Committee of the Whole/School Board Meeting - 12/08/2025

001Call this meeting to order. Monday, December 8th at 6 p.m. Crosby, roll call, please. >> Jason >> here. Mike >> Here. Dim >> here. Dale >> here. >> Marilyn here. Craig >> here. Crosby here. This is an open meeting and has been posted. Please join 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, indivisibley andice for all. >> Thank you all for coming. Uh we're going to start off with recognitions of donor recognition. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh this evening we would like to recognize Alice and Joe Whitmore Whitmore for graciously donating $3,000 to the Milano High School Coral Department. We thank them for their generous donation. >> All right. Thank you. Now we're going to employee

002of the month for Eagleville. Michelle Michelle is kind and compassionate to especially our youngest students who she spends much of her day with. She understands what they want and what they need to calm down or to get them motivated. She has a wonderful sense of humor and makes tense situations lighter and easier to handle. She is such a joy to be around with her kind smile and infectious laugh. Michelle is dedicated, professional, and caring. She has a she has strong connections with students and she creates a positive environment where students feel safe, respected, and supported. She is firm and fair with her approach to guiding our students and they in turn show a great deal of respect and cooperation to her. Michelle's presence truly benefits everyone in our school community. Thank you Michelle. >> Yeah.

003Congratulations, Michelle. >> All right, we don't have any citizens comments. So, we are going to go into the student report. If any parents, teachers, anybody wants to come up here and take pictures, you're feel free to come here and take pictures, video, whatever you'd like. And the floor is yours. >> Want to turn on your mic? Press the button till it turns green. Push. >> There you go. Thank you, Angela. >> Hi, my name is Maddie and I'm here with Eevee and Mason. We're part of student council at Eagleville and we're here to share events that have taken place at our school this fall. Um here are the areas that we'll focus on for the presentation. Our ongoing green initiative highlights are all school activities, our academic highlights, and our PBIS highlights. Green initiatives. There

004are many ways that we carry out our environmental focus as a school on a daily basis um as well as with special projects throughout the year. Every day we collect recyclables and at the end of the week we weigh them. So far this year, we have collected and recycled over 1,000 lbs of paper, plastic, and cardboard that would have taken up over 100 cubic feet in the landfill. Every day, all students separate what food items can be composted and they're taken out to our composting area. Each week we collect about 70 pounds of food waste and we'll and we'll add the compost which would then be high quality soil to our mobile green boxes in the spring. Our second annual green fair took place in early October. Each class created presentations and activities to share

005with everyone who attended. We partnered with several community groups to share and learn from them as well, including Helen Holtz from the Wakaaw County Land Conservation. We even had a race for boats made of recycled materials in the creek. Every year, midepptember, we studied the four stages of development of a monarch bar. Once they are ready to fly, we carefully place tracking tags on their wings with the idea that others will see them. And the data will be used to determine overall health and migration patterns. We also plant new plants in our butterfly garden to attract bees and butterflies. Throughout the fall, each of our classes spent time in the creek learning about the many creatures that inhabit the system and make connections between the diversity of life in the creek and how it relates

006to overall health. Every year, the older classes help the younger classes plant a tulip test garden as part of an international science project called Journey North. For Journey North, we will connect with hundreds of other schools in the northern hemisphere. We are beginning this fall by planting Red Emperor tulip bulbs. Next spring, we will share our local observations and track spring's project progress. Hello, my name is Amy and I'm going to be sharing with you some of our school activities up to this point in the year. Heritage Day. This year marked the 176th birthday of Eagle as a school, which we celebrate as our heritage day. This year's guest of honor was Miss Ada Fshaw who was a a teacher at Egabil in the 1960s. She shared her memories and experiences of days here and

007had a chance to ring the school bell one final time. MHS homecoming parade. In September, we marched to the MHS homecoming parade. It is a really fun way to show our school spirit and support larger school communities. Eagle V pumpkin. To create a funfilled after school family event, each student decorated a pumpkin and placed them in our school forest for all to enjoy at a fall time night or fall time hike. It was a fun chance to experience our setting at a different time than the normal school day. But Guanago did Jacko'Lantern jump. Once again, students, staff, and family members helped carve pumpkins to spell Engleville. And others had a very creative connection to education, especially the pumpkin pie. The pump pietos Spanish club visit in early November. We had a Spanish visit from Puanago

008High School Spanish Club where they taught us each of our classes about Del's welcome, a two-day celebration to honor those who have passed away. We recreated a few of the of the traditional pieces of the holiday such as masks, bands, and floral crowds. Richard's day wall of honor/g grandparents/VIP lunch. In November, we created a wall of honor at our gym which included the artwork of and American flags. Students and staff also recognized family members of the army force by displaying information about their service. We were very fortunate to have an American League from the Guango Post 375 for a presentation of color ceremony and a plague of tax. We welcomed our grandparents and special guests that week which was really nice to share the wall of honor with them. annual turkey walk and the expression

009of thankfulness. Third gra on the last day of school before Thanksgiving. We had a visit from Tiberius the turkey who led us on a walk through the woods on a scavenger hunt to find how many paper turkeys were hiding in the woods. We also wrote notes of gratitude and placed them at feathers as our turkey as our school turkey and a j for all of us to read. Hi, I'm Mason and I'll be talking about academic highlights in our PBIS program. Outdoor science. Our outdoor science activities get close to nature and on hands learning. Topics this year have included tree identification, species identification, and health of land conservation and forest fire forest fires prevention. just name to name all school STEM activities. This fall we had our all school STEM activity which connects science and

010technology with problem solving. The challenge this year was to create a tool and process for planting seeds and irrigation system that would not wash away the soil. We worked as teams and included all grade levels to put our ideas into action. Balloons over Broadway. Recently, the kindergarteners in first grade read the book Balloons Over Broadway, a story of a puppeteer who invented the giant balloons for the Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade. The students then took their turn at creating the balloons and having their own parade outside PBIS. PBIS stands for positive behavioral interventions and supports and we know as the Eagleville way. It serves our guide for being safe, respectful, and responsible in all areas of the school and on the bus. PBIS assemblies. We have all school assemblies each month to recognize individual students as

011they will in as their entire class. Our music, gym, and art teachers choose the classes they feel has been working the hardest with a golden award. When we when they are caught doing things right, they are given a talent ticket which can be used for many different incentives like royalty for the day or superhero for the day. We also have school goals such as entering the building quietly from recess. Eagle highf flyier recognitions. Our highf flyier awards are given to specific students from staff members from staff members for going above and beyond on their actions of being safe, responsibleful, and responsible. So far, over 30 students have been given a high flyer this year. Thanks for the chance to share our wonderful things that are happening at Eagle. Do you have any questions for us?

012>> Any questions? Great job. How long did you three practice for this? Cuz you you killed it. You did great. only today. >> That's fantastic job. >> I have one quick question. I did not know you can tag butterflies. What kind of tags are you use using? >> Um, they're like little stickers that you put on their wings. >> Oh. >> And then they have like a number and then if somebody sees it, they like message you kind of. >> Wow. Very interesting. Cool. And where do they fly to? >> Mexico, >> of course. >> So when you win the awards for good behavior, so more royalty or more superheroes chosen? >> Uh, definitely more royalty. >> Nice. >> Any other question? Fantastic job. Great job. We'll move on to presentations. Eagleville Elementary Charter School.

013Mr. >> Plant follow those great kids. So, good luck. very tough act to follow, but I'm extremely proud of them and the families and the staff support that's here. Uh it's it's an incredible place to feel supported all the time. Uh thank you for allowing me to be here and to share our our goals for the 2025 26 school year. >> Mr. Plant, before you start, uh Michelle won an award, but what is Michelle's position? uh she's a instructional assistant in our kindergarten and first grade classroom. Thank you. >> Okay, as you can see, we uh continue and as the students presented um our dedication to our green ribbon school designation uh that carries out day in and day out. Uh we are extremely proud of our significantly exceeding expectations status. Uh we are number

01451 out of 879 elementary schools uh in this year's DPI report card. So that's uh we're proud of that. We also have 50 reasons to keep on working as hard as we can to continuously improve. uh as we spent some time this past August and throughout the year uh connecting our vision and mission uh we kind of see as a as our road map and our and our destinations kind of come together here. So with the vision uh being our destination it's a feeling that all students can learn and grow to become active citizens shaping a stronger community. Uh and our roadmap for getting there is that we create a positive learning experience for all students and we believe that all students can learn and have an impact on their environment. Uh whether that environment

015be their classroom, their school, uh their their lives beyond school. So all those go together. Uh and that picture that you see up there is just a a part of our graduating class from 2025 from this previous year uh who came back to visit us for our senior Tday. And that was a it was a powerful moment where they were able to kind of again thank their staff who was here and and connect with them. Uh I had the I was fortunate enough to know a lot of them as as high school students. So that was a big part of of seeing them come back to Eagleville uh and just see how much they have grown since then. uh and it kind of it gives us that idea of how can we not only build

016them up until they leave us at Eagle Bill, but how can they continue to carry on to be strong citizens uh beyond high school. Uh our first goal for the year is based on our math category here. So, we uh we're looking at for the 2025 26 school year to have 75% of our fourth through sixth grade students improve in their percentile rank on the forward exam from math from the preceding year. Uh so just as a as a way of saying students are not only getting the skills but also growing from year to year. uh that percentile rank kind of puts them uh certain categories of course but then definitely is a way to see if they are kind of outpacing their their peers whether it's at school or or beyond school. Uh and

017the connection to that would be that one of our MASD key performance indicators is that we want 75% of students to be proficient or advanced on our forward math scores. Uh last year we at 61% so we are feeling with the few changes we can be at that 75% or higher range for our math category. Uh as far as action steps, we want to continue to engage in professional development with our I Ready math resource trainers. Uh Eagleville is unique in using I Ready as our math curriculum uh because of our multi-grade arrangement. So we we we kind of balance out our math by teaching each grade level, but then they also have some independent work time. Uh and the I Ready curriculum platform or the I Ready resource provides us that opportunity for students

018to work on their own. And it's just a matter of us getting a better sense of how to make sure that the students are maximizing the use of time when for independent work time, but also uh making sure the lessons are uh effective and impactful. Uh we'll also work to realign, give and analyze trimester formative assessments and preassessments uh kind of based on previous year's forward data. Uh so we look at an area I would say if if there's a a standard that students missed uh the mark on. If it's more than half of the students, we take a look at that and formulate questions to uh kind of provide them both again preassessment uh teach them through it but then also see how they do post assessment. Uh and then between those two with

