001We're calling this meeting to order in Monday, January 12th at 6 PM. Crossby, please roll call, please. >> Jason >> here. >> Mike >> here. >> Jake >> here. >> Jim >> here. >> J >> here. >> Eric >> here. >> Carolyn here. Craig is excused. Crosby is here. >> This is an open meeting and has been posted. Please join me for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, citizens comments. Do we have any no citizens comments tonight? So, we are going to move right on to our student report section elementary school. Please come on up parents. And if you want to come up here and record
002your children, feel free to come up here. You can stand behind us or sit down in front of us, whatever you prefer. All right, the floor is yours. You can come up here if you want. This is all about the kids. We are students from the sections leadership council and we are here to share some of the exciting things about section elementary. >> Hi, I'm Molly. >> Hi, I'm AB. Hi, I'm Reagan. Hi, I'm Ree. Kindergarten. In kindergarten, students learned all about maps and globes. They explored globes to see what Earth looks like and practiced finding different continents and oceans. They also used classroom maps to learn about symbols, math keeps, math keys, and directions. The kindergarteners have fun discovering where we live on the map and comparing our community to other places around the
003world. They were excited to learn that maps and globes can show the same information in different ways. First grade first graders first grade students had an exciting field trip to Rzzer Nature Center where they became real nature explorers. They went on an outdoor scavenger hunt to search for animal tracks and learned how to identify the animals that made them. They also had the opportunity to live to see live animals up close and discover how they use camouflage to protect camouflage to protect themselves from predators. The students learned how animals adapt to survive during the winter, including changing colors and finding safe places to stay warm. It was a great hands-on learning experience that helped our first graders connect science with the world around them. Second grade students have been learning about what it means to
004be a part of a community in social studies. They explored the roles and responsibilities people have and how communities work together to meet everyone's needs. Students also travel between classes for book clubs which help them share ideas, building reading skills and learn from classmates in other rooms. In writing, students create their own fiction books using imagination storytelling skills to develop characters, settings, and plots. Students also played partner games that helped reinforce math and reading strategies while working together. These activities supported teamwork, collaboration, and academic growth, showing how learning happens both independently and as a part of a classroom community. Third grade. Our third grade third graders have been hard at work becoming researchers and authors. They learned how to organize their ideas using writing strategies like boxes and bullets and use their skills to gather
005facts from multiple sources. After completing their research, students put all their information together to create their ownformational books, demonstrating strong writing, organization, and non-fiction text features. In addition to writing, students also participated in a hands-on STEM project where they designed and built a sleigh for Santa. They worked collab collaboratively to plan, test, and revised their designs, exploring which materials would be the strongest and most efficient through teamwork, problem solving, and creativity. Third graders learned how engineering and science play an important role in the world around them. Fourth grade students have been strengthenizing their reading reading skills by working with non-fiction texts. They practice summarizing what they read, identifying the main ideas, and using text evidence to support their thinking. Students also learned vocabulary strategies to help them understand newer challenging words and deepen their comprehension.
006Recently, they began using the new benchmark materials that are that are being piloted this school year, allowing them to explore non-fiction with fresh and engaging text. Through these activities, students are becoming more competent readers who can think critically, make connections, and explain their ideas using evidence from the text. Fifth grade. The fifth graders at section had an amazing experience at JA Btown this year. Before their field trip, they spent about six weeks preparing in the classroom. Students learned what it means to be a member of a community and how they can contribute by being responsible citizens and workers. >> [clears throat] >> They also practice managing money such as using credit cards, opening savings accounts, and writing checks. All of these skills were put to use during the Bistown simulation. Each student applied for a
007job including roles such as CEO, CFO, marketing manager, and others. Section was assigned city hall as their business. This year, and the students worked together to keep the city running while earning paychecks, buying goods and services, and managing budgets. It was a great opportunity for them to to experience what it's like to be a part of a real community while developing developing important life skills. Sixth grade sixth graders have been enjoying the new science curriculum and diving into hands-on meaningful learning experiences. One of their major projects involved designing schools with environmental factors in mind. Students worked in groups and considered geological reports, erosion, deposition, and water quality. As they planned a school located on a cliff, in a wetland, or on a hill, they had to work within constraints and restrictions, thinking critically about how
