001I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Uh we're going to move the consent agenda into close session unless anyone opposes. Okay, then we'll move on to new business. >> All right. >> Uh Scott, Catalyst Academy. >> Yep. Thank you. Hey, and great job. Thanks for helping us out tonight being the leading the meeting. Uh Mrs. Batton, thank you so much for that. Um tonight we have representative from Catalyst Academy that are joining us. Uh, as the board knows, Catalyst is our um charter academy school which supports our high school students and uh credit recovery like experiences, work experiences and the Catalyst board meets um every other month. All right, to
002ensure the integrity of that program. And so tonight is our annual sharing of what we're doing. We have our catalyst staff and board members with us tonight. Who's the primary speaker coming up? >> Casey. >> Whoa, Casey. All right, Casey. All right, I have the uh um presentation uh queued up here. Um and introduction of Emily and Casey for our presentation tonight. >> All right. Uh I'm Casey Kaepernick. I am one of the uh teachers over at Catalyst Academy. This is >> And I'm Emily Marcus. I'm also one of the teachers at Catalyst. Um yeah, so I've had the privilege the past three years of getting to work at Catalyst Academy with Casey and with Aaron and lots of wonderful people and um I know that you guys are probably aware of what Catalyst is
003and it seems to me that has changed a lot over its 10 years of existing. So I'm excited we can share with you um what it is in its present state. Um we really believe in the the ability to grow for every student and the ability to find success um with the right supports, relationships, opportunities and um we recognize that many students that come to Catalyst have faced barriers, have needs that um weren't successfully addressed in the traditional learning setting. So we take that responsibility to meet them where they're at and help them find success usually in a very individualized process. >> Yeah. What I think is unique, I've I've been to the board and I've presented on Catalyst in the past and uh those three or four years ago that I did that, it's
004very different than it was then as it is today. So the growth of Catalyst has been quite amazing to be a part of and to see um as the years have gone on bring as a new teacher. She brought a lot of new things to our program that helped expand our educational piece for our students and help them grow uh as students and and as important as uh individuals too. So >> um you go. >> Okay. >> So currently we have approximately 25 to 30 students that are attending daily at Catalyst. We do cap at 40 which really supports our ability to have more one-on-one moments and learning with students. Um students might come to us because they're credit deficient. They have attendance issues. Maybe there's family issues or mental health needs. Sometimes it's even
005just the flexibility um for work release that we can provide that works. Catalyst students still participate in New London High School extracurricular activities and we have many students that choose to participate and which is always a good thing that they still know and feel that they are New London High School students. They are um they are welcome in any building. Um 70% of our students now are employed which is really exciting. That is something we work a lot on is employment and employability skills. And we let our students have voice in the building. We if something can have a vote or a student voice in it, we bring that to our morning meetings that we have every day and we really work on that community piece and being a part of something outside of yourself.
006And we also use alternative education plans at Catalyst to guide students when they don't have an IEP so that they're still goal focused and working towards something. We have a morning routine and we feel like this is one of the the best pieces for our students uh when they come in uh in the morning. We have a a late start. So we start at 8:30 every morning. So students still can arrive at 7:45 on the buses for transportation purposes, but when they get in, it's kind of a soft launch into the day where we can sit down, talk with them, uh, engage with them, and make sure that we know how their night went because when students don't have a good night, it makes it for a tough day at school for them. So if
007we know what's going on, uh, in their day, in their life, then we can better help serve them. So uh, it's just a really good way to start the day. Uh, we have a morning uh, meeting every day to talk about what's going on. This week's been one of those weeks where we've talked about snowball uh pep assembly coming up on Friday. Who wants to go? Uh helping out with the backpack program on Wednesdays, making sure we always remember that we're volunteering and helping there. Uh whenever we're volunteering at the food pantry, we also make to sure that the students always know what's coming, right? If we have things that we need to talk about, like, hey, you guys left this room a mess last night. Uh you need to do better about cleaning up.
