. >> All nay. Motion carries. All right. All right. Next up, made a couple calls for public comment. Last check. Anybody here for public comment tonight? Okay. All right. On to Oh, sorry. >> Hi, I'm >> Can we just let me let me frame this up a little bit? Uh, so thank you for being here, but

063just to put a container on how this works. Uh, just to make sure. Um, so public comment is an opportunity. We've got a meeting happening in public. So for most of this meeting, as everyone has kind of noticed, we don't interact a ton with the folks who are uh kind of here for the meeting. And so what we're uh positioned to do is hear anyone who gives public comment. Uh we'll take it into consideration, but you uh anyone who gives public comment should not expect any kind of like dialogue or questions, Q&A, anything like that. Uh you have five minutes. Just ask that you speak in some way kind of pertaining to something on the agenda tonight, which I'm sure you will. Um and thanks for being here. if you just say your name first

064and then >> my name is Apache Space and I'm currently a sophomore at Monroe High School. A lot of the teachers who are losing their jobs um I'm sorry are people who had personal impacts on me and a lot of the people that I know. But one of the teachers who are being allowed to keep their job uh is somebody who allowed me to be assaulted in his classroom and did not stop it. I was choked earlier this year in a classroom and he was right there and watched it happen and did nothing. Somebody in his exact ranch who teaches the exact same classes as him is losing his job. And I want to know why. Why are the teachers who saved so many students losing their jobs? I understand that it's not necessarily an

065easy choice and it's very hard on all of the community, but why the teacher who last year would let me sit on his classroom or sit under his desk while he was working with somebody else during and let me cry and have a safe space to cry. He's losing his job because he didn't have as much education collegewise, but he showed repeatedly that he loves us and he cares about us, but he's losing his job. And I know that's not your fault necessarily, but how are these decisions made? And do we take in to account what these teachers have done for students? I know at least two of the students who at least half a dozen people have come out and say they quite literally saved my life. Not just, oh, they helped me graduate

066high school. No, they were able to talk them out of suicide and these are the teachers that are losing their jobs. These are the teachers who we don't get anymore. And these are the teachers that we need. Not the ones who allow us all. Not the ones who look at bullying and, oh, that's just how kids are. No, it's not. It's not. Assault is not the way to go. Bullying is not the way to go. And unfortunately, some of the teachers who allow bullying are the ones who are not being removed. And I guess my question is, how are these decisions made? And could we talk to the students a little bit more and hear their voices on the teachers that help us? because I don't want to lose any more of the ones who

067saved us. >> Thank you. >> All right, I'm going to keep this. I understand it feels odd to move on and not interact, but just again, this is the structure of kind of how public comment happens. someone to keep us keep us moving. Thank you for sharing what you shared. Um >> I just add that we'll definitely have high school staff follow up with you, Apache, and touch base with you on some of that. >> Okay, I've got nothing for old business, so move on to new business. First item up is the approval of our uh New Mineral High School Cleaver Brooks Fab Lab classroom sponsorship. turn over to Joe. >> Yeah. So, we're obviously very fortunate to have had a tre tremendous amount of support from the community for the new high school building.

068Um the most recent example of that is a sponsorship from Cleaver Brooks, formerly known as industrial combustion. Um they reached out to us. They expressed a strong desire to be a part of the project. They're excited about the new high school and all that's happening in the community. Um, and after some discussion, it was pretty clear that uh the Fab Lab uh in the new high school was was a good fit. Uh the Fab Lab, for those of you that don't know, uses a lot of different equipment, advanced tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, things of that nature, and empowers students to create different uh designs, prototypes, manufacturing, and ultimately it leads to some some real hands-on engineering experience, which is a good fit for industrial combustion, now known as uh Cleaver Brooks. Um

069we're just really excited. This is a a $50,000 sponsorship uh that will be paid out over 10 years. Um it'll be known as the Cleaver Brooks Fab Lab going forward. Um and this is just another example of the incredible support that we've enjoyed in the community. Um for folks that don't know, this puts us at about three over $3.2 million in in sponsorship dollars um for our new high school. And uh just to address I think a misperception that's out there sometimes that's not $3.2 million that was necessary in order to complete the project. We have a fully established budget. We're well within budget. We're doing well with the budget. This $3.2 million is largely being used to invest future support of this building to ensure that the new Monroe High School continues to be

070a modern, sustainable learning environment for kids. And we're really proud of that work because that'll benefit the school district, the board, uh the administration long after I'm gone and retired. Um and same is true for many of you unless you know Caleb and Melissa decide that they want, you know, 18-year terms on the board and and they're here down the road. But largely that'll benefit us uh years down the road. And um we're excited uh about this sponsorship and I would ask the board to approve um the support from Cleaver Brooks. >> Any questions for administration? >> Okay. >> I'm happy to make that motion and make sure that I say thank you Brooks for your support of our district and high school. >> Well said. Got a motion by Phil. >> Second by Terry.

071And thank you again. >> Thank you for the generous community. It's incredibly generous. >> Gratitude to to Clever Brooks. >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> Oppose. Name. Carries. Next up, we've got our building project update. >> Yeah, I can just provide a little bit of information. This isn't a meeting where we have representatives from CG Schmidt and Huff McKielle and Jeremy feel free to to jump in. Um, as most of you know, we're we're in the home stretch here. Um, the high school looks great. Obviously, we had the preview night uh recently which was incredibly well attended. I think overall uh the feedback was exceptionally positive. People are excited about the building. Um, I think one thing that's important to note is that was an event that is incredibly unique, meaning that it's

072not fair to say it usually doesn't happen. That never happens. um the amount of work that was invested by CG Schmidt in order to afford, not to mention the city of Monroe, uh Al Roofer with the fire department, uh Chief Kelly, uh Captain Folultz, like there's a lot of people that put in a lot of extra time to make that happen. And that's because we wanted the community to have the opportunity to see what their investment has has done for Monroe High School. Um we're in a great place. Um there's a lot of finishing touches going on. Right now really what we're doing is trying to determine are we in the uh the punch list phase or is there a little bit of work that needs to be done? And right now there's uh kind

073of the last couple weeks of the cleanup meaning we're looking at you know what where the touch-up painting needs to go. Is there anything that got a little dent here? Um the installation of uh a lot of kitchen equipment is happening which looks fantastic. The performing arts center is probably the area that has the most work to go um as we go get into the home stretch, but seemingly everything they do makes it look incredible. Um and we're so excited about the the new performing arts center. Um so that's coming along. All the concrete's been poured. Um so you can truly see the shape of of what the theater will look like. um and just a lot of detailed work with railings and doors and making sure that um you know all the finishing touches