008the location envir environment would affect their design. Through this project, students learned how science, engineering, and problem solving come together to create functional and sustainable spaces while applying real world knowledge about the environment. Holiday fun. In December, we had a lot of holiday fun activities leading up to the winter break. We got to visit Santa's Corner, which could shop for which students could shop for gifts for family and friends. Classes played holiday song bingo, which was really fun way to listen to our favorite seasonal music. We also had 12 days of holiday dress up. We each day had a different theme like pajama day or festive hat day. Our choir students enjoyed special performance from the high school choir who came to sing Christmas carols with them while whole while well while the whole school
009joined together for a holiday sing along which was always which is always the favorite because we can sing classic songs as a group. And finally the fifth and sixth grade orchestra went caroling around the school playing holiday music for classrooms. These activities help bring lots of joy in school spirit making the days before winter break extra special. This year, students have been recognized for positive behavior and hard work through PBIS reward days each trimester. In trimester 1, students enjoyed candy bar bingo, combining fun and excitement with a sweet treat. Students enjoyed candy bar Oh, sorry. Looking ahead in trimester 2, students are excited for board games day where they'll work together and enjoy friendly competition. For trimester 3, students will get to choose their own reward activity including arts and crafts, STEM activities, playing outside
010or an energetic dance party. These reward days celebrate students achievements, encouragement, positive behavior, and give them something fun to look forward to each time. Over 60 students who were recognized as hockey month for September, October, and November participated in a fun PBS review game during our trimester assembly. The teams were randomly selected with each grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade representing 10 different teams. The competition was exciting and encouraged teamwork, problem solving, and reviewing PBI expectations. Each student on the winning team got to choose a feather reward at the teacher's disruption. Some classrooms selected a PJ day. Other chose extra recess and one classroom enjoyed additional coding time and highlighting our December theme of patience giving students a fun and meaningful way to celebrate positive behavior while reinforcing traits and classrooms. Hockey helpers. Sections
011hockey helpers are a dedicated group of fifth and sixth grade leaders who volunteer their time to support our move and play initiative. These students help create a positive and welcoming recess environment by inviting younger kids to join games, modeling fair play, and teamwork and helping ensure activities run smoothly. Their goal is to make sure every student feels included, active, and supported during recess. helping to strengthen our school community by building [clears throat] and build confidence in our young hawks. Each month, the playground recess monitors will nominate a student to be recognized as hockey helper of the month. This honor will go to a student who demonstrates outstanding leadership by being accountable and reasonable as well as kind, hardworking, and positive. These rec requisition I don't know these celebrate the important role these leaders play in
012shaping a safe and active recess for all students. At the start of 2025 2026 school year, our elementary school began an exciting process to give our longtime mascot a fresh new look. students at our august open house were where families could choose from four mascot designs options. From there, the results were narrowed down to the top three finalist. Finally, every student had the opportunity to cast a vote to select their favorite hockey, making the new mascot a true reflection of our of our school's community's voice. We are pleased to announce that Johnny W, a fifth grade student for Miss Moore's class, will be representing Section Elementary in this year's district. John earned this honor through hard work, strong spelling kills, and impressive perseverance during our school competition. We are incredibly proud of his accomplishments and
013look forward to cheering him on as he represents section at district. Section clubs, newspaper club. One of the special opportunities of for sixth graders at section is joining the newspaper club. Students in the club meet twice a month during lunch recess to write articles, interview classmates and staff and design pages for our very own sixth grade newspaper. Each issue is published once a month to and shared so students and teachers can read about school events, sports, special projects, and fun topics. >> Walking club. Walking club begins at the start of every school year and runs year round for all kindergarten through sixth grade students. Organized in Impedlement by Miss Newman, our PE teacher. This club is offered on a rotating schedule on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during lunch recess and is supported by section elementary parents.
