Board of Education Regular Meeting - March 9th, 2026

001Pretty much at this point, right? >> [clears throat] [laughter] >> Pretty good history you can I'm checking the wall now. Check that wall. >> [laughter] >> Are you good? Are you good? All the names on the wall. Average age >> [laughter] >> We got a little time. It's nice to do something in the winter, you know. The children break for a while, too. >> [laughter] >> All right, I have 7:00. So, we'll get our meeting started. Um Nikki, could you I wanted it to be easy, I guess. Nikki Austin, present. Jim Curran is absent. Mike Davis >> Present. >> Mike Frassetto Present. Nicole Joseph Present. Chris Sakina >> Present. Steve Mann Present. Terry Montgomery >> Present. Phil Lessburg, is he Absent. He's absent. >> Okay. All right. Next, I need a motion to approve our

002agenda for our meeting tonight, March 9th, 2026. >> So moved. Second. A motion by Terry and a second by Nikki to approve the agenda for our board meeting tonight, March 9th, 2026. All those in favor by voice vote say I. I. Opposed, nay. It's an exciting time. We have our student excellent awards for February. So, it's a great time to honor some of our fantastic students. So, it looks like we will start with our elementary students and I think our Abraham Lincoln one will be here next month. So, we'll start with Northside. All right. So, Northside is excited to announce that Xavier Folk is our Northside winning student of the month for February. He is a fifth grader in Mrs. Brant's class. And Xavier is just like the epitome of a respectful young man. He

003is always doing what's right. He is polite, he has manners, and he is what we hope that all all of our elementary students when we talk about our proud behaviors and we hope that you just demonstrate them all, Xavier. And Mrs. Brant wasn't able to make it tonight, but she gave me her speech that she wanted to share about Xavier. I have the pleasure of presenting an award to a student who has truly defined what it means to grow. We talk about success in school, we don't just mean getting the right answers, we mean showing up every day with a heart ready to learn and a spirit ready to help. That is exactly what Xavier has done this year. Xavier has made incredible strides in every single area of school. Whether it's a tough math

004problem or a complex reading assignment, his work ethic has been second to none. He doesn't shy away from challenges, instead he dives in and participates as much as he can. Watching his confidence grow has been one of my favorite parts of the school year. But, Xavier's growth just isn't about his grades. What makes him stand out is how he treats people around him. He is constantly respectful and kind, not just to his friends in the room, but to everyone he encounters throughout the day. He is the kind of person who leads by example. Xavier, your hard work and your kindness have not gone unnoticed. Also all of us at Northside are so proud of the student and the person you are becoming. So, congratulations, you deserve this and keep up THE GREAT WORK. XAVIER, I

005AM MIKE WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. And you probably don't know this, but I have been fortunate enough to witness his kindness in action a couple years ago when you probably didn't even know anyone was looking. On the first day of school, I think you were probably in third grade, a kindergartner arrived and was crying and I watched Xavier go up and ask how how she was doing and grab her hand and ask if she needed help and and take her to the right door. So, it's that kindness and compassion that your teacher talked about and that I personally have witnessed um that is going to lead you to do great things for your school district and and for your future. So, um we really appreciate your uh your efforts and to honor tonight, we've

006got a certificate and a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. So, thank you for being awesome. Parkside has two tonight, so um one that wasn't able to make it last month, so we'll turn it over to Jennifer. Sounds great. We're going to start with Cora and Mrs. Kenny. Come on up. Welcome, Cora. Cora, you got to face the audience and the camera. That's the way. They want to see you, okay? See that little camera in the corner up there? Oh, yeah, they're looking at you. All right, Cora is a third grader in Mrs. Kenny's class and Cora, I love your story. Cora would say and she would honestly say with that big smile that she has on her face right now, school hasn't always been easy. There's some challenges that Cora's worked incredibly hard to

007overcome and we are so proud of Cora for overcoming those challenges and always wearing that smile that she has on her face right now. So, Mrs. Kenny, will you tell us why you nominated Cora and why we are so excited to have her here tonight? Yes. So, first I sent Cora on a fake mission up to the office so that I could ask her classmates to write one word to describe her cuz of course we were working on adjectives. It was a perfect way to just put that in there. So, this is what her classmates said about Cora. She's loving. She's hopeful. Smart, sweet, kind, and nice. Someone who always tries her best. So, we chose her because she consistently shows she cares for others. She gives her best effort and brings up positive spirit

008in the classroom every day. All of these qualities clearly show that she has a heart that shines both in and out of the classroom. Staff and family all agree seeing these same traits reflected in everything she does in the way she treats others. It is without a doubt proof that she's a great candidate for Parkside Student of the Month. Thank you, Cora, for being you. >> [clears throat] >> Hi Cora. I'm Steve with the school board and I'm so happy to present you with this award. Um, I the one thing that I noticed when you came up you were a big smile on your face. You have a beautiful smile and keep smiling your whole life because it's a good good trait to have, you know, even when you're when you're having a bad day.

009Keep that Just remember that it's always better. So, congratulations. We've got a certificate for you and a gift certificate from BARNES & NOBLE. >> [applause] >> NEXT, I'M EXCITED TO CELEBRATE FIFTH GRADER BRADEN. MR. SCHOLTEN, if you'll join us. Braden, Mr. Parody will fact check me if I'm wrong on this, but I believe Braden is the first one that can say he not only got a fire truck ride to school, but it came with a police escort also. >> [laughter] >> We won't talk about where Braden lives for his safety. However, he lives in a very busy area. And every time we have a fire truck ride, we pull into the fire station in the morning and we should all feel incredibly safe cuz firefighter Tony knows where everybody lives, how the driveways work, where

010he's going to pull in, where I need to park, how he's going to turn around. He has this little plan for me and so I said, "So, you know where Braden lives?" He's like, "Oh, yeah. The police are going to meet us on this street. >> [laughter] >> I'm going to go through the stop sign. You follow right me. Don't stop. Stay with me and then they'll close it off so that we can both get through." So, Braden, although we are here to celebrate your excellence, know that you have that special brag as well. So, Braden, a fifth grader and we love being able to say we were able to celebrate you as student of the month at Parkside before we send you off to the middle school. So, Mr. Scholten, will you share why

011you nominated him and why you were able to persuade Parkside to vote for Braden? I didn't have to do the persuading. Braden's actions speak for himself. He, although sometimes his actions might be small, small, but they're every single day he's doing the right thing. Piece of paper on the ground, he picks it up. He's not looking around to see who's watching. He's always ready to go for class. He's always helping someone. He just knows when to do the right thing and always does it. So, with that, I'm proud of Braden and his sense of humor. he's just overall really well-rounded person and keeps me sane most of the time in class. He's always the one paying attention, kind of looking. His humor goes throughout the whole classroom, so can't speak enough great things about Braden.

012Congratulations, BUDDY. >> [applause] >> HI BRADEN, I'M MIKE FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD. I've been an Athenian since 1984. I had four kids that went through the school and I have never ever heard of anybody that got an escort to school. >> [laughter] >> About the only thing I can really say to you is great job and really just keep doing what you're doing. It's excellent. Congratulations. And I think we'll move to the high school, Mr. Jackson, if that's okay and hopefully our middle school kiddo will give us a minute. >> [clears throat] >> All right, Monroe High School Student of the Month is senior Alexis Girtch. Alexis was a popular choice. Mr. Dixon actually nominated her and by that time when I put her up for we vote every every month on who's going to

013be the person. I had three teachers comment back to me like, "Ooh, that was a good one. I should have done that." So, you beat them to it, but thank you. So, I'll have Mr. Dixon talk about why you nominated her. Yeah, so Alexis is a great person. I've known her for a long time, but I really didn't think about her for Student of the Month until she was gone. Like so, when >> [laughter] >> I guess don't realize the value of a person until they're gone and she was gone from a basketball game. I was working a basketball game and I realized the team seemed lost, right? So they and just her leadership out on the out on the court was fantastic is fantastic to watch and really provides a lot of a lot

014of strength on on the on the team. Um, she's also in our AP physics class and um, and and when she was gone I had noticed that the just the feel of the class, the vibe, um, the energy was a little lower and I thought well she's a she's a, you know, she got the award this year for class captain um, of our AP physics class and so I just think that's a really neat attribute of her so like to be that leader to be that person that is super engaging and super funny um, and to make people feel like at home and comfortable with themselves and and and just enjoy being there. So you're that person. So congratulations that's really neat. So it's good good to know you so. It's good to KNOW YOU

015TOO. >> [laughter] >> UM, SO I'M NICOLE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD. UM, I think I have noticed maybe before Mr. Dixon did that you're a pretty awesome. Knowing you for a while you've always been very uplifting, [clears throat] very encouraging. I mean, you're like the glue of the tennis team. I'm not really sure what's going to happen now that you're leaving. Um, just keep it up. I know you will. Wish you all the best at La Crosse. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Well, we still have some time. So what we'll do is we'll go to our staff excellence award and I'll have It's middle school of Roman deep tonight. Yes. So, this is our district-wide winner. This is Alex Pretty Bullier. Uh he is uh he is new to our district as of September.