008That's the conversations we have in our morning meetings. uh because it helps kind of build that understanding of not every time we talk it's going to be perfect and happy, but it it's going to be a conversation about how we can do better or how we've done great and what needs what is coming up next in our day. So, it's just a really great morning routine. Uh and then when we're done with that, our our morning meeting, we head off to gym across the street to the Washington Center, which is just a great uh collaboration with the city. We get to use that gym. Uh we have a good chunk of boys that love playing themselves in basketball right now, which I totally love. We can spend that time. I can push them around and
009I can beat up on them in basketball and that's a lot of fun for me. Uh but uh these guys are really enjoying that opportunity to have that physical uh exercise twice a day and thankfully the city continues to allow us to have that opportunity over at the Washington Center. So, as far as discipline and our um and how that looks at Catalyst, we try to be as proactive as possible. From the first time students are in our building, whether that be a tour or a meeting before they start and their first day, we are very clear about what the expectations in our building are and very clear about what the consequences are as well. and students are expected to follow the same rules that are in the New London High School student handbook. Um,
010we use vape detectors in our bathrooms and um, we also focus on talking about the the behind the vaping like what what can we do to help you? And we really try to bring it around and be restorative with our discipline um, and let them know, you know, you made a choice that you shouldn't have and here's how we're going to work through it. here's your consequence, but we still have a relation relationship. I still want you here and um that we can go on from that. >> Yeah. One of the pieces with discipline or when something goes wrong or bad at our building. We're all there together. We we don't get away from each other. So, we have to have times where we sit down and talk about this took place so now this
011is going to happen and this is how it impacts our building and us as a group. So when we can have that discussion, we can talk about consequences, but we can also follow up in that restorative practice where we say, you know, we we're okay, right? You made a mistake, we can come back from that. This doesn't define you as a student in our building the rest of the time that you're here. It'll be okay. You're going to spend a day at the high school in an inschool suspension room or you're going to get a fine, but then we're going to come back and and we're going to keep working towards graduation. So we want to be very clear to them that just because a mistake was made doesn't mean it's the end of your
012time here at Catalyst. if we can prevent that, if we can keep them in our building. >> Attendance has been a huge focus um over the past two school years. We're really lucky to have Aaron helping us and supporting us there. Um we try to build an environment for students that they want to come to school. So, uh, as soon as we meet them, we usually if they have had past attendance issues, we try to find out what were those barriers keeping you from going to school. And if it was drama, great. We we try to cut that out at the moment it happens at Catalyst. If it was they need a ride, we try to set them up for success in that way. Um, and just making the building a safe place in the
013morning where they feel they can start their day no matter what happened yesterday. Um, and we use individualized attendance fix it plans where we will meet with students and we will talk about every piece of their attendance with them and hear what what they're feeling and do everything we can to fix it before we get to the point of truency and fines. >> One of the pieces that's that helps us a lot is that relationship right at the door. Um, taking that away from the high school where I remember seeing uh Mr. Yorkie greet every student. I remember see I I know I see Mr. Schustler, Mr. Soma do that as well. other staff greeting students by name as they come in. We have that one door where they can come in. They can't walk
014past you without saying good morning and hello and checking in to see how they're doing and making sure and you can read the body language when they get out of the car, right? How you know how's the day going to go? But that piece right there is really important uh to connect with them. The other piece that I think is wonderful about our attendance and why it's continued to go up gone up is the fact that our students are now messaging their classmates and saying, "Hey, you coming to school today? Are you going to be there today? Do you need a ride? Um should I pick you And that's going on a lot in our building right now and it is a absolute blessing because the students are taking care of the students and making
015sure that they're attending school. It's what exactly what we needed uh during this time which has been great. >> Does that not usually happen other years? Like is that a newer development? >> Um I would say we have more students that are driving now. So no, it is a little bit new of a newer development because we have more students that have the ability to self transport. But I I don't think prior to Miss Marcus starting there uh that the relationship with all the students wasn't s such a a family style of relationship that we have right now because of the way we've been kind of uh growing as a group in that building. So in the past the students were fine but they were more individualized taking care of their stuff and it wasn't