019the uh with the help of our I Ready resource developing strategy groups for students that kind of extended learning for students who either have matched the standards or who need additional practice. Uh school goal number two talking about our ELA and literacy areas. Uh similar goal to our math one where we're using forward data. So at least 75% of our fourth through sixth grade students will improve their percentile rank on the forward exam. Uh another key indicator that we have set for the district will be that 70% of students would be either proficient or advanced on the scor Wisconsin 4 ELA. Uh we were close to that mark in 2425. So, we we're hoping with our with our goal of getting 75% of our students to grow in their percentile rank, uh that it's going

020to push us over that overall 70% goal and even perhaps higher. Uh from a staff standpoint, just using diagnostic data throughout the year, uh where we then take that into our PLC groups, which we really have one that's uh K1, two, and three, and then we have one that's four, five, and six. So it's kind of again the multi-grade aspect of it. Um can present some challenges with you don't have uh 60 kids that are all in the same grade level but we can also look at how those skills develop from one grade level to the next. Uh so we can kind of use that as a way of saying okay in in sixth grade we expect them to do this. So, how can we kind of compare that to our fifth grade expectations and

021and and work on the same maybe general questions, but then find some of those uh target areas to to focus in on and compare their their performance on. Uh utilizing letters, formative assessments to determine which students may be in need of additional support. Uh so that just means kind of ongoing uh almost like instantaneous not waiting for a a test score but day in and day out just kind of measuring uh where they need support in and growing in that way. Uh then the final part there was creating strategy groups to directly address growth in specific standards or skills. Uh our final school goal is based on student engagement levels. Uh so we're looking at having at least 85% of students throughout our school K through six uh demonstrate consistent academic engagement with a particular

022focus in math uh through positive learning and behaviors in classroom settings as measured by engagement rubrics. Uh and this is kind of tied to our overall district goal of of student engagement being essential for student growth. uh and that we are going to use best practices to enhance student and academic social behaviors. Uh some some early data, this is from a a survey we gave back in in September. Uh and there's different ways to look at this uh question and the in the responses here. So we, you know, just simply asking kids how do they feel if they get a wrong answer? And a lot of them did not feel that's a good thing if they get a wrong answer. Uh, so we're going to kind of use this to kind of reshape how they

023feel about it. Like if it's if it's practice questions, if it's ways that they're they're building building their skill, you know, just to reinforce them, it's okay to get a wrong answer from time to time as long as you're able to reconnect and and grow from that. So, it's uh just a matter of the student mindset to say that wrong answers is okay. We just want to work to practice and work together to to refine that. Uh another fall data piece here would be that uh learning from other students uh that they can learn from other students when they work together. Uh we are very encouraged by this by saying that uh either 58% or 38 34% strongly agree or somewhat agree just from the idea that they can work together and and grow. So

024that's going to be something that we we kind of build that mindset of of of being part of groups that are productive, part of groups that are problem solving and critical thinkers. Uh just as a as a matter of confidence when it comes to any any subject, any type of assessment. Uh we've been working through our behavior solutions model which focuses on implementing academic and social behaviors uh in the similar way that that academic skills are taught and assessed. Um part of that also means that we're aligning our PBIS model to just kind of go into the direction of student engagement. Uh and and part of that engagement piece is to find resources that have a positive mindset towards challenging math problem solving for students. So we have a our first way of starting off

025the year was with a week of inspirational math. Uh so just the idea that uh they have confidence they they they don't hear the word okay it's math class and they grown and then kind of turn off from it. So just the idea that it's a challenge but they can work together and and persevere. Uh so with that is there any questions that you may have >> inspirational math really Mr. plan. >> It's well if you if you look at it from a challenge part and an accomplishment and they can inspire each other and themselves, right? >> Any questions? >> I just think it's amazing the great work you guys do there, especially when you go in that building. See how the space is very limited there and the shared classes. I mean, you guys

026do an awesome job. You should pat yourselves on the back because it's it's phenomenal job. >> Yeah. the the sense of community that the staff and families create is just it's it's incredible and that carries a lot with with each and every student. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, BILL. >> NEXT, we have English language learners. Okay. Um, first and foremost, I want to thank Anita Lindberger and Jamie Dodner for attending tonight. Anita is our English uh language learner teacher and so um you don't hear a lot from us around our English learners in our district and so um I wanted to have an opportunity to introduce Anita and the work she does. So Anita brings with us a lot of experience um having been in Mewanesville for a number of years and then spent um

027quite a number of years at uh St. John's Military Academy doing English uh learning as well. And so, uh, she is also a part-time interventionist for our district interventionist, titled interventionist for our district. And then Jamie, she's old hat now, but she was here one other time, so I asked her, >> I did not emphasize that word. If that's what you heard, that's not you. Um, so anyway, she's also going to bring us just an update on our McKenna mental students. um because when our number of students who um are considered to be homeless increase and that also it does use a different um reserve of resources in our district and so I want um to provide the board an uptick in both of those. >> It's all you >> Thank you. I apologize for

028my voice. Got some viral infections so I apologize but thank you for the introduction. Um again I'm Anita Lamper. I'm the new district ESL teacher. So um this is my first school board meeting. So I'm a little bit nervous. I apologize. Tonight we are going to talk about how our school district is supporting um students who come to us with a different home language. This is okay. Yes, this is our goal is to make sure every student can use English confident confidently so they can succeed in regular classrooms without extra support. The better we do this early on, the more efficiently students transition into full independence. The purpose of our program is not to replace or dilute academic expectations, but it is to help students gain the English skills they need to meet the same

029standards as everyone else. The faster they reach proficiency, the sooner they can fully participate in standard curriculum. This helps maintain consistency and high expectations across the district. Um, we also work to keep families informed and involved. When parents understand what what's happening in our schools, students stay on track academically and behaviorally. This reduces misunderstandings, supports better attendance, and improves learning for everyone. This is the this page. This um slide is about description of our EL program. And as you can see, we divided the the slide into two pieces. We have newcomers um in the district and we also work with students who are returning yellow um English language learners. The newcomer students usually function at a level one, level two. I will talk to you about what level one, level two means and what level

030two and four means. Um what I do as an ESF teacher is that I collaborate with teachers. We modify um assignments and we accommodate students with providing extra additional time for small group setting. This is for both assessment assessments and for assignments. Um students this way are supported by classroom teachers and I also pull out students. We call this the pull out services. We also do pushin services especially in the middle school and at the high school level. I also work with higher English proficient students. These are the RV returning students. In this case, I'm also collabor collaborating with classroom teachers and um I'm also providing pull out services at the high school level and at the middle school level. Um I received this beautiful graph from Mr. Castle. He was my helper. And um

031currently we have 27 EL students. Um and if you look at the this this graph you will see that we had 12 students in the 2122 school year. Now this indicates a significant growth um 125% growth exactly and which may indicate um increased um enrollment our of our multilingual families in the district. Um when we look at our e population as I said before we have 27 e English language learners total. We have the most students at the elementary school. We have um four students in the high in the middle school and seven students in the high school. We have 16 students in the elementary school. Um these are uh hills elementary school. We also have students at um Perry View Elementary School and at section elementary school and at Big Bent. Um most of

032these students speak Spanish. Um you can see that at all levels they speak Gujarati. Gujarati is an Indian language. Um it's actually I looked it up 57 million people speaks Gujarati which is a lot of people and um they also speak Tagalog and we have a family from from Turkey. They also speak um they also speak Russian and we also have Chinese families in the district. Um in the middle school we have one family who speak Ukrainian, they also speak Russian and it's the same language at the high school. We have one family who speak Portuguese. All right. So here is um here are the the levels that I referred to previously. Um We call these the VA performance definition levels. Um our newcomer students usually who enter our school districts newly to English um

033perform at a level entering and beginning. So this is a level one and level two and as they increase their proficiency levels obviously the proficiency level is growing. So our goal is to reach at least 4.5 or five. um five is bridging and in the state of Wisconsin we consider students being proficient at the level 4.5 or five. So our goal here in the district is to have higher proficiency levels so the students could meet academic standards the faster and earlier. Um how do we get these proficiency levels? So our EL students are taking the VA access test every year. This is actually happening right now. Um the VA access testing window is open opened December 1st and closes January 31st and all of our district EL students are taking this test. This test is

034statemandated and it's also federally mandated. So even if the parents refuse services um they the students still need to take this test. Um it is measuring English language proficiency and we test English proficiency in four language domains in a domain of listening, reading, writing and and speaking and it's K through 12. One one more one more thing um that the results are available in April and we share the test results with parents and with students and with all educational stakeholders. So all of those people who are part of our academic team and support the student. So what does our commitment to success mean? Second. So supporting our EL English learner families is really about clear communication and making sure every parent understands what's happening in their child's education. We provide translated notification letters and we

035use interpreting services during teacher parent conferences or during IEP meetings. I have to say that these translators have been very helpful. Um it really opens up a lot of doors in communication with parents and um they they we we gain that trust and we can absolutely communicate better with with parents if we have translators um on site. We also have um another way to to communicate with um parents with another language. We can also use um um so-called language line. I didn't put this over here but the It has that service too. We just call a number and um that um the person we select the the language and then we get a translator and the translator is able to translate the conversation between the teacher and the parent. So this is this has been

036really helpful. Um another thing that that's in place is um the e learning plans. the learning plans. These are kind of similar to IEPs, what these are not mandated plans. Um, what they really include is the the accommodations and the modifications that are included um and recommended for these English language learners and it really can help um classroom teachers work and the instruction as well. And how do we support teachers? So on the teacher side, our goal is to simply to equip staff with the right materials and research based strategies. My goal is to support teachers on a daily basis. Uh I do consult with with teachers and um and u set up meetings with them at the high school. I collaborate with department meetings, department teams and I try to push in for department

037meetings so I could follow up with with students um about the ELS students at the high school. Um it is really important that we use strategies that are research based um at every level K through 12 with our EL students. And um I don't know if you have any questions about >> the translating services. Is it video or is it telephone? >> Um it's one way is a phone. It's a phone call. So, it's called a language line and the other one is a translator service from Milwaukee. >> Are you getting a video picture of the translator or just >> Excuse me. >> Yes. >> Schoolboard meetings up here. If you have any question, >> sorry. Um, you have citizens comments. If you wanted to comments or ask questions, you can maybe ask them after

038the meeting. >> Oh, okay. >> Sorry. >> Board have any questions? We do not have this question. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, we also just wanted to give the board an update on our Mckin Vento students um otherwise known as our students who qualify for homelessness. Um we noticed an increase this year. So last year we had 14 students identified throughout the year and we already are at 21 students who have been identified so far this year. Um we kind of attribute that increase in um this is our second year with our registration process being able to identify those students earlier um and parents and families used to answering some of those questions that were new to them last year. Um, as you see, doubled up is the biggest category that we will probably