016Uh so, we're really glad he came. I'm going to tell you to say a few things about that. This is uh Tara Greeley who's a special education aid who's actually under Alex's tutelage to get her licensure in special ed by the end of this trimester. And this is Lindsey Seeker, a uh special ed colleague as well. So, Alex is a former grad of Monroe that left Wisconsin for the similar type of weather we're having today and went to California. And he came back. Thankfully, Alex, you came back. >> [clears throat] >> Honestly, we haven't been the same since. In my career at the middle school over the past 12 years, I think, there's been a few people who have changed positions that have made a truly made a quick and sustained positive impact on the

017building and culture at MMS. My short list is Lindsey Downing moving from special ed to the AP and Val Bracewell and Sarah Schwartzlow transitioning from the classroom to the interventionist roles in both math and ELA. And now, Alex Pretty Bullier. His impact can be heard and seen through his positive interactions, data-driven documents, and conversations, and drive and compassion for educating middle schoolers. What a wild choice you've made. >> [laughter] >> Not to mention there's frogs all over his classroom. If you want a cool spot, come check out his room. Alex, you exude a positivity and a genuineness that students and staff gravitate towards. He utilizes his positive connections and student data to push students and his colleagues and his bosses in ways that make you just feel like we got this. He tracks so much

018good data that he may actually have spreadsheets that track his spreadsheets. >> [snorts] [laughter] >> A fine example of this is one of his data docs that has a tab labeled current data, and right next to that is a tab that says in a data-perfect world. Alex, we're so happy you came back and know that in just [clears throat] two trimesters you're already making a huge positive impact on me, the MMS staff, and the district. Look forward to seeing all the positive changes that are on the horizon for all in your orbit. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Uh so, just that Alex is new this year, and he's standing here as educator of the month for the district, kind of speaks volumes, right? So, um I had the privilege of working with him for the last,

019what, try and a half, cuz I didn't initially start out with you, and the things that I have learned from this guy are unbelievable. Um what he does is he makes an impact that is on our kids, our staff, every single day. He's got a smile on his face, there's no challenge that brings him down, and the camaraderie that that brings to our staff is just second to none. It's It He just brings us all together. Um he builds strong relationships with the students. Um every challenge, again, is just it doesn't It doesn't phase him. He just rolls with it, he finds a solution, and we're all like, "Okay, yep, we can do this. Yep, we we can we got this." So, um most of all, when someone can build relationships, strengthen a team, keep

020students at the center of every decision, that's the kind of educator who changes whole schools. So, we are incredibly fortunate TO HAVE YOU. SO, THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH MY SPEECH, SO >> [clears throat and laughter] >> I'M GOING TO read it anyway. So, I have the privilege of to see Alex in action on a daily basis. My first impression of him was his positive, upbeat mindset and his sense of calm. As I got to know and work with him, I got to see how incredibly hard working he is and how he approaches every challenge with strong problem-solving and innovative thinking. He makes the job look easy and I know firsthand that it isn't. He's a great collaborator who is solution-focused, creative, and effective. I always walk away from one of our conversations feeling positive, supported,

021and ready to take on the next challenge. Now, the real reason we become educators is because of the kids. Alex's passion for each student to feel seen, safe, and loved is contagious. He strives to do what's best for kids while also promoting an environment that maximizes their growth. He promotes belonging and opportunity. Alex has so many strengths and just goes above and beyond every day. We're blessed to have him because our school and our community is stronger because he's part of it. Alex, I'm Teresa and I just want to say on behalf of the board, thank you so much for coming back. Thank you for the impact that you have on our students and our staff in the middle school and we appreciate you very, very much. We have a plaque to honor you tonight

022and so I'm happy to turn the floor over to you. >> [laughter] >> Um I'm looking at Ms. McQueen back there. I just remember my first grade. Um I was an eloper. I kept on running out of the classroom. I was so nervous to be at school. I would go home every single day before the bell even rang to come in for the day. Um and it's because that woman that I stuck it through. Um that she was so positive and so impactful to make sure that I was coming in and being welcomed to every day between the M&M jar, between the letter people. Like those are things that stick with me and that's why I want to make an impact as an educator myself. I was telling my friends before I came back that

023Monroe's model is we bring you back. And uh you know, it they they were joking because it sounds kind of like a horror story. >> [laughter] >> Bring you back. But I can tell you that my experience first coming here as well as my experience coming back here, it's anything but a horror story. This has just been an amazing amazing fairy tale. Um I'm so excited to be here. I'm so inspired to come here every day and it's cuz of the people that I work with. It's because of the changes that I've made here that we've been making here in Monroe and the changes that we're going to continue to make here in the future. So, thank you. >> [applause] >> OR YOU SNEAK OFF A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM THE MONROE Morning Optimist. So, thank

024you for all you do for kids. They'll be here in 5 minutes. Something happened, so they're on their way. Okay. So, well you know what? Well, that's okay. We'll move on. We'll come back to it. We'll do a few We'll get a couple of our things in and we'll come back to that. If um the group doesn't mind hanging out get to hang out and listen to a little more board meeting that's very interesting. And um we'll do a group picture of all the of the student of the month and the staff of the month um in a minute. But we will move on and come back to finish this item. Um all right. So, the next thing we have is our consent agenda. Looking to um approve our set uh consent agenda. We have

025our Board of Education meeting minutes uh from 22426. Approval of support staff retirement at the end of this school year, Jane Matzky, special education aid at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School. Approval and acceptance of community donations. Abby Schmidt, Monroe Truck, donated many materials to the high school launch launch advanced manufacturing um entrepreneurship launch group. Um Jim Faith and Faith Engineering donated materials to the high school advanced metals class. And there was clothing donated to Parkside for their caring closet by Sue Curran. So very incredibly appreciative of all of our community partners and their generous donations. Looking for a motion to approve our consent agenda. So moved. Oops. I just wanted to say Jane Matzky has been in the district for a very very long time and I have the pleasure of working with her at Abe.