016such a big concern if your classmate didn't make it. Now it's like we want everybody here uh we want this guy here to be playing basketball with this person and this person wants to spend time with this person. So that's constant communication is great. Uh and again it just it's really helped. >> We also have um attendance incentives on Fridays that um it's not just attendance but also having a C or higher in all their classes. No missing assignments and they are working every day makes them eligible for a group usually cooking food based activity. We're really lucky to have a full kitchen. So, we do a lot of cooking, a lot of, "Oh, I saw this recipe on Tik Tok. Can we do that this week?" And we'll vote on what they want to
017make. And it's been really cool and uh really uh has helped our attendance on Fridays, especially with that addition. And I wanted to I think data is really important, too. So, this is two separate pieces of attendance data that I think give a good picture to catalyst. On your left, you can see September 2024, we had a 74% full day attendance rate. And this September, we were at 91.45%. And we have continued to see that growth every month this school year, which has been really exciting. And then the the graph that I put up there, the blue line, um, well, each each letter ABC represents a student who had attendance issues before they came to Catalyst. And then so the the blue dot is where what their attendance rate was before Catalyst and then the
018red dot is after they've been at Catalyst for a month. So for many students, we're seeing that our our approach to attendance is working. It's helping students who are chronically absent and um so yes, data behind what we're doing. We have students that missed uh just a ton of school in the past to turning it around and not missing a single day of school by by being at Catalyst. And I think that piece for them has been a huge piece. They feel safe, they feel comfortable, and it works for them. >> And for our instructional model at Catalyst, we are we use a mix of different academic tools and we have some traditional in-person learning classes. We have students have opportunities to learn by experience, whether that be through uh work release, volunteering, trying different
019things in the community, doing job chats with people who are in a career they're interested in. We also house the district's GED option 2 program, and we do have at least a few students every year who utilize that. We offer credit recovery courses and credit rescue courses and we utilize the universal design for learning which really focuses on students being able to feel engaged and represented and having meaning in their day-to-day learning. Um, some classes that you might see on an average day in Catalyst include language arts like they would have anywhere. Um, Casey teaches a really, really awesome sociology class that students always say is their favorite class. And I pretend not to be heard by that, but it's a really awesome class where they do a lot of discussion and I think that
020is adds to the relationship piece that we focus on too. We have a civics class, my favorite, we have a life skills class. We talk about job type life skills, independent living life skills, um, executive functioning. Are you really disorganized? How can you become more organized and make your life more functional? Um, cooking, laundry. We had a year where everyone was particularly bad at washing their hands. So, that was a lesson in life skills. Um, and so we have a we have a lot of class um classes offered. They can also take online classes too at Catalyst. And then every student in their alternative education plan sets a goal for themselves. So we do a lot of goal setting. We also talk about their mental health and their physical wellness. And um that life skills
021class where we do a lot of that is required that every Catalyst student takes at one time in their time at Catalyst. And then we also have counseling available either in person or online for students during the school day. So if that's a need they have, they don't have to leave and come back for that. It's really nice to have that service available for students if their families choose that right in our building. Students leave every day for work, which is a wonderful thing, and job shadows, volunteering. Um, and sometimes we do uh like group team activities at Mosquito Hill, weather permitting. So, they get a good mix of academics and their personal growth and also experiences out in the community. and the to explain what an alt ed plan looks like. We review students
022transcripts before they come to us and try to identify what their needs are and what the best way for them to attain the credits they need for graduation will be and we make a plan for them at that point. We also talk about what accommodations they might need, whether that's they can get up and take a break and walk around during class or um things that are reasonable accommodations but maybe aren't um would not logically work on a large scale in a bigger building like the high school. So, we're able to do a lot more universal accommodations for students and helping them find success when they haven't before. We also ask them to think about what's next for you after high school because that's a really big thing that a lot of students feel unprepared
023for. So, we try to talk about every aspect of life after high school and making sure they have a goal to gain the skills they're going to need for that. Whether that's college or career or just being um helpful members of their community, we want all of them to have a goal and to feel that they are prepared for that. So they de develop a smart goal for themselves and we check in on that throughout the school year and they are accountable to make sure that they're following through on the goals they set for themselves. >> So we have a lot of opportunities to get in the community and work with community members. Uh probably our biggest one right now is at the food pantry. uh monthly we get over there, haul all the food