039always see um, in terms of homelessness, which means that families are living with either other family members or friends because they can't afford housing or they've lost their housing due to financial hardship. Um, unaccompanied youth is another one that we see quite a bit when we have um, students who are not living with their family member at that time. So, we always want to make sure that those students are able to get to school and not interruption in their education even if their home life is unstable. So I want I wanted to also dive in a little bit deeper with the the data here. So obviously um the high school has the num largest number of students and I attribute that to it being the largest school. Um and then Parkview is second or well

040not second Clarin is second and then Park View. Um so Clarin we do see the most um highest population of our um students who are identified as um homeless. Um and so for those students we make sure that we provide the the proper resources so that they can continue their education um as well. And in terms of grades, um, we see an uptick in ninth and tth graders and that I would attribute to also that unaccompanied youth identification. Um, so we fortunately don't see many of our elementary schools in that category, but um, that's pro that's what I'm attributing the um, uptake in the ninth and tth grade. Yeah. >> Jamie, can you talk a little bit about transportation? I'm sorry. I just one of the reasons why I like to bring some of this

041um some of this stuff forward is that our students can sometimes we have to worry about transportation costs and so um I always like to make sure Tom knows that we are always aware of the budget. >> Sure. So when we have a student who loses housing, so if they were a Maguano student and they lose their housing um and they're living Delfield, let's say. Um, we still are able to provide them transportation to Mcabano schools. However, we split that cost with the El Brook School District um a 50/50 cost. So, because they're living in their district, but they're um so they're residing in their district but attending our school, then we're able to split that cost. Um, typically we use um, Seniors on the Go or Cap Motion um, which are two of our

042transport companies that have been really good to us. Um, and what I do as a homeless lazon is I just reach out to the other homeless in the district and say we have a student living in your area. Um, and then we just invoice them as regularly as they want to. So we make sure that we split that cost. So, how does that start? They're here and all of a sudden become homeless, then they move to a different district for whatever reason, but they want somebody else and then they just stay here. >> So, under the Mckin Vental Homeless Education Act, they can stay in their school of origin. Our families can stay in this school of origin. So if they were residing and would want to go lost housing for example um and need

043to stay with a family member or friend in a different city that law allows them to continue to attend the go and go so that there's no interruption in their education >> if they chose to go to another place could they >> if they not unless they lost housing or are in temporary housing. >> Okay. But they can choose to go if they were living in Delfield for example if they choose to go to to Kettlebury they could do so but they still have the option to come to Milwaukee if they wanted to. >> Thank you Jamie. Could you just talk a little bit about best interest determination? >> So do you know when someone's homeless immediately or how how does that how does that work? And is and secondary question is there is there

044like a state is is there somebody at the state that's helping these families? Okay. >> Yep. Um um so we have our process is at registration families are asked to answer question if they've lost housing or in temporary housing. So if they answer yes to that question at registration, then we and the school social workers and I reach out to the family to get more information to determine if they meet criteria to be for homelessness. So sometimes yes and then sometimes throughout the school year we have families who've been evicted, things like that. Um, and it often comes through um a student services member where a a parent has reached out for help or a student has talked to a student services member about the living situation. Um, and then we go through the criteria

045and if we identify them, then we can make sure that they get those resources that they need. >> Then we help them out with lunch. >> Yes, they automatically get free lunch. Um, so once they're identified, they don't have to fill out the free and form. Um, Christine Oswald has my spreadsheet so she knows when I put a student on there and then she can just wave their fees right away. >> Um, and Joe had asked about the best interest determination. So, um, when we do have a student who is homeless and we find they're not being successful in our school, if they're wherever their school of origin, um, or if it doesn't make sense for them to travel far away, a couple hours, um, we do what's called the best interest determination meeting. So,

046it's our school district, um, the resident school district, and the parents, and we kind of talk about the pros and cons and determine what's in the best interest of the student to either stay in their school of origin or to go to their district or the resident school. Um, so while we want to make sure that they're provide, we can provide the resources for them to stay in their school of origin, sometimes it just doesn't make sense for them to stay here. Um, we also talk about what the long-term plan is for that family. So, if the family is planning to then move somewhere else um and stay in that community, it would make sense for them to to stay in that school district for that for that period of time until they get permanent

047housing. Um or if it's during a normal transition time, like elementary to middle, middle to high school, we take that into consideration as well. question. >> Would they still if they stayed in for best interest in the school district in which they're living now if they're living with a a friend or something, would they still qualify for this program? So, they would still qualify through that district's uh free lunch and get some of those perks or since they're now in a home district, they wouldn't qualify. >> They would still qualify for that the remainder of that school year. So, even if they um are able to obtain permanent housing during the school year, they still are able to receive free lunch and some of those um resources throughout the rest of that school year. >>

048You have a question? Okay. Thank you. >> I was just going to add that every year from the start of the school year, our social workers go back through um families and connect with them again to determine if they still meet criteria or not. So it is a there's a review process every year also. >> Does that money come out of the angel fund >> or we have a separate fund sub? >> Um is um sometimes we use the angel fund um if a family has has a financial hardship. Um other times we have a student assistance fund um that I have in student services that I can use sometimes. Um, it really depends. It depends on what the need is. Um, anywhere from, you know, medical to clothing to gas. >> Thanks, Christine. So,

049this is part of the special ed budget. Oh, it's not. >> This is the other. >> No, it is not. Unless it's a student with a disability. These are >> um L population and our students that are homeless do not fall under flow through which is the federal special education grant that I get through IDA. But um this is just my other buckets that Tom has to find money for. >> And so the e the first presentation is that is that in a special ed budget? That's not either. Okay. >> Unless there's a student with a disability. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you ladies. >> Thank you. >> Up next, fall athletics, Mr. Trudeell. Welcome, sir. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Lot of good stuff tonight. Very interesting learning stuff as I sit

050back there. It's awesome. Um, >> so we'll see you next see you next Monday then. >> Yeah, I'll be here. >> Sorry. Um so start off with some uh activities. Um wanted to uh highlight uh a few of them. Um like to talk about new clubs that that we offer every every year. I have kids andor staff that'll come to me asking about starting up uh potential uh clubs. Um, last year, uh, one of our staff members, Tommy Morton, uh, brought the idea of a a disc golf, uh, club, and I said, "Well, have a signup meeting, see what kind of turnout you get." And, um, he had 15ish kids show up. And uh they're in year two. Uh uh they they do a little bit in the fall, some practice stuff, pretty much everything

051at on campus, although they have gone to uh Minor Park and Miniwan both have uh disc golf courses. So they've played there. Uh they're looking to compete for the first time this spring uh in a competition in in Illinois. Uh so can give you a further update maybe on that uh in the spring. But again, a group of kids that are really having a good time with a with a new club, which is which is fun to see. An older club uh one that's been successful for us for years, HOSA, um a health occupation uh club, kids who are looking into getting into the med medical field uh when they when they leave high school. uh very vibrant group, 125 plus uh kids participating and they will start their competition season here uh in December

052and then it it pretty much runs the winter uh the winter months. So hopefully be able to update you um the next next time I'm here as far as their uh uh their results. Wrong way. Uh save this week we're doing uh the annual nickel war uh for Save. They're raising money for Make a Wish. I think last year they made between $1,500 and $2,000 I believe under Nickel Wars. Um our uh SAVE uh leaders Joel Hackne, Sarah Hanos, and Marilyn Tashner will be presenting at a school safety conference, annual school safety conference that's held in the Dells. I know we always have a a group that uh goes and attends that and we're proud of them. Um our our state group is one of the oldest in the state and they're have been very

053successful with their with their group. Uh Key Club um again a huge group uh pushing 150 kids. Um and they do all kinds of service projects. Uh they got over 500 hours uh already to date this year uh for service stuff. I I listed a few there. Uh one that I wanted to point out was uh movie night. Uh when we approached you guys about uh putting in the scoreboard, uh we said that we'd do some community movie night uh things. Uh Key Club sponsored the first one. I was at Halloween. Um they did uh Hocus Pocus. Um it was about 42 degrees that night, so we didn't have a huge turnout, but I would say maybe 40 to 50 kids uh huddled up in blankets watching the watching the thing from the turf, which

054was which was cool. on the scoreboard handled it so well. Sound was awesome. The >> If I could add to that, I was I happened to be there that night. It was like a full drive-in movie theater experience to a generation that's never going to see a drive-in movie theater. So, it was awesome. >> Yeah, this is true. Um they're they're already planning something in the summer. Uh Lynch would like to sponsor that. Um help help with the uh any costs that that might be involved as well. Also, um I think the movie nights are going to be something that our our community looks forward to. Some more activities. Uh our marching band, uh if you've attended any of our football games, you saw them perform at halftime. Uh for the second year in a

055row, they placed fourth uh at the state band festival, uh in Whitewater, uh which was excellent. So, kudos to Emma Angelie and her staff. uh choir. Uh we had 16 kids audition for the Midwest American Coral uh director's regional which will be held in uh in Milwaukee and 11 kids were accepted. Uh in talking to PJ Hugh Hazi, he said schools are happy if they get two or three kids and we had 11. So outstanding work uh by uh but by PJ and especially our our students. And then our musical, um, I know many of many of you attended the musical, uh, just wrapped up, had over a hundred, uh, students participate. Uh, they sold out three of the four nights, and they were 10 seats short of going four for four. Uh, which is

056the the highest attendance that we've ever had for our musical, which was uh, which was awesome. Uh, rave reviews. U, the kids and staff did a just a fantastic job on that. some highlights from athletics. Um, another uh great athletic season uh in the fall. We had five girls uh state uh participants in in tennis, two doubles teams and a single singles player. And John Orisbicki uh our head girls tennis coach was the conference coach of the year which was very welld deserved as we finished second in the league which is tied our highest uh uh finish ever. uh girls golf. Um number of girls qualified for the sectional and I'd like to congratulate Aaron Bartlett. Our team was named the classic 8 sportsmanship uh team of the year for for golf which was great.