026And um I'm so happy that she's getting to retire and enjoy the [clears throat] rest of her life. So thank you, Jane. Thank you for saying that. I was going to ask if you knew how long she was here. Yeah, It's over I think it's over 30 years. >> That's amazing. She was here when I started in '98. So she's been here a while. '94? >> That's amazing. So huge thank you to Jane for giving that kind of dedication um to our district and our students and our staff. So congratulations on the retirement for sure. And then I will second that motion. >> All right. So I I kind of saw Mike so I'm going to take Mike as a first. Mike Davis. You're the second. Mike Davis. I was looking at him. Sorry. So

027a motion by Mike Davis and a second by Terry to approve the consent items as presented by voice vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye. >> [clears throat] >> All those nay. Perfect timing. We have our middle school student of the month joining us. You're up right away. Right off the bat. Come over, Jack. This is our uh middle school winner for the month. This is Jack Boger, 8th grade. Made quite an impression as you come through the hallways and in the board meeting with that hat. >> [laughter] >> Did you see him on Friday in the full suit, hat, and boots? Yeah, he's the only one. Yeah, it's okay. So, Jack doesn't come to my office very often. When I got to pull him in, he said, "Holy cow, I didn't know there

028was even rooms back here." >> [laughter] >> I think I've only been to the dirt once or something like that. I said, "Well, that's a lovely thing." Every day. 3 years he hasn't been in my office. Or didn't even know where Miss Diamond's office was. So, how cool is that? That means you're making good decisions. So, Jack is a genuine and thoughtful young man. He's always quick to say hi to our staff members, even staff that said they don't even really know him or had him in class, but he knows who they are and always checks in in the hallways, which is a pretty cool thing. He's very considerate of his peers and goes out of his way to help classmates feel included. I've talked to a couple staff who have said he's done some

029behind-the-scenes conversations with staff to say, "Put me in this group or I'd love to partner with this student to make people feel included without doing it in front of the whole class." That's a pretty special thing to do for kids. And if you have teenagers, anybody, or know any teenagers, you know that's kind of out of the ordinary at this age, right? So, kudos to you for always looking out for other people. And additionally, I'm excited to see what you can do at high school next year. I know you love hands-on learning, and I think you might have a side hustle in a future career into welding from what I'm hearing. I'll let Miss Burke, his homeroom and science teacher this try, talk more about Jack. Yeah, I'll go ahead and explain the welding part.

030So, in my room, I have some stools, and every once in a while they kind of break. And Jack took upon himself, like, "Miss Burke, like, your stool's broken. What should I do with it?" I said, "Oh, put it in the office. I think the custodian will just unfortunately not be able to fix it. Like, it's a loss." He's like, "I know how to weld. I can take this home and I can fix it for you." And he comes by my room at the end of the day, he picks up the stool, he takes it home, he comes back the next day, and it's completely fixed. He then again, uh, finds another stool a little bit later on, and again he says, "I can take this home and I can fix this again for you.

031It's not broken. It'll be no problem." I said, "Well, thank you, Jack." And each time he comes back with the stool, I ask, you know, "Would you like a gift card for you like as a thank you?" "No, thank you. No, thank you." So, I make him take a Jolly Rancher. >> [laughter] >> Sorry, kid. You're going to have a little sweet treat. Um, so that just speaks about Jack and his humbleness and his ability to, um, see problems and find solutions consistently throughout the day. And so, I've been very lucky to start my day every day this year with Jack. We do have a hard time reading the board from across the room, so mom and dad, my doctor appointment, I don't know. >> [laughter] >> Twin sister is a green. So, there there

032is that, but Jack, um, really has been great being your homeroom teacher this year. I won him this last trimester for science as well. Um, so he did transfer from Miss Bogart's room to my room, so I I'm just at 90 wonderful minutes with Jack every day. SO, YEAH. >> [laughter] [applause] >> HI, JACK. HOW ARE YOU? GOOD. TERRY WITH THE Board of Education. I've known you since you were very little. I've known your mom. I've known your grandparents, and so I'm not surprised that you are thoughtful and kind because your whole family is thoughtful and kind. And I know you as also as an entrepreneur. Last summer he came up to me downtown and said, "I'm starting a lawn mowing business, so if you need your lawn mowed, give me a call." And I'm

033like, okay, I will remember that, Jack. So, thank you for your ingenuity and helping people at the middle school to fix things. Um that's wonderful and you have wonderful attributes and those will take you through life. So, congratulations. You have a certificate and a Barnes & Noble gift card. >> [applause] >> WELL, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO ANYTHING ELSE, what we'll do is we'll take a picture if everybody I'll be I'm student of the month and I can't lecture now. Come on up for a picture. >> Right here, guys. Right in the middle. We'll get out of the way. No, hold it. Hold it. Good. Come on there, too. Yep. >> [laughter] >> All of you. He's great. And then I think Donna wanted to take a picture with you as well. Congratulations again, GUYS.

034SO, THANK YOU. IF YOU YOU'RE WELCOME TO LEAVE and you're welcome to stay and listen to the rest of the board meeting. Either is fine. No one will be offended. Um it's up to you. Run while you can. >> [laughter] >> Congratulations. Yeah. Thank Appreciate it. The turnout was amazing. >> [laughter] >> I know. I know. She's always Yeah. Congratulations. See you guys later. Okay. Bye-bye. You're not leaving. Sit down. >> [laughter] >> Oh, no. You're not allowed to leave. All right. So, we are on to new business. And we have I'm sorry. We are on to public comment. We have no one signed up for public comment. Is everybody here for the purpose of public comment? Now, we're on to new business. Um the first we have two sponsorships that we have. So, well,

035the first one is of the therapy classroom. So, we'll let Joe Yeah, so I'm going to thanks Teresa. Um so, we've taken a break from doing some sponsorship announcements for a little bit and I'm excited that we're starting it back up with this one. This is an important to me personally for a couple of reasons. One is that this is for a sponsorship of the therapy room, which is associated with special ed, which obviously is very close to my heart over the years and um we're fortunate enough in the new high school to have a brand new therapy room with dedicated space for occupational therapy and physical therapy. Um which provides critical services to uh the kids in our schools and we're so fortunate to have had a long long list of excellent professionals that

036have worked in that that program. Um and the second reason it's so important to me is that through the Mosher family we are excited to announce that that room will be named in the honor of Joel and Mosher. AW. TELL JOE SOMETHING VERY EMOTIONAL AND THERE'S DAVE with the camera right in her face. What a guy. It'll be in the nibbles for sure. >> Yeah. Yeah. So most people know this but and then Jeremy could be sitting right here next to me as I say this part of it. Joe is someone who's very dear to me. When I started here in 1998 in the lower level of Abraham Lincoln where your office was, where my office was. Jeremy followed shortly thereafter. Joel and is always someone who uh provided incredible care and love to kids

037including my daughter. Um Thank you so much. I mean I loved every minute of it. And I've done some volunteer work since I you know quit doing the the real thing. >> [laughter] >> Loved it and I loved the people I worked with in that area. I'm not much of a speaker. >> I couldn't do it so you had to step in. So once again you're bailing me out as always. >> You have. You have. And so I think the thing about Joe is not only has she been great for kids but Joe is a person who's mentored countless professionals not just these two knuckleheads to get us where we're at. >> [laughter] >> Um but really and I wrote this in in my write up Joe is someone who really established the spirit of

038that team and it carries on to this day. And when I think about Amy leads that work now, but just that a group of really caring, passionate people and that comes from you. So, thank you. Thank you all. My picture? >> [clears throat] >> Oh, are you going to get right up in my face? Cuz then the answer is no. So, I just want to say how much we appreciate you. I couldn't think of a better person to name that room after and and it's just means a lot to the district, the community, and me personally. Thank you so much. I I just I don't know what to say. It's been >> [snorts] >> I've loved every minute of it and the kids and the teachers and staff and you know, some of my family

039>> [laughter] [clears throat] >> have been in there and it's I'm I'm glad to see the changes that were made from when I first started in there to what's going on now. It's it's just fantastic and done some stuff some um >> [snorts] >> volunteer work along the way, but mostly, you know, I think it's it's just a a great facility we have, a great staff we have. Everything is really really top-notch. And I'm not much of a speech maker, so Now, you get to take a picture. Yeah. Congrats, JOE. >> [applause] [laughter] >> SURE, WE'LL WAIT. YOU WANT TO GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN? PICTURE, DAVE. SERIOUSLY, we should take one with you and Adele for the Kiwanis nibbles, too. So, I can come grab your phone if you want to or Teresa. I'm okay.

