001on Monday, January 19th, 6 p.m. Crosby, could you do roll call, please? >> Jason >> here. >> Mike >> here. >> Jake >> here. >> Jim, >> here. >> Dale >> here. >> Eric >> here. >> Craig >> here. >> Crosby is here. Carolyn is excused. >> This is an open meeting and it has been posted. Please join me for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Up first we're going to have recognition employee of the month from Park View Middle School. >> Thank you. Jennifer, could you come forward, please? Tonight, we recognize Jennifer Ferki, our Parkview Middle School food service lead. She creates a welcoming and positive cafeteria environment. By modeling a can
002do attitude and warmly greeting students and staff each day, she's flexible when needs arise and consistently shows care and support for students, especially those facing extenduating circumstances. Miss Ferki also leads and manages the food service team with efficiency, ensuring smooth and efficient lunch service for hundreds of students daily. Her leadership and commitment play an essential role in supporting students in the overall success of Parkview Middle School. Thank you, Jennifer. [applause] >> [snorts] >> Jennifer, you graduate McConnell High School, correct? Thanks. Thanks for your service. Thanks for helping. Congratulations and thank you. Due to the large number of people here, um we are just going to move the agenda around a little bit. We're going to let the students report first. So when they're done, if they want to leave, they're more than um free to
003leave. So up next, we're going to have our student report come up, please. Good evening. Thanks for having us. Uh this is part of our Parkview Student Government Leadership Board here this evening. So I have Josie Braden and Haley. Um as I shared with you last spring, our student government board um earned recognition on behalf of our entire school. Um they earned WC's spirit of excellence award. Spirit of Excellence is an award that is given to middle schools in the state and high schools in the state. Um, and it's recognizing the best student government in the entire state. And our student government was recognized two out of the last three years as the top student government in the state. So, I'm honored to have these students here um this evening and they're going to share
004some information about what's going on at Parkview. >> Awesome. Hold on one second. Any parents, grandparents, or teachers that want to come up and record this or take pictures, you're more than welcome to come back here and film them or take pictures. I think we have somebody coming. So, if you hold on a second, remember to talk into the microphone. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> All right, the floor is yours. >> Next slide, please. Um, our student government is open to all students in the school and includes approximately 140 participants. The group meets once a month in the cafeteria where students are given responsibilities and tax tasks to complete in order to remain an active member. Meet meetings are led by the student government board consisting of seventh and eighth grade students. Um, Parkview in
005the Dark was an annual is an annual event where we invited kids from the community to celebrate Halloween spirit. It's open to ages children ages 11 and under, and the event offered a fun, familyfriendly evening at Park View Middle School. As families walked through the building, they enjoyed seeing our decorated classroom doors, encountered seventh and eighth grade volunteers in costume, and collected candy at each stop along the way. On October 27th, we had hundreds of families in attendance. Next slide, please. Um the spirit days and the spirit race. On designated spirit days, students have the opportunity opportunity to earn spirit points for their home rooms. Points are tallied throughout the year as part of an ongoing spirit race building excitement and school pride. At the end of the year, the top six home rooms are
006rewarded with a field trip to the zoo. This year's spirit days have included blue and gold day, red, white, and blue day, and sports day. In addition to earning points points through the spirit days, students can participate in other spirit building activities such as decorating classroom doors and creating cards. [clears throat] >> Okay, so welcome everyday. Welcome everybody stands for web day. Web day is the first day of school for all seventh grade Parkview Middle School students. In addition to giving them a tour around the school, we help them meet new people, learn the rules, and learn skills that will help them be successful in the coming school year. to help run web day. 90 eighth grade students volunteered lots of their time and effort to learn how to be web leaders and welcome and
007guide the seventh graders on web day. Uh our fall participation, so cross country we had 47 students, girls basketball, 29 students, student government uh is a whopping 136 students. String choir was 20 students. Boys basketball 42, wrestling was 42. Web day leaders we had a total of 98 this year. Art honors was 28 students. Yearbook club 15 students. Voices and girls in gold was 45 students. Uh palm and dance was 20 students and jazz band was 23 students. Wolf hounds legacy. So each year the student government leadership boardo hosts a fall coin collection to support a charity or nonprofit of our choosing. This year we selected Wolfhounds Legacy. Uh Wolfhound's legacy is an organization that um trains rescue dogs to become service animals for veterans. Uh we decided to support Wolfhound's legacy after their facilities
008were severely damaged by flooding in late August resulting in the loss of much of their equipment and materials. To maximize precipit participation, we held the collection over two days and encouraged donations through home rooms. Incentives were off incentives were offered to the top three home rooms. Third place received candy. Second place earned popsicles. And the home room that collected the most coins was rewarded with crumble cookies. Through this effort, we our two-day collection raised a total of $1,483.25. Mustang Roundup. >> The Mustang Roundup familiarizes students with the essential rules and expectations that are used daily at Parkview. On September 2nd, we highlighted Chromebook usage guidelines, hallway and bathroom protocols, cafeteria and cafeteria rules, the cell phone policy, and bus pro bus procedures. The following day, September 3rd, our focus shifted to the dress code, extracurricular
009clubs and sports indesentensive indecentive whatever programs like the mayor award drawings and strategies for staying organized using assignment notebooks, rooftop photos. On our super blue and day gold, blue and gold day, we take our class pictures that get hung up in the hallway until we're seniors. It's a way for students to feel connected and welcome to our school. And then those are the seventh and eighth grade photos from this year. [clears throat] [applause] >> Anybody have any questions or comments? Are you excited about the new middle school even though it'd be way gone? [laughter] All right. Well, thank you very much. Great job. >> Thank you. Good job. >> Right. I'm also going to move up um president's comments before we um start comments or from the public. So, I just want to go over
010like a process that we follow that every school district follows. There's a process how everything gets to our agenda. Our administrators are always like looking for new and better ways of doing things to challenge our kids and give them better education, better processes to go through things. They do a lot of research. They do all that behind the scenes and then it's presented to the board. And when it's presented to the board, actually, it's presented to everybody in public. board isn't part of that process. That's what the administrators do. They go through that process and then they present it to the public at these meetings. So that with that in mind, so please keep that in mind that nobody's trying to keep secrets. It's part of a process they do when they do their research
011and we wait for the presentations just as everybody else does. So that being said, we're going to start citizens comments. Oh, I'm sorry, Joe. You have anything to add to that? >> Okay, go ahead. We are now entering the portion of the meeting for citizens comments whereby citizens may address the board. It is important to note that the board will not dialogue with community members during the citizens comments section of the meeting. Each speaker will have three minutes to make his or her comments. We will signal you when you have two and a half minute mark to begin to wrap up your comments. We expect all speakers to honor the time limit, refrain from using inappropriate language, and be respectful in their comments. Citizens who do not meet these expectations may be prohibited from speaking
012at future board meetings. Speakers are to address the board, not the audience. The school board does not endorse any comments made by members of the community here tonight. We'd like to remind our community members of the impact of their words on others. And our children are watching. We commit to listening to you in a respectful manner and ask that you do you do the same. We expect the audience will be respectful of speakers and of the board and refrain from responding with verbal comments, cheering, applause, or behavior that will detract from the meeting. If proper decorum is not adhered to, the board president can suspend citizens comments. Please note that no obstructions can be created between the board and the audience. Visual aids cannot be used in the area behind the speaker will be clear
013during public comments. Also, to respect our speakers and meeting participants, please silence your cell phones. Thank you. Uh, first up is Gary Gubert. Gary, uh, you have three minutes and I'll give you a two and a half minute warning. Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> Well, first of all, I appreciate you listening to me. I won't take very long to to get through this. I got off a two-eek vacation, got off a cruise ship, jumped into a airplane. My email lit up asking from parents to ask me to be here tonight. And so, I haven't even had a chance to get home. Uh, I guess one of the things that concerns me is rumors. And when I say rumors, I'm wondering if everybody in here is aware of how many kids are involved in
014the music program just in fourth grade. If you're not, you have between 50 and 60% of the student body in music education for band and orchestra. That's a huge amount. Now my past I was a school teacher for eight years and I in my profession I was rifted and I was rifted because I was finishing my PhD when all of a sudden money became an important fact not that it is here and I want to make this very clear. I have very much confidence in everybody here making right decisions for the kids. But when you have that percentage of kids involved in a music program you have chaos. you have scheduling problems. That's common sense. Okay. So, I want to make sure that in my time if the people in the board and district had
015come to the music teachers and talked to them, there wouldn't have been been any problems. We'd we' we'd have worked things out. So, I'm going to assume because tremendous amount of emails I got that there's confusion. And I want to make sure that I emphasize this point. I guess somebody told me that there's a possibility that the fourth grade music program is going to be eliminated. >> 30 seconds. >> If you took football and you took and eliminated seventh and eighth grade, by the time those kids got up and you started at ninth, they wouldn't be competitive. I want to make sure that you know that all of us are taxpayers and we're very much concerned about what happens. But you've got a great music staff here. Don't blow it. Okay? Don't take best practice
016and replace it for convenience because that's in very important for the kids and the kids has got to be the first decision in everything we do. >> Thank you, [applause] >> Jenna. Jenna Keeling, please. Hello, my name is Jenna Keeling and I am a senior at the high school and a proud member of the band program since fifth grade. Making seventh grade music enrollment optional would be a tremendous mistake. Music education is critical in the development of children. I mean, studies have shown that students who engage with music starting at a younger age show improved verbal memory, enhanced motor skills, and better reading ability. Learning music continually encourages students to build perseverance. As I'm sure most musicians would agree, it's not always easy. It creates discipline, hand, eye, mind coordination, and builds teamwork amongst our
017students. Additionally, playing an instrument is one of few activities that engage both halves of our brains. Research from Northwestern University has proven that musical training has led students to have stronger neural processing, causing improved language skills and higher test scores. Additionally, the College Board themselves have reported that students who participated in music education scored on average 63 points higher on the verbal section and 44 points higher on the math section of the SAT than their non-m musical peers. A study of the Nashville public schools shows that their ACT scores as it relates to their participation in music programs um it showed that non-m music participants earned around a 17 in both the reading like English and math portions of the ACT whereas their peers who engaged with over one year of music averaged around a
01819.5 on the English portion and an 18.5 on the math portion of the ACT. When it has been shown time and time again that music education furthers students achievements, I question why any decisioning decision limiting engagement with our nationally praised music education program could even be considered. I implore you all to heavily consider this decision before you tonight and how it will affect generations of Maguano students to come. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. [applause] >> Next up, Daniel Weinberg, please. Hello. >> You can grab the mic if you want to bring it down. >> Hello, my name is Daniel Weinberg and I'm a fifth grade student at Section Elementary. I play percussion in band and violin and orchestra. I played a xylophone and snare drum um and violin at the concert last week.
019if you were there. If you're wondering why I like band and orchestra, both the teachers are really kind and helpful. A lot of my friends are in band and orchestra and the music is really beautiful when we play together. Band helps me learn the beat and play lots of instruments. Orchestra helps me learn how to play strings and hear the right notes. Music can help you help calm you down when you're stressed. Sometimes when I am stressed or upset, I go up to my room and play my xylophone. Friends in these groups can also help you. And when we play as a and it helps build teamwork when we play as a group, music helps kids be responsible and spend times off screens. Play on and helps kids feel more confident uh on stage like
020right now. And that's why I think it's super important to keep music in our school, band and orchestra. Thank you for your time. >> Great comment, young man. [applause] >> Uh, next up, George Malowit Meadowitz. George >> George. Oh, >> okay. Uh Dan Danielle Gordon. My name is Danielle Gordon. I'm a Village of Maguano resident and parent to a third and sixth grader at Claridan. I'm a 2009 graduate from the University of Wisconsin Madison with a teaching degree from the top ranked school of education with a focus in middle childhood early adolescence. After graduating, I was a unit director at the Boys and Girls Club in Apple in the Fox Valley and later taught middle school language arts in Greenville for five years. These experiences shape my opinions. I have three points I'd like to
021make in regards to band. My first point is the lack of transparency with curriculum changes presented to the parents. What research has the administration gathered to propose this change in the music curriculum? I would have thought that families would have received a survey regarding a potential change in the music education. My sixth grader is in his second year of band playing the trumpet. My third grade daughter is excited to try out band as well in fifth grade. I haven't received any communication or a survey from the administration that a change to this ban curriculum was coming. In the past, we've received information about other pilot curriculum programs to review before the change occurs. Does the school board require administration to complete certain requirements for curriculum proposals? Is there a bylaw I can reference? My second
022point is that the Claritan PTGN community supports the music department. This year, our PTG raised $20,000 to repair the sound system in the gym for music concerts. This money supports comes from the families and community shows our support for the continuation of music education. My third point is a plea to support our underprivileged youth in our community. Public schools supposed to even the playing field for all students, no matter their socioeconomic background. If you take away band and music curriculum at the elementary schools, you are impacting students exposure to music education. I'm standing here for the parents who can't afford private music lessons because they are working a second job just trying to make ends meet and put food on their table. You might not notice these families, but I do with my experience working
023at the Boys and Girls Club. >> 30 seconds. [clears throat] For example, private lessons at the music cafe cost $25 to $30 for a 30 minute lesson once a week. Currently, my son has band at school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays or three times a week. Low-income families can't afford the cost of private music lessons in our current economy. I'm asking you, the school board and administration, to protect music education opportunities and access for all students, but especially our underserved population. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Sherry Wiltsy, please. >> Okay. Thank you, Sherry. Dakota Wiltsy. Good evening everyone. Um, I'm not one for public speaking, so I'll make this quick. There's a lot of people in this building that have been making a lot of the same points tonight that I planned on making.