014Walking club encourages our students to stay active, connect with peers, and earn tokens for their chain chains each time they join. No sign up is required. Every section student is automatically an eligible member. Garden Club at section is open to second and third graders. Students in fourth through sixth grade are able to apply to be garden club ambassadors. Garden Club gives students the opportunity to learn all about gardening while working hard together to plant and beautify the outdoor spaces around our school. We will meet on Mondays for five weeks [clears throat] beginning in late April and ending before Memorial Day. Every spring section offers an after school track club for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The club is run by section teachers and designed to introduce students to the basic track field concepts such as
015running, jumping, and throwing while also incorporating fundamental fitness exercises and investing good sports emphasizing good sportsmanship. club provides students with the additional opportunity to stay active outside of the school day and is it is a great way to expose them to a variety of track events in preparation for the Densky track meet held at the high school every day. >> Art club is a fun after school club for fifth and sixth graders who love to be creative. Students learn new art techniques and make cool projects while working with friends who enjoy art. It's a great way to try new ideas and have fun making art. >> Ski club is a se at se section is a fun exciting winter opportunity for students. It is a great way for students to stay active during the winter
016months and experience a unique sport. >> Upcoming events. Candy bar bingo is an event that we look forward to each year. Students and their families come to play bingo together and there are candy prizes for the winners. We also have raffle baskets with really awesome prizes. It's a great night because we get to spend time with our families, our friends, and staff members while having fun and supporting our school. We're also getting ready for our project fair. Each student picks a topic they are passionate about, research it, researches it, it creates a project to share. We love this event because we get to be creative and learn about something we're interested in. All of the projects are displayed around the school so students and staff can walk through and enjoy them. It's exciting to see
017so so many different ideas and learn from what other students choose to explore. >> One of the biggest events we're looking forward to is high interest day. We are we will get to choose seasons based on things we are excited about like art, sports, science, cooking and even learning about different careers. More than 30 pres presenters will come to our school and including parents and community members to teach us something that it's always a really fun day because we get to learn different learn in different ways and explore topics we might want to learn about learn more about in the future. Thank you for taking the time to listen to all the amazing things happenings at happening at section. >> Thank you. Great job. [applause] Anybody have any questions or comments? How many of you
018are sixth graders? You looking forward to the new middle school? That is exciting. Um, I see your shirt about leaders make a difference. I couldn't agree more. And I'm really happy you're doing this because you're maybe don't realize it yet, but you are starting your leadership skills by doing things like this. says, "Just remember, you never need a title to ever be a leader in your classroom, on a playground. You can always be that leader." So, thank you and great presentation. [applause] Up next we have a consent agenda looking for the approval of the school board meeting units of December 15, 2025. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. Those are approved by consent. We went on to personnel topics. >> All right. So the first topic is just uh the revision to the professional staff
019handbook around our allocation of minutes aligned to [clears throat] specialists full-time status. So um last month I introduced this as an information item. So I just want to give you a chance to discuss this. We are recommending that that language is um stricken from the handbook. Our rationale one is that um these are professional staff. they are not hourly employees and so assigning that minute allocation really is not aligned with any of our other certified staff. Um putting this minute allocation really limits the flexibility that we have in scheduling these staff members. Um when we did an analysis of our current elementary model, majority of our specialists are teaching under this 1440 minute allocation and therefore they're they're being filled up to fulltime equivalency with other duties as assigned instead of teaching in their content
020area. And so with the addition of 4K next year in our sites, additionally looking at potentially adding minutes in kindergarten, um we want the ability to say if you're a music teacher, we want you teaching music most of your day. If you're an art teacher, we want you teaching art most of your day. Um if not all of your day. And so this really allows us to do that. Um and then lastly really just again that minute requirement undermines the professionalism the nature of the job and so um we we are less focused on meeting the minimum requirement and more focused on having these teachers teach full-time in their content area. So next um next meeting we're looking for action on removing this language from the handbook prior to the staffing season where we would
021then assign these teachers to their um roles next year. questions or comments? [clears throat] >> Sorry. And next one, too. I know. Um, so Christine and I are going to present on this together. Um, this is just the annual update around our open enrollment projections. So, from a um, regular education lens, you can see there K4 through 12, the number of seats that we are projecting to have open next year. and then Christine will talk about our special education seats. So for next year for special education, you'll see um the programming um broken out by grade and then specific related services. So our class sizes um for our special education teachers remain pretty uh remain um consistent with the Walkshaw County comparables. So you'll see the class load, um the number of teachers, our projected
022enrollment, and then our capacity. So we will not be opening special education seats um for uh space or related services for the 2627. That would be our recommendation. >> Any questions or comments on that? >> I did have a question. It was a question most likely. Why is there no limit on nth grade? Obviously that's not everywhere else. >> Yep. Great question. So um one is historically we don't see a huge trend of students who are open enrolling at that grade level. But then two is we're looking that when we get them in nth grade we still have in our opinion enough time with them to make sure that they're academically prepared that they're ready to I would say um meet the standard of expectation that we have here in Mcuano. Um, and so we