057More fall athletics, uh boys soccer, volleyball, uh boys and girls volleyball, a number of allconerence players, uh Lucy Sarna and girls volleyball, all state. Uh girls volleyball were regional champs. Uh the boys were match away from making it to state for the first time ever. They they fell to Arrowhead in in four sets in a sectional final, but a really good run by them and a pretty young group. We're excited about uh the future of boys volleyball coming up here as well. Football kind of the same old same old state playoffs every year, which is uh which is a a fantastic thing for them. Uh they made it to the level two. We ended up with four uh student athletes who were uh all state. We just did a signing last week for Devon who's

058uh gonna go play at Illinois State, which is pretty cool as well. Then our girls cross country team um led by firstear coach Alyssa Reeves uh qualified for team state. Uh we hosted the sectional at at Mcuano High School on a cross country course on the on the west side of the property. Um, and it was a great day for the girls as they uh they finished as runners up at the sectional and qualified to run at uh state in in Wisconsin Rapids. And then last but certainly not least, our our girls swim uh team. We co-op for those of you who don't know with Waua South for girls swim. Uh and the team won a conference championship this year which was awesome. Uh Mcuano had three individual state qualifiers. Avery, Ella, and Brooke. Uh

059Avery placed in two events at the state meet. Uh and Ella I again I tried to get her to come uh tonight uh because she's a superstar and I really wanted to show her off and and introduce her to you guys. Uh she won two state titles uh giving her a total of eight for her career and she's only the second swimmer in the state in state history to ever do that. Another gal in uh the 1970s at some point won eight state championships as well. Um last week um we had uh State Senator Bradley and Representative uh Wickers uh came to present her with a a legislative uh citation which was a pretty neat event. Um so that's a picture there on the bottom of her with them. And um I hope you all

060get to meet Ellis someday. Fantastic kid, 4.0 student, AP courses like crazy uh and just the nicest girl you you'd ever meet. So an easy one to root for for sure. She's going to go swim at the University of Georgia next year. >> So, that's it for me. I'd like to thank my coaches and our staff and and all the people that contribute adviserss to all the great experiences our kids uh get to participate in. Any questions or comments? >> I was just going to say that I got to meet Tommy, the disc golf coach. Just a great young man. >> He's awesome. >> Really enjoyed talking with him. >> Good. Love it. >> All right. Thanks, Andy. appreciate it Monday. >> Thank you. >> Up next, we have consent agenda for approval of the

061school board meeting minutes of November 17, 2025. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. That's approved by consent. Moving on down to policy. >> All right. So, I hope I was able to help you with any sleep issues that you had on policy. um that batch of policies uh we've gone through um over the last couple of meetings and taking questions um for inance last week uh last month I'm sorry school board meeting uh the question came in can we pulla approval out of um out of the uh consent? Yes, we can. Um it would just take a motion at the meeting next week to separate that and we can make that adjustment. Um, as far as uh questions around the dress code, uh, we do need to make that adjustment just based off of what

062is currently in our policy. I remind the board community that we do have policy 5600.01 that deals with instances of insubordination, chronic refusal, repeated refusal to follow a directive. So there's teeth behind that, but the dress policy doesn't go into specific consequences outside of please make sure you change whatever is inappropriate for school. Um, so that really kind of handles that that first bundle there. Um, unless there's any other questions tonight. >> Student government. Uh so we've had this policy uh up for the last several uh months um on meetings. Uh we do need to put some structure to the student government policy. I was just seeking some feedback tonight as we go about um kind of constructing that. So just as a a high level overview, uh last month uh at the board meeting

063and at the committee and the whole meeting, we talked about this. Um from a student government standpoint, right now we have we have clubs at each school that are called student government that do not go through any of what we would consider to be a democratic process of elections, running a campaign, so on and so forth. Um I shared that you know through the the multiple meetings that I had our advisors. Um there is a lot of good and value that those clubs bring from a volunteerism standpoint, leadership standpoint. Um but there is also and particularly this came out at the high school level and talking with Matt Sherbarth the adviser there there's benefit of having that civics component to it. So we had this discussion last month um and there was some feedback as

064to I believe we should have an election process. I heard some of that was directed at the secondary level in particular. So I was just hoping that we as I go about crafting what that needs to look like I can get some feedback tonight capture those ideas. If >> I remember correctly I thought what Mr. Gu here it's at middle school high school and not so much the elementary you talk about an elementary over it but start holding elections in middle school correct. Yeah, I would think or my opinion was for sure have an election at the high school and then the middle school I would be okay with. I don't know how everyone else feels about that, but I don't think it's necessary for the elementary. Eagleville does it. That's where I kind of

065got this idea from how they do it. Um but mandatory like as far as board policy I'd before middle school, high school and maybe start the process in elementary school of talking about it and how the process works >> or even electing offices in elementary school. I know a lot of the elementary schools have large numbers of kids that participate. So, if they could have elected officers that are seen as leaders, that will also help prep them for the process of what's what's to come in middle school and high school when there are true elections. >> Um, just knowing that we're moving sixth grade to middle school, does that way into that thought process at all? That would be our leadership that would be fourth and fifth grade. Um that's kind of where we see

066those leadership positions taking for fifth and sixth grade right now. So still maintain that election for fourth and fifth grade or >> I wouldn't be opposed to it. Would the board be comfortable if of the students who select to be members of the club that the club then in and of itself would run the the election for those leaders from that body of kids >> that'd be a great learning process for them to talk about it and electing our leaders selecting our leaders >> I think that it happens by natural process in the elementary level you see that by the kids that are coming here doing the presentations on the schools it's those it's usually the older kids that are in the group or the kids that are able to and willing to speak in

067front of a group of people. So that's I think those are the kids that would be volunteering themselves and you know saying hey I I want this I want this position. >> Would there be any opposition just thinking uh about like how our high school has operated as it it runs um in in in a class type format um where kids apply to you know they select to be part of there's a there's a selection process. Um I know that one of the concerns of the high school that all of the schools had was if we go to a full election process, are we going to be able to do as much as we currently do? Um would that same type of election process be okay where of the 30 kids describe that number 30

068kids who have selected to be part of this would those be the kids that would be eligible to run for class office position and then the whole school would vote for them or would it be kind of again this is what some of the concern was if we do this at large are we you know anybody can be nominated elected to it if there isn't the initial interest. I think the concern is that some of the power that currently has and I mean that by the running blood drives, food drives, running the events that some of that could go away and that was the experience of some of our school that went to this application based were interested. I think we run the election and then once that's in place and then you start looking

069out for volunteers and people to be part of committees to help getting blood drives going and whatever other club they need help doing. Would it be unreasonable to require a year of service prior to being eligible to be an officer so that you can't it's not popularity happen where somebody steps in their senior year of high school and wants to be the student government president? I think anybody can my personal anybody can do it just like in the real world try to make this as real world as possible but we just have to be very very stringent on like what the obligation is and what you're there to do >> Mike would we have some kind of like minimum GPA requirement or something like that because if a student's really struggling do we want them

070to take on all this extra responsibility? Um what was talking about you know anybody can run you know I think I think what needs to be considered is what would be the process of removal right because I mean we have we have athletic extra cocurricular code that kids need to follow which requires a certain grade point average for athletic activity participation so we could use that as as kind of a guide for it um but I I think if if we're running into a situation where the president who's supposed to be coordinating meetings and doing that if they're not showing up and again I think this is gets to the fear of what some of the advisers had if they're not showing up if they're not participating that you know kind of what do we

071do process >> the removal process has to be has to be what's clear I'd have to talk to the principal and to the the adviserss to see what that process look like and then how what would be the succession plan after Just a suggestion as you look at like vote to maybe somebody who's coming second and third place and start looking at those students. I guess it depends on what kind of structure we're looking at like are people going to run for specific positions and are we going to do it per class? Is every class going to have president vice president? >> I think just for the school >> but if you do it for every class then gives more opportunities, right? It gets more kids involved and you can have a class president, right?

072>> Could but how would that look like in the schools like a school day election vote for your your grade? >> Yeah. Wouldn't be opposed to it. >> Freshman vote for freshman, sophomores vote for sophomores, right? Those are your elected representatives for your class. Then it gives other you know it gives more kids opportunity to participate. That's all >> would be opposed. >> I can go back and talk to Matt if that be >> okay. Get some feedback on that. >> Sure. >> Yeah. I think either way we try to get this started and if it's not working out for a year or two or three and it's really bad and can't get the right participation then we can readress it. But this day and age with social media and all these kids communicating, seems

073like they would like want to go there and do it and do the job they're asked to do and put it on their college resume and all that other stuff. Agree. There's got to be schools that hold elections now that we can get a guideline. >> Eagle Bill. >> Yeah, there are others. I just don't know where. Yeah, like I don't know uh we have contacts with other school districts or anything that >> we could look at what other schools are >> possibly to have some best practices and shorten learning care a little bit. >> Yep. Y >> they're going to be term caps like they do every president every single year. I mean a lot of a lot of historically schools that did have you would run into the same officer just year after

074year people class after graduation >> in these elections are usually in the spring before the next fall right >> correct >> all right so we're really looking at juniors and sophomores and freshman we're not going to or are we going to expect the eighth graders who are going to be freshman to run in eighth grade I don't know I mean, whatever those details end up being, >> schools that do have those bullets have the the freshman class bullets fall freshman year to select those officers once they get high school because we have a lot of kids follow up school students different. >> Great. and no electronic voting. All paper ballots hand counted. >> All right. So, I I can go back and and work um depending on the availability of the staff and the onewe

075turnaround. I might come back to you in January then with this policy and it's >> okay. Perfect. Any other questions or comments? >> Thank you. >> Okay, moving on to policy 5530.01. Okay, so just to kind of rehash things over the last couple of months, uh there was a concern that was brought forward about random drug testing um uh of students at the high school. Uh we ran this through our legal council and um we have a redlinined version of policy. So um we had Stephanie was here, Christine put a presentation together. We talked uh you know broadly about what the we believe the positive impact is on this that it does serve as a deterrent. Um brethalizers, uh, catching kids, preventing kids from coming to events after having we're not foolish enough to think

076that that doesn't go on after the game, but we're not seeing it happen when they come to come to dances and come to football games. Um, so after working through legal counsel, we we have a redline version of policy 5530.01. Um, he did have some concerns with how the original policy was written and um our our attorney made the recommendations. They're coming up red pink um in the in the red line version of the policy. So, um if this is something that the board would consider, we move this into action for next week. I personally still not comfortable with doing random alcohol tests on students coming in or having students just parking on public parking going to random drug testing. I think it's just too much government for me, too much intrusion. I mean, if

077you smell alcohol in a kid, custom. Somebody gets busted with alcoh or drugs in a school or if you find it in a car in a search with a dog, by all means, search. But just randomly saying that we have access to your vehicle just for parking and public paid for parking, I'm not a fan of that. >> I disagree, Dale. I think it's important as far as uh stopping it. I think you the government should be involved in so much private life >> gray area. How much gray are there? >> I'm just asking. >> I think I mean if we just I think >> where does that stop? >> I think in talking to Stephanie in just looking at this I mean we we are a publicly funded organization and we know that um