024Um, so I guess I'll just share a story with you instead. Um, I was born and raised here. I lived my whole life in Mcuano. I went to Claren Elementary, Barkview Middle School, graduated Mcuano High School, class of 2021. Um, I heard through the grapevine, uh, that we're planning on possibly cutting parts of the music programs, um, specifically elementary school, and I just I felt the need to come in here and say something about it because it I hold it so close to my heart. Um, the Mcuano music program just it's it's huge for so many kids. I mean, in such a pivotal time in their lives where they have this safe place where they get to collaborate with others and be creative. And I mean, you're learning a whole new language. I mean, you
025you think in ways that, you know, you'd never be able to put together before. It's it just music is life-changing if you really get into it. I mean, I grew up on it. I played piano since I was three. It's been huge for me. Um, I mean, we have a a great uh a great music department, great teachers. I mean, I had Miss Carloney back in the day, Mr. Wymer, Miss Zack Utansky. Um, and they're all just great people. And it's I I don't think we should be cutting that out of our kids' lives, especially at that point in their lives. Um, in elementary school, that's a important part where you're figuring out, you know, I want to play baseball, I want to play football, I want to play soccer. Why not music? I mean,
026that's something that gets forgot about so much. How many kids get started in sports so early by the time you get to middle school, high school, playing competitively? It's the same thing with music. And a lot of people don't think about it because maybe they weren't exposed to it as kids. I was I got to grow up with that and I know so many people who didn't and I I wish that they would have been able to. So, I just I just wanted to say please don't please don't cut it because I think it's really important for a lot of people. So, that's all I have for you tonight. >> Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Jo Jolene Palatino. Jolene, is that right? Yep. Okay. Thank you. I'm Jolene Palutino. Um, I am a former uh
027retired um uh I worked at Claridan for 10 years and I will say that I got to see um all of the students because I was on the playground. So, I got to see everybody every day, and never did I have a student come out um that had been in band or orchestra come out onto the playground and say that they had a bad day. Music is so important to these kids. And I think it's important that they start in fourth grade. I was very lucky. Um my daughter uh started orchestra in fourth grade and continued all the way through. My son um had orchestra in fourth grade and then decided he wanted to go into band. And he was in band all the way through and absolutely loved it. He was in jazz band,
028marching band. He was um he played for the show choir. Um you know, he just he absolutely loved it. And um last year he passed away from a heart attack. And let me tell you, his sevenpiece drum set was sitting in the basement. He was still playing. It was very hard to pack that drum set away. Don't take this away from those kids. I have no grandchildren here in our district. My husband and I are retired. I want to see this continue. It's so important. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And sorry for your loss. [applause] >> Next up, Danielle. Danielle Dearde. Did I say that right, Danielle? >> I always get it wrong. It's okay. [laughter] >> I'm also not one for public speaking. That's okay. Hi, my name is Danielle Dei Hardy and
029I'm a former Maguano High School alum and I currently work at Clarendon Elementary School as a special ed PAR professional. When I first heard the news of possibly getting rid of the elementary orchestra and band program, I was at first confused, then I was sad. But the more I thought about it, I became more frustrated, confused, and overall angry. I personally started my orchestra journey in fourth grade, and I remember being so excited to play such a beautiful instrument at a young age, and I always just felt so special. But little did I know that that orchestra room in Clarendon Parkville and uh Parkview Middle School and the high school would become my safe place and my second home. Um dealing with being bullied as a kid, the orchestra room has always been such a
030safe place for me to go. [snorts] I had the great pleasure of Allerdale Wymer teaching me from fourth through sixth grade and I was so sad to leave him. But then from 7th through 12th grade I had Sarah Oftel, Alexis Zakutansky Clark and Wymer um teaching me. They are some of the hardest working teachers I have ever met in my life and they always make sure to have um a safe place for students to go when they are not having a good day or they just need someone to talk to. [snorts] And with that being said um I think getting rid of this program would be detrimental to the Muano High School and the middle school and the elementary schools. Um what Jenna Keeling said um I searched up on Google why are music programs
031so important in elementary schools and this is the exact answer it gave me. Music programs are crucial in elementary schools because they boost cognitive skills, improve academic performance, devot develop social emotional well-being and enhance creativity, preparing kids for life or preparing kids for life through discipline, perseverance and complex problem solving which is something I think all students should earn and have. Um, some of the points it brought up was learning music strengthens brain function, enhancing motor skills, executive function, and sensory development. Um, music students often outperform peers in reading, math, and science with studies showing higher IQs and better verbal memory. Um, music provides an outlet for emotions, reduces stress, and helps children develop discipline and perseverance, and mastering an instrument or or a piece builds pride, confidence, and that sense of achievement for them.
032And it also prepares them for the future. Music fosters skills like leadership and responsibility, preparing children for success in any field. >> 30 seconds, Danielle. >> Um, overall, taking this opportunity away for these students would be heartbreaking from them and even more so for the teachers who have worked so hard to give them this opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Next up, Alicia Schwarz. Hello. Uh, my name is Alicia Schwarz and I am Veto's daughter. Um, I am a proud alum that spent nine years in the orchestra program with um, Miss Z, Mr. Wymer, and Miss Carlo. And my little brother also spent nine years in the music program. He was an orchestra and then did band. Um, I'm going to speak from personal experience. Um, I've done a lot of interviews since
033being in college and everyone asks me like, "What's one of your greatest accomplishments?" And I always talk about orchestra. Um, when I was in the program, I joined Symphonia my sophomore year. That's like the advanced level orchestra. And that year we took a piece to state and then my senior year we took another piece to state and then won the exemplary award. The example year award is basically just something to recognize outstanding ensembles and identifying performances that went way beyond expectations and standing in front of that judge. He personally called me out to tell me I did a really good job because a piece we play was really hard. Um [laughter] but he called me out in front of everybody and even wrote on his um paper. He wrote basis you rock. Um so whenever
034like I fill out a lot of papers for my internship and they're like what's your greatest accomplishment? That is probably one of the proudest moments I've had being almost 20. So if you guys are going to cut fourth and fifth grade, that's going to set back everybody. Two years in fourth grade, you're learning how to hold your instrument. You're learning how to hold the bow and then play all of the notes and all the I was so excited when I was in fourth grade. And by sixth grade, you're playing more advanced level elementary songs like like Dragon Hunter. [laughter] But if kids are going to start in sixth grade, they're going to be learning the basics when they're in sixth grade. And by the time they're in high school, they're going to be playing like
035[snorts] middle school songs and really easy stuff. And by the time they're seniors in high school, they're going to be playing like advanced level advanced middle school songs. That's not going to get the people in orchestra to the spot they need to be in to win those exemplary awards and be like, "Oh, I really did that." Um, but aside from that, orchestra always gave me a place to feel like I was at home. Um, Mr. Wymer and Miss Z are incredible teachers and they care about their students so much. It is Miss Carloney and Mr. Wymer's life work to create these awesome students that go on and do great things. I mean, there's a couple of kids, was it Casey, who's doing like crazy orchestra stuff at college and yeah, I mean, cutting those two
036crucial years is going to mean major setbacks for the music program. >> Alicia, 30 seconds. >> So, I mean, if you're going to cut it, you're going to lose a lot of great you're going to miss out on a lot of great talent. Um, and yeah, kids are just going to miss out on a lot of great opportunities. So, that's pretty much all. Thank you, Thank you, [applause] Jerica Barry and Bradenberry. Um, okay. Uh, next Angie Jellish. Angie. >> Good evening. My name is Angie Jalish. Um, and I want to frame this around how strong districts sustain success and how they attract families. My my family being one of them 17 years ago. When we look at Wisconsin's highest performing districts and I went down the rabbit hole of doing so within Mcquano's enrollment and
037tax base range similar mill rate etc like Elbrook Middleton Cross Plains Mecoanville Kimberly there's a consistent pattern that appears they all and I mean 100% maintain instrumental music at the elementary level in districts that do not introduce in instrumental music until the middle levels they rarely make an appearance in the state's top 50 districts. Put simply, the districts we should, if we're not already, be benchmarking against treat early music as part of the academic pipeline, not optional or disposable enrichment. Top districts tend to share three attractive things that appeal to families. Strong academic rankings, visible athletic success, and a vibrance arts program. Not to mention $130 million over 12 years on new schools. Families see those signals together and interpret them as evidence of whole student opportunity. Families don't choose a school because of the
038AP biology textbook being used. They choose a district that offers the whole package. with any specific change that might be proposed. I have absolute confidence that this board would evaluate it transparently, supported by data, and with clear communication of the student centered benefits it would bring. When a change truly improves outcomes, those benefits are easy to explain and are shared openly. Muano earned its first best communities for music education recognition just last year. You can see it front and center in the PVMS presentation. To keep momentum, we need to strengthen, not reduce, the early foundations that make us competitive, attractive, and successful. My hope is that McQuano continues strengthening the foundations that could place it alongside those top districts in the state. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] Matteline. Meline Malawitz. >> Thank you. Thank
039you, Maline. >> All right. Good evening. My name is Maline McCrae and I am a junior here at McGuano High School. With the development on the new middle school and the questions regarding required C coursework, I would like to make a few notes regarding the necessity of music programs at all levels. Elementary music including band and orchestra are crucial for young students to develop fundamental skills for later later ensembles. The saying practice makes perfect is the basis for music education. So the extra 1 to two years exposed to music are vital for meeting the current degree of success in Maguano. Once these foundations are set, middle and high school are where these talents truly shine. Our district has grown to be extremely successful, taking awards at solo ensemble, ranking in the top half of our
040division in marching band, and sending musicians to WSMA's state honor program year after year. Additionally, studies have shown academic benefits of music education as high school students, myself in junior year. It is emphasized how music can benefit your ACT score and AP tests. Finally, music develops a close-knit community that kids will embrace from elementary school to beyond high school. Music creates a safe environment for numerous students that l that might lack a place of belonging without it. Please take into consideration the magnitude of the choices provided. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] Na. Nancy Gruber. Hi, my name is Nancy Gubert and uh I come to you tonight as a mother of two that went through the Mcuano School District K through 12. Extremely proud of that. I am a taxpayer in this district. I
041voted for both of the school levies when you asked of us to do so. And I have an undergraduate degree in instrumental music, both instrumental and vocal K through 12. So I know a little bit about what I'm talking. Uh I understand that as we move to the new junior high building, the fourth and fifth uh the fourth grade and band and orchestra will be phased out next year and fifth grade the following year. so that within two years the band and music program will begin in sixth grade. I understand your scheduling problem because at the elementary school these kids have to be pulled out of class. I get that. But I'm hoping that you consulted the music teachers first and I will be surprised if they would want to eliminate the fourth and fifth
042grade programs. I think they can help you come up with a better alternative. The bene the benefits of the program goes without saying. Plus, it gives the students a skill set that is valuable to them for life, not just while they're in school. The current programs function at a very high level. You if I have seen the other school districts, and if you haven't, you should be enormously proud of our band, orchestra, choir, drama, all of that. To eliminate the fourth and fifth grade program, assuming that that's where you would stop, would set the entire program back considerably. The skills learned even at the elementary level are life skills that carry over to other subjects and affect their social interaction. organization, practice, persistence, responsibility, leadership, teamwork, camaraderie, and accomplishments are all things that are pulled
043through from the music department, and it carries over to everything they do. To eliminate these things in fourth and fifth grade would be such a step backwards in student development and curriculum rather than forward. And as we're building a new junior high building, I can't help but believe that we want to move forward, not backward. 30 seconds. >> Okay. We want to maximize their education and so please reconsider your alternatives and I think you should be enormously I have been touched by listening to the students and their passion for what they've had to say. So if you don't want to listen to us old farts, listen to them. Thank you, [applause] Rebecca. Uh, it's not spelled or >> like a Z. >> A Z. >> I'm gonna go for it. >> Yeah. Okay, Rebecca, you're
044up. Thank you. >> My name is Rebecca Zangangerly. I'm a parent of a band student as well as a previous band student myself in my elementary years. I've always been overwhelmingly proud of Mcuano Area School District for its education program and its music education as well. My own daughter is a straight A student, but she never found her people until she joined band in the fifth grade. As each year goes by, she only loves band more. It's helped her to develop confidence as well as taught her her skills to accept mistakes and keep trying. My daughter is not alone in this and I can say for certain that if she hadn't had the opportunity to begin band as a fifth grader, she would not be in it currently. Without [clears throat] entry into music at
045fourth and fifth grade, the numbers of students in band and orchestra will inevitably dwindle and our music program will be forever changed. I worked at this district for over seven years in an elementary school. I saw children of all different backgrounds enter band and orchestra. The playing field was level there. I saw friendships form in band and orchestra that would never happen on the playground. You must keep the existing band and orchestra program in our elementary schools. >> Thank you, >> Sarah. Sarah and I'm not sure. Sarah, you here? >> Cladillo. [clears throat] >> Uh, she spelled your name wacky. Whatever. You could Your first name is >> Sam. >> Hey, Sam. Thank you. >> Yeah. So, hi everybody. My name is Sam Cadillo. Um, my wife Sarah, uh, who's shocked to know that she's
046supposed to be up here with me, is not attend. [laughter] So, uh, yeah, just wanted to let y'all know that, um, nine years ago when we decided to move up here from Kansas, um, the biggest thing that we wanted to look at was >> Sam, talking to the microphone, please. >> Was in the school district. Can you hear me? >> Yes, sir. >> Sorry, I'm used to speaking in public, but usually I'm really loud. But nine years ago when we moved up here from Kansas, the first thing we looked at was the safety of the city and then the school district. And it wasn't until we got here that my daughters were really not too keen on sports. Didn't really know what they wanted to do. Um Sarah got them started with um some basic
047piano and it wasn't until fourth grade when Mandy started doing percussion that we knew we had hit the sweet spot. And today, Lizzy, who's 13 next week, she learned how to do the cello in in fifth grade. And I'm here to tell you that girl, she plays it every day after school. Both of them are 4.0 grade average students. They have really hit their niche. Lizzie actually played the uh Star Spangle Banner for me one day when I was sick and I and I loved every second of it. But she's in, you know, seventh grade now. So that's two years of practice that she had. You eliminate this out of the fourth and fifth grade, she's she's not anywhere close to the talent she is today in seventh. Okay. I think I'm just standing up
048here as a father who brought two little girls into Wisconsin and not knowing what to expect. And I love this village. I love this school district. And I think my wife and I both agree that we made the right choice coming here. I'm not up here to fight for any kids that I have in grade school now because they're all in junior high and high school. But I am here to fight for the kids that are coming. And I think that it's very important that you keep this program in place, please. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Uh Lisa Stall, Lisa, I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to talk to you guys today. Um, I come to you as a parent of a marching band student and a