024in and start putting it away uh with Rita and Susie and Mr. Rudy and all these other individuals in the community that I remember growing up with. Um and the best part about it is the interaction between the students and these adults, right? They're they're the students are learning a lot about that personal relationship, making connections with adults in the community. Uh but they're also learning what what what is needed to provide for the community, right? they're seeing something that maybe they've used as a family in the past, but they're seeing how they can lend a hand and help out to that. And uh I always try to remind them that when we go there and we do this work in the for the city and for for the different individuals that's paying our fees
025over there for the Washington Center to go to gym class, right? So just helping them understand like we we do need to give back. We do need to have that opportunity to support our community. We helped set up for 4K outreach. We did fatheraughter dance set up the other day. That was amazing. Um, again, being able to see the students outside of the classroom and use their creativity and help support Morgan and the city when they're when they're when they're in need. So, Morgan would be setting up that whole event by herself. Uh, and if you've never been to the father-daughter dance, it's a lot of setup. So, instead of it taking a full day for her, I think it takes a little bit less, maybe not even a half a day for it to
026get set up. So, it's just a great opportunity for our students to work uh alongside other members in the community. Plus, I think you all know how important it is for uh a high school kid to meet an adult outside of their parent, right? To have a conversation with an adult outside of the people in their family. It teaches them a lot and it helps them learn how to interact and engage. And sometimes you're always shocked at at the way they're able to kind of switch how they talk in school uh with their friends and then all of a sudden they're talking and I'll take a little look like is that oh listen to them, look at them. You know, they're they're all professional, all smiling, just really doing a great job of interacting with
027the adults. So, couldn't be prouder with the amount of community service that they do and they choose to do. We often offer and say you don't have to, but nobody usually says no to getting up, getting out of class, skipping some homework, uh, and hauling some stuff and supporting people who who care about you and end up giving you brownies at the end of your uh, support for them. So, just great opportunities uh, for them. uh different experiences that they've had going to Splunking, then going to Mosquito Hill, volunteering at the park and the riverw walks uh and also being able to get that counseling uh getting credits for doing counseling uh if that's something that they do need. Uh workbased learning, the youth apprentichip program has been amazing for us, right? Working with Lisa
028uh and that uh organization. uh we always brag about a couple of our students that have been through the work uh the YA uh program, the youth apprentichip program, and we we are able to use that example with our other students to talk about what that will mean for them if they choose to go that route. Uh and it's just been a great opportunity to be able to bring somebody in and talk to the students that's not us uh to be able to guide them and help them uh in their future careers. We always want to make sure that our that the outcomes that students are that students have after Catalyst are centered on their goals for themselves. And we try to offer multiple pathways to graduation. Whether that's the traditional route, earning all of
029your credits or using the GED option 2 program, which has been really wonderful for several students that for reasons sometimes out of their control, were not in school, could not attain credits, but they they were listening when they were there, and they know many more things than um maybe were assumed. So, it's been wonderful to have that as an option for students and um we're seeing that students leave with better connections to their community, to career options. Some students choose to go on to Fox Valley Tech or similar and just have um a more well-rounded young person to go out into the world. And now for the next slide, since we told you about Catalyst, I wanted to capture our students voices. These are some of the things that they talk about in regards to
030our climate and our culture. And so I wanted to share that there. Um many of our students feel that they are treated respectfully, that they're engaged, that we aren't talking at them, that we that we have dialogues with them. They feel validated and supported at Catalyst. And um they really talk about the family style that they feel school is, which I think has been a really wonderful um thing for many of our students that just need those relationships, positive relationships where they feel that whatever you are, whoever you are, whatever your past experiences have been, this is a place for you. And um yeah, it's been a really, really wonderful three years at Catalyst. I think it's a great program and I'm so grateful that this school district has it. And one last thing I
031wanted to say is we've had students come from other dis districts that hear good things about New London and hear good things about Tatalyst and uh are sent our way. So I I wish every school district had this. So I'm really glad that it's available here for students. Any >> questions? So you've been there for a while. Casey, what have you seen a a change in the students that are coming to you in terms of their needs years and even in the three years that that you've been there? >> Yeah, I think uh you know we used to have this this idea of what Catalyst was where the bad kids go to Catalyst, right? And um just from years of experience that that term bad kid always kind of threw me off. And it's never