023don't a see a lot of students coming in at that level, but then b if they come in at ninth grade, we still feel like we can get them where we want them to be. >> Any other questions or comments? All right. Thank you. I move on to student learning topics. >> Okay. Um, so I have an update for you regarding the curriculum renewal work that is occurring within the district and Joe I think I'm going to pull up the presentation that I have for you. Okay. Um, so as you are very familiar with this graphic, um, we do have a multi-year four-phase cycle that we use for our curriculum renewal process. This is to ensure that we are consistently reviewing and updating our curriculum in each area. And so we have those four phases,
024research, pilot, implement, monitor. Um and then each year we have a timeline and a cycle for um attacking different areas as our priority areas. So you can see the priorities for the school year. And I'm just going to give you a brief update on the work that has happened in each of these areas and then a little bit of a preview um of some of the things that are going to be coming to the board in terms of these areas. So we'll start with the monitor stage. So this is the stage that we enter after we have implemented a new curriculum. And so for this school year, we are currently monitoring our elementary math curriculum. In the 202425 school year, our kindergarten through fifth grade teachers implemented a new curriculum and a new resource called
025Bridges Math. So we are currently in the second year of that implementation and we are monitoring that. So some of the things that we have been doing to monitor that curriculum implementation are that we surveyed the teachers at the end of last year. We asked them what strengths they were seeing in the new curriculum and resource, what challenges they were having and what needs they had. And so from that survey and from that feedback, we were able to um plan and implement some additional professional development. our coaches have really taken the lead on that um and provide additional support to our teachers for the implementation. We also are continuing to make adjustments to the curriculum. These adjustments are based on feedback that we get from our principles, our coaches, our teachers, and our families as
026well as reviewing our academic data. So, an example of that is we made some adjustments to our third grade assessments that go along with the bridges assessment. This was based on feedback from the teachers. Some of the adjustments were just in the layout of the assessment and some of them were to align the assessment a little closer to our standards. Another example is that we created some cover sheets for our assessments and this was based on parent feedback. So we were receiving some feedback from parents. Um they were a little bit confused on what exactly it meant when they were seeing some of those assessments come home. So we worked with our teacher leaders and created cover sheets so that we can increase our communication so that parents clearly understand what they are seeing with
027the curriculum. So moving on um to the implementation stage. This is the stage that we enter when we are in the first year of implementing a new curriculum or resource. And so for this year that is occurring in the secondary level for science and for ELA. You can see on the screen um the different resources that were selected, approved by the board and that are being implemented this year in these areas. And so some of the things that we are doing during this implementation phase is we are continuing to um review and refine the curriculum. So this is the first year that they are implementing the new resource, the new curriculum. So the coaches are working very closely with our teams to adjust the units. Um we're working to ensure that those units are closely
028aligned to the rigor of the standards. So that curriculum work is continuing to happen as they are implementing this curriculum. We are also doing some vertical collaboration meetings. This is when we bring teachers in different grade levels together to ensure um that we have alignment between the grade levels. So, for example, just last week, we had our sixth through 8th grade science teachers together um and they worked on aligning the way that they are applying this new curriculum and just worked through collaborating around implementing this. We will also do um an endofear survey for our teachers just as we did with the math bridges curriculum. So we'll survey them about strengths, challenges, needs, um, and then we will determine what needs to be done going forward next year. One other thing that is occurring in
029this area in terms of the biology resource for the high school, we talked about this last year, but I just want to remind you of this. So last year when we were adopting this new resource, we found out pretty late in the year that the resource we were adopting was coming out with a new addition. That new addition is going to be ready for the 26 27th school year. So at that time we made the recommendation to the board and the board approved a one-year um adoption of the first edition of that SAVIS biology resource. So we are currently using the first edition but we want to take a look at the second edition. So we're in the process of getting copies of that textbook to see what the differences are. I will review that
030material with the student learning department. We will also work with the teachers. They will review the textbook. They will pilot some of the things in the new textbook with the students and then we will be able to make a decision to the board if we should continue on with the first edition or move to the second edition. So that will be coming to the board in May. And then as I said before, we're working on finalizing the curriculum. So in the summer I will be bringing the finalized course guides to the board for your approval. All right. So then moving into the pilot phase. This phase is when we are trying out new resources for the curricular area and we have two areas that we are piloting in this year. The first is third through
031fifth grade ELA. So we are piloting two different resources. Last year we shared um several updates with the board on the work around this. Um we are piloting amplify CKLA and benchmark advance. And you can see on the screen um all of the different schools and grade levels where these resources are being piloted. So some of the work that has occurred so far [cough] with this pilot is that in September we held a community viewing night. This was open to anyone in the community. We also sent targeted letters of course to the families of students who were um who had students who are participating in the pilot. So we had about 15 um community members and parents attend um this community viewing night. We walk them through um how we got to where we are
