001Well, >> what's it? >> Okay. >> Um, roll call. Everyone except for Holly is present and accounted for. Um, establishment. Let's move on with the pledge of allegiance. I >> aliance 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. We're into it. Consent agenda. Um, tonight we'd like to we'd like to combine A through F unless somebody has an objection to that. >> So, so moved. >> So moved. Do I have a second? >> I'll second that. >> All in favor? I would I would um like to have um E removed from the consent agenda. >> Okay. >> Um hang on a second. Let me >> E through F minus E. >> Correct. >> In that
002case, I'll revise my motion A through D plus F. >> Okay. >> For the consent agenda. >> Do I have a second? I'll second that. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I opposed. Moving right into reports. >> Uh, Mr. calendar board members and community members with us tonight. Uh, to look at district events. Uh, well into the middle of November. Uh, note that our special board meeting on the 25th is a Tuesday, uh, not a Wednesday. So note to that uh tomorrow night we have our induction program for the National Honor Society. All board members are welcome to join that as well. Um one item of interest I'd like to share. Right now we currently have a tenative date set for the policy committee meeting to uh gather on the 17th. Mr. Martinson has
003a a conflict on that. Chris, do you want to talk to that and what might be a solution or a potential idea? Um yeah, I had a sudden trip come up um that needs to happen. Um first three days of that week would be available for Thursday or Friday or the following week. >> So board members, if I try to coordinate another day at that 7:15 time frame with each of you, would that would that be appropriate to try to do that? >> Yes. >> Okay. You're you're not asking for a decision the second >> unless there's unless there's a common date that all of you want to try to work on right now. Otherwise, we can coordinate it outside of that. >> So, Monday is not happening. >> Monday is not happening. Correct. >>
004Uh note there's an instructional committee meeting prior to our special meeting on the 25th and uh that night our marching band will be participating in their annual Appleton Christmas parade. the month of December just highlighting we have one meeting in the month of December and that's the second Wednesday which is December 12th and then I listed the litany of concerts that are happening um all up at the high school in the auditorium if able to attend please do so next recognize our monthly celebrations for the month of October for our students at elementary and our intermediate middle school uh display an outstanding character their traits throughout as recognized by their building level staff and principal. So, congratulations to all students. They've been recognized at their monthly character assemblies. On to uh my report specifically. Uh
005this is just a time of year we talk about the annual schoolboard election and that notice uh that typically takes place on November 25th uh for our spring election on April 7th. Noted deadlines are slated there for candidacy non-candidacy and filling out paperwork accordingly. Um note that the election again is on uh April 7th with the board members uh taking their office on April 27th. Uh two candidates or two board members are up for election re-election this year. Mr. Heidman and Mr. Martinson and we will post according information as we are obligated to moving forward. Uh the B212 extra degree of effort. those of you that may have taken in the pops concert recently at the high school. Uh another great outstanding event where our uh show choirs specifically were able to debut a little
006snippet if you will of their events um and as well as choirs uh performed packed house outstanding and uh Mr. Renick, Mr. Spindler are and the show band is ready to take on this year with excitement. We wish him very well. look forward to their annual excuse me performance for SIG stock later on in January. Board members, the uh we'll be talking informally about the 2026 uh Wisconsin Association of School Board convention which takes place January 21st to the 23rd. I do need um interest or commitment of individuals uh wishing to attend. I know informally I've been talking to some of you. Um Mark, you had said yes, Chris. Yes to that as well. >> Maybe. Okay, Mr. Jman, I don't know if that fits your schedule. Yeah. Date. >> Maybe. Okay. All right. So,
007if we could um email me or I can send out a message uh by the end of this week. Uh the rooms and this and that. We have a tenative hold on uh the spaces we need, but we need to have registration um done pronto, if you will, to uh ensure that we can retain those group space there. >> You're asking for that by December 15th or >> I I would like to know by this Friday if if we could. Yeah. >> And you can't just go for one day, right? Like I have to take two days vacation. >> You you can Yeah, you can you can go for uh one or all. >> Go down there for the day. Is there one that's better than another? Like that's usually better to try to not
008>> Thursday is usually the peak. There's a lot of things that happen >> Thursday. >> Friday isn't usually not. So >> Friday is like a day Thursday if you're going to pick two days. >> There's going to be one conference you're going to attend over another. >> Conferences are >> but I wouldn't know the schedule right till >> Well, do you get the do you get the um WB magazine? >> Oh yeah, >> it's in there. This is all the all the um >> are you think they showed up today or yesterday? So >> I I caution Scott I I kind of wanted to talk about it since you brought it up the WB. I did have to laugh a little bit, grit my teeth with the latest WSB mailer that we got um their
009monthly their monthly newsletter. um it spelling out step by step how how does the WASB set our legislated advocacy positions if they actually did it the way they said in the article I think everybody would be happy but the problem was with with they laid it out just the way it's supposed to happen but it in the past isn't exactly how it has happened and I'm hoping that maybe they heard loud and clear after last year's delegates convention and they and they straighten things out. >> Just a couple final things. Veterans Day program which took place yesterday. Thank you to uh board members, guest staff that participated in the uh the program. We had a a great group of veterans from our community and surrounding area join us for the program. Our two guest speakers
010did an outstanding job under the direction of Mrs. Pinch and her team lining up with uh Mr. Marine and some connects that were out there to bring our guest speakers in. Very much appreciated our greater community and the veterans that were recognized not only here but around our country. Last thing I have is very informal but I wanted to share it. I did share in an email yesterday. Um so [clears throat] yesterday the public release of school report cards came out and we will have a much more in-depth u presentation later on in the month. But I just wanted uh just to highlight just a few items there just from that from that email that I shared. You know, as a district, uh very proud of this. We made some significant gains. Uh exceeding expectations