078we're respectful of that. We appreciate all the support that our community gives. But when it comes down to the maintenance of the property, it's our responsibility with our budget to maintain that property. Um, you know, similarly, think the village hall will have rules at the village hall. Um, if you were to go to any public place, there are rules associated with what can happen on that property. Um, given the fact that we're dealing with minors, uh, we're dealing particularly with high school age kids, um, we know that kids dabble in this stuff. We want to do everything we can to try to keep the environment as safe as possible. And that's this position. It's not to catch, it is to deter to the best that we can, but to do everything we can to keep

079this stuff off of our property. Um, we've talked uh had the board on, you know, a number of occasions just about what are we catching kids doing from a student discipline standpoint. We do catch the vapes quite a bit. Um, Christine has presented on the THC vapes that we have. Um, we don't deal with a whole lot of alcohol on our property. Not that we don't, but we don't deal with a whole lot of it. Uh but we do believe the fact that that breathalyzer component particularly at dances and football games acts as a deterrent uh to students coming on property after having consumed alcohol. So that is you know that's that's why the recommendation is in front of you. It's just a tool that we are trying to use to keep the stuff off

080of our property during the school day or at school events. >> Any other questions? Jake, >> I guess how common would you say it is across other districts to have breathalyzers at things like that? It's becoming increasingly popular. Um Christine did a presentation and I want to say it was in the neighborhood of 15 or 16 school districts that were readily available. Um and a number of those were in Walk County. So if you still have that presentation handy, we can get you a closer answer. >> Carolyn I think it's important to continue this as that deterrent. I really I agree and I think that's really important. I think that's why our numbers of what we're seeing are low because the kids know if if this then I could lose the privilege of parking and

081driving to school and then want to take the bus. So, I think that's really important. Plus the safety of these kids them getting in a vehicle and having access to whatever they left in their vehicle. Um, yeah. >> No one wants you dropped off your mom's minivan, Caroline. >> No, we don't want to see that. But, yeah, I think it's uh a safety issue. I don't want the kids using it and then driving. >> Parents are busier than they've ever been. Early identification of a problem that would otherwise show up on their radar. I just think it's very valable. >> So, I think I asked this in a previous meeting, but it says athletics and activities, competition performance. I can we include other clubs? I mean, I understand we can't test everybody, but if we're

082going to test, which I don't agree with, by the way, but if we're going to do it, we should cast as wide a net as possible. >> Why are we not casting the net as wide as possible? >> And we can test, we could increase the pool to anybody who participates in any external co-curricular activity. um that that is there. We I think the original thinking on it was we were going to get the clubs that participated in competitions, but there is nothing that prevents us from expanding that pool to kids who are involved in a current non-esting um uh activity. >> The language was written around um competition and uh or if it had an executive board or equivalent. I can check on that. I don't know that that would >> Yeah, I mean

083it it the board has full latitude. If if this policy is in place, the board can say outside of anybody who just comes to school, you can't be tested for just showing up to school. But if you're given access to parking, clubs, sports, other activities, the board can say that everybody goes in that testing pool and those kids are all part of that random draw. Uh you had asked what other districts um I had connected with and I looked so when I did the presentation I looked at random drug testing and so Okan Piwocki Arrowhead Wanke Creek Franklin uh Trivet Kimberly Monomony Falls to Pier and Northland Pines were ones that um I was able to get my hands on quickly. >> So like a percentage we have approximation We don't these are these policies

084aren't readily we can't just readily access the policies. I mean Christine was able to look through media look at what news outlets have reported on what school districts are doing and that's where that list comes from. I can you know speak in you know at my time in Wacaaw breathalyzers were becoming popular at football games. They were part of going to dances. Um, when I worked at Cedarberg Heiser, worked in the Cedarberg School District 15 years ago. Um, they were doing breathalyzers going into uh, dances. It was the pingpong ball approach. You logged in, if you grab the red ball, you were going over and and breathized there. So, some districts have this readily accessible if they were part of a news report, but to actually dig through all of the policies, we weren't able

085to get into that. >> Any other questions or comments? When would this move forward for a vote? Is this >> next week? Monday. Um, we've entertained it long enough. If there's other homework that the board wishes that we do, we can we can try to dig into that. But, um, I was planning on talking to Gail about having it on the agenda for Monday for approval. >> Will the vote simply be based on parameters that you're talking about right now or will we talk about the wider net? >> If if the board >> Yeah. If the board and the and their um the approval next week, you know, motions that we test all 9th through 12th grade students, uh, put them in the random testing, all 9th through 12th grade students are involved in extracurricular,

086co-curricular, and parking at the high school. That that would capture, I think, that Crosby is referring to, you know, in her question. Um, you know, we can make sure that the policy reflects that and can do that. Me too. >> Jake, do you think we'd cast a wider net if instead of focusing on activities or parents could just hop onto it, right? So just when you register for school, parents want to just opt into it. I know as I understand the concerns, but as a parent, I would put my kids in the program, right? To be able to over me personally, I'd want that. But maybe you get a wider net that way and you don't have to worry so much about personal liberties and things like that. Just an idea. >> But does that

087give the option of hopping out then, Jake? >> We Yeah, it' be an optional program, >> but we don't want that if we're going to do a >> Well, I I guess I'm trying to response rate be what would that look like? >> I think Jake what we could do is we could look into the question as a you know kind of an or if you know if you participate in athletics activities have a parking pass or your parent wishes to opt you into this you know I think we could probably look at it in that regard >> both. >> So so we could look at we could look at to see if we could have that as an option for parents to opt their children in if they wanted to. Um, but if you're

088participating in any one of those three buckets, the re the ask of administration is to have them in the in the random pool. >> So, they'd automatically be in with all of everything we have in the policy. However, if you've got a kiddo that doesn't isn't a participator in any of that, check yes. >> That's what we're going to ask. Yeah, we'll we'll look to see. We'll talk to our attorneys to see if that's possible. >> Right. Any other questions, comments? All right. Thank you, sir. Moving on to personnel topics. >> Oh, I'm sorry. All right. So, um I'm going to go through tonight just overarching um staff retention efforts. Uh we have a goal around our staff retention, a strategic goal. That goal is that we retain 95% of our certified staff. And super

089excited to share that for the first time in four years, we have attained that goal. We retain 95.6% specifically of our staff. Um so I think it's important to remember that when we talk about retention and we talk about um retaining those staff, we obviously are not factoring in retirement. So we don't look at a retirement the same way as we've got a resignation. Um we also don't factor in limited term contracts. So staff were issued a limited term contract who don't return the following year. We are anticipating they're not returning the following year. That's what a limited contract is. So what is involved with our retention efforts? Um we conduct exit interviews. This past year we had five people who completed the exit interview via a Google form. So everybody who leaves is offered

090an exit interview. They can either meet with me in person or they can fill out the Google form. The number one theme of the exit interviews was it's not a good fit. We have um another rationale and that was there's an inabil an inability for um HR to match the other offers I'm receiving. And I think it's really important to note here that when staff leave to go somewhere else where they have a better offer, we do have staff that will come back and say, "Rachel, I have an offer and it's for $3,000 more. Can't you can't you meet that?" We have worked really hard over the the last two years to rightsize our compensation. And so if I do this right, I I give that teacher the $3,000 bump for the same years of

091experience that colleague B has same job that colleague B has. I've now wrongsized the system. And so there's a reason that for two years in a row now, compensation is not a theme around stay interviews or exit interviews. Like people complaining about their compensation because we we've got it right. And so even though it might seem for some people like right $3,000 that's such a small amount why can't you match that? If I start to do that I start to wrongsize the system again and so just an important note. I think the other piece I'm always transparent with people about is there are other districts that most certainly can pay higher than I'm paying. You can go to WawaSa and you can get a better offer, but I guarantee you're going to have the same

092resources, the same support, the same right experience as if you're working there. And so kind of right grass isn't always greener. Um, we conduct state interviews. So this fall we uh conducted interviews with 28 certified staff members. We looked at our perception survey data. I'll talk about that fall to spring. We formed a wellness committee last year and we continued that wellness committee this year. And then we had a really robust mentoring program. So our stay interviews, these were the questions asked. Um they really have not changed very much year to year. My favorite question is really which aspects of your work do you value most? And then that last question is there anything else that you want me to know? I can tell we're continuing to improve as a system when the is there

093anything else that you want me to know ends with a nope. I think that about covers it versus my first year where it was paragraph paragraph and this and this and this and this. So again, moving in the right direction. So what were the themes of the day interviews? Um the first theme, top theme was time. Staff reported just on a very consistent basis that they they want more time. They don't feel like there is enough time with all of the different things that are being added to their plate. Um, we did have some staff talk about there is enough time, but it's always not always used efficiently. And then, um, some of our staff commented that they don't feel that there's enough time, but they've gotten better at setting work life boundaries and that

094has made the work feel more manageable. And so, I'll talk about action steps based on these themes after I get through all of them. Um the second theme is that the most meaningful recognition is personal, specific and genuine. Um I had somebody give this analogy and I thought it was a really good one. He talked about how in his school he feels like the recognition and the celebrations are kind of like receiving a participation trophy. We have a staff lunchon that where everybody gets pizza. Thank you for your effort. where we have a cake because we did well on the report card and it feels like everybody's getting the same recognition. And he talked about what I value the most is when I'm getting authentic feedback that's specific to me. Thank you for doing X,

095Y, and Z. Going above and beyond by volunteering at this event or by communicating with this parent proactively or right the the really specific feedback and that was also evident. Um, I would say specifically in some of our buildings, the high school in particular, when high school teachers spoke about the culture change that exists there, they can specifically talk about this practice that feedback and recognition is really individualized. It's personal and it's authentic. And I think that that has really impacted the positive culture there. Um, and then we had several people really comment on a true appreciation for the state interview process. And I share that because when we started this year, I actually asked our team, I said, "Do we want to continue with state interviews? You know, we've been doing these now for

096three years. Do we think we're going to uncover more, you know, information that is going to drive next steps?" And the team said, "Yes, we're going to keep going." And so having more than one person say that they feel heard, they feel valued by being a part of this just really justified I would say that the need for continuing this practice. Um the third theme was meaningful professional learning. So I bolded and highlighted the first theme because I think that this is something that has come up in the past year. Um it's been a theme. It was a theme last year. It continues to be a theme this year. and just a real testament to Christine and her team um and being responsive I think to this. So last year um introducing some really targeted