032with the pilot. We walked them through what the pilot would look like and then they had a chance to review the materials. So where we are with the pilot is our amplify pilot occurred in the first trimester. That first resource that we were looking at that has been piloted. That pilot has wrapped up. We are currently um in the middle of the second pilot resource of the benchmark materials. So that is happening during the second trimester and we'll wrap up at the end of the second trimester. We have been doing lots of observations. The instructional coaches have been in the classrooms frequently, the principles as well. And then Michelle Ziggler and I have both been visiting every single pilot class. We want to make that um we are making a very informed decision here. And
033so um we are taking a close look at what this looks like in action with our students and our teachers. As we always do, we will carefully review all of the materials that we are looking at. We will share that um review of our materials with the board. We are also going to dig into those materials a bit more with our new curriculum council. So, our next meeting is in February and we will take a closer look at these two resources as well as some of the feedback that we have received so far regarding the resources. And then in the beginning of March, we will bring all of our pilot teachers together as well as some kindergarten through 2 grade representative teachers um to review everything that has occurred with the pilot, all the feedback
034that we have so that we can make a decision. um for moving forward. Once we have a recommendation, we will hold the community viewing night so that parents, community members can come out and see the materials that we are recommending to the board and then that recommendation will come to the board for approval in April. We are also piloting new materials in our advanced placement biology course. So again, just as a reminder, our advanced placement courses are those college level courses and the content that needs to be taught in these courses is specified by the college board. So for this particular course, um the college board did just recently make some updates to this course that went into effect this school year. So, some of the things that we are looking for in a text
035is that we want to make sure it aligns well with the AP biology specified units from the college board. So, we want to make sure that we can set our students up for success on that AP exam. Um, we also need to look because this is a college level course, we want to make sure that the textbook is written at a level that is accessible um by the age of our students. So, both of the resources that are listed up there have been piloted. Um, the teacher piloted about one unit, a little bit more from each of the resources. We are also in the process of reviewing all of the materials. Um there is one note about the first resource that is listed up there, the BFW um biology for the A AP course. They
036are in the process of releasing a second edition. We piloted the first edition. The second edition addresses the changes that I had referred to that the college board made to the course. So there were some additional content that was added by the college board and some content that was removed. So the new edition is very similar to the first edition, but it addresses those changes. So we are in the process of obtaining copies of that second edition in the case that that is the book we want to go with. We want to take a look at that second edition. So we will review that carefully. We will highlight a couple of things out of that book with that new content. and then we will be bringing um that recommendation to the board in June. And
037then our final stage, the research stage, um this is actually the first um stage in our curriculum renewal process. And so we have two areas that are currently in the research phase. The first area is our kindergarten through 2 grade ELA. As you heard me talk about, we are currently piloting third through fifth grade ELA. And as we talked with the board last year, we looked at ELA as a whole for the elementary curriculum starting last year. So, this work that's continuing with researching our kindergarten through 2 grade ELA really started last year. Um we currently have two different resources that we use in kindergarten through second grade and then in third through fifth grade. So we did split these apart as we looked at them in curriculum renewal. Um but we are also making
038sure to um ensure that we are aligned in the decisions that we're making for these. So our um K2 representatives that we have on our research team have been included in all of the work that we did last year. They've been included in the work that's been done so far this year with the 35 pilot. We are bringing our K2 research team together to take a look again at our current curriculum and look at the things that we are looking for in a new resource. We will be doing some presentations with them of some of the top resources that match what we're looking for. So those will be held in February. Um we will also be having our K2 teachers be included in the discussion that we're going to have with the 35 teachers regarding
039the resource recommendation and the pilot that they're doing. Again, we want to make sure whatever decisions we're making align well for the students as they move through the system. So, we will update the board in May regarding our pilot decision for kindergarten through 2 grade. And then finally, we are also researching our um kindergarten through 12th grade physical education and health. So, our physical education team um elementary, middle, and high met earlier this year to start this process. We started by just reviewing our current curriculum and refining our program philosophy which is what we want for our students out of this curricular area. Um we have started to prepare to do some of the standards work that needs to be done in this area. So we've been meeting with our department chairs to plan for
040that work. I do want to um note to the board that the state did release new health standards for this year. So when the standards are brought to you, that's one of the areas where new standards were released. We are currently reviewing those standards just taking a look at the differences in the standards and how our current curriculum aligns to those standards. And then of course the work that we're doing in this physical education in the health area. Um we're working very closely with the work that's happening in regards to the 68 transition for the middle school. All of that work kind of goes together. Um so that's a piece that we're working closely with that transition steering committee and then we will update the board regarding our work in this area in the summer.