049sixth grader. Um, I know that there's the rumor about the elementary stuff, but I'm going to talk about the middle school stuff. Um, making it so that it's it's optional. And then I don't know what your plan is with the sixth graders. Um, I think it's a disservice to the kids that are still learning and getting to know it. Um, if they're not starting in elementary, which they may or not, may not. Sixth grade is a huge turning point. Um, seventh grade is a huge turning point. Having them start something and then making it optional where they just drop it right away. It's not giving them the opportunity to learn it. You have a really strong marching band program. And if you don't have students starting at an early age, they're not going to be
050ready to join marching band in seventh grade, which is an option right now. So, they can join marching band starting in seventh grade going into eth. And they come into it and they excel and they they grow so much in that time frame. And if we limit the opportunities that they have with this, it's going to be detrimental not only to your middle school students, but to your high school students. And the hard work that those high school students put into their program, they're going to have now have kids that can't compete at that level. And so, you're going to it's going to cause us to backslide and it's going to take a long time to recover from opportunities if they're taken away to bring them back again. You're going to have a long road
051ahead of you to try and bring it back. if you take it away. So, I just want to encourage you guys to think about that. I know that there's, you know, issues that staffing or pulling kids out of classes and stuff like that, but I really want to encourage you to work with the teachers to find solutions that can potentially come to a common ground so that we're not eliminating the opportunities that kids are having at an earlier age. It's very important for them to have that experience in that middle school level. And it's important to the kids at the high school level to have that at a younger age so that they can really perform at those high levels that they're used to. And that's what I have to say. Thank you. >> Thank
052you. [applause] >> Um Mr. Jay, Mr. Jay, are you from Stoton? >> I am from Stoton. >> Unfortunately, our policy is if you're not from the district, you can't talk. Is that correct, Joel? My my daughter is in the district and I really believe in the music here. >> I'm not trying. >> Oh, Mr. Jay, welcome. Sit down and talk. Here we go. >> Do you mind if I stand? Unlike some people here who have pleasurably said so, I am used to speaking out loud in front of people. And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't interrupt me at the 30 seconds. Just tell me when my 3 minutes is done. I'm not a child. I don't need administration. You guys are here to administer the children. And I trust that you guys have had
053the information. You have looked at the information. You started out with that. So, I'm not going to sit here and tell you about all the information of how what it should be because I trust that's why you guys are here. We trust you to give conditions so that our children have good outcomes. And from what I've seen here so far today is only good outcomes from the conditions that they have. Sounds like the conditions that we want are well a 9 to5. They sit in their classrooms. They don't get interrupted. I mean what is music but an expression of yourself? Our children are having the ability to express themselves but now because of scheduling conflicts we want to take that away. What are we trying to build? Are we trying to build artists? Are we
054trying to build people that are able to express themselves in front of others that aren't afraid to do that? Or are we trying to build people that go to work 9 to5? This is what your job is. Work with everyone else. H interesting. You know, I came up here to tell you my experience about how nice it's been for me to be able to be with my daughter. You see, I learned my violin 20 years ago, and now that she's doing it, you know, I'm not in the district. I mean, I'm sure you can infer what my situation is, but now I get to sit with my daughter, you see, and she she's this doesn't affect her anymore, but I was able to benefit from it already, sit with her and play the violin with
055her. I got to practice the violin with my daughter and that is worth more than anything else that we might be putting this towards, but that's just me. So, I thank you for your time and I thank you for this stage and listening to us and I really hope that you choose better conditions for good outcomes. >> Thank you, [applause] Craig. Craig Forester. Craig. [clears throat] >> Yes. Hello. My name is Craig Forester. Um, I'm a graduate from this school district over a quarter century ago. [clears throat] I grew up playing band starting in fifth grade. played throughout uh elementary school, middle school, high school. Music is the one thing really like a big thing that I was able to take on post school. I mean, yes, I mean, we do learn a lot of
056stuff, but like the rules of dodgeball, I never had to use that outside of school. Painting a painting a tulip, never had to use that outside of school. But music, every Sunday I'm at church, I'm in the choir. I play guitar at church. I play music all the time. It is the one thing that I was able to take on with me. [snorts] Then now having my children going through it as well. I've had one that two of them that have just recently graduated high school. They played all throughout school. I have a senior. He's another one that plays as well. And another one that just started off because he's in fifth grade this year. If we were to lose, like I said, just the elementary school, the what that will do to everything else
057music-wise down the road will be catastrophic because once you get rid of it in the elementary level, how long before we lose it in the middle school, then how long before we lose it in the high school? Because they're just like, "Well, it's just not working out anymore." Well, why isn't it working out? It's working out because you never gave it a shot in the beginning. You just wiped it out. So, I I think it it's really important to keep these things around because like you were saying before or like it was mentioned before about taking the kids out of the classes. Isn't that the parents responsibility? We we gave the okay. Oh, they're going to miss 20 minutes of class on this day. Awesome. Good. Have them go out and learn the music. I'm
058fine with that. I gave 30 seconds. >> All right. I gave the okay for that. And it doesn't seem like it's really hurting much because I don't know if you uh went back and looked at the test scores over the last few years. The test scores are going up and we still have the programs in place. So, what does that tell you? All right. Thank you. Thank you, [applause] Emily Jensen. Emily, >> hello. >> Um, I wanted to start with um my favorite quote from Ani DeFranco. Our strengths are in our differences and our comforts are where we overlap. Uh, my family moved my sister's night to McGuano in 1994. I was a very, very, very shy second grader. Uh, for two years, the recess monitors needed to tell the neighbor boys to play with
059me at recess, so I didn't sit alone at recess. Uh, in fourth grade, I joined orchestra. I took lessons at section school with Miss Stro. Three months later, I found some confidence to go to the talent show and play the Flintstones, which I learned from from my ear and wrote down AD. Like I wrote down the notes. Um, fast forward a couple years later in sixth grade, I was student of the year. I won civic oration. I was the vice president in Parkview Middle School in 8th grade. Um, and I accredit a lot of my confidence to my musical education. Um, sorry, I was writing notes. Got to find them. Um, playing the violin taught me confidence. It taught me hard work. It taught me how to practice. It taught me how to lead and
060how to struggle gracefully. Um, it taught me when you make a mistake, don't make a face because maybe nobody really sees it. Um throughout my musical career participated in salon ensemble, state bluegrass festivals, mso, met lifelong friends. Um now I manage a successful team of 12 people at a local company. Uh my son is a fourth grade violin dropout. Orchestra was not for him. We tried traditional sports that those weren't for him either. Um, it wasn't until last year we learned that Mcuano has a mountain biking team and Henry found his jam. Um, he has more confidence now finding his thing going into seventh grade than I would have imagined a year ago. Um, and what I love about that is Muano has something to offer for everybody. And I think it's imperative that we
061celebrate our differences and we continue to be a district that provides outlets for all of our students. >> 30 seconds. >> That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] >> Sharon. Miley. Sharon. Hi, my name is Sharon Miley and I'm here tonight because I have concerns about some messages I was seeing and being sent to me through um text messages and it it started Mcuano school district potential bringing to vote to stop offering band and orchestra for elementary schools. Um while I no longer have children in Mcuano schools, my son was in orchestra started in fourth grade. It was a wonderful program, great teachers, great help for him in many many ways. It's not just learning how to play an instrument. As has been brought up before, all the wonderful things music does for our
062students. Better scores in reading, math, science. They learn creativity, being part of groups, being a solo, being a duet, maybe a quartet. They build confidence. I'm painfully remembering 20, 21 years ago when he was entering in middle school and the board was trying to eliminate our orchestra program in Mcuano. We heard about it pretty late in the game, but we mustered up some people to come to a meeting as we're doing tonight, and we did what we could. Then, as I recall, we received a letter at the start of the school year informing us that orchestra students would have to pay an annual fee to be allowed in orchestra. Well, someone didn't appreciate that and they got a lawyer involved and it was determined that wasn't allowable and it was only going to affect orchestra
063students. The good news is we got to keep orchestra and it hasn't been an issue until possibly now. If we look back, our community has approved referendums. One was to build a state-of-the-art auditorium at the high school along with a beautiful band room, orchestra room, choir room where classes are held. Now, as we um see deep into another approval of a referendum in which we're building a new middle school, which also took into consideration for our music programs. From what I understand, it will provide larger music rooms because our programs have been showing growth over the last several years. To consider not offering music for any grade would be a tragedy. Who are we kidding? If we don't offer this in grade school, our children won't be up to par, and it won't take long
064before our middle school and high school will no longer have orchestra, band, and chorus as well. >> 30 seconds. >> The Mcuano community has spoken by building spaces for our music classes. So, why would we want to go down this road to consider cutting our music programs? Please don't follow what other communities are doing. Let's keep our music program. Our community has spoken. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Katherine Katherine Wilhelm. >> Can you hear me? All right. >> Yes. >> Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Katherine Wilhelm and I'm a current senior at the high school. I'm a very aware at this time of year brings financial strain, belt tightening as the bannual budget comes for review. I was witnessed to budget cuts last year in the
065high school. And though I'm completely understanding of their necessity, I'm here to speak in support of our fine arts program. I've seen districts around us, including Arrowhead, start to cut funding for music programs, especially in elementary schools. These educational communities are essential to the culture and upbringing of numerous students from 4K to seniors. As an 8-year veteran of our band program, I have had the joy of not only experiencing but contributing to a family like no other. There are certainly academic benefits to fine arts, including higher marks, higher ACT scores, as we have heard, but these are not the greatest takeaways I've experienced. Maybe the most pivotal part has been my participation in teaching our summer jump start program. This is a camp where for one week high schoolers assist instructors with teaching fifth graders
066how to play their instruments for the first time. I am a four-year veteran of helping. And this it might not sound particularly memorable, but there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing the excitement, engagement, and true joy on the kids' faces as they pick up pick up their instruments for the first time. Because that is what all of these programs are about are built on. passionate kids finding a place to be themselves, be supported, and reach excellent in many different ways. That week, I spend time with my most trusted adults, those instructors, and I spend time playing, making connections with fifth graders, playing freeze tag, kickball, and showing them the excellence you can reach while playing an instrument. When considering the importance of these programs to the district, please consider what I have said. Yes, they
067improve classroom performance, but they are also crucial to the social and emotional development of the very kids you serve. These programs are where I found my family, and I want to ensure that every kid after me also has that crucial opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> We don't have anybody else signed up to comment and I was just going to ask Mr. Gooden if you would like to add anything. I hate to put you on the spot, but >> you definitely put me on the spot. >> No, I mean, >> talk in the microphone, please, Mr. Gooden. >> Good evening, everybody. >> Uh, as you know, uh, my wife and I own the music store in town. Uh, so obviously we we've had it for 15ish years, so we're, you know, uh, very
068close to this subject. I can tell you this was probably the biggest the reason I'm here Dale, right, is this is the big topic of discussion in the store uh for the past week. Um it affects a lot of families. Um somebody made the point here of not everybody can afford private lessons, right? We do our best to to accommodate those. Uh, but you know, still a business and we boy, I I don't know what to say. It's there's so much um so many kids in our in our uh in our store. It's it's a way of life for them. Uh, a lot of kids have sports, a lot of kids have teammates, but the music store and music communities and the band programs and the orchestra programs, that's their communities. Not every kid plays
069sports. So, my take is, you know, whatever you guys can do to save it, whatever you can do to save the programs in the elementary school levels, please do it. That's all I got to say. >> 30 seconds. Thank you. [applause] We we we don't >> you signed up. You want to speak? >> Uh sorry, I might have missed it. There's hund of them. Come on up, ma'am. >> Is there anybody else that we missed? What's that? >> Okay. I'm sorry. Can you let us know your name too quick? Thank you. >> Um, my name is Beth Piet and I'm involved in music in Mcuano. >> I did miss you. I apologize. >> Oh, okay. No, I [laughter] >> I put my name on a piece of paper. >> No, you did right. Um, I
070had a few of points that have already been covered quite often. But two, well, three things that I would like to say is when I was growing up, I started music in fourth grade and it was very pivotal in my life. You've seen your students and how well spoken they are and how they're becoming leaders. And one of the things I learned in music is that you don't necessarily need to lead from the front. You can lead from the middle and from behind and you can help bring people along with you. Um, you become a group of people in the music program that isn't necessarily all the really cool kids or all the really nerd kids or all the really jocks. I mean, you have a group of people who wouldn't otherwise come together, who
071learn to work together, who learn to work together in large groups, small groups, individually. Um, and one of the other things I want to mention is that people are talking about pulling kids out of class, but they are going to a class. They are going to a class that is very, very important. I was a runner when I was growing up. I don't know if you saw me when I was walking up here. I am no longer a runner, [laughter] but I played violin for 45 years. And now I have played cello for two. And music has been a part of me since I was nine. I have 15 grandkids. About half of them are in music right now. My kids were in music and my boys are in the trades and one of them
072is he started as a tidner, but he's worked his way up to a supervisor working on a CA doing CAD programming and becoming a project manager. So he worked his way up through that leading from behind coming and leading to from the front. So there are a lot of things that are very very important about music and taking it away at the grade school level would be catastrophic for your music program. I know that your grade school teachers are excellent. And to take that ability from your children and your students to no longer be a part of that at such a young age when they are looking for someplace to belong would be unimaginably horrible for those children. They might not know it yet at 9 years old. >> 30 seconds, Beth. Okay. But you
073need to have that program starting young. Without it, you're not going to grow your program. And for anybody that thinks marching band isn't a sport, I dare you to go out and try it for the first week because they call it held week for a reason. So that's those are my comments. I'm still in music. I no longer run. [laughter] [applause] All right, thank you for all the comments. We really appreciate it showing your passion and sharing that with the board and the community. So, thank you and we're going to move on to presentations. Uh, Park View Middle School. [laughter] >> Sorry, Kirk. learning goals. [laughter] >> I br I brought Kurt along as a guest presenter this evening. >> Thank you for having our students earlier and myself um here for this presentation. I
074am Luke Spielman, the proud principal of Park View Middle School and I appreciate the opportunity to come and share information about our wonderful students and our wonderful staff with you this evening. Um, at the beginning of our presentation here, I'm going to share some information about our learning journey with our students and our staff here over the last few years. Um, and then I'm going to spend the last portion talking about where we're going next. Um, this clicker just worked while I was standing over there. >> Luke, congratulations though. You won some kind of cool award last year, right? >> Yes. Our students frequently are recognized for um their achievements. >> Congratulations. No, it was when I was standing there. You can move on, Tom. You can go on to the next one, too. So,