074are being put on there. So um we're we're fortunate to be in a position where you know substantial completion is right around the corner. When we say that that doesn't mean that everything will be completely done. There will be a little bit of work and some subcontractors both inside and outside the building tying up loose ends as we get into the summer. But, uh, CG Schmidt has done a phenomenal job of making sure that this high school is ready to go because we will start moving, uh, furniture in to that building in May. >> That's the first shipment. >> Um, and as we say that, some of any of you are like me, I still have a winter mentality where that feels like a long ways away. We're weeks away from moving some furniture in

075there. And um for those of you that have been along for the ride, um it's been a long journey and to get to this point feels pretty good. So um we're in very good shape. Our budget continues to be in in good shape. We'll have some conversation in the near future regarding contingency budgets and where we stand and some options for us to consider moving forward. Um but I'm really proud to say that the project is is really coming along well. And I know Jeremy can't wait to get out there and get his team into the building along with all the students. Happy to answer any questions that we can. >> Just have a comment, Joe. I mean, it's been a three-year deal. It's been of a rocky road, but commitment board community was to

076bring this project in on time and on budget. Both of those things are happening. So, good job everyone involved. >> Thank you. I mean, It truly is a team effort. It's, you know, Ron isn't able to be here tonight, but Ron along with Jeremy, in my opinion, have done a lot of the heavy lifting in order to make this work. They've truly been working two jobs in order to pull this off and working with a very talented uh group at CG Schmidt and Huffman Keel and P. Um, we're incredibly fortunate to have great partners, but um, a lot of lot of people have invested a lot of extra time to make sure that the community is proud of the school. >> Jeremy, anything you want to add? >> Think you cover? >> Jeremy's office is

077looking pretty nice, unless everybody wants to know. >> Not a lot has happened there in a long time. So, that stacking boxes in there. I >> mean, one of the more remarkable things for me is to see the the progress that we've students have made at Monroe High School academically simultaneously with this project because I think it would have been a logical you know kind of a rational thing to conclude or just be like hey Jeremy had to do this whole you know construction project and therefore maybe took his foot off the gas or kind of you know administration at the high school and just to see both of these things traveling together at the same time feels really rare and really special. Also just want to say thanks for your your leadership. Jeremy >>

078Jeremy won't say this but I will and at the risk of embarrassing him. Jeremy Jackson as a high school principal has been a superstar because of his leadership as you mentioned with the academic work taking that building to heights where people maybe question whether or not some of that could be done along with this work along with creating a culture in that building that um is quite frankly fantastic. Um, and so, uh, special thanks to Jeremy, and Jeremy would be the first to say it's not just him, it's his team, um, but a great group of people that have worked very hard to make sure Monroe High School is moving in the right direction. >> Lean, I don't know if you're okay if I put you on the spot, but you got to you got

079to work the uh, I think I saw you at the the open house or the the preview event, so I don't know if that was your first time seeing it, but like what's how are you feeling about it? like what's the how's the student body in Monroe High School feeling about the new new high school? >> I think we're all um pretty excited. Um especially when we got to see like the um sports areas, especially outside in the field and the um the gym and looking at the um the seating in the pack was awesome, too, because for people who perform, we're not going to have to, you know, scream to let everyone hear us anymore. And um the classrooms and all the windows are also really nice. It's a it can be a lot

080having light just beam down at you for eight hours a day. So, we're all really excited. >> So, Leanne, from that perspective of the theater looking and feeling different, can you explain to people what's different about the current design of the the new performing arts center versus the one we're all used to? >> So, they both have 700 seats, correct? Um, I think that with the current like path we have since like all the seating is straight out, we're very used to um, you know, Mr. Lens going in the back saying, "I can't hear you. More diction." And I think that the the seat is starting to to come up and curve up a little bit. It'll be a lot easier for um, the audience to see the performers and for us to see um,

081the audience as well as um, put out good sound out there. s comment ties a little bit into a discussion I wanted to have. Um I'm not sure whether it's well here or in the referendum discussion that comes up next or the the future items, but um there's been a lot of people leading up to the referendum and and even now talking about our sports and activity budgets and um that's really frustrating to me, right? because our data very clearly shows that sports and activities, students that participate in that um perform better academically. Um there is research, academic research published in journals that that also show that's true. Um and then you tie it back to what we built here in Monroe. Just because it looks pretty doesn't mean that we spent stupid amounts of

082money to make it happen. We made very very definitive choices about the surfaces we used on, for example, the the football field, right? We chose to go with the artificial turf versus grass um because of of long-term cost savings, right? And we had a lot of discussion about what was right for Monroe and for high school level athletics. Um the tennis courts. Um, no. Monroe no longer has as many tennis courts in in the park and wreck and the parks area as they used to. Those are being converted to pickle ball courts. I believe we had to cancel a tennis match tonight because our courts currently at the high school aren't level enough to to get the water off them. Is that accurate? >> A little too well. >> The tennis courts that we put

083in, they're not extravagant. We needed them. The school district needed them. The the performing arts center, it's what we needed. the track surface. We had a lot of discussion of whether to go the next level up or or leave it at this kind of intermediate level. And we chose the intermediate level. We spent the community's money wisely on this high school on sports and activities and we spent it for a reason because activities and athletics leads to academic performance. I would also like to you you said it there at the end but also our music programs. Students who are involved in music and the arts are also academically above other students because of that. And we have a great music and art program in our schools as well. >> Clubs, music, art, activities, right? I

084say activities and athletics because those are tied together. When you're talking about athletic budgets, you're talking about activity budgets. It's all it's all the same. >> Jeremy, you've made this comment previously, but one of the most rewarding things for you is when you've taken groups of students through that building and and they've made the comment, "Boy, there's really something for everyone here." Right. >> Right. I think we can I think we can be proud of that. I'm proud of that. Um that when you walk through that building, I hope everybody does and um says the same thing. I don't know how you really couldn't that there is something for everybody. It isn't leaning one way or the other. There's there's going through different areas of the building is just impressive for all different walks of

085life students. Um and we're proud of that. >> I guess my future agenda item or request is maybe you bring forward again the number of students that participate in at least one activity in our district is phenomenal. There are a lot of them. So the argument that not every student participates, no, not every student participates, but the majority of them in Monroe do. >> Can we note that Mike's giving us homework on his willing? >> Let's just be clear about that. >> Any questions about the building and where we're at? Um we're we truly are in a very good place and and on time for the move and and we have had a lot of people ask about potential activities this summer and the reality is we need to to make sure that all the

086necessary steps take place. We need to get occupancy for the building. We need to make sure that um every all the safety equipment is installed and ready to go. And so while no one wants to get into that building more than Mr. Jeremy Jackson, he wants to be there today. Um, however, we need to be very cautious about ensuring that number one, we're not going to do anything to damage the new building before it's ready to to have people enter the building. Number two, that we have all the furniture, safety equipment, and we just got to we've got to take our our time to make sure that we're ready. And as soon as we're ready and we feel we can do it the right way, we will open the building and get get folks in