041And so those are kind of the big pieces that we have happening. Are there any questions, >> Mike? On the new DPI health standards, anything off top of your head that jumps out like kind of shocking or anything? No. >> So the the health standards and the PE standards um the state typically um models their standards after the shape America standards. Um that is organization. It's the Society of Health and Physical Educators. They're um very respected for the standards that they put out. Um and that's what they are modeled after. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Thank you. Up next, we have finance and facilities. All right. I just have a couple things and most of it will go quickly here. So, um, one thing that I want to lead off
042with is just budget building things that, um, in a normal, I should say every other year, we're going to have to guess on a lot of things, but we are in the second year of the bianual budget. So, the good news is there's not a lot of assumptions to make. Some of the most critical things we know, but I do want to keep this somewhat front of mind. So, we'll kind of walk through the um the things that drive our budget here. So, um, on this screen here, again, the the four things that matter most to our budget is what are our third Friday FTE counts, our full-time equivalent counts. How much money do we get for each of those kids? That's the revenue limit row. In addition to the revenue limit, which is 80%
043of all our funding we get per pupil, categorical aid, that $742 has stayed flat over the past several years, but that adds in another 7% of our district's funds, which is a really important element. And then lastly, there's special education categorical aid. That's a reimbursement amount. So we we front the costs and then one year later, the state reimburse us for providing those special education services. So we're going to end on this slide here. I'm just going to walk through some of the historical things and things I'd like for you to note here um as we get into this budget billing process for 2627. So again, I said this on the last slide, 80% of our revenue is provided by the revenue limit formula. It's the most important aspect of school funding. It's our district's
044financial lifeblood. So this current year, um we got $1,650 per student. Our three-year average was 45,539 FTE and that generated $52.9 million. Part of that money comes from the state. The rest comes from the taxpayers. We use a three-year average for that number there. 7% of all of our revenue comes from that per pupil categorical aid. That's a flat $742. The state pays 100% of that. There is no, you know, property tax u payment into that. That that comes directly from Madison. And that gave us $3.4 4 million. So just these two things, that's 87% of the budget. Uh really important stuff right there. Uh in terms of our third Friday FTE, we adopted a minus 85 FTE assumption uh last month in December. I know it seems like quite a while ago, but we
045did adopt that. So we don't need to do anything in that regard tonight. And we walked through that. Last year we adopted a minus 125 FTE and the actual outcome was minus 136. So, we did put our best guess to it and we got really close to it. So, I feel confident that the the decline will be less than last year. Uh, year-over-year, you know, you can kind of see from 0405 all the way through next year. That minus 85 on the right in orange is our best guess as to what we think our decline is going to be, but we've had years of growth over the last 20 years. And we've had years of decline over the last 20 years. This slide is intended to show that this is not unique. If you look
046at all the school districts in Walkshaw County, the vast majority of them just this past year had and their third Friday counts is showing declining enrollment here. Okay. A handful of districts have shown growth. Elbrook had some growth. New Burland had some growth. Okanawok gained two. The rest of the districts declined here. So you can kind of see again not anything unique. that minus 136 is a little larger than others, but just keep in mind we had an exceptionally large senior class last year and that was uh and uh otherwise in years past were pretty much on par with uh kettle marine uh and mosqu enrollment. When you take a look at the last um 15 or so years of open enroll in which is blue and the open and roll out which is orange,
047you can kind of see, you know, how that looks. Our long-term uh stride over the last six years has been about 600 kids open and rolling in and 300 open and rolling out. That's a number we're going to have to make an assumption on. And my my recommendation will be let's just assume the current counts will be next year's counts because it seems to be um again a long-term stride that that those numbers are staying put. When we take a look at just open and roll in and where the students come from. So for the current school year um you can see we have 267 267 students from Pommy Eagle another 200 from East Troy 63 from Wakaaw 23 from Cal Marine and a handful of students from Elorn Delivan Whitewater Burlington and Moskele. When
048we look at open enroll we take a look at where students who reside here but go elsewhere the majority go to Kell Marine Walkshaw and Moskele. Um, I have a handful of districts in green there because Mel, McFarland, Grantsburg, and Two Rivers aren't in driving range, but those represent online virtual options that students attend those school districts and take those virtual courses. Walka maybe a little hard to tell on the screen, but I got a little different fill color there because some of those students attend brick and mortar schools and some go to Echieve. So the walkaw I don't know what the breakdown is of students who are doing the virtual options there but this gives you an idea as to where students who those 307 students who are open and rolling out where do