075um, as, um, Mr. Virtz was referring to, our students have received multiple awards over the past few years. Um, our school has been recognized by US News and World Reports by the Wisconsin Association of Student Councils, which I referenced earlier. Um, we are Project Lead the Way School. We are one of only like 10 schools in the nation that have been recognized I think for eight years in a row. And as was referenced earlier this evening by parents and families. Um we also as a district were recognized as one of the best communities for music education. So Tom if you could go on. You can keep going Tom. Thank you. Um so as I said I want to share some information about our learning journey. So um this is the results of our students on
076the state forward exam for the last six cycles or last five years. Um, so over the last uh five years up there on the science exam, our students have shown an increase of 9.9% compared to where our students were 5 years ago. So we're extremely proud of their growth in science. And that is also again the efforts of our science teachers over the past few years who've gone through some curriculum revisions and done some instructional changes to help that growth as well. If you could move on to social studies, please Tom. From the social studies lens, we've gone from 56.5% of our students being proficient up to 78.4%. So again, we've shown a 21.9% increase in the last 5 years. So again, incredibly proud of our students in the social studies exam. That is an
077eighth grade only. Science and social studies are eighth grade only exams. If you go on to the English one, please Tom. On the English exam, um again, we've gone from 47% of our students being proficient up to 71.5 24.5% increase. Um again, we've gone through some curriculum revisions there. Um, and our teachers have put in extremely hard work as well as our students. I don't want to um change your I don't want to take attention away from the hard work that our students put on a daily basis daily basis. At Parkview Middle School, our students have 90 minutes of English one day and 45 minutes the next day. That is a lot of English, a lot of reading, a lot of writing, but I want to say that it's certainly paying off. So, I'm I'm
078proud of their efforts and and their perseverance. Um, moving on to math, finally um not least. Um, but we've seen a 33% increase in in math as well. So across the board again, we we're going up in almost every subject on the state board exam or is measured by the state forward exam. Um and excited and proud of their efforts. And I want to spend I guess the next few minutes talking about what's next. So if you could keep going, please Tom. So um this year, uh as you know, on an annual basis, the DBI comes out with their accountability report cards. Those report cards measure schools on achievement, growth, um how your lowest achieving students are doing, as well as your attendance and graduation rates. This school year, Parkview Middle School scored an 86.6,
079which um qualifies as five star significantly. It exceeds expectations. Tom, if you could go to the next slide, please. This is again our learning story here over the last however many years that is nine. Um I think eight. Um so in 1718 we scored 71.9 was our score and we were ranked in the 46th percentile. Um there are five categories on the state report card. We are in meets expectations which is the middle category. As you can see our projectile there are our our this past year we scored 86.6 which is the lowest score that we've scored in the 89th percentile and for the first time in school history um our students scored significantly exceeds expectations. So as you can see from those last three years specifically um we're in the 90th percentile the 88th
080percentile the 89th percentile. That is where we aim to be. We believe our students and staff are are top 10 in the state. Um and that is where we're continually aim to be. So, we're we like to say we're not quite there yet, but we're really proud of the work that we've put in to get there. So, um if you keep going, please Tom. Um again, this is just same data, but looking at a different way. So, compared to other middle schools in the state, where did we rank? So, in 2016 and 2017, we were the 202nd ranked middle school in the state. And uh this fall, we are ranked 39th in the state. So, again, there's roughly 360 middle schools in the state. Our goal again is is to be in the top 10
081just like we our goal is to be in the top 10 or 10% in the state. So we're we're close. Um we're proud of the the path we're on. So what happens next? I stole a slide here from Dr. Schlick. Dr. Schlick when he presented on at about rolling hills in December said the bottom line, how can we help students at Rolling Hills continue to grow? And I I took his slide. Um, and what we're doing at Parkview is we help students grow by aligning assessments to standards, providing timely feedback, and using student data to guide responsive instruction, including small groups. We use I Ready and EXL to help provide targeted lessons at each students level. I don't know if you remember what Dr. Schlick's slide was, but one thing that stood out to me
082was just how aligned we are between all the eight schools in our district. when we talk about what schools are working on or what teachers are working on. I think something that's really changed in our district in the last couple years is regardless of what school you step in, our teachers across the district are working on similar goals and trying to move students in similar manners. And when we move as an entire system like that, we can see amazing results. So, um again, I I think it's great as our students move into schools, especially currently at Parkview being a 78 building, that is a really small transition time. Kids are only in our building for two years. So, as students move in, it's super important that we're aligned from a 4K through 12 lens because
083that means when kids come to us, it's not something new. It's a continuation of what they were doing in sixth grade. And likewise, we're preparing them so that when they get to 9th grade, that's an easy transition in how they learn English in sixth grade is hopefully how they learn English in seventh and eighth grade and how they learn English in 9th grade. So, I think we've made some great steps along that way. And I encourage you, I guess, as other principles come here in the coming months, think about how their goals align because I think we've done a great job of of becoming better at that. So, more specifics, Tom, if you can move on to the next slide, please. Our first goal this year, students will achieve and grow at high levels by
084increasing the percentage of students scoring at or above advanced or meets expectations on the Ford exam in English, math, science, social studies by 3%. So, you just saw our trajectory there. We're we're not satisfied yet. Our goal is to go up um a couple percent each of those subjects. So what are we going to do to make that happen? Um our teachers are going to continue to focus on PLC practices within our common team planning time. So all of our core content teams, math, English, science, and social studies have common planning time every other day where the teachers from those teams are able to meet and talk about students learn student learning as well as instruction. Um the next one says target instruction to meet the needs of all learners. One thing that we're growing
085at as a staff is being able to identify students who are both struggling as well as students are advanced learners and how do we provide targeted instruction to meet them where they're at. Um the third one is how do we provide professional de development for teachers to be able to do all those things? We can use all those buzzwords in education about standards, assessments, instructional strategies, but how do we really do it? How do we spend time giving teachers not only the professional development to be able to do it, but also the time to be able to implement it? One of the things that I think is a huge celebration in our district is that PLC time, the ability for teachers to learn from other teachers and use and work together, I guess, to improve
086instructional practice. So, it's no longer I'll use Angela as my example. It's no longer my students and Angela's students. We're sitting here talking together. Angela, what are you finding successful with your students? This is what I'm finding successful. What are you struggling with? This is what I'm struggling with. Teaching is no longer a solar individual profession. It's now a team profession. And I think that is um showing in results across the district. And the last one, I guess, is monitor and communicate student progress through classroom assessments and I ready assessments. Um we've done a better job as a district in of of ensuring students get data um and about how they're learning in a more frequent more frequently I guess I'd say. So whereas assessments unit tests used to be maybe once a month, now
087kids are getting regular feedback. So whether that is just a check out at the end of the period, let's ask three quick questions, whether that is a quick question when you come into the class about what you did for homework last night, but the more that we can provide students with feedback, the faster their rate of growth is going to be. Tom, if you could please go on to the next one. So, how are we doing so far this year? Um, I know some of the principles started coming to your meetings already in the fall, and I believe I'm the the last one. Um, so we're at the midpoint of the year here, and this is just our progress of where we're going. Our students currently um are finishing up the reading I Ready assessment.
088So that in that top box they're underneath the 59. Currently our students scored a 64 so far this winter. So that's the highest we've been in three years at the midpoint of the year. So I'm excited to see where we end at the end of the year. And on the math side um that un that number underneath the 59% is currently sitting at 66%. Um so our students have grown 17% already since the beginning of the year on the math side. So again, a huge compliment to our students and our staff. If you could go on to the next goal, which is our um behavior goal. So one of the things that I I've talked about in previous years here is when we look at middle school students, we know middle school is a time
089for students to make mistakes. At time middle schoolers um make some errors, but those are all learning opportunities. So our goal is to help remind them that it's okay. I think some of our previous presenters said this about music as well. It's okay to make a mistake. We want to minimize the repeat mistakes, right? We want to learn from those mistakes. So, um, last school year we had 85.7% of our students get zero or one referrals, which I think is incredible. So, almost 86% of our students, I'll say, made one mistake and learn from it. We had another 10% who made two to five mistakes. So, let's say one roughly a quarter and then we had um about 5% that had six or more referrals. Our goal is really to minimize that last category, those
090those frequently repeating behaviors. We know those behaviors at times can interrupt teaching and learning. Um, so if we can catch those early and work with families and work with teachers and work with students on learning from those mistakes so they don't continue to happen, we know that not only is that student going to have a better learning opportunity, but the other students in the classroom as well. But we also know that those are team efforts. Again, I I mentioned students, I mentioned staff, but I mentioned families. And when the three of us can come together and talk about how we can support students, we know we can make pretty significant changes for for learning as well. So Tom, if you could go to what might be my last slide. Um, when our students presented earlier
091tonight, they talked about the Mustang Roundup. The Mustang Roundup is our first two days of school. We teach classroom and hallway and bus behaviors, have tier behaviors, we talk about um personal communication devices, cell phones. Um, and one of the things that we've noticed as a staff is when we focus on something, we're able to we're able to have a huge impact when we're all on the same page together. So, as you know, as a school board, last school year, we we really focused on cell phones. Um the first quarter of the year, I'm not going to lie, our cell phone data peaked. Right? When you're looking for something, you find it. Um but then as students learned what that new expectation was, that data throughout the year went down. This year, we've had great
092um great cell phone data. That sounds strange to say, but um we we've had very few classroom disruptions because of cell phones. The what the graph I have up here is our bus referrals for this school year. So, if you remember back in the fall as a district, we really focused on improving bus behaviors across the district. And as you can see, right away in September, we had 13 referrals right away to start the school year. That number in October went over 20. Um, but again, as we recalibrated and showed students what we expected on the bus, we've seen continual decreases in that behavioral. So again, I just share that graph because I think it's an example of when we cease a situation arising in our schools and we can all get on the same
093page and work with students and families, we can have amazing results together. So um again, proud of our students for for changing that behavior. And I think the last question just says question, last slide just says questions. All right, what questions do you have for me? Anybody have any questions or comments? I just want to comment like one of the times first time I saw teachers collaborate was when I was touring the middle school and it was great seeing a math team together and you're right they were I was listening to them break down like where they were in the chapters they were talking about like I think it was question number four how one classroom had difficulty and all the teachers found out like question number four they're all having difficulties like the students
094were so they're trying to figure out were they presenting it wrong how could they do it differently, how could they get better? So, I think all that hard work with the teachers working together is showing up in the grades. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, everyone. >> Thanks, Luke. [applause] Moving on to the Parkview Middle School project update. >> Kurt and Jeff, if you wouldn't mind coming up. >> Um Andy, if you want to come up to the table. Uh tonight, uh Kurt Wibble House uh with Building Solutions who is our owners rep is going to go through where we are at from the post bid package uh where we're at from the status of the project. We have uh Jeff with JP Cullen is here and everybody knows Andy Wgner and I
095will let you guys take it away. >> Great. Thank you. I'm definitely better suited to give this update than the previous one that Luke gave. So u um yeah, excited to provide an update. Uh we are at a milestone. Oh, you can go to the the uh Tom, this is it's not working from there. We go. All right. Yes. Uh so, two primary updates that I want to give on the Park View project. One, just where we're at in the project. Just a general update. It's been a few months since uh we've been in front of the board here. And then two, we've hit a milestone on the project, which was our bid pack 2 bidding. So, I want to provide a budget update based on that milestone hitting that. So, um, go to the
096next slide. So, I wrote this presentation last week before looking at the long-term weather forecast and and the first bullet item was on schedule despite weather weather challenges. Um, uh, we've had JP Colin had some built-in weather days uh, in the project. So, there's been, uh, some days that were missed from the cold weather. It's more about the equipment than it is uh, the the people. uh as far as on these cold weather days uh this week they'll miss some some days as well as far as working but overall we are in in fine shape with where we're at um even with the expected days that we're going to lose this week um from the from the weather. So on schedule is positive. Up to this point, we've been working on the or JP Colin's
097been working on footings and foundations. So if you drive by, you see a lot of activity happening, but you don't see much coming out of the ground. Um you'll start seeing stuff coming out of the ground in February. So footings and foundations about 85% complete and then starting in February, uh the masonry will will start going vertical. This building is primarily made uh the structure is primarily steel and masonry. So masonry starting in February and then come April you'll you'll see a lot more progress because the steel goes up uh relatively quick. So the the sixth, seventh and eighth eighth grade floors. So the far uh east side of the building will be a steel structure and then the the west side of the building will be uh masonry. So, that's the area that we'll
098get started here in February. Uh, working through some permitting uh challenges right now, but expecting to see masons on on site here um in in the near future here in the next few weeks. Uh, steel will be April. Uh, so that's the structure that you'll start seeing and that'll be exciting to see that go up. Uh, the next milestone I put in there to be looking forward to is uh end of the school year. So, servery start milestone. Ser servy is one area that is in the existing building. We're going to take a portion of the existing building during the summer which is if you're familiar with the Parkview Middle School, the STEM area um uh and some science classrooms. JP Colin will take that area over uh starting the summer and Luke has worked
099out some where those classes when they come back the following uh uh September where those classes uh there's some swing space that we can utilize there. But the reason we're getting started with the servery is because that area is needed for the new building to open. The cafeteria is right next to the servy which is going to be the new addition side and the servy is in the existing building and that's what is um the kitchen and the servery is is how that's going to uh the kids will get fed from with making the food there. So that'll start this summer. Uh and then another milestone is uh so now we're talking a little over a year out uh but we're targeting continue to target the addition will be complete in March with the spring
100break time period is when that transition will happen in 2027 where seventh and eighth grade will move over to the new building and then we'll start um renovating the rest of the existing building and then we'll start tearing down the area of the building that's not no longer needed and that will be in April of 2027 that building demo with the ultimate uh completion date of of August. So overall we are we are looking good on the schedule um for the project. You go to the next slide. So see I'll just point out if I get my laser to work here. Yeah. So that servery area that I was talking about that we're going to be renovating that's right in this top corner here. Right. So the blue area is the addition and uh servery
101is where it's going to be this summer. We'll start renovating that. Everything but this area of footings and foundations are are complete. So uh give you an idea on the on the map of how things are progressing. You go to the next slide. Here's just some photos thought uh would be interesting to show. This is from last week. Uh weather conditions. Uh this photo here shows the the blanketing. So we don't want to put footings and foundations on frozen ground. So JP Cullen will thaw that out. So we got blankets and you can see those little tubes underneath those blankets. That's uh uh heat that goes through those wa uh those tubes to thaw the ground out and keep they keep working ahead of the actual footings and foundations crew to make sure that they