087there. if anybody's interested, you know, thanks to Mr. Austin back there. Um, barn fan season started today. >> So, so speak up. >> Speak up when you're in the hallway. >> All right, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep us rolling here. Thank you. >> Um, appreciate the update and the the discussion. Um so next up we've got an item on our agenda um to discuss the results of the the referendum vote uh from last Tuesday. I just want to share a little bit about I think why this feels important. Um, I guess the the way that I think about this is like we we as a group only meet as a full group in board meetings and as a team we decided back in December the amount that we wanted to send to referendum and then

088in January we decided to put this this question on the ballot. And so as a team this is something that we've kind of been through and need to process in some way. And just like any workplace, like teams do this after a big thing happens. Uh, and it just so happens that we have our meetings in public. And so we're going to do that in public. And so what I would say is this is a a I guess the other thing about these meetings is we don't have a defined stop time. So depending on how how long you guys want to go uh discussing this tonight, that that's I will go with the energy of the board. But I do it does feel important and and I would say from kind of two different lenses

089here. one is um if you want to talk about just where you're at kind of what what you're feeling right now then I think that's uh perfectly welcome in this space and second if you have analysis of you're kind of in a head space right now and want to talk about uh kind of why you think happened why what happened happened or even kind of like you're thinking the path forward wherever you're at that's what this uh this space is for and it can So 3 minutes or we can go we can go as long as anybody wants to go. So I will I will pause there. I'll hold my thoughts for a bit. Let somebody else open it up. I'll open then since this is my last uh full meeting. Um yeah, I'm I'm

090really thankful for for the staff, for the administrators. I know you guys have had a hard week, probably a hard two weeks. um probably leading up to the referendum and then after the results came in. Um and I really hope that that we can keep the momentum. I know this is this is hard, right? It's painful. You're you're directly being affected. Your colleagues are directly being affected. And um unfortunately, right now there's there's little we can do about that other than come together, be that bundle of sticks that that Joe brought to all of you at at the beginning of this year and and stay strong together. um because that's going to be really important that that as a district we maintain that culture that's been built and that momentum that I believe Joe as

091he's taken over the the the role of of administrator has brought to the district and and the staff here, the teachers in the room. So, um keep keep your heads high. Um keep, you know, checking in. I you know, it's mostly administrators here. It's super super important that that you guys are checking in on anyone on your staff that you think is is struggling um because this this is is a a mental health crisis for for some of your staff as well. So, you know, encourage your staff to look out for each other um and know that this too shall pass, right? It's It's going to be hard, but but I'm I'm certain as a community, as a board, as a district, as staff, as teachers, as aids, as uh um support staff, that that

092you guys are going to do really well. You're going to continue what what the district's been doing and and I can say that that the community is going to be proud of how you navigate this hard time. I'll go next. Um, my heart is hurting and I said that the other night when I was interviewed on the radio. My heart is hurting for everybody that's impacted and I don't think we will feel the impacts of this for a very long time. Um, I think it's I think on a card it looks like 22 and a half positions. And I think to some people that doesn't feel like a lot, but I think um the the ripple effect of the families that are impacted from this decision is is going to be felt for a very

093long time and and um in many ways that people can't even think of yet. And so um I'm sad. I'm also grateful for all of the time and energy that the admin team that all of you put in and Joe, you and Ron, all of the listening sessions, all of the information that was put out. Um, we kept hearing we want transparency. We want to be told all the information. Um, and and you guys nailed it. I mean, you shared every bit of it as clearly as you could. You answered the hard questions. Um, you were not afraid to answer them and they were difficult. I said in a lot of those listening sessions and they were very good questions from the community. I'm glad people showed up. I'm glad they asked those hard questions

094and you answered them. I think I'm also at a loss for I I don't know where we go from here. I know you will figure out a way forward, but I don't know how long it's going to take. I keep hearing it's because of the high school. It's because of the high school. Okay. I'm sorry that it's because of the high school, but we have a beautiful new building that's going to take us forward now the next 70 years and serve our students in the capacity and way we need to teach them today. And I don't know how we get past that. So people understand that we can't sacrifice our students education and their learning styles and all of the support that our students need because of that high school. I can't tear it down.

095I can't stop it. It's it's happening and we have to move forward and I don't know how we can get past that and create you guys have created so much momentum already. I'm so I'm hopeful um that that we can just you know once the doors get open and people get in there and get excited about it that maybe we'll get past this. But this is an even bigger hill to climb. And it was hard last time we went and got told no. And now it's an even bigger hill this next time when we have to go at some point. And we have to uh I I have zero confidence that they're going to fix this at the legislators at the state. I maybe somebody has confidence in it, but I do not. So we

096have to figure it out as a community. We have to figure out how we come together and solve this together because it's the only way our our community is going to heal. >> So I'll go next. Um again I'm I was extremely disappointed very very disappointed. Um the feedback that I got it was mixed. Uh I would say there was more positive than there would be negative um as far as a yes vote no vote. Uh and this was before the election and and all these kind of things. But then again, a lot of the people that I associate with that I was talking with were more of a of a pro-education type of group. Um, after the referendum, I made a point of talking, you know, to what I would consider a wide variety.

097And I really heard two things. Um, number one, the school, uh, that still comes back and people are just really struggling, having a hard time to get over it. Like you said, Nikki, it's here. We have to accept that and we have to move on. Uh the other thing that I think really it it it doesn't surprise me at all. Uh but it's today's economy. Um when you got to pay four bucks a gallon for gas. Um I headed up north last weekend to spend some time with the family up there. Uh you go to fill a boat up with gas right now and it's six bucks a gallon. So and that's on land. and that's not even buying it out of the water. Um, people are realizing all of this. Uh, some of the

098people that we talked to saying, "Well, you were the ones that we could say no to." Um, and what they meant by that is that there are several other buildings and facilities that are going to be going up in Green County and in Monroe. And we basically as um as voters really didn't have a voice in it. You know, some of those you have uh what 30 35 people sit there and vote. It goes through. Boom. Well, there's your new school votes. But that was the way it goes. Um and I think what we have to do, we have to take and uh several people said, "What will we have to do? We have to change that at the next elections and things like that." And that's that's fine. But six months from now, people

099are not going to think back on who voted for what and on and on and on. It's just it's just the way men are. Men and women, the way people are mostly men, but but um but no, that's the way it is. Now, I'm hearing rumors supposedly that the state might be freeing up some more money. Um, but be careful when you hear that because it's my understanding that it'll be a certain percent that might be for special ed and that percent that they release or that amount they may release may bring it up to the amount of money that they told us at the start of the year that they were going to give to us. So, be very, very careful when you hear our legislature say, "Oh, we're giving you more money." You