097work around behavior interventions as a system. You might have recalled that this summer during our summer um orientation for all teachers they all received a behavior training. And so really again we're trying to be responsive to this. I think teachers can't get some of this information fast enough, right? When you have behaviors in your classroom, you want it fixed and you want it fixed now. But, um, really, we are tackling this as a system in buildings and systemwide. And so, um, I think that we're going to continue to see positive change. Um, I think another theme when it came to professional learning here was we have a lot of I would say like one-offs, right? Like our occupational therapists, our guidance counselors, our library media specialist and when we ask everybody in a building to

098come together for something, we have to make sure it's relevant for all of them. We can't say, "Well, just try and apply this to your content area." That that becomes a waste of people's time. So, if you're going to ask somebody to sit in a room and listen, you got to make it relevant. And then, um, we've gotten, I would say, away from attending conferences. staff do not feel like they have permission to attend state and national conferences and so um just looking they're looking for a desire to make sure that that's something that they can do um to grow in their content area expertise >> and then the did you have a question >> um on the last one on the uh uh thank you attending conferences is that something that used to happen

099quite a bit teachers would just go for the weekend or >> so I think >> sounds like a party. >> Um, no. I wouldn't consider it to be >> It's okay. I mean, everyone does it, you know. >> Yeah. No, I don't even >> the cool kids do it. >> I don't think that they're parties. I think that um being someone in a former life who attended these conferences, I think that there is something to be said when you go to a conference that is truly specific to your area of expertise and you're surrounded with people from your like when I go to my HR network, right? meetings. There is a lot to be gained from that. Um >> so I think that there is something there. Um I think one of the things that

100we have to just consider again is postcoid a lot is offered virtually. So we don't have to leave the state anymore. I think the other piece is right cost and then what are we doing with the learning? So, you know, to send a team somewhere and then come back, the question always has to be what how are we spreading this? And so, um, again, it's not, uh, we're always going to say no, but I think there needs to be some discussion around it. But no, I don't think it's a party when they go. Um, Whoops. Um, and then the last theme was really around classroom autonomy and professional trust. So, I think this kind of is to be expected based on where we're at with our guaranteed and viable curriculum. We have implemented a lot

101of new curriculum. And when you do so, you want to do that with fidelity. You want to stick to this is what they're telling us to do the first goound. Let's do it as such so that we can say that we're we're doing it with fidelity. What I heard from staff was, I'm I'm doing it that way, but I'm watching as my kids might need something else. They might need to slow down. They might need to speed up. I might need to supplement. And staff really want to feel supported that they can they can, you know, kind of take a little sideline, a side approach from that curriculum and not, right, get their hands slapped. And so, my line has been like, there's not a curriculum please. No one's job is curriculum please. Are you

102using data to drive your instructional decision? Are you sticking with the curricular resources that have been improved when you make those changes? Um, and if you can say yes to those things, right? Are you using evidence-based teaching and learning practices, then use your professional autonomy? That is what you are being paid to do. But I think again, it was really this idea of am I going to be supported in that? And so um just getting getting them more comfortable in that. Um and then this idea of micromanagement came up. Um I heard that word a little bit more frequently than I have in the past. And so what I put underneath that bullet point is we need to continue to unpack what accountability looks like in a culture of excellence versus being micromanaged. And so

103I think there's a difference, right? When I have when I see a principal who says, "We're going to log all of the times that we make positive phone calls home because it's a strategic action step that we think is going to change the culture of the school." That's not micromanagement. That's holding people accountable for something that that principal believes is valuable and that is going to change culture of the school. And so we have to start to discern right accountability versus micromanagement. And I think that that's new for our system as we continue to develop a culture of accountability. And then the last piece is really making sure we just continue to communicate the why. So if there's new policy, if there's a new expectation, if there's a procedure, we have to do a better

104job of talking about why it is in place. We can't just throw out I'm asking you to do this and it is another thing without clearly defending and justifying the why. Um that's really important. It's also really important to make sure that we're transparent about who are the decision makers, who was at the table, who who provided feedback because right some people feel like how did they come to that decision? They don't even know. And it's really important to be transparent about the process behind again making decisions, putting new policies, procedures in place. And then these were just things that were worth noting. They weren't necessarily themes, but I think just worth noting. So one is just each school is different and we have to continue to recognize that we will move forward as a

105system always, right? Big goals, big strategic objectives, but not always at the same pace and not with the same tools. And then um families, students, and community continue to be a source of pride. The the number one most resounding answer when I ask staff, what do you value the most? Students, colleagues, families. It it was hands down the number one. People want to be here because of what Maguano represents to them. It is a source of just immense pride. Um, so what are our action steps? So what we're going to keep doing, we're going to keep recognizing appreciated appreciating staff. We're going to maintain our focus on professional learning communities and guarantee viable curriculum. We're going to maintain competitive compensation. And then we're going to continue to slow down our curriculum cycle and that's particularly

106at the elementary level. What we're going to start doing, um, we have a priority around normalizing work life fit behaviors. So, I'm going to talk about that a little bit with the wellness committee, but that is one of our priorities of our wellness committee is how do we normalize work life fit? So, things like stop checking your email after 7:00 p.m. There there's nothing good that comes out of email after 7 o'clock p.m. You're not going to solve any problems. You're not going to have any productive conversations, so shut it down. Um, something like eating lunch with your peers and not doing work while you're eating lunch. Maybe you don't do that every day, but once in a while, like that's okay. You shouldn't feel guilty about that. Okay. Um ensuring staff have an understanding

107of the priorities, mission, vision, and goals for the organization. Um clearly communicating at all levels um of the organization when changes made. And then we're going to be doing an analysis of prep time and the professional development time for staff. So, I I'm a firm believer that I could give staff 20 full work days untouched and I would still probably have some staff that tell me that there's not enough time. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be looking at is more prep time needed? Is is the way we structure our professional development days, do we need to evaluate that? And so, we are going to do that to just ensure that again teachers are set up for success. our wellness committee. So, um I spearhead that committee. We've got teacher representation, assistance, u assistance,

108pair professionals, um just really good representation. We're using data to drive a culture of wellness. And so, what we've been focused on the last three months is um evaluating the components that promote staff retention. So, we've identified five buckets. leadership and communication, professional learning and growth, workload and time management, recognition and belonging, and wellness and support systems. And what we have done is we are developing one singular action step around each of those five components that we're going to implement to strengthen each of those areas to promote staff retention. So our teams, we have kind of little work groups within the wellness committee that are developing, we're calling them seeds of growth. one seed that we can plant and kind of nurture to promote that staff retention. Um it's a really great team and they

109are absolutely like gung-ho. We did our um gratitude challenge showing gratitude. We had over 1,000 participants, 1,000 gratitude shoutouts. We only have 750 staff. Um so just an incredible participation rate in what we're again trying to do to promote a culture of wellness across the system. And then my last slide um we have another strategic objective that we um think measures the wellness of our organization that promotes retention and that's I would recommend MASD as a great place to work. Excited to say we had our highest data point. So you can see we were on a really good upward trajectory. Um, we took a dip in spring of 2025. I think that that spring was a tough spring. If you recall, it was the first spring that we were facing a budget deficit. It was

110the first spring that we were looking at nonrenewals. And um, we we took a dip and this fall we are back up to the highest we've been 79%. And then I think it's important to note when it when we talk about right respondents, 381 people took the survey in the spring. 380 took the survey in the fall. So, a really comparable sample size for the data. >> Rachel, yes. >> 380 staff out of 725. Is that good, bad, and different? >> So, what we aim for or what we tell our principles is your goal because principles administer this um to their buildings on an individual building level. What we tell our principles is our goal is we want we want 90% of their building to participate. What I will say is that most of the

111participants are certified staff. So we track are you a certified staff or a support staff because again all staff take it. Um the response level of our certified staff is far far higher than our support staff. And our support staff don't have access to computers um at school as easily as our certified staff. And then additionally, the week that we administer this, we do it on a day where uh we do it on a week where staff have professional development and some work time built into their schedule. So, I think that's why we also get a push of more certified staff than support staff. Um, so is it is it as representative as we want it to be? No. But I it does give us some good information. >> Is there raising your hand? Sorry.

112Is there a way to for the support staff that don't have readily available access to maybe have a I don't know if it's possible with it you have a computer set up in the room next to the office where any of them can go in and just >> yeah they all have they all have access to computers and technology so they all have >> lo and yes they all have that it's just again for a teacher most of our teachers are looking at their computers at some point in time every day. I can't say that that's the case for every one of our right like our custodians are they're not always in that space and so um but they all have access. Yes. >> Um can we go back to slide five real quick? The

113theme number one time. >> Yeah. Can you explain to me or give me an example of uh the third bullet there needs to be more dedicated time for teachers to work without having to be accountable to an agenda or a to-do list? >> Yep. So um an example would be that um during a professional learning session. So Wednesdays after school in many of our sites they have professional learning for the whole staff um where they all come together and they engage in again professional learning. Something that I heard is we're engaged in that learning and then we leave with and now when you go back do x y and z. So you're going to you know either write a lesson plan that implements the things we just learned or with your teams we want you

114to go back and develop an assessment that incorporates what we just learned. So it's we're we're always giving something more. It's not just an unstructured can we just have the time to I call it like play play around with the art of teaching. Um another example might be and I'm not going to say whether I think this is right or wrong but there are teams that view when they meet with their um content teams view having to record those conversations in a PLC log as an agenda. It's a to-do. It's not for us. you know, why do we have to record that? And again, I I think there's a lot of merit in keeping those types of logs, but some people view those as it's a to-do list. >> All right. Well, for I mean,

115for what it's worth, I think if you're a public servant, which they are, accountability counts. And you know I I don't want to micromanage anyone e either but I worked for the government for 31 years. Everything I did was accountable. >> That's all there is to it. >> There's a time and a place too where when we're talking about professional learning communities or whatever it is. It becomes part of the habit and then you don't necessarily have to have a a log kept. We're just not at that point. um you know we we've done a lot in a three year three and a half year period of time. Um that is still early and some of that work is still in its infancy. So we do need to make sure that we're staying on course

116with that. We I mean human nature sometimes if it's not written down we forget to do it. And I think that there's components to the meetings. There's stuff that we ask people to look at. It's not recorded. We we right now believe it's not getting done and it's not intentional. It's just it'll slip through the cracks. So, we want to make sure that we keep an eye on that knowing that at some point we can face that expectation. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> All right. Thank you. >> Yeah, of course. >> We're on to student learning topics with course proposal. >> Okay. So, I have one additional course proposal for the 2627 school year for MHS. I talked about this briefly at the November committee of the whole meeting. We