040>> [laughter] >> There's no way in the world I'm going to get a good a shadow on this thing. Did he do it? Did you get your picture? And then we'll get Teresa. I'm sorry. >> [snorts] >> Thanks. All right. Congratulations. Dave said he's refusing. No, he's taking it. Josh grabbed the phone. All right. I don't know. Whatever you guys want to do. >> [snorts] >> Do you want me to be up here? Go to the front. I love this. >> [laughter] >> It's all good. >> [clears throat] >> One, two, three. All right. CONGRATULATIONS. >> [applause] >> WHAT A GREAT STAFF TO WORK WITH AND LOVE IT. All right, we got the hard part of the meeting over with and now we can >> [snorts] >> get on to some other stuff. Ready to

041go on the next sponsorship? >> another sponsorship that we're going to do tonight and that is Well, actually stop. I have to approve the 10-year sponsorship of the MHS therapy room at the new Memorial High School. So, we need a motion on this section. So moved. Second. >> [snorts] >> Motion by Jamie and a second by Nikki. Um to approve the 10-year sponsorship [clears throat] at the um for the therapy [snorts] room at the new high school. By voice vote, all those in favor please say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Thank you. Congrats, Cheryl. All right. Now we have a next next sponsorship. >> Yeah, so again >> [snorts] [clears throat] >> we're fortunate to have another sponsorship. This one is for the Family and Consumer Sciences classroom. For those of you that aren't overly familiar

042with the new high school, that's a really special classroom because it's it's located right off of the the um room, which is the large kind [snorts] of hallway that serves as the spine of the building, but it also is features What are we calling it? That Jeremy, kind of a showcase window or which prominently displays all the great work that'll happen in that classroom. Um, we're fortunate. Um Excuse me. I just noticed that the thing that I printed out wasn't right, but that's all right. I can do this from the off the top of my head. Uh, Bank First, formerly known as um First National Bank, uh, has stepped up and has provided a 10-year sponsorship, uh, for $10,000. Um, they'll be providing that support. Not with The agreement is for 10 years, but they've

043indicated that they plan on providing the $10,000 up front. We're really thankful to Steve Schneider for that support of that program. That's going to allow us to make sure that that facility continues to be modern, up-to-date, has all the technology, um, and all the equipment that we need in order [snorts] to, uh, continue to run a first-class program. We're excited about that program. Longtime teacher Melody Lefollett is retiring, but you wouldn't know it cuz Melody wants to make sure that that program is absolutely perfect going forward. Um, and so we're excited about the future that, um, that beholds for for that, uh, particular program and special thanks to Steve Schneider and Bank First for their support. What did I miss, Ron? That's great. I say, yeah, Steve and the rest of his [snorts] team and

044the rest of their team have, uh, been great to work with and, you know, going back in time, I think you know, they were some of the original, uh, donors and sponsors of the EIE program for us and so they've they've been long-time supporters of the district. So, it's great that there's a space in our building even as they transition to a new name that they're, uh, willing to put their name on our in our building. So, we really do appreciate that. >> [snorts] >> All right. I'm again incredibly appreciative grateful for um, that sponsorship. Looking for a motion. So moved. Second. Is that Mike Frasier? It is. So motion by Terry, second by >> [clears throat] >> Mike Frasier to approve the 10-year sponsorship for the new high school family and consumer science classroom

045as presented by voice vote. All those in favor say I. Opposed may fantastic and again huge thank you. Moving on to the start college now program. We have um one application for the start college now program. So I'll let Jeremy present that for us. These are pretty straightforward. A student wants to take classes at BTC or another technical college in the state of Wisconsin. Um they're able to do so as long as they meet the deadline which they did and then we don't offer the same or a similar course. And in this case case we don't and I would Caleb be able to take courses she's looking at. English composition one, microeconomics and intermediate algebra with applications. So kind of a general start of her >> [clears throat] >> two-year college degree. >> [snorts] >>

046Sounds good. Any questions for Jeremy? Any other questions? So we're approving now for this is this coming fall, right? Yeah. The deadline was March 2nd I believe. And then it's for next fall. So looking for a motion to approve. So moved. That was Steve. Thank you Steve. Thank you. >> I'll second. Motion by Steve and a second by Nikki to approve the start college now application request of Kaylin Schmidt as recommended by Jeremy Jackson. Any other questions or discussion? All those in favor by voice vote, say I. I. Opposed, nay. Motion carries. We'll get that signed, it looks like. Moving on to joint federal notification of special education report. Yeah, so this is really a a celebration and providing an update about some of the great work that's happening in special ed. So, we'll turn

047it over to Amy to talk a little bit about the report and what it means. Okay, so like Joe mentioned, it's a huge celebration for our district. It's called the joint notifications report. And essentially, what it is is a is a report card that's a lot of spot like all based on special ed. And it's broken down into there's like 15 subcategories, but there's four major categories that were rated on. It's graduation and dropout rates, inclusion in the regular education environment. It has to be like 80% of our students are in 80% of the time. Evaluation timelines, there's there's a lot of paperwork that goes along with special ed, so making sure things are completed on time. And then participation in the state testing, um as well as how students do in reading and math.

048So, drum roll because the district scored a 96% which is absolutely unbelievable. You only need not only, you need an 80% to meet requirements. So, to score such a high high rate is is absolutely unbelievable. And it's really a testament to actually everyone who works all staff who work in the district. There's so much work and love that goes into this and it's it's leadership, but it's also carried through at at every level to make sure our students are getting what they need. They're in an inclusive environment. And and never giving up on them. So, I just think it's a it's a great celebration for the district and principal leading that work. Joe doesn't deserve any credit with this at all. >> [laughter] >> I was going to say in order to get that the

049highest score we've ever received, all you had to do is get me out of the position. Good job, Amy. >> [laughter] >> Does anyone have any questions? Congratulations. It's huge for the district. It's a lot of work. >> [applause] >> Is this like the report cards so we know where other districts stand or No one has a 96%. >> [laughter] >> Um that's a good >> Actually, I don't know. >> I I've never seen a statewide list of um where other districts are at. Um it's provided [snorts] to us through SAFE, which is kind of a a confidential data portal. Um but as far as I know, I don't think they share scores across uh the district or across the state. I think it's meant to be an internal accountability mechanism to make sure people

050are getting the work done. It's really difficult to get this kind of a score. I mean so And a lot of some of it's from 23 24, too. I didn't mention that. Some they're they're it's lagging data. Um so >> Awesome. It's a >> [laughter] >> You know, I was just going to say uh Lagging indicator, is that it? First thing I said to Amy when she told me is don't mess it up. No [laughter] shoot. He actually said that. It's it's great. It's it and the principals are the unsung heroes in this because they are having these You heard earlier in the curriculum meeting about the data meetings and how much care goes into kid-by-kid looking at their the results and what we need to do to provide them adequate support. So, um just

051incredible work. Really really proud of that team. Our school our school psychs are huge leaders in this as well. Wonderful. Well, thank you for that update and thank you for all all of your collective work to make that happen. Moving on to food service [clears throat] lunch prices for next year. There is information in our packets about the cost every year we set the cost for food service and for lunch and breakfast prices and milk prices. And so we have a recommendation. This Do you want to talk about that? I think we're on the right track. >> Ron do you want to talk about that? Yeah, so we in your package you have the prices that compares [snorts] ourselves along with many districts in the area. Um we have had the fortunate of of having

052a food service program that's been in the black for a number of years. So there was a few years when we were able to not do increases when prices were and and product was a little more affordable. That kind of keeps us in or ahead of the game. And so basically you can see our current price and then what we are suggesting to move to compared to what the other districts are currently at already this year. Um one thing in there I'll point out is Breakfast is an area where we don't get a lot of commodities and to be honest um whether it's warm something warm like pancakes or whether it's prepackaged goods, it's pretty much the same breakfast at the elementary middle and the high school levels. And so um with the increase there

053we're just looking to make it equal with the the high school price. So it'll be $2 across the board across the district. That is the area that's probably had the greatest impact because we don't get many commodities and and it's with a number of the items being prepackaged it's probably one the one that over the last two to four years has seen tremendous increase in the price of of what we have and you know we're not making it up on the labor side of it. So that's that drives that a little bit. And then on the lunch side of it again we have many more lunches that we serve than breakfast, uh it's the majority of our program. Um Uh and again, the cost there >> [snorts] >> uh have been increasing. Some of the