100know, be happy about that. So, you know, we have we have to work with the legislators. We have to be careful that way. Um, again, I again, I was very disappointed. Still struggling with it. Um, but it happens. It happens. That's just the way it is. So, but thank you for some venting time. I appreciate it. So, thanks for sharing that. >> I I have something. Um, I feel like the past few days I've sat and gone through gamut of emotions, right? Um, and and honestly, as I sat here tonight and watch all the students and the families and the teachers, I think where I'm I'm landing is is heartbroken. And not for myself, but for our students and our staff. Um, and not because of a vote, but because of what I know those

101results will mean for our kids and the people who care for them every single day. Um, so to our teachers and our staff, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry. Um, I know it's not just a job. It's a calling. It's your passion. It's relationships with students and staffs that have taken years to build and develop. You show up every day for our kids and go above and beyond in ways people most people don't see. You deserve better. And please know your work matters. You make a difference every day. to our students and families. I'm sorry. Um, you'll feel this. Fewer supports, fewer opportunities, larger class sizes. There's no way to soften that reality. In my opinion, you deserve a school experience filled with opportunity, support, possibilities. And to me, that just makes this harder. Um, I

102think we just have to be honest even when it's hard. I understand and I get that people vote yes and people vote no for lots of different reasons and I respect that. I respect that voting is personal and I know there's a lot of things going on and everyone's decision and circumstances are different and I absolutely respect that. I guess I I keep trying to grapple and the bottom line is we can't separate the decision or the impact of that vote, right? Um, when we choose not to invest in our schools, the consequence is what we're facing. Um, I don't want to be political, but that's just the reality that's in front of us. Um, the choice that we make leads to results, and that is the cuts that we're facing. Um, and a reduction

103of what we can offer our students. And it's not an unintended outcome. It's the outcome we knew going in. And to some of these other points, I think we don't know what the unintended consequences may be yet. Um, doesn't and I also think it doesn't just affect our schools. It affects our entire community. We know that strong schools are the cornerstone of a strong community. They shape our future. They affect our families. Um, we support local businesses. They influence whether people choose to live here. Um, and so again, we don't know, like to Nikki's point, we don't know what those consequences will be. Um, so that's I've really been struggling then, and I still the end of the day, I still believe in Monroe. Um, I believe in our teachers and our staff, our administrators

104who have gone above and beyond and and continue to give everything they have. And I believe in our students who need and deserve our support now more than ever before. And I believe in our community, even when we don't dis when we don't always agree. So, I guess what I'm asking is let's show up not just in words but in actions. Support our teachers, encourage our students. Above all, be patient and kind and present as we navigate what comes next because it's a lot of uncertainty. Um, so if we can show up for each other with the understanding that maybe we haven't all agreed, but we still are part of the same community. Um because while what we did have has has like his vote has consequences, how we respond as a community matters equally

105as much. Um so that's kind of what I had to say and it was longer than I thought but I'm I will continue to stand with our students and our staff and our schools as we go forward. I don't know what that's going to be >> very high for me. So I don't have prepared remarks but certainly I was hopeful and disappointed in the referendum field. It was close as we all know. Um, I think there was probably some economic pressures that there's still some bad feelings being harbored in part of the community about high school and the expenditures uh for that. And certainly uh there's other tax pressures. We we all know that both in the city and the county. And I think Mike, you may have mentioned Mike Davis that uh some of

106those u expenses, >> capital expenses, there was not an opportunity for the community to say no. But with the operating referendum for the district, the the community had the opportunity to say no. Uh ultimately that's what happened. I suppose the thing that disturbs me most is uh you know this us versus them mentality that has come about in the community and I think somehow uh both sides because I for the record everybody is entitled to their vote to vote their conscious conscious and their opinion and I think both sides need to respect the other side's vote whether they voted yes or So that said though, you know, somehow we have to move beyond the us versus them. Uh, you know, the trust factor that's involved in all this. There's nine people on this board. There's

107administration versus teachers or staff all trying to do the right thing day in and day out. There is no question in my mind u you know leading up to the referendum uh vote you know there was a call for transparency uh you know accurate information there's no doubt in my mind that that was presented well by administration and their team it was correct it was full and you know we couldn't have done more u sorry to the teachers, the staff for the hard decisions that we're forced to make. That just is is is uh terrible for us to have to do. Uh we will find a way forward and we have to do what we have to do moving forward. You know, somehow we've got to uh get the folks that voted no to um

108become more engaged in a positive way towards the district and the community and what we're trying to do. the folks that voted yes. I think we need to encourage ourselves to better and more understand why those folks voted no because we have to close that not gap but to be a chasm with the community and uh I think we we need to keep working on that that that healing needs to happen. It won't happen quickly but it won't happen without effort. And so, um, yes, as a board, we're faced with tough decisions that we have to make. That's unfortunate. It's tough on the staff. It's tough on administration. It's tough on teachers. I get that. I feel bad about that. I had hop the referendum would pass. It just about did. Uh, but I respect

109both the no vote votes and the yes vote, both folks that, you know, I I I think we have to do that. Dismiss one side or the other. will just continue this cycle of uh negativity. And finally, as Nikki said, I'm not hopeful that uh the school funding uh piece will improve, but I'm hoping um you know that we may get some relief there over the next couple of years. But I think that's uh kind of where get the politics aligned correctly for that to happen. So to your point, Teresa, yes, it's hard decisions. It's it's emotional for us as board members uh to make these kind of reductions and and it's hard. It's really hard, but we certainly mean to do the right thing. Best to you, >> um you guys said all of

110it. I I think we also need to look at, you know, where the votes were as well. In the city of Monroe, we won the referendum. In the counties, we did not in the townships. Um, and so I think that's something we do need to look at moving forward. Why why did that happen? You know, and and what can we do to change that? Um, and then um you guys did the administration, the staff, the board, everybody did the work. And there was more information out there than I have ever seen in any referendum that we've gone to in the 33 years that I have lived here. And so I don't know how we can be more transparent. We were we were um but we have to move forward and as a board we're going

111to make some really tough decisions um because we don't have the money. I don't I don't think we're going to get the money from the state. But I also am not giving up hope on that. >> I'm not I'm talking to our representatives. I just did on Saturday and I'm going to do it again. And Caleb, I know you've done it, too. And we just need to keep doing it and get them to understand that this way of funding schools in Wisconsin is not working. And the fact that you see all these schools going to referendum tells you that the way the state funds the schools does not work. So we need to get that across to them because we haven't gotten any more money per student in 15 years. And the price of gas

112has gone up. The price of electricity has gone up. And we've made cuts, millions of dollars in cuts, and we can't make it work anymore. So, I'm sorry, too. I apologize. We did a lot of work, but we didn't get the outcome that we wanted. And I do respect everybody's um right to vote and vote no or vote yes. But we need to do something to make our citizens understand our need. And I guess we didn't do it, so we have to do a better job. >> Thank you, Melissa. >> Well, I didn't know Steve didn't get his turn yet. I'll go. I' I'd just like to thank everybody for everything they did to promote this referendum because I mean the hours that Ron and Joe put in extra above and beyond the call of

113duty. I mean it's unheard of. I mean so I mean it's I was to a lot of the listening sessions that they put on they put out I agree like Terry said I mean there was more information put out on this referendum than ever been put out in past ones that I've seen. And I looked at a lot of it and I mean I called Joe and asked him about some things that I've questioned, you know, because I the last thing I wanted to do was was to cloud anything for the general public and I think we did a really good job. I mean ultimately at the end of the day I think it still does come back to that high school but referendum but you know at some point we need to move on.