102are able to um pour footings and foundations. This picture up here uh you see those two openings if uh that's where the glass used to be um off the cafeteria. So, we pulled that off uh at the start of the school year and then put temporary partitions there so we could uh pour new footings and foundations along along the building there. All right, bud update. Uh a few months ago, uh Jeff came and reported the results of bid pack one uh to the board here, which was came in on budget and and the bids came in good. Uh, bid pack one was site work, the footings and foundations, earth work. Uh, really we structured bid pack one to allow the design to get far enough ahead and bid that portion out so we can get
103work started. And then bid pack two is the bidding that just happened uh this last month. And so that's the update I'm going to provide today as far as a budget and uh and and the contractors that are being recommended. So, I thought it'd be just helpful just to walk through the the process that uh as a district that we have used, which is uh what the majority of school districts use in the state as far as uh on referendum projects. So, a couple years ago, we selected JP Cullen as our construction manager. It was a competitive process where uh we collected fees uh a fee based on the cost of the work. Um and then they were part of us through the design and provided their budgeting expertise to help guide us through the
104process as far as what we can afford and what we can't. Um now with this bid bid package two that was uh sent out this last month uh that's where we get our actual cost. So the district will be responsible for the actual cost of what these competitive bids that came in um as part of their as part of JP Collins contract. So it's a cost plus contract with a guaranteed maximum price is the delivery method that we we are using on this project. So JP Cullins sent out uh bids to the greater community and uh contractors around and collected uh we got 163 bids. This was a priority during the the design and planning process if we want to make sure we get good bid coverage. competition helps provides a cost-effective project and and
105I was really happy with how uh JP calling came in and delivered a good uh number of bids. So 103 63 different bids over 32 different trade packages. So a trade package would be like carpentry, concrete, de uh demolition um all the way down to the final cleaners. Um all that got bid out as part of this bid pack 2 uh project. So uh bid results came in uh well uh we provided our our um our budget that we've been carrying and that's what this snapshot report in front of you. You'll see you'll continue to see this report uh throughout the project which is a snapshot of where we're at today from a financial perspective. And so at the bottom of the screen here, the bottom left is our funding sources. So what dollars do
106we have available to do this project? So the big one is the 89.1 which was what the referendum was passed for. And then you'll see uh a focus on energy incentives. So as we went through this project, we pursued uh focus on energy and uh as far as energy incentive rebates, we partnered with focus on energy as during the design where they would provide feedback of if we upgrade maybe a boiler, what would that get? What would they give us in additional incentives and in turn what would that be the payback for the project? So it helps us make good educated decisions as we go through this project because this is a 50-year building, right? at least a 50-year building would make good decisions. So, Focus on Energy is providing rebates. We expect that number
107is going to continue to go up. Uh this number represents the new addition. Uh there's also prescriptive rebates that we'll get on the existing building as well. So, uh that's how we're tracking our funding sources. Um if there's grants, we're pursuing some grants as well. If there's grants that we get, that'll also uh be listed here as a funding source. Then on the cost side, so the blue section is is the cost uh that we are projecting. So the top left is subcontractor uh or con construction cost. So that's the cost that JP Cullen is responsible for managing. Uh so we break it down into a level of detail of subcontractors allowances that we know there's something uh needed there. We just we just don't know the exact. So for example um the uh electric
108we energies bring electric into the site uh what's that cost going to be? We don't have an exact cost from we energies we allocate some dollars. Uh so when we energies tells us it's going to be $30,000 for to bring the the permanent power in. We have dollars set aside uh general conditions uh to manage the project and then fee insurance and bond. And then the bottom line item there that as I present throughout the project is our uh that's a contingency. That's a number that most of these numbers will stay pretty static as we go forward. But contingency is an allocation of dollars that we have in the project. So there's always something that's going to come up on a project of of this size. So if we don't use that dollar, it gets
109returned to the district. Um, so there's uh I I've been with the process that we have went through in in the design so far and the engagement. Luke has been phenomenal um from a principal aspect as far as providing input being engaged in the design aspect and and really the whole team. I've been very impressed with the Maguano team from Andy on the operations side, Joe and Tom. Um, everyone's been engaged, which tells me that careful planning up front is the expectation is we we are likely to have some dollars left over on the contingency side, right? We can't count it yet because we don't know what's coming up, but that's usually a good indication that good careful planning um is likely that the dollars come in less um in the name of less contingency
110being used. So, that's the construction cost on the left side. Go. Yep. One back. Um on the right side then. That's where we're tracking owner direct cost. So direct McGuano cost. So that's where our architectural fees, surveying, um hazardous material, um testing abatement for the existing building, furniture, uh equipment, IT cost. Um all those items are captured underneath that on the on the right side. The one item I want to talk about is this capital maintenance item here. this line item hadn't appeared on previous uh budget snapshots. So, our strategy on this project, if you remember when we went through the planning process of what should the referendum look like, uh we had a long list of capital improvements um needs. But as we refined the the total project, those needs got uh put on
111the back burner because the focus and the highest priority was to get Park View Middle School built. And so we knew there was needs out there. We didn't allocate dollars um to it. We focused our dollars just on the Park View projects. Through the planning process, through the uh number of bids and competitive bids that we've gotten and just just a good process going through, we've come in with bid pack 2 being favorable numbers on the middle school that now we can now allocate dollars to capital maintenance. So that list of items, we're going to resurrect that list back and prior prioritize that of what items are most appropriate to to do. But that's good news right now that that four little over four million is available to address some of those needs that that
112got cut earlier on the project. Um and and it's important to note that this is just a snapshot as of today. uh JP Cullen had has about twothirds of the contractors um uh selected and awarded. So that process is they will go through and make recommendations to the district of here's the lowest qualified contractor we recommend um awarding to them. So we'll take that and we'll we'll go through each of those packages and um and hear their reasonings. I mean part of that process and in your board packet we listed the 2/3 or so contractors that that uh they have recommended uh for to the core team for for awarding. So there's still a third of those contractors are still in process and so if things go as we hope that number should increase. Um
113we're still working through it but um that's a conservative number. So that's another number as we provide these budget updates um at least the next budget update that number is expected um to be modified as as well where that number would go up and this number would go down. So overall the the the dollars as far as the overunder would wouldn't change but um is is positive news with with our process. So all right um next slide. Yeah, that is it. Any questions for myself or uh Jeff from Cullen or Andy from the operations side? >> I would like to add that Jeff the I think there's 12 or 13 Cullen employees that actually live in Mcuano. Um I think that's pretty cool. Uh that that's part of the deal. I appreciate that. >> Yeah,
114it has been great to get the local participation. >> Any questions or comments? All right. Thank you. Right, moving on to the 2425 audit report. >> All right, so um just bear with me here as we kind of get set up here. Amber Eert from Hawkins Ash CPAs is going to join us and report out uh annually. We have Amber join us and uh present her findings and highlights of the most recent audit report. So uh we'll jump into that. Uh Amber, I sent you a list of questions. I know you connected um I think with Jake Heligthal earlier today. Jake, is that right? >> Yep. That's >> okay. So Jake is our treasurer and I'm just going to uh bear with me for one second while I bring up our audit report. So uh
115board members, you have our 2425 financial statements. Amber, are we going to start with that the financial statements? >> Yeah, we can. Yep. >> Okay. Actually, I'll I'm gonna turn it over to you. You tell us what you where you'd like to steer this here. Okay. >> Okay. Um I'll start with um going through the questions of any concerns that we may have found and anything like that. Um so to start we did not note any issues. Um nothing nothing that we think the board should be aware of. Um nothing to be concerned with. Um we have no concerns with the internal financial controls. We did not detect any fraud or weaknesses. We did not find any conflicts of interest. Um, as far as the budget practices, um, we did issue a original budget management
116advisory comment, which I'll get to in a little bit. Um, but as far as the final budget, we have no concerns and it was amended properly. There was no expenditure categories over budget. um which is actually very rare for us to see. So that's a great job. Um and then there was no overspent budget which would have been a non-compliance finding if there was. So nothing no concern there as far as the fund balances go. Um everything appeared proper to us. Um looking at all the in between details, we had no concerns. Um, I'll just kind of quickly go through each fund balance and any increases or decreases. So, for the general fund, which also includes the special education fund, there was a decrease of about 1.1 million in fund balance this year, and the
117fund balance is now sitting at 21.5 million. Uh this decrease is largely due to a transfer of 3.5 million to the long-term capital improvement fund. For the special revenue trust fund, there was an increase of $136,000 of fund balance, now sitting at 1.3 million. Food service, there was a decrease of about 84,000, now sitting at um 1 million. Um nothing to note here that stuck out to us. It was more so just a slight increase in the total expenses as everything has been increasing. >> Hey Ammer, can I just add a comment here because we got a large number of people in the room here. Um I just y when we talk about fund balance, fund balance is a snapshot of how much money we have on hand as of a specific date, in this
118case June 30th. Our cash flow needs go up and down. So we we really take a snapshot at the end of the year and those uh cash flow positions uh really kind of trend down throughout the year until tax revenues come in once property taxes are paid. Um so again I just want to state that that is really just a snapshot at a moment in time. Go ahead Amber. >> For the debt service referendum approved fund there was an increase of 2 million. So this fund is now sitting at 2.8 million. Um this is largely due to um the fund a an early payoff of 3.1 million of debt. Capital expansion had an increase of $260,000 now sitting at 3.9 million. The long-term capital improvement fund had a decrease of $152,000 now sitting at 6.3
119million. Um this decrease is just due to um increasing expenses for various projects throughout the district. And then other capital projects fund which was a new fund this school year has a fund balance of 80 just shy of 80.6 million. >> Those are referendum funds that Kurt and team are are using obviously to build the new middle school. >> Yeah. And then the employee benefit trust fund had a decrease of 1.6 6 million now sitting at 4.4 million. Um, this is mostly due to an additional 1.2 million was dispersed this year compared to last year. >> And that was, by the way, if you recall, we liquidated our 403b matches. And rather than the district holding those funds, we turned those over to our teachers. It was an employee favorable thing to do. And so
120that explains that. And then as far as findings for the financial statements, um we have one significant um audit finding which we have a significant or we have a material. So significant is the lesser of the two. Um so it is for preparation of financial statements which basically just means we prepare um the financial statements on behalf of the district. Um I would say like 99% of our clients get that finding. So it's very very common. nothing nothing to be concerned with. And then one um finding that was resolved this year was the actual expenditures over budget. So that means last year there was more expenditures than what was budgeted. Um but this was resolved this year. So no concern. >> And and I'll just add a comment there, Amber. If you recall, we did
121a budget amendment this past year and that helps us like as we make budget decisions month by month or or whatever at the end of the year, we aggregate those and we pass an amended budget to reflect if we make a decision in February or whatever it might be. So, we roll it all up in the end of the year and now we no longer have that finding. Go ahead, Amber. >> And then as far as um other findings, we do management advisory comments. These are not audit findings. They're just more so of FYI things that we think the district or management should be aware of. So, a new one this year was original budgeted amounts. That just means that um of the budget that we look at, the one reported in Skyward, which is
122the financial software, did not match what was reported in the very original budget. Um, but as Tom mentioned, there was a budget amendment. So the final budget did agree and that's really the the biggest thing that we look at for our budget comparison. And then we had another new finding this year which was just an FYI about a new audit standard coming out next um I believe next year um Gazsby 103 for financial reporting model improvements. So it's just to be aware that this finding is um or this statement is coming out. And then we had um last year we still from last year we had um allocating interest income. Um so basically if any funds use the same cash account there should be interest allocated to it. So fund 80 was the only one
123missing of interest that was allocated. And then one finding or yeah one finding from last year that is now resolved was a new standard Gazsby 101 compensated absences. So this was implemented during the 2425 audit. Um and if you take a look at the statement of activities you will see a change in accounting principle of about 5.4 million decrease. Um, that's because of this finding or of this standard. We are now required to report any vacation or sick pay that rolls over to the next school year for any teachers or employees that um get this benefit. So, it's only reported on the front of the financial statements, the governmentwide ones. Um, nothing fund balance related. It's just we're required to report it now. So, even with that essentially decrease in net position though, um overall
124there was only an $86,000 decrease of net position. Um otherwise, that's really all I had. I don't know if there's anything else anyone wanted to deep dive in or discuss. >> Those are how are retirement funds looking? >> So, fund 73, Amber, can you lend any comments on that? Let me pull that up quick. So, I guess I'll I'll land a comment here like Amber certainly has the auditor's perspective on that and then we every two years we have an actuarial firm measure our liabilities using their best estimates and their assumptions and then they compare whatever that future liability is to what we have on hand. and we are close to 100% funded there. Um, we did make a change here, uh, was this in October or November? I'm sorry, the time is moving fast
125here now, where we decided to freeze our teacher OPED retirement benefit and then to put more emphasis on the 700 uh, this uh, $750 403b match. So, that's a more tangible benefit that's, you know, portable. It takes five years to vest into it versus 20 years. And so we made that change here. So this OPED benefit that Amber will speak to in a moment here, we are we have effectively froze that liability from growing into the future at the conclusion of this year. This will be the last year where that liability grows. >> Yes. So my computer froze. [laughter] Um yes. So, right now, um, the OPED healthcare is sitting at a $71,000 liability. And the supplemental pension is sitting at 3.7. So that's like a four point. If we add those two, and I
126should just clarify it like this, when our teachers retire, the OPAD benefit is either paid out in a 403b or it's paid out in a premium only HRA that they can use to purchase healthcare. Because of a 403b and a premium only health care, the liability, whether we spend out 30,000 this way or 30,000 that way, the liability gets measured differently. So we'll talk about a supplemental benefit and a health care benefit and it's two measures and we simply just add it up and say what's the grand total of all that and when we do that that's when where I say one may look like we're underfunded the other is overfunded when you add it up um the actual actuarial report will show that we're nearly 100% funded. Amber anything else there you want to
127>> Yeah it looks like the I was looking at the wrong line. The um OPED healthcare is sitting at a $790,000 liability and the supplemental pension is sitting at a $1.5 million asset. So >> So that would be an overfunding there. So I I believe that we're good and we'll measure that again and report back. >> Yeah, this is it's very rare for us to see an asset. So that's very very very good for the district. >> Crosby. >> Tom, this appears to be a very clean audit. Is that common for school districts or is this kind of a rare thing? >> Uh, it is. >> I don't I'm gonna let Amber answer that because I don't read a lot of other school districts audit reports. Unfortunately, one's enough for me. >> Bad time reading.