032a term I ever want to hear a student be referred to as this because all these kids have their own individualistic experiences, right? So who am I to judge a student then when they come in if they've been in in trouble or if they've had issues with anything. What I'm seeing in the population or what I've seen over the course of these few years is that you know there just there is something about these kids that come in with one or two credits that they just feel like they never had an opportunity in the school that they're at. Now, that doesn't mean it was New London. It could be other schools. Uh they're approaching when they get in. It's just a lot of they get to us and and it's almost like they're ready to
033kind of move forward after like a week of getting with us. They understand that it's a better it's a safer environment. They feel comfortable, right? I think if we were running the building the way we are now 5 years ago, I think we would have the same feeling about the students that they're in a better spot right now than they are. I think we just have evolved as a program and as a school district in what we can provide for them. So I don't know if it's a change totally in our student population that comes to our building as in a mindset as staff members and how we approach the kids and what we know might work best for them. >> Okay. Thanks. Yeah. >> Any other questions? >> I was going to say I'm
034I'm on the Washington center board. >> Oh. and we oversee the food pantry program. And in every meeting, your group comes up about, you know, not only the help, but the how courteous they are and how well they interact with with with the other adults. And then we also get some comments from the people who live in the Washington Center. They love seeing the kids come over there and when there is an opportunity or a situation where they interact again the same thing you know that uh they're very respectful and engaging with with the uh residents residents there. So I mean kudos to you guys for building them to you know and help them to uh to learn those those life skills. I think that's that's really really important, >> you know, because they're not
035working there, >> right? >> You know, they're they're volunteering and they're and they're interacting. And I think I think my proud moments are when my dad comes to me and says, "Do you know so and so?" And I I have no idea who he's talking about, but I just go, "Sure." And and he he met your students. He's over at the at the Washington Center walking or he's doing this or you guys helped out here. And they just think your kids are the greatest kids and they're just so proud to be uh working alongside them. And those are the moments where I'm like, we're we're matching what we need for a community. We're matching what we need for these students. And when when the community members outside of the ones we directly engage with out
036there can comment about our students, that's how I know that we're doing the right work and that my our students are putting in the time to to to make changes in their lives and kind of move forward with uh supporting their community. We always talk about college and career ready and uh being a supportive person in our community and and our students are exactly that. Do any of your former students come back and talk to your existing group? >> No, that's that's yeah um a student came back after going to Fox Valley Tech, right? And he came and talked about Fox Valley Tech. We have um we have a student that finished youth apprenticeship and is working as a welder now and making a lot of money and he's like tell me when I should
037come and tell everyone about it and he's ready to recruit and uh and you know his classmates said he knew the last few years. So definitely um something that happens and I love when that happens even when it's students I didn't know because it's nice to see how the success that they're finding. I went to get a new phone provider and there was a former Catalyst student working at T-Mobile and he just told me how great his life has been and how he felt supported especially by Mr. Kaepernick as he said uh that he's the coolest guy ever. So, it was really cool to >> um it was so cool for me to hear that from from someone I didn't know and and just really see the value in our community for a school like
038this. >> We definitely appreciate the opportunity to be able to work alongside our students and and Catalyst when we are at these youth the Yara meetings we are unique I believe in the idea of what uh alternative education uh school looks like. So the opportunity to continue this process and work with these students will just continue to help our community and our students as we move forward. So just we really do enjoy that opportunity. It's a great place to work and we always want people to come and observe uh when they get the opportunity or come check us out. So please take us up on that offer at some point. Uh we just appreciate the opportunity. >> Thank you Kate. Thank you. I'd like to also recognize Sarah Johnson, Riley, Husler, Susan Moore, Aaron. Again,
039thank you all as well as our board that members that are present support that. So, definitely a team effort. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Moving on, review and potential approvement approval of New London High School Spanish Club International Trip Destination Reconsideration. >> Okay. And the and the key word there is reconsideration. Uh >> Senora Selski is here this evening to talk about uh the trip that was currently in the works and uh that one reached out to me a couple weeks ago through Mr. Soma as well with a change in some unforeseen circumstances but yet still looking to be solutionbased oriented as to what could be next and that's what tonight's discussion is about. So >> um please bear with me. Oh Jesus talk. >> Um yeah just I think the >> for many