049they go just in terms of funding here this is our revenue limit these started at 9394 this is that flat per dollar amount we got per student I know the fonts are pretty small because I'm packed in several years on this Now, but in the 9394 school year when school funding, you know, prior to that, school boards, you didn't have a tax levy restriction. You could levy any amount of money you wanted. And in 9394, there was a lid put on a school board's tax levying authority. Schools had three years to figure out what funding amount do we want beginning in the 9394 school year. And you can see Muano had $5,320. that was easily the lowest amount uh in the county at that time and then throughout the state. So, as we kind of
050the school board back then set this number through a three-year average, they really set it low and people thought at the time, well, this is going to be a four-year or sixyear type of bienial budget. Maybe it'll stick around for a couple budgets. Um we're over 30 years now of these laws being on the books. So we kind of started behind here and stayed behind throughout. Um as we kind of go through like the the evolution of the revenue limit in 9394 through the 2008 2009 the increase that every school district was provided was linked to inflation. So whatever CPI was that was the amount that increased on the revenue limit. make some sets there. In 200910 and 101, a flat $200 was awarded. So CPI was that link was severed and then a flat
051dollar amount was provided in 2011 12. That was the act 10 budget. So school districts um all got a haircut in terms of their revenue limit authority. So budget cuts uh were definitely taking place at that time. And then in the years since then, you can see that $50 was added 7575 and nothing was added. Um some smaller amounts here during this that this time frame here from the $50 mark there in through the 22 23 school year here. School districts um it was belt tightening time. The revenue limit formula was not providing for any increases. I think when you hear people say the school funding formula is broken. I disagree with that statement personally, I just think it just needs it's uh it just needs to be funded appropriately. These past couple years at
052325 definitely a help. But what I would tell you is that that does even now that 325 it looks big on the screen. I acknowledge that it still lags uh inflation. So the $325 increase is great. We're very appreciative. is still legs inflation. Um the per pupil categorical age, just to put some context around that, that orange bar is our is our revenue limit amount per pupil. That $742 amount. Uh and that's that 7% of our budget. That that again is 87% of all of our budget. And we know what those values are for next year. Special education categorical aid. This is like the last major bucket of money that we get from the state. This graph here shows the amount of money we have spent each year at actual special education cost in blue.
053And then you can see how much reimbursement we get one year later. So these are mandated services that Christine and her team they have to provide. There is no choice when a student has an IEP. We are mandated to provide those services. So we are basically committed to those costs in blue. Uh but we only get partial funding in the orange area there. Okay. The state did make an increase on special education categorical aid reimbursements in the current two-year budget. Uh the state provided increases, but what the state does is that when they provide a pot of money to allocate towards anything, it's either a sumsufficient or a sum certain amount of money. A sumsic means we are going to commit to 42% reimbursement no matter how much the state has to pay for that.
054So if everybody's costs go up, they're committed to paying 42% of those costs. But in this case, it's some certain, meaning that uh uh they are going to put in a certain amount of money and they're going to say however far that can get us, that's how far it gets us. So while on paper we they it is said that they'll reimburse us 42%, the reality is there won't be enough money to go around for everybody to get 42% of the cost back. We're going to get something more like 35%. So when we built the budget, we built that conservatively. We didn't say, "Oh, they're gonna they said 42, they're going to do what they said." That's not not really the case. So we paint a bleeaker picture because that's where reality is going to
055end when we So whatever cost we spend this year on special ed, we'll get that money back next year. Uh but we're we're kind of based in reality on what we know is going to come there. So we're not over overestimating this revenue here. So just in summary then uh we've that third Friday counts we know we're going to we've adopted a minus 85 the revenue limit we don't have to make a guess but at this time next year when we build the 2728 budget we're going to have to guess as that bianual budget gets moved forward we'll have to guess how much money but right now we know we'll get plus 325 the per pupil categorical aid won't grow at all and the special education categorical aid you can see in the current school
056year they intend to give us 42% of cost fact that the reality is going to be something like 35. Next year they intend to give us 45% but reality is going to be something more like 37. So this is a little bit of an assumption here is that how much special education categorical aids we're going to get. I think the reality is is that's the amount we're going to get and I'm not hoping for anything more. The last thing that is just open enrollments. So as I move forward unless I hear anything differently there's concerns let me know. But uh we have 307 kids going out and 603 coming in. I say let's keep those counts steady as we build next year's budget and just leave no change there. But we do know the the