128>> No, it's not. Amber, do you want to lend an opinion there? >> Yeah, I would say it's it's very rare. Um, we usually have at least two to three audit findings for most of our clients. um that preparation of financial statement one, but then there's usually either a significant or material audit adjustment for the number of journal entries that we give during the audit. And we very rarely ever give a journal entry. Um and if we do, it's it's maybe one or two. Um so that's super rare for us to see and it it's great. Um makes the audit go a lot smoother. But yeah, there's I mean there's really no concerns. Everything is excellent. When when we arrive for the audit, everything is ready to go and questions are easily answered. So, yeah,
129it's it's a very very smooth audit compared to the other ones that we do. I want to give a shout out to three individuals in particular. Chevon Pollock who runs our payroll, Michelle Ays who oversees our accounts payable, and then Linda Scapiti uh most importantly, Linda uh has been here for over 20 years and she uh down to the penny. Her work is down to the penny. um she does great. And so when Amber says that her all the paperwork is ready for her when they arrive here for their three-day visit in August, that's Linda's work. And I appreciate all that Linda's done uh for a couple decades now. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Hold on. >> All good. >> Oh, yeah. >> Okay. I I also want to uh reiterate what a
130great job you and your team did. I mean, we're all taxpayers in here and I'm in this district and I feel very confident that my money is not being wasted and that's a big deal these days. So, thank you. >> Yeah, I I live here, too. So, when I go to Metro Market and I see everybody, I don't want to hide. I [laughter] I want to, you know, I I I take personal pride in this place. So, Amber, thank you for joining us tonight. We appreciate your time. >> Yeah. Thank you everyone. >> All right. Thank you. Moving on to consent agenda. Looking for the approval of the committee of the whole meeting minutes of January 12th, 2026 and approval of vouchers and receipts. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. That's approved by consent. We
131are going to move to personnel topics. Park View Middle School scheduling, staffing, and instructional programming. Thank you. Um, as we get started uh on this presentation, um, first just want to make sure that, you know, we start out with understanding what the parameters were and and and some of the process behind this. Um, we go back to December of 2017. Um, our school board first identified Parkview Middle School as the next step in our major facilities work. It was after the high school referendum had passed and we were preparing ourselves then for what is next. um the study and the work and the community the design uh we then began the work uh Luke along the way uh Rachel Angela Christine and a team uh began to put the work together about what does the
132instructional program look like and with that Tom I don't know who has the clicker if you're willing to advance slides like the board to know um just some parameters that I set for them around the work and uh these parameters were from comments that were made along the way. Um, as we go forward and and define and present to the board what could be a a instructional program at the middle school, I want everybody to know that I asked this committee to work from a staffing neutral model. Uh, first and foremost, when we passed the referendum, comments were made. Now, is this going to mean we have to hire a lot of staff? I asked the committee to begin their work around staffing neutral, no layoffs, but also no additional hires. And where do we
133come in at that? I ask that they understand fully the dynamics of shifting grade levels. So 4K through five elementary school versus a 4K through six with what we currently have. As that pertains to music and some of the discussions that we're going to have in the elective areas. Um a going to fifth grade reduces band by one half of the students that are eligible to take band at the elementary school. It reduces the orchestra numbers by onethird. It's important that the team understands that as they put this together. I did set that out at the beginning. Similarly with a middle school having a 78 building um where kids come in in seventh grade, they leave then right away after 8th grade that two years stop. It does look different in sixth through eight. And
134I did ask the team reach out to other school districts and talk about what that programming looks like so that they had an understanding of that as they went forward. And then one of the common themes that I've heard from a number of families along the way um is the idea of pulling out when kids are pulled out for instruction. um important to know that and important for the school to plan around that both at the middle school which is the topic of conversation tonight but to understand that what that means then at the elementary school. So these were the parameters that I set forward among some others as we talked along the way. I'm going to pass the presentation over to Rachel, Angela and Luke uh as they fill in the information that they
135have have developed up until this point. As a reminder, we are looking at coming back to the board every month from now until June before we do seek final approval on what this instructional program looks like. So, go ahead. >> Thank you. Um Tom, do you have a clicker for me? >> Okay. >> Thank you. So, as Joe stated, um Luke Spielman is here tonight and Angela and I and we are going to talk about the work that has taken place so far around the planning for the new middle school. Um Joe spoke a little bit about the parameters that he has set. Um but then I think it's also important to talk about these other considerations. So these are considerations as you hear us talk about the ideas that are on the table right
136now. These are considerations that we have taken into everything that you're going to hear tonight. So, first and foremost, what is the McGuan Area School District's mission, vision, values? We want to make sure that all of our decisions are grounded in those things. We want to make sure that students are at the center of our decision-making. There is nothing more important than the students that we serve. We are consistently looking at high-erforming district comparison data. So, all of our ideas are always um compared to what are other high performing districts doing. We're looking at evidence-based best practices in middle school education. Of course, as Tom was just referencing, we want to be fiscally responsible so that we can continue with great auditing reports and balanced budgets. We want to capitalize on our current strengths. So
137Luke earlier in his presentation shared just the exemplary efforts of our current middle school. The growth that they've seen the I mean we're looking at the the middle school principal of the year from 2025. There are so many great things to celebrate. We have a lot of things to be proud of and we we need to capitalize on those. We want to always make sure that we are seeking stakeholder input. So staff, students, parents, community, and then of course we are bound by statutory guidelines. So what does um the state tell us we have to do and we need to make sure that we're in compliance with that. So I'm I'm putting here a timeline. Now, this is obviously not going to have all of the nuances that go into the work, um but just
138a general timeline with some of the big things that you can expect from our team. So, in the fall of 2025, we formed a steering committee. I'm going to talk a little bit more about what that looked like, who's on it, and the purpose of that team. And the focus in the fall was really on developing what do we want the Park View experience to be as we head into as we headed into winter and then into spring, um, we're having conversations about what do we want the course requirements to be? And again, I reference back to what do we want that park view experience to be? What are the statutory guidelines? All of those considerations come into play. Um, we have to look at revising our current scope and sequence from a curricular standpoint.
139And then we have to look at our technology needs. So with a new middle school comes a entirely um comprehensive technology assessment. Technology aligns to student learning. And so we're looking at that work as well. um in summer of 2026, we are looking to bring to you a schedule um looking for approval on that schedule. We are still toying around with ideas and Luca is going to present that a little bit later in the presentation. And we'll continue with the curricular revision work that we know is going to have to take place in the fall. this coming fall. Um, one of the big things that we'll um be doing is issuing a staffing interest survey. So, with the incoming sixth graders coming on board, there's going to be opportunities for our current staff to express,
140I want to teach sixth grade or I want to teach this um elective course. We ideally want to position teachers in the areas in which they want to teach. And handinhand with that is that second bullet point, licensing discussions. we need to make sure that staff are licensed in those areas. And so those two things will happen handinand. Um again, making sure that people we know what people want to teach and then making sure that they are certified to do so. We'll also be finalizing our course guide. Um that's something that we push out roughly in December um to families so that they know what those opportunities are. And then as we head into winter and spring, we start our student scheduling and staffing process. Uh you've heard me talk about this before. That process
141starts right away in January. Um in February is when we typically have student schedule in the winter of 2027. We are looking at pushing that timeline up a little bit for our middle schoolers. Um just to make sure again that we have ample time to plan and to staff that. Um we are going to be doing a open house for the new middle school. So, one of the things that we heard from our parents was the kids are going to be moving in to the new middle school after spring break and how are they going to know where to go and what if they get lost and we have a very solid plan around that. Um, but we do know it's going to be important to allow parents to come into that space and again
142set students up to not feel like they're just wandering, you know, nowhere. We won't let that happen. And then um again in the spring of 2027, the current seventh and eighth graders will be transitioning to the new building so that the construction can start on the old building. So how are we organizing our work? Um so I Joe and I kind of joke Joe's Joe's making sure that the walls are going up and that the you know the doors are have locks on them. and our team has been charged with really looking at these buckets. What is the communication that needs to go out around staffing, around curriculum, and then the other um because again the curricular experience is is really what is most essential for our students. It's what they're going to experience every
143day. And so we have done a backwards plan from the fall when the doors open of 2027 to today. Um it's a living breathing document. Our team meets on a weekly basis to plan and then we meet with our steering committee on a monthly basis to again get feedback, gather um input. But again, these are the buckets that we organize our work into. So what was our first action step? Our first action step around this work was the formation of a steering committee. The steering committee is a 28 member team that is composed of Parkview's guiding coalition. So, you've heard about the guiding coalitions. This is um a team that really knows the instruction um instructional priorities that are happening at the middle school. It's composed of the building leadership team and then it's also
144has representation from elementary teachers who have expressed an interest in moving to the new middle school. Additionally, there are district level administrators and then our building level administrators as well as instructional coaches who are on this team. So, it is a very comprehensive team that we bring our ideas to for feedback again and input. Um, it's really important that this team represents stakeholder voices. We know that when we go to share an idea that it's it's impossible in a lot of cases to say here's we want 300 people to give us feedback um and try and sort through that feedback and come up with a recommendation. And so this is a group where we say here's what we're thinking. Go out talk to people talk to your peers bring back what you're hearing what you're
145thinking um so we can make informed um recommendations. Again, we meet one time per month and that's the compilation. Our action step number two was to develop instructional guarantees. So, this is that Park View experience. When we talk about the addition of sixth grade, we're not just talking about sixth graders coming to the middle school. This is really and and we've talked about this a lot as a team. This is a new school. This is going to be a new school. And so we can't just have it right be the here's the sixth graders and now there's everybody else. We want it to feel like this is who we are as Park View Middle School, not the us and the them. And so what we talked about a lot was what do we want every
146student at Parkview to experience regardless of what grade level they're in, what course they're in, what do we want that Park View experience to be? and the steering committee developed four ideas around this experience. So the first um instructional guarantee is the guarantee of rigorous and engaging instruction. And I don't think anybody would argue that we don't want this for our students. We want standards aligned instruction across all content areas. We want instruction that sparks curiosity that cultivates those skills like collaboration, communication, creativity, engagement, critical thinking. And again, regardless of the class students are in, regardless of the grade level, this is the type of instruction that we want to see in every single classroom. Instructional guarantee number two was coordinated supports for student success. I I kind of refer to this one as it
147takes a village. We know that teaching does not happen in a silo. And so this is really ensuring that when we look at students and their needs that we are ensuring that there is a coordinated plan to meet those needs. Instructional guarantee number three, we had a lot of conversation about this um was a guarantee of exposure to and engagement in robust electives. One of our biggest conversations that we had as a steering committee and I would say this happened over the course of several months was this idea of what do we want kids to have exposure to by form of like requiring them to versus what do we want them to have access to in terms of they can choose to take this course. And so one of the things that you'll see in
148there is that we say we want them to have student choice. want them to have a progression while prioritizing core academic time and the steering committee made that recommendation and I think again that was something that we really had a lot of robust conversation around but we know that that is going to support student success going forward [snorts] and then the last instructional guarantee is a guarantee of a positive and supportive school culture. We know when students feel safe in school that they are more likely to engage in their learning. And so again, fostering that environment where positive, respectful relationships exist is going to support everybody, students, staff, families um to again have a great experience. So Luke's going to talk a little bit now about the schedule and um a proposal or draft that
149we have about that. So we worked with our steering committee to identify some priorities based on those instructional guarantees. One of the things that we did in that process was not only reach out to other neighboring districts that are high achieving but one of the things that's really unique about the new middle school that we're building is just the size and the capacity the number of students. Um we are anticipating between a,000 and 1100 students that creates some some different challenges than other schools necessarily in the area. We are going to be roughly top five largest school in the state at the middle school level. So not only did we reach out to other as Rachel in um shared other high achieving neighboring districts, we also reached out to some of the other larger districts