114I mean that high school is just about done. It's a beautiful building and it's going to be there for a long time. people voted on that. I mean, and people need to understand that, you know, by turning down this referendum, you know, it's going to it's going to hurt the kids. And the kids had no nothing to do with building that high school. So, I mean, at the end of the day, you got to look at the big picture. And I mean, maybe there was some mistakes made. I don't know, you know, but the kids are going to suffer for this now, you know, and 10 years ago, I mean, they passed a referendum to give the district an extra million and a half dollars. Four years later, they renewed it again. The community isn't,

115you know, is a giving community. They understand. And I think it it the last referendum that we had that failed, I think I don't think we did a good enough job as a district to promote it. Um and I think that's why it failed and I and I regret that. I mean, we can't do anything about that. We definitely did a lot this time, you know. Um, maybe it was above and beyond, but I mean, anybody that walked into that voting booth that didn't know what they were voting for on a referendum this time had no business even voting. So, I mean I mean at the end of the day, we we need to move forward because if we don't if we don't move forward, we're going to this this district is going to continue

116to lose kids. I mean, people are going to move to other other areas to send their kids to school. And I mean, we have a good school system here, you know, and I'm proud of it. And I think the opportunities for kids that graduate here are immense, you know, I mean, they're setting them up for success when they graduate from high Monroe High School and regardless of what road they want to go down. And that is something to be very proud of. But that said, you know, if we keep cutting funds continually, that is going to get cut. And that really worries me, you know, because I mean, I think that is kind of the the gem of the district right now, you know, I mean, the way the high school is preparing kids to

117graduate. And if that starts to decline, you know, I mean, we're going to end up with a with a a community that of, you know, I mean, everything's going to go downhill. I mean, crime's going to increase, you know, and it just at the end of the day, we just we need to look look forward and um you know, we need to get over the past things and there's nothing we can do about the past. So, in order to move forward, I mean, I I I feel for for the kids today that are, you know, going to lose some of their teachers and, you know, the people that are losing their jobs. And I mean, it's been pretty obvious to me as a year on the board that this district's been cutting a lot in

118the last three years, more than I've ever seen in my lifetime living here. So, I mean, there comes a point where you can't cut anymore, you know, I mean, or things are going to start falling apart. I mean, we're going to do our best to keep have a successful district, but we can't continue to, you know, neglect the schools the way the community did in this past vote. I mean, because it's I get it, you know, I I don't want to hear these people. I don't have any kids in school, you know, but at some point they went to school somewhere and they they and our kids deserve a good education just like they received. So, I mean, thank you again for everything you did, Joe. I mean, you and Ron, the hours you put

119in were just un unbelievable. >> Yeah, I I'll make this quick. First, I just want to say on behalf of our team and our staff, thanks for all the support, both your kind words tonight, all of you checking in throughout the process. Uh the outpouring of support from the community. Um I think people were genuinely worried about me and how I was going to be this week and and our team as a whole, but that doesn't go unnoticed. Like there's a lot of love and and care in this community and and we felt that certainly over the last week. Um, I I'll say this. I'm going to end it. I don't know if this will be the end, but I I'll just try to provide a little bit of of brightness and optimism. And that's

120not where my head has been at this last week. It took me a lot to get here. And that's let's let's acknowledge some things that did go right through this process. And you all have acknowledged the effort and um the conversation, the dialogue, the transparency. That's what was requested. I I do believe we lived up to that that ask um in the community and I think that that was that's a fair ask and I think it's a standard we should aspire to live up to um with our work going forward regardless of of this outcome. Um I do believe that um we have taken steps towards repairing the relationship with the community. Is it all the way where we want it to be? Maybe not. Um, but I believe that through conversations that we've had,

121people understand that as many of you said, this is a collection of of good people trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. And sometimes good people are faced with tough decisions that don't always align with where the community is currently at. And so, um, I feel good that that work has been done. I feel good that we're taking steps towards healing the community a little bit. And I will say this, I I do think there is some common ground that was realized and and many of you have touched on it. And while I share your um maybe lack of optimism about what's going to happen at the state level, I think if there was ever an opportunity for us to come together as a community, it's around this issue. Wisconsin public school

122funding doesn't work for anyone. It doesn't work for the no votes. It doesn't work for the yes votes. And I read everything that's online. That's part of my job. And I've heard I've seen a few people share this comment and on both sides and I think it's very true. If we truly believe that it doesn't work, now is not the time to stop and say, "Well, either the the vote went in my favor, it didn't go in my favor." This is the time for the community to come together and say, "I understand why you voted yes and I voted no or vice versa, but we got to come together now and figure out how we can make sure that this doesn't continue to happen." Because as multip multiple people have said, this challenge doesn't go

123away. It only gets harder. And there are people that I truly care about in this community that I know voted no. They're good people. Um, and we need to work together to say, how do we take care of each other so that this works? Because I truly believe the overwhelming majority of our community cares about kids. And so now is the time to work together, not go our separate ways. And hopefully through that work, we can put some pressure on the people at the state level to um do the right thing and appropriately fund public schools in Wisconsin. I guess I'll I'll close this out. I think um you know I so I left the the morning after the vote. I was traveling for work and I so I was leaving the house at 4:30

124in the morning. And I got to to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they also had a they call them bonds, but they they had a bond on their on their ballot, and they passed a $600 million bond in in the city of Tulsa that Tuesday night. So, everyone was feeling great in Tulsa, and I want you, there's me. Um, and so I was happy for them, of course, but I do think there's I guess the three things I want to say. One, I'm feeling perplexed still. Two, I'm feeling grateful. And then three, I've gotten asked. But I think it feels a little different when you're voting on a $600 million kind of big city project for facilities and maybe some operating expenses when you know the system we have that has neighbors voting on their neighbors jobs