054commodity levels uh have been pulled back a little bit. I will say Eric continues to do a great job of at the end of the year if any districts haven't claimed out their commodities uh and some of our suppliers have extra commodities available, we always take them uh and we utilize them and it's really helped contain our costs over the years. Uh so, the amount of the increase uh at uh uh 20 cents uh per lunch uh at the uh um elementary and middle school level and 10 cent at the high school level uh is is because of some of that hard work that he's done. Otherwise, we would have probably looked at a larger increase. And even with that being said, Ron, we're still quite a bit below most districts. >> Yeah, we're I

055mean, there's a few districts that, you know, that are on either end of that spectrum, but certainly but for the most of the districts, we're we're going to be less than where they are this year. >> Right. >> Yeah. So, our recommendation would be to implement the increase as is here presented. >> [snorts] >> Not so much a question, but just to point out that that this does not affect the reduced or uh or supplemented lunch. >> Yeah, those those rates have been set at the same amount uh my entire career. So, going back to the '90s, uh it's been Now, one thing we do do um that not every district does is uh for for the breakfast, if if a child is approved for free, uh we treat the reduced rate children as also

056free. Not every district does that, but that's been our policy since we implemented that program, but the uh the 40 cents is a national price on the reduced price lunch, and again, that's been been in place for a number of years now. That's a good point. Thanks, Mike. Any other questions on pricing for next year for this lunch? Milk too, right? Milk is the same price as this year, yeah. I'm looking for a motion. So moved. Second. Motion by Terry and a second by Steve to approve the food food service lunch prices as recommended by Ron and Eric at in food service. Any other discussion or questions? By voice vote, all those in favor say aye. Aye. >> Aye. Any opposed, nay. Motion carries. All right, on to policies, second reading. So, if you remember,

057we had a lot of policies that policy committee had gone over um previously. We had our first reading at our last meeting, but there's a number of um regular um policies and administrative policies. Um Any updates or questions on our second reading for policies? Yeah, I didn't have receive any questions from the board about any individual policies, Mike. I don't know if you had anything at this point. Yeah, and we've discussed that policy in the first reading, so I think we're in pretty good shape. Well, just again, to reiterate, this is almost all just um changes in in wording or or slight changes to to match changes in in Wisconsin state statute. So, we're looking for a motion to approve. So moved. Second. Motion by Nicole and a second by Mike Davis to approve the

058Neola policy updates as recommended by the policy committee. Any other discussion? By voice vote, all those in favor say I. I. Opposed, [snorts] nay. Motion carried. Two, [clears throat] building project updates. We'll turn that over to Joe and Ron for building. >> Sure. So, I can just start out with I would say we're at a really fun point in the project. Would you agree with that, Ron? Absolutely. Um you walk in the building and there's new pretty stuff happening all over. You know, it's different when we're digging dirt and putting up walls, and that was certainly exciting, but now some of the finishes are coming into play, um and just a by way of example, you know, our our ceiling tiles are going in, uh some of the flooring, the design you're seeing, the board

059and batten on the M wall, um when you first come into the M room is is going up. Um we have the bleachers were installed. Uh the lamboo, which is the uh kind of [snorts] the wooden visual element, the vertical wooden beams that will be strung along the north side of the M room um are going in. The geofoam is being installed in the auditorium, which allows them to put the the flooring up to the control room is happening. The the amount of work in the performing arts center is just incredible overall, and there's there's so much more. Uh it's it's incredible to see how much work is happening in a short amount of time. So, Ron, anything that you want to I'll just echo what Joe said in the sense of uh last week

060I think I was I know I was only able to get out there on Tuesday. I wasn't uh able to get back in out there the rest of the week. And the update came on Friday, and there were things that hadn't even been started on Tuesday that were done in the update on Friday. So, it really is an exciting time in the project, uh and so we continue. Uh I did an update for the board last month with some of the owner purchases. We're continuing to work through that. We've had a couple of meetings. We're working on the move. And so there's a lot of dynamics and and things that we're working on in anticipation for this project wrapping up. So fun time. I think at the last update they talked a little bit about

061um the the lift station and and there was some meetings with the city going to happen or some permitting. Do you know where that's gone since our last meeting? Yeah, they're still having some of those discussions so I can't say where their discussions with the city exactly are. I can't say for the the lift station itself they have most of the They had one of those chunk left and that may be done now a week later but the force main that goes from the lift station all the way up to basically up to our side is put in. The building much of it is is now set in and up the I don't know what to call it the pit but the you know the what what everything goes into it the lift station is

062in. Yeah the wet well thank you. I knew it had a nicer name than pit. And and so really I think the the one thing that they're they're waiting on or needing to get is um their generator in there and then they even have their pumps on site. So it's really just getting the generator in and getting those final connections made. Once that's in that'll be the driving thing and as as they said last meeting I you know that might be a couple months out but we're able to still do the water things that we have in the needs for the building currently uh and support what we're doing Uh but as we get closer to closing out that building, it becomes a concern that we're monitoring as one of those items that, you know,

063we we just keep our a pulse of and it's going to be fine for when we start in the fall, but when this spring that it's going to be ready for us is is yet to be finally determined. But yes, they've had some of those conversations. Um I know uh Tony was talking about talking with Al or did talk with Al, but I haven't got an update as to exactly where that all has shaken out to this point. Any other questions? Not totally related, but I think it's important to just mention next week the 17th, there's the legacy night at the high school, the current high school, and then the following week the 26th. >> Yep. Um is the open house at the new site, the preview of the the preview of the new site,

064Elk Peak. Um both really exciting, so hopefully people are able to attend both of those. Hard to believe it's already here. Seems like it should be so far away. And then moving on, we have some um construction things to talk about, so I will some updates on um the use using our contingency funds and some alternatives that we might be able to fund. So I'll turn that over to Ron and Joe as well. Ron. Yeah, we introduced [snorts] this at the last board meeting and and just circling back, uh obviously where at the point now as we're wrapping up the project where um you know, we want to be cognizant of what things we might want to be able to implement that we had put on hold early on the project until we knew that

065the funding of the project was coming in at good pace. I I reshared uh the budget out there that uh had shared at the last meeting and uh you know, we're we're good in in all of our line items. Uh we actually have some uh additional uncommitted funds from, you know, our funding sources uh our the money that we've been able to raise uh coming in more over the course of the project than we initially initially budgeted. Uh and then we actually have contingencies both on the construction side of the equation as well as on the uh owner contingency. And so, we're not looking at even touching those dollars uh at this moment. We would uh like to keep those in place in case something uh does come up over these last uh few months

066of the project. Uh but we are at a point where at least we can start beginning to talk about and consider what some of those alternates that we might want to look at bringing back are. Uh probably the three that have risen to the the highest level are um lights for the varsity baseball and softball, uh lights uh on the JV baseball and softball, and then um motorized electric hoist in the performing arts center. So, we have a counterweight system in the performing arts system that's very safe. Many districts utilize it. Uh however, it does require some expertise to to be able to supervise that uh adequately. And so, we would like to consider doing some electric hoist in there uh just to increase in the safety factor on that. So, it still works with

067the counterweighting. It's just the the electric hoist are kind of a uh switch or button driven factor versus a you know, someone playing with uh the the system itself. The the counterweights still work, but it's it's now driven by the electric hoist. Um and so, the the two things at this time that we would say let's let's consider whether we want to to take into uh would be the uh well, I guess I first I should say we have uh just over 900,000 that we're comfortable with allocating and that's without touching those two contingency budgets. And so, we aren't really looking at uh designating all of that straight out of the gate. Uh but, certainly the two things that would rise to the top uh for consideration by the board would be uh the electrical

068race in the performing arts center and the uh lighting uh on the varsity baseball and softball fields. Uh we would suggest holding off on the JV fields uh for now and just till we know that we get a little closer to the end. Cool. Financial questions. Um when I look at the funding sources, so basically what what you're suggesting is we've got the the total of all construction that we figured using referendum funds, right? That that's that 100 million 40,000, correct? Yep. And the total from all the funding sources is 100 million 962,000. So, that's that 920,000 that you're talking about. >> Correct. Can you confirm the bond interest income? That seems like a very round number to be confirmed that that's what we're going to be able to to keep and spend. Yeah, it's

069a round number in the sense of that's a conservative number right now. Uh so, we actually anticipate that we'll have even more interest earnings than that, but we know that we're going to have to cut that uh arbitrage check back to the IRS uh because of the amount of interest uh that we've been able to earn over the course of this project. And so, we >> [cough] >> I use a conservative number in there. The uh our investment people have a number that they are anticipating that that uh check going back to the IRS is, but we can't afford a surprise as a school district. And so, we need to have a number in there that we're safe that will cover that. That allows us to do some other things at the end. That's great.