040reasons the economy and the the world as it is today just had less students interested in traveling with us. Um and so but still a nice base of kids that really wanted to take advantage of that. So was very thankful that Mr. Black and Mr. FOMO were um supportive in going back to the drawing board, working with Interact. So, we're proposing a trip. It's through the same company. It's the same time frame. It's next year, spring break. Um but we're shooting for like $6 to $700 cheaper. The range of six to seven is based on like if if we get 20 kids, it's obviously cheaper than if there's only 12 students who are interested. Um but tried to like our two big things going back trying to redesign something um we wanted just to appeal
041to more students so it's not quite in the students world it's not as museumy as Spain um so we still like there's some great sorry I had to write it down um we still visit an indigenous village which was one of the the highlights from the Panama trip three years ago Um so the students get to see that um they have an interaction with students at like an afterchool program or an orphanage like underprivileged kids um that they get to interact with. Um they have a dance lesson and a and a cooking lesson and they still stay with a host family for a portion of the time and then trying to kind of appease or appeal to the students who don't want the museum trip. we're kind of bridging their learning with like the ecology,
042biology aspect. Um so we'll spend time in the rainforest. Um get lessons on like plants and animals and um they go to a coffee plantation and of course like the two student highlights, they do get to go ziplining and there is a beach day. So yeah, student world, those are the important things, but we try to sneak all the learning in so that they like go back and go, "Oh, that actually like I got to use my Spanish and that was a cool opportunity." So >> did I miss about how much this range of budget was. >> Um >> I know you said it was cheaper than Spain. I'm just curious. >> You don't have to nail it. Spain was and if there are 20 students that go then it's 37 and if there's um
043at least 12 students then it's 38.40. So like significantly cheaper for families. Uh, another nice thing with traveling to Costa Rica versus Europe, um, there's no visas like stamps required for passports and just the the ease of getting into Costa Rica and out is is a little bit easier. So, any questions? Okay, with that, uh, we'll be looking for a motion to approve the 2027 Spanish Club foreign travel reconsideration request to Costa Rica. >> I'll make the motion and I'll second it. >> All in favor? >> I spending money. Do we have to do >> Motion pass? We're not spending anything. >> Unless you want to pay for one of the kids trips. My own kids. I got to pay for them. >> I'm a chat room, but I'm not cool unlike Casey >> with
044my kids. >> I'm definitely not that. >> Yes. >> Okay, the motion passes. Thanks. Thanks for >> Thank you. >> Moving on. Update on the smart goal addressing chronic absenteeism. Scott, >> thank you. School board members, uh, in your materials are the results addressing the target areas through grade four of chronic absenteeism which were developed this past late summer, early fall reporting out. Uh, just to to uh start on page one and work our way through the previous year attendance rates, year- end attendance rates um are noted there accordingly for through that time frame for you to reflect on. And then as well the current attendance rates that we are experiencing thus far overall within um overall uh we're within uh seeing some some gains but again in this in this process this is where
045all right January we have you know February March April and May so we're adding months yet to come and all of us know that uh the next couple months here often are challenging times for attendance where we need to really stay on our our students and families to ensure that integrity piece of being at school and so on and so forth. So, compliments to all of our buildings that have taken the extra edge of initiatives to uh promote attendance and why it matters within and and how it relates to to where we are right now. So the the game is on, if you will, in the sense of continuing to to push forward with that um high-risisk absenteeism within our elementary school as we move forward. >> So some of our elementary schools have incentive
046type programs like in previous years before we set up these goals, right? >> Which which buildings were they? You know, off the top of your head, >> you know, I would >> I think Lincoln for sure. I I'm quite certain Lincoln would I know Holly out of Sugar Bush for like anything with your your children out there off hand. I know that ISMS is engaged in something that's March Madness attendance that's going on within. So they're they're all very much bringing forward that that extra attention to it. So that >> any questions? >> I just had a question on the the high-risk absenteeism on your second column. >> So is this saying like last >> Yeah. last year like one in five kids were chronically. >> That's what that would represent and that's thus why
047we would look at reducing that by it was to 10% the first year or 15% and bringing that down you know considerably right and that's 10 or more absences of being um unexcused or unaccounted for within that. So, >> I mean, if you look at the recent months, like it's not even near. >> Yep. >> So, I felt like, oh, that's you did. You acted like it was maybe less significant. And I'm like, well, that looks really good to me. >> It it does. Um, I'm just always throwing out that caveat that between now and the end of the year, you know, that's we're we're only adding those are the numbers of where we're at. >> Comparing to the end of last year, >> correct? Exactly. Where the end of last year, say sugar bush