125like their teaching jobs. It's just it feels like a wild system, right? Like it just so in some ways, yeah, I get it. Like we got to empathize with everybody that that that's really important and we just got to recognize like that is an odd thing like that is not happening everywhere across the country. Um where like that is the system for how uh these kinds of decision decisions are made. Um I also just I feel perplexed a bit because I feel like our case is really strong. like I I do a lot of work in the in the fundraising field and I think the case for investment felt very compelling. And in the same way if if we applied for a grant with the the results that we've had and the and the cuts

126that we've made and all the case that we that we talked about for the past three months and got turned down, I would be similarly perplexed. I just so happens in this case it goes to a public vote to decide that. I do want to give a special shout out. I mean, I'm feeling grateful for for Joe, for Ron, for the for the admin team. I want to give a special shout out to the the crew from the the informed voters uh from Monroe schools because this this is a group of young parents in Monroe school district. This is not a bunch of political operatives and this is not some group of wealthy folks or anything like this is just a crew of like 37 year olds sitting down and saying hey we care about

127this and they gave up their evenings for I don't know two three months plus some teachers who who were involved on their own time as individuals with members of of the you know the staff at Monro school district and we just I hope that I was hoping they'd be here tonight but I hope at least everybody from this board gets a chance to to personally thank each one of them for for what they did really in some ways on our behalf, right? And and I think that um you know like Teresa said and Phil said and others have said like this is on us, right? Like this is a we have to own this result. This is a schoolboard decision to go to referendum. It failed and and it and the the consequences are heartbreaking

128and we have to own it, right? Right. And so to have a group who is willing to put their own volunteer time and energy behind this uh I just I feel incredibly grateful and I was so I thought they ran a phenomenal campaign in addition to the work that the district did on theformational side which again has me perplexed in the end that we got the result that we did. And lastly I just want to say you know to to kids and families out there like Teresa said we we I think we need some grace because it is going to be hard. It is going to be very challenging to navigate the the coming weeks and months. And I just I ask that that you stick with us because I I there's kind of a

129duality in my you know my my thinking right now where one is like hey everybody's got to know there's real consequences to this. We can't we can't beat around the bush. But at the same time, like I feel confident that kids in Monroe schools in October are going to get an excellent experience with great teachers and great administrators and great staff and great families, you know. So I I'm holding both those those truths at the same time. And I think that's my ask for uh for for parents and for kids that hey, this is going to be challenging. It's going to feel different, but we need you to stick with us right now. We need you to stick with us. All right. Did you s the conversation or don't have I just wanted to give

130you that. >> Did anyone tell you tonight that you were going to be put on the >> No, not exactly. >> Well, I just feel like ever since the election, the environment in school has definitely like the eras felt different. Um it's seemed a lot more low energy recently especially from teachers who are trying to handle and process that and also take care of their students and um help them with things that they need to do. I think all the students are also um feeling a little down from it. Sorry, I'm not sure. I mean, it's thinking about how of course I I'm in my American uh choices in democracy class right now. So, thinking about all like the concepts that we've learned about accepting elections and such, it's it is difficult. And so, um,

131trying to like stay together and support each other and think about all the things that we can do to help each other is, I think, the main priority right now. Um, and so it is sad to see the consequences of the election, but I think it's something that we can get through with time. >> It is a perfect way to close out this segment of our meeting. So, Dan, thank you for sharing. Mike, thanks for calling her in. Um, okay, I'm going to keep us rolling. We've got kind of a sharp pivot here. So, we're going to the um approval of the season 2 contract and services for 2627. >> Jo, you want to bring us into this one? >> Sure. So, this is pretty standard. We do this annually. We have a contract with

132CISA 2, who is our cooperative educational agency that provides support. We are a district that doesn't uh utilize a lot of CISA services because um number one, I think we have a a really strong staff that can do a lot of things in house. Um the other other thing being that um you know, we we utilize a couple of other services that we feel are are most effective or a better fit for us. So, if you see the attachment with the the contract and you scroll to to page four, that's primarily where the services are listed. What you'll see is we have our membership cost that's built in. Really, the the only other things that we have built in are a couple of IEP related services. So, we don't have uh orientation mobility services in

133the district because it's a very specialized service and then services for students who are blind or visually impaired. That's in there as well. Those are IEP based. We've done that for years now. This is a pretty straightforward contract and about as minimal as it gets for CS2. So, I would ask that the board approve this. >> Joel, what what's the cost? >> Um, well, the membership cost is listed as 4,250. The other services are dependent on the amount of service that's identified within a student's IEP. So, I can't tell you exactly how much it'll be. I can tell you that we know what the contracted rates are and that they're reasonable and Amy's budgeted for those. So we're we're in good shape. >> Yeah, I I think it's important. There's a lot of support that

134happens. Um they coordinate a lot of uh dialogue between area um positional groups, whether it be superintendent, uh Todd's job, Amy's job, Melissa's job. I mean, there's a variety of different things. And so just having that connection in the area is important because it allows us to identify things that we can potentially do to improve our services. >> Other questions for the administration. >> Great. With that, I'd entertain a motion to approve the C2 contract and services for 2627 as presented. So moved >> by Terry. Second by Phil. Any discussion before we vote? Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. Nay. Motion carries. Okay. Last item in business I believe. Yep. is the uh first reading or the policy first reading. Do you want So Mike, I don't know if you want to take

135this on or if you want me to I'm happy to queue it up if you'd like or >> happily let you. >> Okay. It's your last meeting, man. I didn't want to cut you off. So, uh as many of you know, we've been working hard to get caught up on our policy work. Uh this represents a significant step forward. Um what you see is a collection of policies that the policy committee reviewed. Um we're offering for a first reading. Much of it is um policy language that's been updated to reflect changes in the law. Maybe some technical changes, not not so much technical, but some some language changes, I should say, that better reflect the the policies um that are necessary to support a variety of different uh topics. So, um, rather than going through

136all of them, given that we've had a long discussion at this point, certainly be willing to entertain any questions that you all have, but the policy committee felt comfortable with the policies as presented at this time. >> I'm happy to say that our our school district of Monroe did stump the Neola attorneys. Right. Right, Joe? >> That's right. Yeah. What was it? Which one was that? >> That's right. The drone policy. Yeah. >> That takes a little bit of work. they took it to their their area conference and and we're going to talk about a little bit. So, >> I imagine that policy will be changing at some point, but right now aligning with, you know, again, we we use this service. All of these policies are primarily just updates to language or updates required

137to comply with state statutes. So, uh there's nothing really surprising in any of these. Um we we worked through each one of these individually as a policy committee and would recommend all of them um move through and and be adopted into our district policy. >> Any other questions for the policy committee or administration? >> How do how do we get charged by Neola for this service? Is is it per change? No, it's a it's an annual cost and before you >> some of them seem so minor, right, >> that I mean really >> I mean I mean they say the district or mineral school district. I mean what's the point? >> Yeah. So some of it's consistency some with you know making sure that aligns with say the employee handbook state statute. Um we are

138not charged per change but I know it feels that way sometimes. Um sometimes it you know the reality is this is this is model policy that's being built by attorneys and uh former school administrators who work together to make sure that we're up to date with the law and um as different scenarios case law comes into play. They want to make sure that we're protected. It's an incredible service for those of us that have been around long enough that remember how policy used to be drafted. It used to be a gigantic three- ring binder and it' be someone like myself or Ron or Todd or Amy generating policy hoping that it acknowledges what the current law is without any mechanism to keep us updated. So, um, so this is this is really a good thing.