070Uh you don't want to have a hopeful number in there and then all suddenly be be have to rebate more dollars back to the IRS and it lowers that amount. So, uh I would say yep, it's a round number, but that's because we're I'm conservatively looking at what is the projected earnings that we can pretty well dial in. It somewhat depends upon how we spend out the rest of the project, but it's it's really close, you know, uh we're getting that point now where we can have that pretty dialed in. However, what we what we don't know is until even though my financial guys are running the projections of what we'll have to go back to the uh IRS's we'll have a basically CPA firm that that's all they do is rebate arbitrage and they'll

071do the final calculation. And so, until I see their final numbers I always give a little little uh conservative look at what that might be. Your conservative risk or conservative number is very little to no risk to the district is Right. Uh my hope would be that we might actually end up with some additional uh revenue there because uh the rebate arbitrage uh check going back to the IRS may be less than what I'm >> [clears throat] >> carrying as a potential number or cost for the district. Uh second question, the CTE grant funds are those just the funds that were dedicated to construction? Cuz I know there was some of those funds that we talked about were to fund the teaching positions for that space. Those are separate from what's in this number? Yeah,

072it was originally a a $2 million grant. Uh 1 and 1/2 million uh were committed uh to the project. Uh and then uh the remainder uh was for funding some of the people who are supporting the building trades project now. And then also uh for the next couple 3 years we've we've added an instructor. Uh you can see that's set at 1,311,785. That reflects the actual costs associated with the addition from CG Schmidt as well as the uh design costs with PRA. So, we're actually a little under uh what we had said was going to be allocated from that grant to match what our true expenses are that we'll be able to claim out. You don't want to put a $1.5 million in there and only be able to authorize 1.3 of claims. Uh so,

073that additional dollars will help offset the uh uh continuing uh cost for the the instructors in that building trades program going forward. Any questions? So, approving these amounts, our owner contingency won't really change. No, not with these. Uh it would This would change you know, that gap as Mike said between the you know, 100.9 million and the 100 million that we have in the budget right now. It won't change those contingencies. And I think I shared in the the uh write-up that right now there are some things from the existing um project updates that we're doing the change orders that have been in there that will be transferring some money like out of our owner contingency over to the construction side of the equation. And so, uh it's kind of interesting with our with our

074system right now where we have some contracts that we hold because we had some local contractors we wanted to work with with who are non-union. And then with the contracts that CG Schmidt holds, whenever there's a change in one of those piles, either I have to give them money or they have to give me money back to make sure that we're tracking all those uh um contracts out correctly. And so, there's always a little more movement than than just a true change order. Sometimes it's just a shifting of where the cost allocations are. But uh Uh, these items won't hit the contingency. These would be outside of the contingencies. These would be looking at those additional dollars that are there. Is Huffman Huffman Gale are they still pretty confident there's enough contingency remaining there or

075should we be holding back additional in case we're going to need it? I mean, the majority of the owner funded items are We still have a lot to go, right? Yeah, they were comfortable I would say probably a month ago before we started looking at some of these last change order things. We were probably they were probably even of the mindset that we could look at either some of the construction contingency or the owner contingency and and allocate a bit toward the project as well and and to be honest as we talked through that myself, Tony, Ryan, we decided let's not go there yet. There is enough time and enough variables out there so we didn't allocate additional dollars out of the contingency budget for the board to consider at this point in time. So,

076they are comfortable with it. Um, you know, Mike had asked me earlier today is can we, you know, do we have to do this now? And I would say we don't have to do this now. Certainly the pack is probably more time sensitive cuz they're still in there doing the rigging. Our electricians are still in there on site. And so, certainly there are some increased cost avoidance by doing that now. Um, with the lights, you know, we we weren't sure if we were going to be able to do the lights and so, can the lights be done later? Yep, they could be done later. Obviously we start playing on those next spring. So, you know, if we wanted to wait till later in the summer, that's a possibility. Probably the biggest impacts are you know,

077some of the trades and or some of the supervision of the project will start pulling off. And so, you know, will we have to bring any of them back on? We might not have to, but that's something to consider. Some of the equipment that we're utilizing in the construction side of the equation, um might be pulled off so that then the people who are installing the lights got to bring or rent equipment to do it. Um Which could cost us more money. >> could cost us more money. And then the third thing that probably is in there is um You know, we had talked earlier about doing all the bases and then that was when they were decided to hold on contingency. They did all the bases for the lights that are in um concrete

078or or or blacktop out there. But there are some that goes around the fields in in grass that aren't in They're They're stubbed out. They're all ready, but they the bases aren't in. So if we do delay, there is the possibility yet we'll finish some landscaping, come in with some equipment, do the bases, and then, you know, have to redo some landscaping, just meaning flattening the ground out, planting grass again. So there are some costs that are in there, but they're not enough that I would say have to deter us or force our hand one way or the other. But they are considerations. Is there a possibility of looking at some of the lower priority items and maybe not completing the entire project, but putting it, you know, on its way towards completion? Like Does

079that make sense? Uh like, you know, um like you just said about the um the lighting for baseball and softball. So like tennis is listed on here. Do they have electric pulled out to the courts? Yeah, they have a base that's out there. >> They do have They just don't have the lights. Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. I was just thinking if there was any like base work that could be done while we're still in the construction phase and then finish it out later when we know And that's a perfect example where basically with that it's a one big light pole that's in the middle that then shoots out shoots out in all directions and so we never knew if that was even going to become a reality whether even if we had the funds whether

080the board is going to prioritize that but for that very reason you we had to make sure we put in the base in the electric conduit cuz even if it's not done now even if it's wanting to be done five years from now we you know you don't want to tear into those tennis courts uh and and have to change that out >> Yeah and so that like any of these other things too are basically set to go Yeah There was no And as Tony said like the twinkle track lighting we're a bit far down the road now some of the clouds are in in the pack and uh so you know that might be a little uh it's not can't be done at this point in time but it there might be a little

081additional cost that would go into it because we're we're getting far enough along and then every day as they get more of the uh uh base in for some of the seats and as the seats go in that becomes harder and harder to do some of that overhead stuff in the in the seating area of the performing arts center on the stage you have some flexibility there And when you looked at at the recommendation that you guys put together for us then did you is there a reason you didn't want the track lighting I mean it's it's not that much more money right now if it's getting too late in the game It was just something we we've never had lighting on on our Did you say on the tennis right? >> the track Twinkle

082track lighting Oh the twinkle track okay I heard track I was thinking big round track >> Please don't misunderstand I know 53,000 is a lot of money I'm just saying if it's going to get too far down the path that it maybe can't be done Yeah is there a reason why maybe it wasn't included It was it was one of those things that initially when you saw some of the early uh renderings and videos of the uh Performing Arts Center that were planned to be designed in there. It's something I think if some of you have seen the uh Wisconsin Dells Performing Arts Center that they had used in there and got a lot of positive comments from their community. But it is an aesthetic thing, right? And so um that's really why Got it.