057uh the re the costs provided. So if a student is open enrolling into us and their regular ed, we get $10,100 from this the [clears throat] sending district. And if they're a special education student, then it's a little bit more. We pay these same amounts for a student who open and enrolls out. But next year, we know what these costs are. These were embedded in the current bianual budget. So there's no need to make a guess there. So I guess in summary, what I'm we know if I just back up one screen, these are largely known except for down here, but I'm I'm recommending that we will build a budget that assumes 3.7 million in special education categorical aids. And then I'll also recommend here that we just keep our open enrollment amount uh enrollment
058counts stable and unchanged as we move into next year. It seems to be again our long-term strategy there, our long-term stride, I should say. And that's how we'll build the budget here. Okay. If you guys have any concerns about this, we'll talk next week, but I'd like to just adopt these as our budget building assumptions. Okay? All right. And then I'll quickly go through the three remaining things. I gave you an update on our fund 73 investments. Um that information is there for you to to see. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Um I gave a quick article from the Wisconsin policy forum. It just helps you understand statewide what K12 tax levies did. Our local tax levy grew by 7.2%. Statewide they grew by 7.8%. I said to you
059earlier that 71% of all school districts uh saw a decrease in state aid. Uh which is another way of saying that uh school districts had a large uh tax levy increase as the state withdrew their supports. Um just a couple of things there that I want to highlight from that article. Um because I just think it's important that we don't get too far away from the why of where we're at right now. um property taxes for all K12 schools grew by 476 million which is a 7.8% increase and that was the largest percentage increase since 1992. The three factors that contributed to that was districts were provided a $325 increase per student. However, the state didn't fund any of that. Private voucher enrollment also went up which is a burden the taxpayers pay for. Uh
060the last thing I'll comment on this article that stood out the most was nearly 30% of school districts saw tax levy increases of more than 10%. Uh there was a couple school districts that were highlighted. Um uh Watossis's tax levy was up 34%. Um the 7% I I love to see something much less than that. And in fact, I'd love to see it when we can cut the tax levy to provide benefit to our taxpayers, but this was just a rather tough by annual budget. I guess I'll just leave it at that. I thought that was interesting interesting info worth sharing with you guys. >> Was the total dollar we got cut again, Tom? >> 2.3 million in state aid was removed for our district. Um lastly, uh our audit our audit report for 2425
061has been completed. Uh they typically wrap that up in uh November or December. So it's now done. Our audit I provided the audit report for you. Uh I recommend you guys make Jake read that as the treasurer. Um but I kid on that. But, uh, Amber Eert is our lead auditor. She'll join us virtually next week. I gave a list of questions that I I you guys could ask if you'd like to. Um, if you guys want to have a longer conversation, like not to put Jake on the spot here, but in some districts, the treasurer will have an offline conversation with the auditor. I'm not a part of that. You can ask freely whatever questions uh, and see if there's any concerns that she wants to bring to your attention. You as a board
062are certainly welcome to ask any question you want when she's with us. As uncomfortable as the question might be from a financial perspective. Uh how are our controls? Are there anything suspicious you see? Um is there just really anything I gave some questions there as a suggestion. So um if you want to have a long conversation that's fine. If you want to have a 10-minute brief conversation with her I can give her that information. If you have Dale, if you want to give some feedback on that, what kind of conversation you'd like to hear next Monday, uh, let me know. I know some of that information can be rather dry and boring, but uh, it's up to you guys as to what you want from her and what kind of questions you'd like to ask.
063So, the audit report is posted on our website. It's public facing. Anybody in the district can take a look at it. So, it's there. Okay. Any questions about that? Okay, that's all I got then. Thank you. >> Okay, up next action items. Hireers, retirements, and resignations. >> All right, we have a uh contract for Clayton Burton. That should be Burton, not Bert. And um it's a school counselor position at Claron Elementary School. It's a limited term position that will go through the end of the year. And then we had two resignations. Um, one from Dustin Layman, uh, career and technical education coordinator, and then that one is effective on the 30th of January. And then Natalie Harris Brown, who is a math teacher, and that one is effective at the end of the year. I'd
064like to make a motion to approve the new hire and the two resignations. >> Second. We have a motion, a second. Any questions or comments [clears throat] hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed say no. >> Motion carries. Up next we have executive session Wisconsin statute 19.85. We will be considering ad administrative contracts. So looking for a motion to close the open session and go into close. >> I make a motion to close the open session and go into close session. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Jason, >> yes. >> Mike, >> Jake, >> yes. >> Jim, >> yes. >> Dale, >> yes. >> Craig, sorry. All right, open session is closed and we'll take a fivem minute break and then we're going to