139And to your point, Steve, the next round of policy updates, I know already have a couple of adjustments to the policies that we're approving tonight. That's just that's just the way it goes. Um uh but I I feel fortunate that we're that we work with Miola because they do protect us. It's a significant service. >> I would agree with you, Joe, as being one of those people that write policy. It's it seems um minute, but what they do it saves a lot of time for the district and the people who are on the policy committee because the attorneys have already done this and rewritten it and we're just looking at, you know, little things in it instead of the big picture of it. It's definitely worth it. >> Thanks, sir. Well, as long as it

140keeps us legal. Well, >> yeah. And and that's a big deal. Um and and the world is more complex than ever, ever changing as identified in some of the um policies that we have here. The academic honesty, dealing with AI is one example of that. Um these are important topics that we need to navigate carefully. Well, Joe, I do think it might be worth us discussing as a board and and just with the administration here the the policy on the because we did talk quite a bit about this the use of cameras and other recording devices in the locker rooms. >> Oh boy. Yeah, that that's a big one. So, um you know, our policy that we have here is pretty clear that um that is not permissible under any circumstances. the policy talks about

141not allowing the media into uh the locker room, say after a big football game or whatever, which typically doesn't happen. This isn't the NFL. Um so that, you know, I don't think Adam's going to be trying to bust in the locker room anytime soon. If he tries to, Jeremy will tackle him. Um, but more importantly, as we're all walking around with these in our pockets and they all have video cameras and can do a lot of things, um, there's been a number of situations in districts across the country where, uh, seemingly harmless activities by well-intended students have led to some real problems. So, let's say, um, Jim and I are doing a tick tock dance in the locker room, right? because we just won a game and then another student walks behind and we didn't

142realize that student walked behind and maybe they weren't fully dressed and I post that. That's a violation. Did Jim and I intend to expose the student? No. We were just trying to show off our fancy new dance that we've been working on for two weeks. But um those scenarios we need to be aware of and we need to protect kids in the district against because those can get ugly in a hurry and you can understand why that's the case. And so it's policy like this that is important because it allows us to hand it off to administration, to the AD, to coaches, to everyone involved so that they know, hey, we've got a responsibility to to be smart about this and protect our kids. >> Yeah. And I just wanted to address that head on

143just like that, Joe, because it isn't a it's a it's a black and white blanket policy, right? There there's no granting permission. It's if it's a designated locker room or changing area, there is no use of of u recording or or any device in that area for recording purposes. >> Yeah, thanks for giving us a concrete example of kind of the the complicated elements of policy and how important they are to >> I do want to see your dasis dance video though. >> Yeah, >> we'll get to work on that. We'll let you know. Um Jim, if I could just just one question I guess that came up, you know, in reading through these and everything. I'm just wondering with um I'm assuming that in these policies, we have I'll see if nothing else a

144calling tree if something like say the camera issue does come out or does happen. We have a calling tree as to who the people are notified, different things like that. if there is a violation, >> if there is a violation or if there is a violation of any of the policies. Um, and have we taken a look at that to make sure that if we have some of the uh people that are going to be displaced, are they part of that policy? And if so, we have to make sure that we have that all updated as far as calling trees and, you know, for any basically any type of emergencies. But it kind of came to mind with these policies to make sure that we have those things in order. >> Yeah, I would say

145calling trees it's a tool that we don't use as much anymore because of the technology that's available to us and so it's a more efficient communication system >> and that's fine but it's just I use that. That's what I was used to way back. >> Sure. >> But it's just the notification of the proper authority. I guess that's the thing. >> Yeah. I think that's a good point. I think you know as we've had a lot of conversations about the importance of administration and you know in the context of some of the cuts that's really why you have these people in place because it's our job to effectively communicate policy and then be available to receive some of those concerns or complaints when they happen and then depending on what the complaint is policy will

146typically dictate the process that we follow and who needs to be notified. >> Can I >> Yeah, please. All staff members should be aware of all these policies, right? And everybody is um it's their responsibility to report infractions and import thing report things that go against the policies and normally then those will be reported to myself, Mr. Wilson or Officer Quinn out at the high school when it's something like this and then we then we start investigating that from there. So that would I guess the call entry is everyone in schools because they're all subject to our policies. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some gap, >> little gap somewhere that all of a sudden it was so minute we missed it and then all of a sudden it's a huge crater. You

147know, that that was my only Mike. And we do have some policies in place that are statutory requirements for for notifications with names in boxes. And we we actually postponed um updating those until the changes with with Joe and uh >> Amy taking their new roles were in place so that we could update them with their names in there. So, excellent. I believe those are all safe from any changes we're looking to make right now. >> Yep. I think we're just double checking. >> Excellent. Thank you. Good questions. Thanks for thanks for raising that. Okay, moving on toformational items. Anything from administration? >> Well, I just open up. We didn't have a spot for Leanne to share any updates and I know we've asked you a lot. So, for the third time tonight, Leanne, I

148didn't know if there's anything else that because we didn't have it on the agenda, but wanted to offer you an opportunity to share any updates that you have. >> Wait, I typed two pages for you guys. >> Well, here we go. make it for um last Tuesday um some of the students in the choices in American democracy class uh were able to get an opportunity to volunteer as greeters at the local election and we got to experience how working at election was. Um in summary it was pretty long and repetitive but it was also really interesting to see how it all worked. Um last Thursday the juniors had their official uh wonderful uh ACT test. Um, last Friday the cast and crew uh members in Shrek got to see nominations for the Jerry Awards. So,

149if you don't know what the Jerry's are, it's a Wisconsinbased high school musical uh theater program that recognizes excellence. Um, and so Jack Tran, Mariela Green, Leanne Trunk, and Xander Nelson got nominated for outstanding lead performances. Charlotte Peters got nominated for outstanding supporting performance. And both of our two youth performers, Jay Malachesky and Kora Morris, also got nominated for outstanding youth performance. And along with that, we got out um outstanding ensemble, outstanding crew, outstanding costume design, and outstanding scenic design. >> Um this week, uh for sports, golf has an away meet. Um, and boys tennis was going to have their first home game today, but it sadly got cancelled. They will have a varsity qual on Saturday in Edertton. Softball has a home game today against Platville and another home game this Friday against Madison