083it got pulled out initially and that's why you know, it's still listed as a lower priority just because it's not a you know, it's not a utility utilitarian thing. Uh it is it is one of those aesthetic things. Now, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. That's just saying I just wanted to understand. Yep. Thank you. Yeah, I think um you know, it's to Nicole's point, I think I'm comfortable with what what you're proposing. I think I'd like to better understand number eight and the experience for the kids versus the practice fields of number two for the baseball and softball only because I'd like all of our varsity kids to have a similar experience. >> Yeah, I agree. And so I would like to maybe see that prioritized a little higher. Um but I'm comfortable

084with the recommendation that you guys have made. I just want to reiterate as long as make sure I'm reading this correctly. So this does not touch our contingency funds that we have established either owner direct or the one that CG Schmidt holds. And it and it will still reserves about 250,000 for any other unexpected costs that might arise. Correct. Yeah. Then we can go back. And it's also exciting. I mean, when I look at that list, we've already taken like five of those things, six of those things already. And there's there's some things in there where, you know, you know, I'll be honest like the rough structure for the practice field dugouts um that may be something that at some point we want to track tackle with our building trades kids, right? And so uh

085there are some of those items that probably move down the list just because um you know do we have to have we don't we don't even we don't even currently have dugouts on our JV baseball and so to have you know a roof over the dugouts yep when it's raining or when it's storming we're going to wish we had them but it's it's not something they can go to the varsity dugouts right as they're waiting that out and so um and it's one of those things that we basically thought might end up being a good project and and and a cost savings by having you know some of our students do it they get a learning experience and we're paying materials and and getting it done in a different way so that's that's what factored

086into some of the other items that are on there as well. I will just weigh in my personal opinion I don't see anything here that we need to do right now. I think we should take a an ultra conservative approach and just give it another month to see what the contingencies do. Um make sure that we've got everything we need for funds to cover what we absolutely need before we look at this additional spending. >> [clears throat] >> Geopolitical situation unknown what commodities are going to be doing. I I'd like to see where we get with the rest of the the building before we make these decisions cuz I don't think it's going to be that big of an impact to wait. Would be price increases in the estimations? There may be I mean I

087probably more so uh on the first two uh I don't think it's you know astronomic uh and certainly um you know other than landscaping costs aren't are usually pretty affordable so if you have to repair some landscaping put down some new seeding that's usually on a pretty affordable thing to do. Um the performing arts center is the one that I would probably say is a little little more time sensitive. Uh Can you add the electric hoist set at a later point as a retrofit or or whatever cuz that's somewhat what we're doing even now. Yeah, uh you can do that later, but uh I think while like you know, and I'm not guaranteed that main stage is going to get that for that price, but while Next Electric is on site and while main stage

088is on site if it is main stage who ends up doing it, um you know, I think there would be some And before you hang curtains and do all those other things that come with come with the performing arts center. So, that [clears throat] would be the one I would be more more worried about that one quite honestly. Mike, would you be willing to, you know, kind of split out the recommendation and look towards I mean, that is number three. It's, you know, one of the more lower priced looking at some of the other ones. Would you be okay splitting that out to just look at that while we do have the ability to get it done? I I Honestly, I hear what you're saying, Ron. I I agree. Yeah, there's going to be additional

089cost, but I don't think it'll be more than you know, a 5% upcharge. Personally, I I just rather wait for all of it. I kind of tend to agree with Mike at this point, but the hoists I understand that they're they're installing those now, right? They're Yeah, they're doing all the line sets right now and so they're in there working overhead. >> inclined to do that now rather than put the manual ones in. Yeah. Yeah. >> And then take them out. Right. And what And you're basically going to throw them away. Those they'll still have some counter waiting systems in there, so you're not going to throw that away. However, the balancing and the setting of it all though gets gets impacted when you switch it to electric hoist, so there is some some work

090that happens in there, but so they'll [clears throat] still have the counter sets, but they'll they'll be that'll mean that you just need a smaller hoist that's driving the whole system than if you had no counter balancing in there. So, we have all the electrical hookups and everything to have that done now. >> Uh the electrical hookups for those aren't there, so that's why having Next on Site becomes important. Uh and and that's costed into this right now uh with them just pulling some of those conduit and doing it while while they're still here. Uh and then main stage if main stage would get the hoist themselves, uh they're the rigging people who've done all the rigging on backstage, and so again having them here adding the retrofit to the system that they designed and

091installed, I think would be good personally, so. So, Teresa, can we make a motion to do line item number three and not one and two? Well, we were only going to do one and three The only recommendation is only one and three right now. So, the so just the varsity fields and the electricals in the PAC. Um Yeah, I think Yeah, we certainly can. And I certainly I'll I mean I'll just add I certainly um appreciate the recommendation and would support your recommendation, but also hear what you're saying. So, if if the board wants to split them out, um I'm I'm fine with that. As and I think it is important that we probably get um the electric hoists for the PAC moving so that they know that that we're going to move forward with

092that for sure. I would like to make a motion to approve the um four electric hoists. Line item number three. Line item number three. I will second that motion. One one thing I didn't mention that I as as you made the motion that also came into mind is um it's a lot easier and nicer to work in there right now before the wood floor goes down on the stage. So, That's true. That's That's another factor that I failed to mention earlier. So, the one question I have, you mentioned that the the I thought the conduit and everything was in for the baseball field lights. All the conduits are ran, so all the underground work is done. Uh they we're going to put the base in and we had had that conversation. They put all the

093bases in where the blacktop is, but like the outfield ones that are like in the grass, they did not put in just because they were like, "All right, are we sure that we're going to have that?" Cuz that was a conversation we had about 6-8 months ago. And [clears throat] we were leaning that way. I basically had told them, "Yep, let's get those other bases in." And then they were Ryan got a little nervous and Tony got a little nervous and so they held up. So, there is some of that, right? There's always uh you know, the further out you are uh where it is. And so, I think when I did speak a couple months ago, I said, "Yep, all those bases are in." And even when I talked to them, they said, "Yep,

094they're all in." Cuz I asked before I said it to you guys. And then all of a sudden last minute, they're like, "Oh, yeah, the ones in the grass aren't in." So, I was like, "Oh, well, all right." So, that's something that we could do now before you do any of the seeding, grading, final grading, and things like that. I I would want to ask them um if if it's cost-effective to do it that way. And it might be or if there's or if they say we're far enough along now that it's not going to be a >> [clears throat] >> a huge difference, but certainly in 2 weeks we could we could bring that back and have that conversation. You said the conduit wiring and everything is there. All the underground is done. Just

095the concrete. But the bases haven't been set. But the bases are included in this price, right? Yes. Yeah. That's >> Are you able to just pull that piece of it out? Just that. Yeah. >> Doing that piece of it. Yeah. Bring it back to us. Yeah. Thank you. So, I'm fine with this the motion is, but I'm I'm not as close to construction. So, Mike help me understand what you're fearful of because our owner's rep, CG Schmidt and Ron and Joel, who have been so close to this are recommending this. Why are you Why are you fearful of it? What What might be coming that I don't know? I'd have to go back and look, but I think from the last update to this that those contingencies dropped quite a bit. Is that accurate? Yeah,

096they had some movement in there. I mean, certainly as we finalize some of like securities and cameras and and some of those, you know, and even just as you finish out spaces, right? Sometimes you encounter things and you go, "Oh, yeah, we need this." Or um you know, we need to have you know, different controls, better controls on these doors or whatever it might be. There are There is more movement, right? Uh than just when you're putting up walls. Uh certainly the big scary things are gone. Like you don't know what's underground until you start excavating and that's a big scary thing. Um it's less scary than certainly like a renovation or you know, a remodel where when you open a wall, you don't know what you're going to get. So, there aren't as many

097of those. It's really more of either things that, you know, Jeremy, Joel and I or Ryan and Alex or even the CGS team identify as we're finishing out the the project of "Oh, yeah, we probably should have considered this." Or "Oh, yeah, this doesn't look quite like we wanted it to. We need to make an adjustment here." Uh and so, they're typically at this point not huge cost items, but there are things, right? Cuz they had alluded that those change orders were coming during their last update. Yeah, and so they That's going to be lowering some of these things. So, they still went ahead recommending that these things were safe to do with the contingency that they knew they were spending. Yeah. That's the last And that's I guess why I'm just trying to understand