150around the state to ensure that the programming that we are planning was similar to them as well. So things like one of the closest large ones is is Franklin is roughly that size, but there's a large middle school in Abton, there's a large middle school in Chipua Falls. We reach out to schools across the state um of similar size to see what kind of academic programming you have they have planned. So what we identified for priorities here here were ensuring let me pause one second before I start. Sorry. Um we asked the team to say what do we need to start what do we need to continue and what do we need to stop doing in this new building. So after each of these phrases you're going to see a continue a start. Um I
151don't think there's any stops up there but um so we need to continue ensuring math and English every single day. We do that currently in sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade. We need to protect our science and social studies time. Again, those are things that we want to continue. Um, I talked earlier in my presentation about allowing common planning time for our core departments by grade level. We've seen great value to that. We want to make sure that when we create a new schedule, it allows that same flexibility. We want to provide elective and exploratory classes for students to learn and explore new academic interests and career and pathways. I will continue and start for that because there's some that we certainly want to continue, but we're also opening to are open to starting
152some new programs as well if that need arises in the future. We want to maintain win or sorry home room or win period for students to access academically support. It's our understanding that currently at the sixth grade level, many of our students have win time. At the middle school, we have home room time. Um, but we see value in those from an academic um standpoint. And the last priority that we wrote on the list was maximizing flexibility for students and staff. One thing that happens when you have a large school and many course offerings is sometimes there's conflicts between those course offerings. So I'll give you an example. Um sometimes if we only have two sections of a class a student can't take this is a hypothetical but can't take advanced math advanced world language
153and a music class because those classes conflict and only happen at the same time so that students have to choose between those. We do not want that to happen. We want students to have as much flexibility in the schedule that they can so that they can take all the classes that they want. So that is what that last bullet point means. We want to as we're creating a schedule, make sure that we're limiting the um conflicts between the schedule so that students have the most flexibility they possibly can. So if you flip the next schedule, please. Um this is a popular schedule that we've seen some other districts doing um that meets some of those priorities would be math and English every day, similar to what um middle school and I think sixth grade currently
154has. um maintaining a home room or wind time. This is just again a model. It doesn't mean that home room or wind needs to be in the middle of the day. It could be at the beginning of the day. It could be at the end of the day. Those details um are still down the road. Science and social studies in some capacity. We don't know yet. Um if it makes more sense for that to be an alternating day class or if that makes sense for those to be shorter periods, but having them every other day or sorry, every day. And then we also need to maintain some time in a schedule for P elective exploratory classes. The difference there between elective and exploratory classes are PE is as Rachel um referred to earlier is a
155mandated class. Elective classes as the word means means kids get the choice of those classes. Exploratory classes are classes that we as a district choose to mandate because we value those experiences for our students. So for example, some of our CTE classes um in our district are classes that are required for all students to take. So we want to make sure that as we're building a schedule, it allows time for those classes as well. All right. So, as Rachel mentioned earlier in the presentation, one of our big areas of work as we think about transitioning our sixth graders to the middle school is to determine what coursework is going to be required and what elective options we are going to offer for our students. So this is in addition to those core classes that we
156of course require literacy, math, science and social studies. What other things are we going to require of our students and then what options will they have? So this is something that the steering committee grappled with um and is still working on. This is big decisions and these are things that we are discussing. So tonight I'm going to share what this currently looks like for each of our grade levels, what is required, and then I'm going to share some ideas that the steering committee has discussed as possibilities. So as we approached this piece of work, there were a couple of considerations that we took. The first is those instructional guarantees that Rachel spoke about and specifically instructional guarantee number three which was exposure and engagement to robust elective opportunities. Specifically in that instructional guarantee, the steering
157committee felt strongly that it was important to structure our electives in a way that allowed for student choice and progression again while prioritizing those core areas. So that was something that was really kept at the core of this discussion. And then the other thing that had to be considered in this area is statutory requirements. So, some of these areas do have laws um that we have to require certain things. So, I'm just going to go through these. So, for the first three areas for music, art, and physical education, we do have statutory requirements. So for music and art um the statutory requirement is that we provide instruction in art and music in kindergarten through sixth grade. That is required when we hit seventh grade and beyond. It is something that needs to be offered and
158available to students. So it can be provided as an elective or an option with physical education that is required from kindergarten all the way through high school. We must provide instruction in physical education all the way through. So for um music currently we require um music in sixth grade and seventh grade. And the structure that we use um is pull out lessons at the middle school. That is for choir, band, and orchestra. At the elementary level, that is um the pullout lessons are just for orchestra and band. In sixth grade, we have general music. Currently, an idea that the steering committee has been discussing is requiring music in sixth grade. Again, that's required by state law. And then offering it as an elective in seventh grade and then considering changing the model to what we
159call a twotoone model where we would have two teachers in the class. One teacher would be teaching the whole group. Another teacher could be pulling small groups for lessons. And Rachel's going to talk about that a little bit more. In art, we currently require art in both sixth and seventh grade. Again, the state requirement is that we offer art instruction kindergarten through sixth grade. One idea that we have been considering is requiring it in sixth grade and then making it an elective choice for students in seventh grade. For physical education again we are required to provide physical education all the way through the students experience here. So nothing is being discussed in terms of changes there. The only thing that the steering committee is discussing is a health component in seventh grade. So this is
160not necessarily something new. We already have health standards. We have health lessons that are taught in various curricular areas. So right now they're taught in all different places um at the middle school and we are considering bringing those together in one consistent component. The next area is PLTW or project lead the way. This is STEM courses that we offer at the middle school and as you heard Luke talk about um Parkview is a PLTW distinguished school. So we are very proud of that. We have a very robust program with PLTW. We actually offer PLTW courses in our elementary and then all the way through the high school. So currently we require three courses, three PLTW courses at the middle school. Two of them at the seventh grade and then one at the eighth grade. These
161three courses build upon each other. The um steering committee is considering continuing to require those three courses as they feel that the skills that are taught in these courses are critical for students as they move through the system, but just making a shift to moving that design and model class down to the sixth grade level. And then we have a couple of other areas. Of course, we have our world language. So, currently our seventh grade students take world language exploratory where they are exposed to both languages that we offer, German and Spanish. One of the things that the steering committee is considering is moving that world language explor exploratory class to sixth grade and then students would elect to take world language in seventh and eighth grade. And then just a couple other courses. We
162currently require students to take life and careers at seventh grade. Um that course has some of our academic career um requirements from the state in it. The committee has considered shifting that down to the sixth grade as we transition students into the middle school. And then there is a business course. Again, this this has some of our academic and career planning requirements in it. We require that at 8th grade and the committee is considering keeping that as a requirement in eighth grade. Okay. So, Angela spoke uh briefly about the 2:1 model and I think it's important to talk about what that looks like at the middle school level. Um so, first and foremost, I I want to acknowledge that the work that all of our music teachers, band, orchestra, choir do across our system is
163incredibly valuable. >> [clears throat] >> our music staff is incredibly valuable. Nothing that we are proposing is based on the fact that we think our music teachers are not doing great work with kids. So I want to acknowledge that to everybody here. Okay. The 2:1 model, what that looks like is two teachers to one class. The lexon structure um as Angela said takes place in the class rather than through a pullout model. Um I think it's important to note this is currently being done successfully in our high school choir classes. So this is a model that we are currently implementing. Through this model there is access to two teachers per class period. So there is more opportunity for small groupoup and individualized instruction. Students do not miss any core or elective time from other classes.
164So there's no competing priorities. This is especially relevant um because as we looked at that transition from sixth to from elementary to u middle sixth grade currently has recess. There is no recess when we get up to the middle school. They do have a few minutes um Lou correct me if I'm wrong at the lunch hour where they can go outside. Um but it's not a structure they don't have a structured recess time. And so again, as we look at that lesson model that a lot of our students at the elementary do use recess time for that lesson. With that being again taken away, we are looking at how do we how do we minimize again the time that students are out of an elective area or out of a core content area for that
165lesson. And this model accomplishes that. um students don't have to make up for missed learning and staff who are losing those students during the lesson don't have to remediate the learning that's missed. So if we look at the numbers across the board, again something again of note. So at the elementary level, um there are no pullout lessons for choir. Choir is a club. Um it's offered before school in most locations. In orchestra we currently serve, so this is for the 2526 school year, but it is important to note these are the trends that we see if we go back all the way to the last decade. um in orchestra across the elementary we see 302 students being served this year. If we look at that in fourth grade 143 students I have to look at
166my paper I can't read that up there. 143 students in fifth grade 91 students and in sixth grade 68 students. One of the things that Dr. Cook talked about was the parent feedback that he's received about missing that instruction and those competing priorities. And what we see is as students go through school and are getting right um older, we do hear that the content becomes more difficult that it becomes harder to miss that core instructional time. And so even though it might be 20 minutes twice a week, that missing that time causes some some friction for them. in band across elementary right now we have 214 students so 105 and fifth um that drops to 97 and six Eagleville is a combined um and there's 11 students currently when we get to the middle school
167um so again keep in mind middle school currently requires um a music in seventh grade so they can pick between the general music choir band or orchestra we see the numbers seventh grade 108 in choir 62 in orchestra and 93 in band. Those numbers drop significantly in 8th grade when students are given the choice of what they want to take. In the 9th through 12th grades, when students have complete choice and most of our students at this time in their schooling have ample opportunity to take as many electives as they want. Um, in choir we see 131 students and that's across all of the choirs. In orchestra we see roughly between 25 to 30 students per cohort. So roughly 30 students per grade level. And then that's a similar story for band. 94 students across
168grades 9 through 12. So I I share that because um again as we look at this model and we look at our goal is never to decimate a program. Our goal is never to take away opportunities from kids. Um, but what we don't see is a trajectory of kids who start in elementary school and then grow through high school. That's not the data storyline that we have. The possible K12 implications of this model. So, one of the things that we're looking at um is band and orchestra lessons moving from beginning in fourth grade to beginning in sixth grade with a phased approach. So, again um what this looks like in in terms of our idea right now is that in 2026 27 and fourth grade we would not offer orchestra lessons. fifth grade, the current
169fifth grade students um are already right or I'm sorry, the current fourth grade students are in orchestra, we would continue that in fifth grade for next year. We wouldn't stop those lessons in fifth grade. Um when the students in 2728, those fifth graders who then become sixth graders, we would then move to that 2:1 model in both band and orchestra. So um again a phased approach. It's important to note if we take this approach students who are again currently taking lessons at the elementary will continue their programming. So it's a phased out approach. No one is going to be given like a hard stop. I started lessons in fourth grade and now in fifth grade I don't get lessons. It's a phased approach. if we have to add I'm sorry the district will have to
170add additional staff if we were to maintain the current model um of programming. So with our 4Ks coming in at the elementary with again the sixth grade coming to the middle school um we would be looking at adding additional staff if we were to maintain this current level of programming. So Luke's going to talk a little bit about the referendum um and just bringing us back to when we started this process, what we talked about being a priority and what we're doing now. >> So we talked a little bit at the beginning of this presentation about what our priorities were for this team, but we also went further back um to about 18 months ago when we were sitting going to referendum and asking our community what were the needs for a new middle school.