048at 29.4. We're currently at 12.3. So we're a little less than halfway, you know, what that was last year. So to to come in less than that, the efforts would need to be substantial. U looking at the other buildings and districts or excuse me, buildings um primar Lincoln who's giving best effort at their building 6.2 right now compared to the year average of 31.2. They're they're really doing a knockout job to um to to meet that goal and strive forward. So, >> and when you say unexcused absence, that's where they in call in the the kids just didn't go uh show up to school. >> Yep. It's it's unexcused in that regard, but also after 10, you know, days, uh it still counts against an individual. You know, if a let's say a family vacation,
049right? you know, if you're going to ask, you know, that that type of thing. Those are they're excused, but they count against, you know, that >> into that 10 into that >> it comes into the formula and when it gets over 10, yes, it comes into that formula of being beyond >> because of an illness or >> Right. It's just you're you're gone. You're gone with it. On occasion, there are items that are called exempt, but we're continually looking and refining what exempt means to making sure that that is as accurate as possible as we look at. Okay. Just a question. Um, one of the things in the smart goal was reminding uh buildings of the of the tru of the truency enforcement uh tool. >> And um is your impression that that that is
050something that is um out there and everybody is willing to use if it if it gets to that? It it is it's uh it's part of that conversation that if a student is approaching uh you know that that trigger or number there's multiple steps on the front and before a truency notice where we're having those conversations if it continues it could lead to this and if we get to that point and it it's the only alternative it will be processed through. So >> just board members as well just as a a forwardlooking as far as our smart goals and what we look to bring forward in the month the April regular meeting we'll be sharing feedback on um at 20 and what that means far as our performance rates for our students and how they
051performed through I Ready thus far. So kind of a a check base of our elementary and um their proficiencies and what they've been performing this year as well. So we'll be we'll have our data concluded and so we'll be able to give a real good outlook as to the end of the year and what the summer school perspective might look like. So that will come in the near future. >> Time is flying. Y any questions? >> Uh moving on topic D the will schoolboard summit conference consideration 2026. >> Chris, I'm going to turn this over to you as an opportunity to share. Um well this is the third year in a row that uh Wisconsin Institute of Law of Liberty has held their annual schoolboard summit. It's grown u grew from the first year to
052the second year and is expected to this year as well. Um and last year was the first year that we made it a a policy for that year of board members that wanted to go would be reimbursed for mileage um as well as the cost of the u uh fees to to go to it. and Andy and I went um last year uh and um it was we reported back at the time, but in case you know people don't remember what we took away from that um I've got a few notes here just um to me though it it is u an intensive one-day deal and the expertise uh unlike the WB B conferences which are also good and wide ranging. Wisconsin Institute of Law of Liberty is just honing in on two things, policy
053and legal. And um and the the thing I like about it, you get full access to a number of attorneys both in the sessions and outside of the sessions to ask any questions where we don't have to pay a bill to our attorney to get an answer. Um uh and also um they cover topics u that aren't really always fully covered by the WSB. Uh some of the best ones and Andy might have something to say about that is u the title nine policy ones that one that they did the first year that I went on my own um 2024 was very um what much more descriptive than what the WSB um WSB kind of told you how to comply with the administration's Title N. these guys told you how to comply if that was
054your mindset, but also uh what were the chances that these things were going to get thrown these changes were going to get thrown out um in federal court. and they told us where where everything was and uh told us opinions of attorneys that that these things were not uh legal and of course th those those uh things were thrown out by the Supreme Court uh in early 2025. So they they they're ahead of the curve on those kind of things. They also had a really good one on cell phone policy and our cell phone policy actually is ahead of the curve of where most districts are. Uh but uh it was really good as to data on uh schools that have a tight cell phone policy and and the academic um improve or the the
055academic achievements versus schools that allow you know full use of sil cell phones or even somewhat somewhat restricted use of cell phones but still allow them within the classes. So it was a very good it was a very good thing from an expert there. There were um uh there was a school safety one which was real thorough. It was run by a guy who um uh he's the father of a young lady that was killed in the Parkland shooting of the Parkland High School. and he made it his goal to try to never have, you know, those kind of shootings in Florida again. and he got himself elected to the Florida Department of Education and he he researched these things thoroughly and uh gave gave a lot of tools um uh on things you know