117are proposing that we add online physical education three. So we currently have levels one and two for online physical education. As part of the graduation requirement, students are required to take three half credits. So three courses of physical education. And for a variety of reasons, we are seeing a need from students to take all three of those half credits. um online. So, we would like to build out that third course so students can do that. Um the course proposal was linked for you that has all the details about the specific content of the course, but just briefly, it's an advanced semester long course. The course is designed to develop lifelong habits of health, wellness, and overall well-being. And the course builds on previous physical education courses. Um there would not be any additional staff that

118would be needed to run this course. We would use the staff that we have. Um it's kind of a similar situation to what we talked about about the advanced um placement pre-calculus class. Students have to take this course. So they would just be taking instead of another physical education course, they might be taking this online course. So we'll just schedule our staff um accordingly. There would be no cost for this course other than some curriculum writing costs which we have a budget for for summer work. So I will be bringing this back to you next week for approval. Um unless there are any questions or discussions. >> I just have a comment real quick. Physical education online is actually boring a little bit maybe just saying >> and now we have to have three of

119them because for two >> Yep. So um >> or am I way off base? I am I am I >> I was thinking the same thing. >> Okay, thank you. >> So some some students are the reason why some students want to take it is that so they can create space in their schedule um so that they can take some higher level courses, some more advanced placement courses and some other courses um that may be of interest to them for what they are looking to do for their future. Other kids that just prefer that format. Um, if you look at the course proposal, there are physical requirements. Um, within the course, then kids do have to wear an activity tracker. They have a requirement for for physical movement and a log that they fill out.

120Um, but that's kind of the reasoning behind the course. >> Thank you, Rosby. Is this course currently being taught in person? Like is this an actual course that they take? Right. >> Well, there are the course itself does not exist in this format in person. Um but there are a variety of different physical education courses that the students can choose from. >> So this requires the student to purchase a tracking device. >> Um but just manually recording their steps. So, it's an honor system. >> I think um there are screenshots that are required of that >> tape to the dog's leg when he's running around the yard. >> I'd be happy if was running around the yard out of the room and off the little game. You know, >> just one less. >> Go ahead,

121>> Caroline. Is this able to be taken as a course load like a course overload then during the school year or correct >> or during the summer? >> Yep. They can take it in the summer or they can take it during the school year. And yeah, they taking additional credits. >> They have their full course load as normal. They also >> Okay. I I I don't really have a problem with it. I guess we just got to monitor it because if all of a sudden there's like 400 kids that want to do this online, then we're going to be letting go of PE teachers. >> Our numbers have been pretty steady for the the the number of students um that are requesting to take online PE. It's just that some are requesting to take that

122third level. They don't have it. >> I mean, as long as we have the option that it's getting out of control, we got to scale it back or something. >> I I can say that our PE classes are taken at a very rate the face to face ones. Our strength training classes both the semester long and the advanced one. Um those are full full to capacity. I mean kids are every station in the weight room is being used. So you know when Angela says we've seen kind of steady numbers. We're not seeing kids trend towards this component. We are seeing a lot of active engagement in the in the physical education courses. >> Every time I walk back to you have another question. Sorry. Back in the day when I was in school, >> we

123did have uh we had like the summer class, the summer camp class, which is kind of like where some there could be a few of the slackers that would fall into that. Is this is there like a >> No, I was I was in like all the events as fit as a fiddle. Um so would that be something where is that like a not like a GPA requirement but you know >> I think one of the things that we that we look at and one of the things that we consider is that we have a very high number of credits for graduation >> we have a 27 credit graduation which is not that exceeds many many school districts graduation requirements and as kids check the boxes of electives that are required electives along the way

124what we're finding is kids also want to pursue the advanced placement course. So, they want to pursue the work release to get hands-on learning the those classes and um this this extra gym credit, this extra PE credit along with the health credit, the personal finance credit. We do offer a number of online and summer opportunities or in this case like overload opportunity. Those those other credits are building towards that 27. um you we want to try to make it in some paths as easy as possible. So we also have personal finance that you can take, >> we have health that you can take online. Um we have the the two PE classes that you can take online. By adding that third class, what we're doing is creating space for kids who are either going to

125go to work um in a co-op setting or kids who are going to be going to take those advanced placement. Um what's that the college credit um some of the the university credits transcript credit. >> Yeah, >> we need to create some space and some opportunity for that. Um, Whitewater's calculus class doesn't necessarily fit neatly within MHS's high school schedule and this does provide some flexibility for those students. >> And the other thing I think I would say about that is just for the required electives, one of the things that we pride oursel that we try to do >> for students at this level is to provide choices for them with in the requirements. So, we have a number of different music courses that they can take. We have a number of different art courses

126that they can take. We have our CTE courses. Same thing with physical education. We want to offer it in a variety of different um formats and areas that they can choose which one best meets their needs. >> Okay. Is >> is there a state requirement for how many PE credits you need to graduate? So, it is >> Yep. >> Okay. It's personal finance requirement. >> Yes. >> Okay. Good. I I mean, I guess I don't have a problem with it, but like just looking at the units, like to me, this looks like a big blowoff class. >> I'm not I'm not >> I love gym class. Class is awesome. >> Let's bring that back. That was so fun. not advocating that we go down the road of blowoff classes, but I do think that as

127we offer a more rigorous course path at the high school and we've seen some AP courses that are coming forward, as we encourage kids to pursue those, we do want to create some space in the schedule where kids have an academic experience, but they don't have that same load as as four AP courses, five AP courses, or advanced honors, whatever it might be. This can provide some space for that. Any other questions or comments? All right. Thank you. >> Great. Then the next item is just an update on our new curriculum council. So the curriculum council is up and running. We um had our first meeting that was held on November 3rd um and have a strong membership for our council. We have five professional staff members which span elementary, middle, and high school. We

128have two building administrators, one from the middle school and one from the elementary. We have two district administrators on the council, which is myself and Michelle Ziggler, one board member, which is Mike Buch, and then we have eight parent reps. Um, again, those parent reps span all of our levels um and hit almost all of our elementary schools. So, really good representation there. At our first meeting, we reviewed the purpose and role of the curriculum council. We went over the goals and initiatives that we currently have around curriculum in the district. We dug in a little bit to our curriculum review process so that the council understands how that works within the district. Um, we also dug into our third through fifth grade ELA pilot that we currently have occurring because the council will be

129helping to provide some feedback regarding those resources that we are looking at. And then the council had an opportunity to give some feedback um on future meeting topics that we would discuss. So our second meeting is scheduled for February 2nd. At that meeting we will be discussing again our third through fifth grade pilot. We will toward the end end of the pilot. So, we will have some feedback to share with them. Um and then we will dig into the materials a little bit. Um we will have an update on the curriculum work that is happening around physical education and health and then we will have an update for the council on our middle school transition work that is occurring. Um so things are going really well. Um, we had a great first meeting, really good

130feedback um, from all of the members of the council. >> Any questions on that? >> Mike, do you have anything to add to that? Angela's review of the meeting was accurate. It was a good meeting. It was Yeah, I look forward to the next couple. See what goes on with them. Thank you. Student services, we don't have any this week. Finance and facilities. Craig asked me to ask you to have a 1 hour limit. I'll see what I can do. No promises, though. All right. So, first thing is I have a budget development calendar here. I posted this for for you guys just to lay out what we're going to do month by month as we go out and build the 2627 budget. Uh, I put in there some other important things like MHS course

131influence. >> Uh, is this a new uh thing for you? >> Brand new, Craig. I did it just for the colors are nice. Very nice. >> All right. Good. Thank you. >> All right. Just so you can see, we have a strategy in place to build enough time in here as we go through the the year to build the budget the way we we need to. Uh, you'll see that I don't have everything. uh you know for example in May we have the committee of the whole meeting where we'll talk about the tax levy and the budget projection what that looks like employee compensation around that time the board meeting it's TBD we we have some space here in in the summer months um if you guys have concerns let me know otherwise we'll adopt

132this next month and this will be our strategy and we'll move forward okay all right next thing that we have then is uh a membership projection. So, this is really what we'll do right now is the first thing we'll do in building the budget. I'll quickly go through this here. I'm going to make a recommendation for what our membership counts are going to look like as we build next year's budget. Again, third Friday counts uh go into our membership that defines 85% of our funding. This just to put it uh uh you know remind you guys the difference of headcount and membership. Headcount is you know the number of kids sitting in seats on the third Friday. The orange bars there is the membership. That's the number of kids that live with inside of our

133district boundaries and attend uh Wisconsin public schools. Okay. So, you can see the difference between the blue and the orange there. You know, that really is the open and roll in and out uh being accounted for. Since we have more open and roll in, we have more, you know, larger headcounted membership. But ultimately, what we're going to talk about here is the orange bar. We're trying to predict what that's going to look like next year. Okay. I'm going to just fast forward here for you guys real quick. We do this grade by grade. What you're going to hear me say on the very last slide is I'm going to recommend that we have an uh an assumption of a minus 85 FTE. And I'll talk about the why behind all of that. The first thing

134that we have to do is predict 4K. This is the hardest grade level to predict because we're trying to guess how many kids have been born here four to five years ago and are going to start coming to schools next year. 4K is not compulsory, but you can see that we have uh Walkshot County birth rates over the years, you can see that we have a declining birth rate and it's going down. Typically, as we look past in years past when we start offering 4K, uh we ask ourselves how many kids of all the county births, so as we kind of go back here and there's about 3,600 births here in the last in 23 and 2024, how many of those kids are going to show up in MASD schools as 4K students? The history

135says, you know, between five and six percent. What I did here is I looked at the last two years of 5% 5.3. And there's a little bit of rounding here, but if I take an average of the last two, what I'm saying is that 5.1% of all county births four to five years ago are going to show up as 4K students. That seems to be our historical stride. So my assumption here is that 5.1% of all county births in 2021 and 2022 will equal our 4K membership count. Predicting 5K is also kind of the same deal, but I changed a different approach here and I and what I'm doing here is saying that because you don't have to go to 4K, but 5K you do. How many kids or how does that 4K cohort show

136up one year later as 5K students? And you can with the exception of COVID which was just a weird one. Let's take a mulligan there and look at the other years. We're at about 30%. The average of these, you know, seven or eight years is 29.3%. Let's just round it. Call it 30%. In other words, our 4K membership this year will grow by 30% going into next year. All right? And that will make our 5K numbers. As for the rest of first through 12th grade, what we do is we take a look at each cohort to say how do they advance from year to year. So I just kind of highlight these students in orange uh in the '08 uh school year they were at 361. By the time they became seniors they grew to