171We certainly talked about the physical structure of the building and aging infrastructure, but we also prioritize the academic opportunities available for students. So, opportunities that we we wanted to plan for in this new building were exposing students to world language and sixth grade. Um, all students across the district. One of our current challenges in the district with math is our advanced math students. Um, we currently have 36th grade students who come to Parkview every single morning um via bus and then we bust them back to their elementary school. those students end up with a a really long school day because they do their whole elementary school day, but then they also come to us. So, we wanted to see if we could figure out um some changes there to allow um some different experiences for
172students. Family and consumer education, we wanted students to have some exposure to that in a new building in sixth grade. Career and tech education, we know that students have some STEM exposure in the elementary schools, but we wanted that to be a guaranteed consistent opportunity for students. And then finally, band and orchestra. We wanted a consistent um class that was offered for students at the middle school level for both band and orchestra in sixth grade which they don't currently have that class. Um additionally we were looking for additional co-curricular and extracurric co-curricular and extracurricular or athletic opportunities. Um that one I can confidently say we haven't yet got there but um we are excited about thinking about what opportunities might be available for sixth graders. But again we're trying to set the academic programming first
173and then we'll figure out what those other opportunities for students will be. All right. So, next steps. Um, as you can clearly see, there is a great deal of work that goes into this transition that we have. So, I'm just going to touch on um some of the things that are coming up as next steps and some of the continued um things that you can expect to see. So, first coming up actually on Monday, um on January 26, we have a professional development day and we will be pulling many of our teams, some of them K12, some of them just middle school teams, um to start looking at those curricular revisions that need to be made. We will continue to evaluate our middle school schedule, our um required courses and offerings. All of that will
174continue to um be discussed with our steering committee and with our team. In February, we will be holding an elementary meeting for those elementary teachers who are interested in coming to teach at the new middle school. This is something um that has been a continuing process. We've been working very closely with our teachers to keep them updated on this change and what it means for them and what their opportunities and options are. We are starting the student scheduling process um for the 2627 school year that takes place in February, March um where students are selecting those courses that they have options for and then the staffing um we staff accordingly to the courses that students are opting into. And then the next three bullet points really speak to communication to um being transparent um and
175making sure that um everyone is aware of the work that is happening. Um so we will continue to hold monthly steering committee um meetings where we will continue to um look at the different options that we have for this transition and gather feedback from our steering committee. We will be providing monthly board presentations around this work to keep you updated on our progress. And then we have monthly staff communications that go out to our entire staff so they are aware of what we are working on in terms of this middle school transition. I don't think we have a question slide but Eric. Okay. So for next month, I guess I would request that maybe we bring back some more information moving forward. What would it look like if we kept everything the way it is
176right now? But now what would that look like staffingwise? And then what would it look like staffing wise if we were to leave everything the way it is now? Plus do the 2:1 model. How many more staff would we need? What are we looking at? just I'd like to have see that kind of information in front of me before we make decisions to cut. [clears throat] >> Eric, can I just clarify? You're asking us to come back with the way it is now plus the 2:1 model at the middle school level, >> all levels. >> Okay. >> Because at the at the bottom of the slide, it says district will have to add additional staff if we were to maintain the current model level of programming. So, what does what does that mean? How many
177are we looking at? >> So, >> where do they need to go? or are they going to be floating between the middle school and the elementary schools? I just would like that information of of what we're looking at. >> Yep. >> Thank you. We'll have that ready for you. >> If you could look at like each school, how that impact would be and possibly different options as well, please. >> Any other questions or comments? >> I have a question. >> Um, it was asked I think several times tonight. Were the music teachers band and orchestra consulted? Have they been talked to about this? And I I've been told no, but I don't think that's accurate. So, I would like clarification on that. >> So, we >> I think uh right now the board has asked
178an administrator a question and I think we have back to the administrative response. If next month there is a broader panel that the board is interested in, we're certainly able to have them ready. Can you please keep proper decorum? We are respectful and listen to all of you. Please return the favor to us, please. Thank you. >> So, we um we talked about the steering committee. That is our first and foremost um I would say body of input when it comes to teacher feedback around these decisions. We do have a music representative, a band teacher who is on that committee. Um, additionally we have met with our music department um on three occasions to talk about these ideas. So yes, music teachers have been talked to. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Uh, the
179board just if I could. Back in April of 25, we surveyed as part of a broader elective area um, conversation. You might remember this when we talked about world languages. We surveyed families um I believe it was in grades three through five about what their future interest is in electives. Would the board be interested in seeing that data presented uh as a refresher next month? >> Thank you. >> Any other question, Eric? >> I have one more actually. Um Luke and I have spoken about the the pull outs for the choir and I'm not a fan of it. Um but how many pull outs are we looking at for each individual piece? So, we looking at two per quarter for choir, two per quarter for band, two per quarter for orchestra. That's something I'm not
180putting you on the spot. Well, I kind of am, but um maybe that's something you guys can bring to us as well next month, just so we know kind of what we're looking at. >> Let's get that accurate information for next week. I don't want to misspeak on that. >> Thank you, >> Eric. You want that for all levels because it is different at each level. I think it's most important um at the middle school level honestly, but you can provide it for all levels. That would be that would be I think helpful. >> Sure. >> Any other questions or comments? >> What's that? >> No, >> I understand. Maybe tell we can't take that. >> If you want to speak to one of us like after meeting, we'd be more than happy to listen
181to you, but right now we have to continue our work. Thank you. Any other questions from the board comments? All right. Thank you. >> Moving on to student loving student learning topics director's report. >> Okay. Um at the committee of the whole meeting. Um last week I gave an update on the key pieces of um curriculum renewal work that we have happening this year. We have a number of different priorities. Um and so I gave the board an update on those. Um, and we'll continue to update the board on that work and we will be bringing some recommendations to the board in those areas in the spring. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments? >> Okay, moving on to student service topics. >> Uh, last week we talked about open enrollment uh numbers and next
182steps uh for discussion. And so tonight we'll be bringing that item back for an action item later on, but I addressed the open enrollment uh as it relates to special education for services and space for the 26 27 school year. >> Thank you. Any questions? All right. Thank you. Moving on to finance and facilities. Okay. Um I gave you all an update on our investment returns. I gave you a quick summary of the Wisconsin policy forum article that talked about K12 tax levies throughout the state of Wisconsin collectively and then as as I'll do between now and the end of the fiscal year. I'll give you a current year uh budget update of all funds um broadly and then a specific focus on our salary and benefits since those are 75% of our budget as
183of right now. Um, I have a very high degree of confidence that we'll be under budget there and so I feel really good about the the health of the budget in the current school year here. Um, and then lastly, I gave you an update of our bank balances there as of the end of November 2025. So, we just recently reconciled that as a reminder. That's our low cash position. Earlier in the meeting tonight, we talked about our fund balance position. That's a June 30th snapshot. the best snapshot that we can provide in my opinion is what do we look like at the end of November when our cash position is the lowest. Um, and that's uh that ultimately determines our health in my opinion. We don't need to short-term borrow from a bank. We don't
184need to pay those unnecessary interest costs and uh we're doing well there. So, I have no concerns right now for the board. >> Any questions for Tom? All right. Thank you. Moving on to action items. hires, retirements, and resignations. >> All right. I have um the administrators uh contracts that for the 2026 through 2028 school year. The list of administrators is listed. I am not planning on reading them all by name. Um but looking for approval of those contracts. >> I'll make a motion to approve hires, retirements, and resignations. >> Second. We have a motion in and a second to approve hires, retirements, and resignations. Any questions or comments hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say no. Motion carries number two, policy update volume 34 34, number two.
185>> Going back to October, uh we've had these policies on the agenda a number of times. Uh we've taken questions and made adjustments based off of uh board questions, board feedback. uh we are bringing them forward tonight for final approval. Uh per members of the board's request, we will not bring a full batch of policies forward anymore. We'll break this out into about six to 10 policies just depending on the category uh in future um policy update uh cycles. All right, we're looking for a motion. I make a motion to accept the policy update volume 34 number two. Second. We have a motion, a second. Any questions or comments? >> I just have a question on the consent agenda policy. Just to refresh my memory, if we wanted to pull out WIA as a consent
186agenda item, is that something we can do now or is that something we have to do at the time that it's on the consent agenda? at the time that it's on the consent agenda. >> Thank you. >> And just as a reminder, we do have those board agendas posted for the board and for the community on Thursday uh ahead of the board meeting. So if you ever see something, please reach out to me Thursday, Friday, and we can certainly make note of that for the upcoming meeting. Any other questions, comments? Hearing none. All those in favor for approving the policy update volume 34 number two say I. I. >> Those opposed say no. Motion carries. Moving on to minute allocation. >> So, we are looking for approval of the recommendation to strike the uh 1440
187minute allocation for our elementary specialists. Uh as a reminder again, no other certified staff member has a minute allocation equated to their full-time status. Um and we've listed just again some of the other reasons why we don't believe that this is employee favorable. So looking for a recommendation to remove that language. >> I'll make a motion to remove the language for 1440 from the handbook. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any questions or comments? >> Hearing none. All those in favor to approve the minute allocation say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say no. >> Motion carries. Moving on to open enrollment seats. So last month we presented the open enrollment seats um that we have available, the general education seats at the K4 through 12th grade level. And then we
188shared that we do not currently have any um seats available in our early childhood through um 12th grade program in special education. Nor do we have any related services seats in terms of occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech. I'm looking for approval of those open enrollment um seats. I'll make a motion to approve the open enrollment seat projections. >> Second. >> We have a motion and second to approve the open enrollment seats. Any questions or comments? >> Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> Those opposed say no. >> Motion carries. Moving on to number five, 2627 budget assumptions. >> All right. And I have the budget assumptions for as we build out the 2627 uh budget there. And I have uh just we're looking to uh approve these recommended uh budget assumptions. So as
189I said to you last Monday, some of these values are known because we're in the second year of the bianial budget. At this time next year, we'll have to guess as we build the 2728 budget how much money per student will get because we won't know that until June or July. Uh but what I'm recommending is we've already adopted and and we have great confidence that we'll likely lose students again as we head into next year. So we've already adopted a 85 student reduction. Um what I'm looking for is for you to approve that we'll have uh we're going to make an assumption of $3.7 million of special education categorical aid from the state. That's up to 100,000. We're assuming that because our uh the state budget uh in the second year allocates more towards
190special education reimbursements. And then um I did make a small change here. So um in the open enrollment in headc counts and open enroll headc counts. We have a third Friday in September count of those. But then we also do a second Friday in January counts. We do that for equalization aid purposes. So we have to submit that. And those number the open enroll in went from 603 to 594. So we lost nine students. And then in terms of open and roll out, it went from 309 to 317. So a small change in both counts. I'm just saying let's go with the most recently available data there and and assume that we'll have those 594 open and roll in, 317 open and roll out. And those are the assumptions we're looking for at this time.
191>> So I'll make a motion to approve the 2026 2027 budget assumptions. >> Second. We have a motion and second to approve the 2627 budget assumptions. Any questions or comments? I have one question, Tom. Yeah. Please tell us again how much the state cut our funding. Uh this past year, state aid was decreased by approximately $2 million. Thank you. So, we are getting less and less help. I I I know that next year in 2627 that will take place yet again. And we're we are not alone in that. That is a statewide bianial budget um impact. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you. All those in favor to approve the 2627 budget assumptions say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say no. >> Motion carries. On to number six, 2425 audit report. I'm simply
192just asking you guys to uh officially acknowledge that you have received the the audit report. So that will be reflected in the meeting minutes. So if somebody feels comfortable making a motion that we uh we acknowledge receipt of the 2425 audit report. That's what we're looking for. >> I make a motion that we acknowledge receipt of the audit report. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any questions or comments? >> Good job, Tom. >> And team hearing none. All those in favor to approve the 2425 audit report say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say no. Motion carries. >> Moving on to unfinished business, the superintendent report. >> Thank you, Mr. Porter. Um, so a couple things. Uh, we want to just I just want to take an opportunity to thank Dustin
193Layman. Um, as he nears his end of time in Mcano as our college and career readiness coordinator, Dustin has led our programs to increase level of success and achievements. our programs would not be where we are without his hard work and vision and we wish him the best as he starts his uh his new job in the Elorn school district. Reminder to anybody listening, winter weather um I do love when winter weather comes on Saturday and Sunday um as it comes during the week. It does pose some challenges. So just as a reminder uh for cold weather uh we base our decisions off of a n national weather service guideline uh for extreme cold warning. And it's important to remember warning, not advisory, but warning, which essentially is the wind chill of 30 degrees below
194zero. Um, it is a benchmark. It doesn't necessarily drive that decision because if 30 below hits at 4:00 in the morning, we're not necessarily worried about that. We really are concerned between the the time of about 7 to 8:30 as kids are getting dropped off from school. Uh, for snowy weather, we look at again the winter weather warning. Um, for any snow cancellations, I collaborate with uh regional superintendent on that decision. and we do our best to make that decision the night before so that parents have an opportunity to handle child care for their children. Um at the um at the absolute latest uh we're shooting for 5 5:30 in the morning and notifying families um ahead of most people's workday. I do know that some folks go earlier than that. Um our process is
195a 3:45 a.m. weather call with the National Weather Service on the day of the event. Uh we then as a group of superintendents in the area, we get on a webinar after that as a group. Um, and we talk and see what the conditions are. We do consult with the bus company, uh, with the sheriff's department in some areas, with our local police or fire department, whoever's been out on the road. We're trying to get as much information we can to make a safe decision to start the day. I know that it was cold today. Uh, it did not hit that threshold. We are paying close attention to what Friday looks like as the high temperature on Friday. I saw anywhere from 4 to 7 below as a high. Um, as a low, uh, somewhere
196between 13 and 17 below zero. So, we'll be paying attention to what happens on Friday and we'll follow a similar process. Again, if we have the information, we'll do everything we can to notify families the night before um uh the weather event happens. And just finally, I know that there's been some concern and confusion particularly around m music and the middle school schedule. I apologize for this and for creating any level of angst among our among our community. As an administrative team, I want to remind the board and anybody who's listening tonight, we're tasked with transparency, garnering garnering stakeholder input, operating as responsible fiscal stewards, and most importantly, providing a high quality educational experience for our students. Over the past several years, we've brought forward such items as health insurance changes, creating an employee health
197clinic, leadership changes, school schedule changes, policies to remove cell phones from our schools, a referendum which will benefit our community for generations to come and will serve as a location to honor our veterans, classiz policies, and recommendations on the instructional program for Parkview. Each of these recommendations has come with criticism, concern, and in some instances a belief that we cannot accomplish what we are proposing. And for each of these recommendations, our schools, community, and students have been have seen a substantial benefit. We saw that tonight, for instance, with Park View. We've seen that at MHS. We've seen that at our elementary locations. As a result of our curriculum work, schedule work, policy work, and leadership changes and developments. Our schools are performing better than they ever have. We have an employee health clinic that provides
198high quality service to our employees and their families. A health plan that outperforms the market annually, all while remaining responsible fiscal stewards to the public dollar. We do have a broad community that we need to consider when we make our recommendations to as a board. It's important to remember this as we look to the future in our new middle school and all of the programs that we offer our students. Thank you. >> Thank you. I move my president's report to earlier in the agenda. So, up next we have the executive our executive session Wisconsin statute 19.85. We'll be discussing the midyear evaluation of our superintendent. Um, I don't believe we're coming back afterwards. So, that will conclude this meeting. This meeting's adjourned.