150Memorial. An away game tomorrow in Delivan Darian and a home double header this Saturday. So, that's a lot for softball. Track has an away quad tomorrow and an invitational this Friday. Baseball has a home game tomorrow against Jefferson. a home game against Loi on Friday and an away game on Thursday. Um this Tuesday, tomorrow, freshman and sophomores will have to take their final preac of this year. Um this Friday, we are celebrating World Heritage Day um by showcasing some of the cultures that are in um the high school. And we started doing this last year. It's similar to the uh APsych fair. And so we get some students to create trifolds and bring some things that they think represent their country. And um this year we added some type of um booklet that students can

151fill out to really get them engaged in learning about the different um things that we have in our high school. Um next Thursday and Friday we're having our last fine arts festival at the current high school. Um, most of the events that students can go to are workshops, but we also have some um that are from the students themselves, such as um we have a student co-directed play this year. And we also have a rock band from um some of the students uh called IRA. And on that Thursday, there's also going to be an empty bowl uh dinner along with the show that the theater production will be having. um and it'll be open to the public. And then next Saturday, solo and ensemble for state qualifiers um will be held at W Platville and

152they will have the opportunity to perform their pieces at um Platville. And this year there are around 31 events that qualified. And that's all I have for this week. >> Thanks, Le. Good to have you here. >> Um I'll quickly run through a couple things. board of canvasers uh met this afternoon, certified the election results, including um Terry Montgomery, Caleb Barren, and Melissa Phillips as uh the winners of the school board election. Um Nicole and Teresa are signed up to uh help out with the awards on senior night on May 6. Is that correct? >> That's correct. >> Um we do need >> Nicole and Teresa would like to do that, too. I was going to say I was like, why are there We've locked in who's taking care of graduation volunteering or I know

153she wants to >> I don't want to get hurt so I'm just going to agree and move forward >> and then will hand out diplomas. Yeah. >> And then I think most of you aware Ron's out on vacation for a welldeserved break taking a little time. He's out of the country uh for a few weeks and um that means we won't have a finance meeting uh April 27th but we'll double up on finance the following month. And and then the other thing I just want to say is thank you to Melissa who's done an incredible job in her position. She's come in at a time when there's a ton going on and she's managed it like an absolute pro and so thankful to have Melissa Dixon on the team. She's saved us more than once.

154So thanks Nancy. >> All right, we got nothing for board of ed correspondents through committee reports. Um, EIE is meeting Wednesday, April 29th for their grant selection. And this year we have 25 grant applications. >> So, it's just one more way that EIE can help support the schools and make up um funds where funds aren't. >> Well, thank you, sir. >> Nothing for finance. uh curriculum met tonight and got an update on all of the this the sore the student work programs and the launch program and um the incredible work that they're doing um and adopted a new uh course offering in math for next year. >> Thank you Mike F. >> Uh we already reviewed the work of the policy committee meeting so that's all I have. Steve. >> All right. I've got nothing

155else. Agenda items for future discussion. What about inviting our local state senator and representative to a board meeting or board meetings at some point in the not too distant future to just speak to the school funding formula where they think that might go. We can definitely put that invite out. >> Yeah, we might have a full room. >> Yeah, >> thank you. >> Thanks, Phil. Anybody else? >> Okay, leazison reports. Hey, nothing great. We got five minutes for you, Adam. >> Oh, let's see. I'm thankful that the election's over just from the stress of everything uh leading up to it and uh reading everything both sides what everybody said was kind of the same thing that I had heard and read uh throughout um I don't got anything else. >> Thanks for being here. Appreciate

156it. And thanks for all your work. Okay, >> we going to go into close session. Let me make sure I am. Okay, we've got uh 10 after 9. Um we entertain a motion to adjourn into close session per Wisconsin statute 19851C to wit a prelim preliminary notice of nonrenewal. So moved. >> Motion by Terry. Second. Second by Steve. >> Yep. >> Can you please call the RO? >> Yes. Jim, >> yes. >> Mike, >> yes. >> Is absent. Mike Ros, >> yes. >> Uh Steve, >> yes. >> Terry, >> yes. >> Just Yeah. Just a quick note, we will be coming back into open session after the closed. Um the recording will be paused and will be turned on live once we come back into open session. Thanks everyone for coming in. >> Got it.

157>> Huh? >> Um I've got printouts actually. I've got paper copies for you guys just to make it easier. Sometimes I feel like we over there's an over reliance on the machines and sometimes it's easier for things like look at we're going old school. Look at some paper. >> Thanks guys. Great job Nicole. Really good. Great job with Sarah. >> Great things about Sarah. >> She's phenomenal. brought the full crew. >> Yeah. Right. Yeah. >> You opening that up or >> I'm kind of hungry. >> Didn't give you any wine though. That's >> I don't think you can just because I don't I don't want to see >> assuming your students did that. >> Madison and Pretty cool. >> Yeah. >> No, that's okay. Yep. So if you get night, >> you can sand it

158down and redo. >> We're doing that right now with our industrial tabletop. >> Tom sanded down off. We don't make them like >> Well, they they >> do except they cost. >> So we're getting new locker bases because those are better. Thanks, Melissa. >> 10:09. >> I need motions every Okay. 10:09 p.m. Going to entertain a motion to reconvene. So move >> motion by Mike Davis, second by Mike Proth. >> So we are back in session. >> All right. Uh I got to take a roll call vote to reconvene. So Nikki, uh yes. Jim, >> yes. >> Mike, >> yes. >> Uh Mike, >> yes. >> Teresa, >> yes. >> Steve, >> yes. >> Terry, >> yes. Phil, >> yes. All right, we're back and open. >> Okay, send the Last action item we have

159is to approve the preliminary notice of non-renewal. Is there anything you want to say? >> Yeah, just for anyone that's that's watching, this is uh a step that's necessary as a result of the reduction plan that was identified and communicated to the community. Um what we're voting on tonight is the uh list of preliminary non-renewals, notices of non-renewal uh as presented by administration. This is a confidential list that will not be released at this time. Um, final notices of non-renewal will be made public at the May 11th meeting. Um, but this list tonight, this remains confidential and we ask that the board approve the list as presented. >> With that, I would entertain a motion. >> So move second. >> Motion by Steve, second by Mike. Any discussion? Just that we all make the motion

160with regret. >> Regretfully. >> Just make that sadly approve it. >> Correct. >> Yep. Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. Oppos. >> And Mike. >> I haven't noted. >> All right. Motion. >> I want to make this motion. >> I'm going to make the motion to adjurnn. >> Oh, yeah. So, don't let anybody else have it. >> Is there anyone who would like to make a motion to adjourn at 10:11 p.m.? >> I will make that motion. >> Motion second. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I was nay. Thanks everyone. picture. >> Joe, this one I didn't I wasn't at curriculum, so that's blank.