137399. The green cohort going from year to year started at 305 and grew to 378. And these are some of our historical fa uh figures here. So every cohort you study and then what we do is we say well what what percentage rate of growth from year to year are they experiencing as they move from grade to grade. And once we do that then we can kind of say okay over the last 10 or so years. What's the average growth rate percentage-wise from 9th to 10th grade or for between any two grade levels? Okay. When we do this we can take a number of statistical looks to say okay what's the average of the last five years for each grade level? the last two years, the last, you know, one year. We can do a

138weighted approach where we put 60% weight on the most recent year and 40% weight on the average of the prior four years. And there's a number of different ways we can do this. Again, I'm knocking the COVID year out because that was a weird one. But we can kind of take a look here from grade to grade over the last 10 or so years. The cells in red are showing you that we actually have a decrease. the cohorts shrunk as they move from first to second or second to third. Prior to CO, you could see that almost every single grade level consistently up through the ninth grade uh group. You know, the only red cells were seen here before CO are from 9th to 10th and 10th to 11th. There's just certain trends about our

139student body that like hold true. And what you'll see here is that when students go from sixth to seventh grade, once that Parkview Middle School option becomes available, you're seeing a lot of kids join the MASD at that time. The same thing with uh 9th grade. You're seeing universally really big numbers here of the cohort grows as MHS becomes an option and kids leave the parochial schools and they join Wango High School. You can you can see some historical trends that are telling. Um we you know postcoid you know we we've seen some decline. We've we grow but we grow at a much smaller rate here postco for a variety of reasons that we've talked about. We have some decline in enrollment I think we would have more people moving in um you know mortgage

140rates were if Carolyn could help them out a little bit more. >> Okay. But what I ultimately did is I looked at every single grade level. I said, "What's the average of the last two years?" And say, let's just say that's what's going to happen next year. So, in this column here, we have kindergarten to first grade. Our kindergarteners are going to grow at a 3% rate. Our first uh to second graders are going to grow at a 1% rate between now and when they come back. And so, I have one for each grade level. All right? And this is just something called the cohort survival method. Altogether, this is kind of what we're saying right here. Okay? Okay. So, at the 4K level, we're going to use our county births. Say 5.1% of those

141students are going to become ours. So, we're going to predict 118 members. Okay. Uh our 5K students as we take a look at there's 257 now, but we're going to take a look at these 93 K these 93 members. Uh and they're going to grow by 30%. Okay? So, just remember 4K this is uh for funding purposes. We only get 60% of those 4K kids. So this 93 number is actually reflecting 60% of the headcounts there. But those kids as they come back and get fully funded and grow by 30% will have 202 kindergarten students. And then each of these cohorts here. So as the 5K students go to first grade, they'll grow by 3.1%. So these 257 kids will become 265. So on so forth all the way down the line. Last year we

142had 4,319 kids. that'll become two 4,234. So that's a loss of 85. Again, if we just kind of boil it down here, what kind of happens each year is that these 381 seniors are going to be replaced uh really if we just remove 4K for a second by 202 uh kindergarteners. So you have like basically a full-time cohort coming in at the 5K level, a full-time cohort leaving at the senior level, and there's just that natural shrinking of, you know, that's the declining birth rate right there. That's less babies being made. So, um, that's the ultimate the recommendation I'll make is that we build a budget here. And we can adjust this as time goes on, if we learn more things. What I'll say though right now is that as I went back to this,

143we have certain cohorts that are just different for whatever reason. Um, this cohort here that's going to be going into seventh grade next year. They're exceptionally large. They start as 344 kindergarten students here. This coming 5K cohort will be at 202. So like there's a it's typically around 250 but we just have one of these bubbles that's small in size here. Okay. But this is my best guess. So the recommendation is that we build a budget with a minus 85 FT >> when is our 4K night where we have the information on there. That's coming up, isn't it? >> Oh, let's go look at the budget development calendar and see if we have it on there. Good question here. We're going to do that on January >> 22nd >> and what is an enrollment that

144end of February? Is that >> uh 4K registration begins on the first Monday of February? So that would be the second. >> Are we hoping and projecting that our new offering of fulltime 4K is going to increase our 4K? >> Yes. I think what what it can do is it's going to be a really attractive option to anybody who lives in our boundaries. So while you know just g for geog uh geography purposes some folks open a roll north or south or whatever based on how they travel to work but when there's a full day 4K option you probably take it. You'll consider taking it I should say that. Okay. So it's it's a very good option. Yes. you bake that into your >> um as I as I looked at what I have here.

145So if we have up to nine full full day sections at 20 kids per let me just go back here. Start this again. Um so there's 118 but that's at that's the 60% of the headcount if you have 200 kids. Um, and but you're getting 60% funding that would equal 120 members. So, yeah, I kind of have have it maxed out that that's what we'll have there. So, yeah. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay. Last thing that I have then is just a quick health insurance update. So, um, I'm going to give you guys there's good news and bad news here and I'm going to give you both uh both parts of it here. Okay. So, on the screen that we have here is our health insurance. And I'm just going

146to walk up here and kind of highlight a few things here. In 2223, we were fully insured. We we worked with Anthem at that time. That's this blue bar that we have here. They were asking for a 35% rate increase as we entered in 2324. This bar here shows a 25% increase. So, I guess I just said, well, they asked for 35. Let's assume we talk down to 25. Let's just say this is our benchmark as to where we thought we were going to go. Well, we went self-insured. Here you can see that we spent just under $8 million there. So, we went from spending 8.4 being asked to pay 10.3, but we redefined everything that we did and I think we got better at delivering health care and we got more um we saved

147money. We avoided cost markups, I should say. So, that's a win-win. As we take a look back at this past year, again, these kind of blue stripe bars are kind of our hypothetical as if we stay with Anthem at 10% increase each year. What would that look like? >> Could have been 20 >> could. Yeah, could have been whatever. So, um I guess it's just a reasonable thing to say, hey, let's benchmark it. How are we doing here? As we look at 2324 into 2425, you can see that our costs rose by just about a million dollars. um when we took a snapshot on June 30th ultimately like we know what we know on June 30th but there's certain medical services and procedures that are incurred on June 20th or May 15th but we don't

148get invoiced for those until August or September. So on June 30th is when the plan year ends. But what we have to do is we we have to measure something called medical claims that are incurred but not reported. So, we make a guess as to how much more claims do we think were incurred just have not yet been reported as of June 30th. And our best guess was $450,000. Um, I conservatively set more money aside than that. We we recognized $1.7 million and set it aside. In reality, it was 3 million. We had a ton of claims that showed up after June 30th. Um, and really what it was is we have a a number of high-cost claimments that you simply can't plan for or avoid. When a premature baby is born, the best plan

149design in the world isn't going to change anything about that situation. Same things with uh people who have u need neurology needs and there's a surgery that's going to go inside to the brain. We've had a lot of situations like that. And our high cost claimants any defined as anybody over $50,000 grew by $2 million from 23 24 into 2425. We So in this cost here, this $8.8 million there, there's our health clinic cost, there's our medical claims, there's our pharmacy claims, there's our stop-loss insurance, there's our third party administrator. We buy stop-loss insurance that ultimately said at 7 point uh at $6.9 million, if our total claims go over $6.9 million, were off the hook. And we did go past that. So, the bad news is is I think we had one of our

150worst years that we could have had, but we set the plan up in such a way to protect ourselves that if it happened, we're going to be saved by our stop-loss carriers. So, it came through. So again, two things can be true at once. Once we had a uh one, we had a bad year. Two, the plan worked as as designed. Um but it's something to just keep our eye on. What what we have here in 2526 is through four months of data and then projecting that out over the course of 12 months. If those same four months repeat themselves, we think that will rebound and be back in that $8 million range. Um but time will tell. Time will tell. We need a little bit of luck, you know, with all the stuff that

151we're doing here. So, um, I just want to give you guys an update. Once we get about 6 months past June 30th and this data here is fully mature, we say we now know we have enough time. >> Yep. We we can now say here's where we're at. Okay, Jake. >> Two two questions. The first is if we hit the stop loss and that was triggered, that get reic for us. So not at this time but when we go out to market this time it might get different. >> So what I would say is I will I am expecting a rate in what I would say is no matter what all medical procedures are increasing at a at at their own rate of inflation of about 9 or 10%. Across the board standard everything but

152the stop lo that's your medical claims which is the biggest component that adds up inside of this. But then you also have your stop loss insurance. I would imagine that will likely go up there. >> How much is that stop loss? >> Um I let me I have it in the memo there. Let me just go back and check it out. >> How much that could move the needle, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh good question there. So the stop loss. So there's two types of stop-loss insurance. at the individual level, one individual, uh, we pay the first 200,000 and if there's just unfortunate things in that person's life, once they hit 200,000, all costs beyond that are picked up by the stop-loss carrier. Individual stop-loss insurance, we paid $692,000 for that. We had a

153number of individuals who pierced that $200,000 mark, so we paid $692,000, but got some of that money back. Um, in the aggregate, we had a $6.9 million limit. We paid $49,800 for that. So, we paid, let's call it $50,000, and it got about $400 or $500,000 back. So, that you could say that that worked, but it's going to catch up to us, you know, when they say, "Hey, you guys, we we priced you wrong." >> Great. >> But we'll go out to market and see what else is out there. And >> so, we'll be curious to see what happens later, obviously. And then much influences. So when we when we made a change to the insurance that >> when we made a change the insurance offering did that influence enrollment counts that people >> by

154about 20 it wasn't material if we were at 400 employees enrolled we're at 380 now. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So sorry a little bad news there but I need to let you know when those things happen. So there it is. Just got an employee call me that they use our clinic for the first time was raving about it. So, >> we'll end it on a good note. >> Mr. First time in two years, >> right? >> Yeah. >> Any other questions for Tom? Tom, is that it? Yeah, that's it. Any other questions for Tom? >> Well, Craig is happy. All right. Thank you, Tom. Yes. We'll go down to action items. Hires retirement and resation. >> So, we have one contract modification. So, we are requesting a modification for Emma

155Holtor. She is a psychologist at Big Bend Elementary. She is currently full-time and we are requesting that um she be moved to a 0.4 limited term contract. Make a motion that we accept or approve the modified contract as discussed. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to approve the contract. Any questions or comments? >> Do we have enough coverage then if we're reducing this contract? >> Any other questions or comments? >> All right. Hear none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed say no. Motion carries. Up next we have executive session and there was a question about questions.