056multiple things that they didn't do at parkland that you know have been implemented in Florida since then. It was it was quite good. Anyway, it's it's a good thing. I I don't want to draw. I guess I'm just proposing that we do it again. I'm a short-timer here, so I'm not asking it for for my own self to be uh sent there. But for anybody currently on the board uh that wants to go, I would suggest that we um support them. As well as >> Is there an updated agenda for this year? Like the topics you talked about >> that was supposed to be coming out yesterday. It didn't come out. >> Maybe uh maybe we could find a way to share that before anyone commits. >> Yeah, we could before anybody decides whether to
057do it. There's plenty of time this year. It's the 24th >> 4th of April >> of April. And uh I would propose though that uh future member of the board who's present tonight be included as somebody that could be sent if he's available as well as any other. >> I wouldn't mind seeing a recap on the cell phone thing. like I'm super intrigued by it. I know we have high school staff here, but you know, for some people that's a new topic and it's kind of in the news and I would love to see I think maybe like one of my boys last year was the first year was implemented and like how the engagement's grown or what help the teachers feel of you know them back to the present kind of a thing because
058we know it's a distraction. Um I mean I would just >> I just think for us it'd be great to report on our own progress. Sure. >> Board members, if you have interest in attending, just uh give me a call, shoot me an email or whatnot and I can assist getting you registered for that via the school as well. Then >> do you think we need a motion to support it or >> I don't think so. No, people want to attend that. >> Yeah, I think it' probably be relevant to include maybe the agenda before we decide. >> Yeah, we'll get that. will definitely be coming out in the next week and I will get that to Scott. And >> also um they do they do sample policies for different things. This is an example
059of policy manual and I have about four of them if like it is um they're constantly coming up with new ones. So this is year and a half old. They've come out with several more but they're on their website and I can supply people with that. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh moving on topic e his way events youth rally. >> So board members this is more of a you know we talked about one of our pillars of being engaged and connected with not only our student staff uh but as well as our families and community and this is certainly that fits that uh that pillar that we look for. So Bob Lens is a charact character assembly speaker that is not new to the profession. and many of our staff may have heard him speak
060uh prior to that every four-year cycle where it's new students uh in front of them in listening to the message. Uh Bob will be in our middle school and our high school on the 18th of March and then as well uh be engaged in a community event and Chris, would you want to share what that community event might the the middle school will actually be Monday 2 p.m. for a character assembly. Um, and I'm sure if people want to check into that assembly, they're they'd be welcome. Uh, principal um principles would probably welcome them to come as a guest. And then at the high school will be uh two different assemblies, one for freshman and uh sophomores at 9:00 and one for juniors and seniors at 9:55 in the auditorium. Uh there is a community
061event that's sponsored by area churches. Um His Way Events has been doing these kind of uh events uh ever since 2006. This would be the 17th one. I've never seen so many churches excited about it. There's 11 churches that are um co-sponsors of it and a number of businesses. um and u free pizza um door prizes and Bob will speak and at this at this particular event it's a it's a community event sponsored by churches he will also discuss um his faith as well as character. >> So it's basically hosted at the high school for anyone. >> It's at the high school. Yeah. with um and it'll be um the cafeteria as well as the auditorium that's under use for that. It's 6:00 to 8:00. I do have flyers about it if anybody would like
062some. >> Um and I think in in your packet there's one as well. So, thank you for the opportunity to to announce that. Uh you know, he's he's a friend of mine. He's Ellen's former boss years ago. she worked for that thatization and um I believe he's done a lot of a lot of good for our Wisconsin community and nationwide. He's the the one of the most if not the most in demand speaker for public schools. >> All right, any questions? >> Um with that we will move into close session. Pursuant to section 19851C, Wisconsin statutes, the board of education will convene in close session to discuss the continued employment of certified support and co-curricular staff members over which the board has jurisdiction and exercises responsibility. Pursuant to section 19.851C 851c Wisconsin statutes. The board
063of education will convene in close session to discuss the employment and compensation administrative certified support and co-curricular staff members over which the board has jurisdiction and exercises responsibility. First to section 19851F Wisconsin statutes, the board of education will convene in close session for the purpose of considering personal information concerning financial, medical, social, or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons including students. except where uh B applies which if discussed in public would likely have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data. So we need a motion to go into close session. >> I'll make motion second roll call. >> Yes. >> K Bton. Yes. >> Uh Nate, >> yes. >> Uh Chris Martinson. >> Yes. Amy Angel. >> Yes. >> All right. So at 6:50
064we are moving. Thank you everyone.