098it. Yeah, so from >> Cuz I don't want to I don't want to spend more to say, "Oh, now we wish we'd have done it." >> Yeah, I I appreciate you asking the question. But for me it's it's that that trend where it was we're good, we're good, we're good and then they they were actually talking about we could release some of the contingency funds and we were talking about actually spending contingency funds rather than this conversation is different, right? >> Right. This isn't right. When we first talked about it was talking about spending those contingency funds they were going to release. Now we're talking about spending the the excess over um you know, money we've earned, right? Right. Um So I think some of that was >> from them in confidence where we went

099from we could return some contingency funds. I just tend to be super conservative to make sure that we've got all the contingencies covered. If we go over it all, we've got the funds in our pocket and then we as a board know exactly what we have left to spend on this stuff because we don't have to make the decision right now, right? And to be fair to them, I think some of their their change in recommendation was recognizing that that's probably the mindset of our board and so they were taking a conservative approach to it by what they were recommending right now by not even touching the contingency and not even using the full additional allocation, but uh again, that's uh there's [clears throat] not a reason why we we can't uh delay on that

100and bring it back again and uh but I I I I agree with the motion that's out there that I think doing the electrical race uh for the for the performing arts center is is more time effective to get done now. Um at the end of the project, we have to use this money. Yeah, all the all the proceeds, you know, all the proceeds from the project, there are a few things in there as is was said that were, you know, dollars that are outside of but I mean like food service dollars have to be spent on on on food service equipment. The the grant dollars have to be spent on the grant. So there's some of those things that don't have a lot of latitude either, but yes, the dollars um you know, are

101are allocated toward the project, right? And so um but we have through I mean I may have misspoke at the last meeting. It's 5 years from when the initial bands were issued and the initial bands were issued in December of 2022. So we actually would have till December. You don't want to go right up to the end because you want to be able to do some of those arbitrage calculations, but you would have up through about the fall of 2027 to commit those dollars out. So again, if it's something we wanted to do later this summer so that we have those lights in place for the spring. You know, it's something we could wait if we had to wait even longer, we could. It just gets a little more problematic as we get further out.

102So we have a motion. I mean I would say I kind of agree I hear what everyone is saying. I think it's fine. So I think this motion is fine and then if we can bring it back at the next meeting to talk further about it will and the construction people will be here at the next meeting. Um I think now now through the end of the project this is going to be kind of a a rolling conversation. Not that a motion has to be done at every board meeting, but I think it's a conversation that we're going to have continually going forward. I think that's important cuz I think knowing where you guys are at and what things we can do and to make sure we are fiscally responsible and making sure we're not

103adding more cost potentially in the future and to Mike's point being fiscally responsible making sure we have the right things in place. So the motion on the table right now is to approve the motorized electric hoist for the pack the alternate long alternate log light line item number three. Any [snorts] other questions or discussions on that? >> All those in favor by voice vote say I. I. Nay. Nay. Who is it? Just Mike Fraser. Okay. Sounds good. So the motion carries to do that and we'll bring it back. Thanks for the discussion. It's good. All right. Finally we have a referendum update. Sure. So I'll just quickly go over some of the work that's being done. First, we are in presentation season. We've got multiple presentations seemingly every day. Today we were at the the

104Bearing Senior Center. Had a great turnout. I think was it Sue that counted 64? It was standing room only. Should have been selling concessions or something. So it was great. That far exceeds anything that we've seen previously and it was a very engaged group. Asked a lot of good questions. And felt like it was a great use of our time. So special thanks to to the folks that were able to come out and join us today. If you haven't gotten enough of this presentation, 7:30 tomorrow morning we're going to be at the YMCA for the the fireside chat. So we're looking forward to that. And then we've got Optimus Kiwanis variety of others. So we're we're going to be all over town chatting with people providing information. As I've said previously, we're really trying to

105move from a more formal presentation to a dialogue with the community and I think that's served us well. We have a newsletter that we put together that will be going out this week. So that will go out to every household in the community. That will largely focus on uh the upcoming referendum. Uh our social media work continues. There's a lot of um good work between some of the videos, the posts, uh good information that we're putting out there. Um we have our first podcast for the district that was recently released. So, for those of you that want to hear uh Joe Manion and Jim Curran talk for 45 minutes, mostly Jim Curran if we're being honest. >> [clears throat] >> Uh you can you can check that out. Reached out to Channel 15 News and

106they'll be coming down to cover um the Mineral High School preview event. Talk a little bit about the referendum work that's going on. And then as Teresa said, you know, we've got the upcoming events with Legacy Night on March 17th, which is also known as Jeremy Jackson's birthday party. And then also uh the preview event on Thursday, March 26th. So, uh a lot of things happening. Um a lot of people hard at work to make sure that the community has all the information they need and uh we feel good about the work. Ron, anything you want to add to that? >> Probably uh just want to touch I don't know if they've started advertising yet, but uh we we are working on a night with WKZD uh have a kind of a radio forum. So,

107Yeah, so we're looking forward to that. I think right now the tentative was it the 25th, Ron? I believe so, yeah. I'll check that. Yeah, Wednesday the 25th what we're planning right now. Um I'll confirm it when I'm at the the radio station tomorrow, but 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 25th, we'll have a a live uh radio show where uh Big Radio has been collecting questions from the community and it'll be Ron, uh myself, Jim Curran, um we'll be answering those questions and making sure that um everyone in Mineral has the information they need. So, looking forward to that. Trying to make sure got all our bases covered. We look forward to that opportunity and thankful that Big Radio is willing to to host that for us. Any questions? Feedback? I had the opportunity to

108to go to the meeting today and Joe did a wonderful. He had some tough questions asked today and he did a wonderful job in answering them. Okay. And between you You also run a lot of Yeah. a lot of the explanations trying to break that down into what I would consider layman's language. Yeah, it gets extremely complicated. But both of you did very very good job. And I think very well received from everything that we heard afterwards. Well, then again, thanks to the people that asked some tough questions, right? It's not always easy to do that when you're sitting with your neighbors and knowing that not everyone agrees with you, but we genuinely appreciate it when people ask those questions. I mean, it's an opportunity to to answer that question that that that individual has,

109but also other people may have that aren't asking it or it gives you a chance to even if their mind wasn't there, elaborate on on what the full picture is and so that people have a better understanding of of all the factors that are in play. So. Thanks to everyone that came. All right. So, on to information items, liaison reports. LeAnn's not here, but she'd probably say that Shrek was a huge hit. She did She did She was fantastic job. Unbelievable. Um Board of Finance and Administration. I don't have anything. I largely covered, you know, my stuff in in the department portion. Board of Education correspondence. I Jim is here. me nothing so I don't think there is anything I'm committee updates Nicole. We had the curriculum meeting earlier which I'll let me fill that

110in since you're in charge of that and then eie meets tomorrow at noon. I'm good. All right. So like Nicole said curriculum at the board this meeting Todd and all the administrators did a great job updating us kind of a mid-year data and the things that they are doing in their buildings to help students and did a really fantastic job so appreciate all of those efforts. The other thing I'll say is the booster club is having their event on Friday at the YMCA this Friday at the YMCA so people are able and interested to help support the booster club they certainly support us significantly. There are tickets available at the door. And there's tickets available in case Do not plan to have >> [laughter] >> Microsoft Nothing. I was able to go to the launch

111presentations on Friday. I wish I could have attended every single one of them they are amazing and what Kira and team are doing with those kids is just fantastic so always love that day. And then I believe there's a school board forum coming up March 16th. >> Yes next Monday. Um back They're at 6:00 so So that's awesome too so people can hear about all the candidates. That's it for me. Agenda for future discussion I just wrote down making sure you bring back the alternative logs for the high school construction. 5 minutes for the class. >> [clears throat] >> All right so I have 8:31. I want to So, moved. Second. Motion by Terry at 8:31. Motion by Terry, second by Nicole All those in favor say "Aye". Aye. Aye. All those in favor, we

112are adjourned. Until everyone. High school board is