011this year, a score of 71.3 from 628 last year. Uh to highlight some of our elementary schools, very high level, Lincoln meets expectations, 69.4 from 574 last year. Uh Park View up as well from to 748 exceeds expectations. Last year 66 met expectations. Refill Elementary up just a bit from uh to 752 from 749 exceeding expectations. Jamus Elementary took a little dip to from 73 but continue to meet expectations. Uh the ISMS nice step forward to 737 exceeds expectations where last year at 676 met expectations and the high school saw a nice increase as well uh to 70.4 meeting expectations ever so close to uh exceeding uh but last year if you remember we were at 57.8 and that just didn't happen by chance. The board is very much part of those conversations and we'll
012know hear more about that as we move forward. Um, if you hear feedback from others around or uh the public portal is definitely out there for individuals to to navigate and move through and if you have questions by all means let us know. So, thank you. Any questions? >> Quick question on that. Scott, did they change how they weigh the results? >> They did that play a factor into our results this year? >> So, they reormed again. That's what I thought, >> right? um from the like the scoring grid everything uh went up a point to achieve that the different levels. Yes, they did renor from last year to this year. >> But if you remember you were getting ahead of that um with our meeting remember when we were had that reading goal and
013he's like we probably would meet expectations with the new >> um metrics and but we knew we wanted to do better based on our [clears throat] old metrics. That makes sense. >> Moving in the right direction. So, uh, would it [clears throat] be safe to say though that the reorming wasn't nearly enough to accomplish what what we did? In other words, >> there's more to it than >> Oh, our local efforts definitely from our our from all levels, starting with our students and and staff and admin and parents and community definitely plays into to the results. This just doesn't happen because of reorming. There's a there's definitely a local effort that that shows growth and achievement gains from last year to this year. >> Awesome. I I think it's notable to say that uh uh
014this was probably a team effort with uh many leaders of the buildings being involved in figuring this out and um uh working on on improvement as opposed to putting it all on the leadership of the department. >> Yeah, it's a group effort. Absolutely. With hands down the walk together on this. So, we'll hear more about that at the end of the month uh report from Mrs. McCartney. >> Moving forward, Jill Mark [clears throat] Jill Mark. >> Okay. Good evening. I only have one item on the uh director report for this month, but it it is a big item. The board has worked really hard on the stadium concessions and bathroom space. I just wanted to give you an update of where we're at as we approach winter. There have been no surprises so far. And
015anybody who's walked down there with either the football season or soccer season or any other reason has seen the the project continue to evolve. And I just walked down there today to to check in again and it it's it's going to be amazing. Our community is going to appreciate it. Um, our fans, both our home fans and our guests and our clubs that work the facilities will definitely have an enhancement of what they've been using before. Uh, but I just wanted to give an update to you because one, there's a voucher uh, in a little bit that we'll talk about and then also as we're approaching winter. We won't get a chance to go back there and tour that. But we will definitely have an opening in the spring where we're able to get, you
016know, our full board out there to take a look, ask questions, things like that, uh, as we approach. But we're really excited. There has been no surprises so far, and I think everyone is going to be extremely pleased with the site. So, do you even bother hooking up the water this fall? >> By design, no, because then we just have to winterize it again anyway. So, yes, Doug Wonderlick, when we first started talking in August, September, he said, "We'll get everything all set, ready to go. We'll turn it over to you, but we'll come back in the spring and show you how to turn everything on, and then in the fall again, we'll help you winterize it." So, uh, next fall, just just because he wants to be there to make sure that it works
017the way that it should. And Uh the plumbing is a big part of that. >> Um I just have one comment that could be an expenditure. Um for the grid iron club, they're doing their wrap-up meeting on December 3rd and need to budget for coolers because you know those coolers do not stay shut. Um in fact, we have like a ruler in there half the time. Um so I don't know if it makes sense to put that on your radar. Um just because they're trying to budget. have we have a lot of seniors that need the senior scholarships and like >> I think that's a large expense to get a new cooler. So >> I thought we already approved that. >> Well, I don't know. It was up in the air >> the way I
018understood it. We >> we that was we said we'd take care of that. >> Yes. So like in the report it said there's a collaboration in there and try to work. >> That's where I was going. >> Make sure that we get >> we just don't want to pick something on our own. We want to make sure we talk to the football group [clears throat] and the soccer group, but anybody else who's using it because when we put a a cooler in there, it's going to stay in there. We're not rolling it out between each season for each group. It's going to be the the cooler that's there that everybody's going to use. And if there's, you know, we the board did approve some of the expenditures for that if it fits, but we'll come
019back to that once we get there and make it happen. We're not going to bring the old coolers that are not functioning well from over there into the site. >> Right. I saw your collaboration note, so I thought it might make sense because it was like two weeks away on maybe connecting even with soccer too and maybe they know by then because I don't think the good iron club meets again until football starts. >> Okay. Thank you for pointing that out. >> No. >> All right. Director of people services. Good evening board and community. Um so I wanted to give you a few updates of some great things that have been happening in the district this past month. Um if you're familiar with sources of strength, that's something that's been happening in the district for
020um several years. But this past um summer we had an update for our um the staff lead leaders and then in October we had our peer mentors were um retrained at the Washington um center and so that was um a very beneficial um thing that happened recently. So they had a hands-on training so they were gearing up for the school year. We have about 60 um youth that are the peer mentors for that at the middle school. So we have a lot of interest in that and they focus on learning powerful ways to spread hope and health and strength throughout our school and the community. Um, sources of strength is a best practice strengthbased approach to promoting well-being and help seeking and resilience and healthy coping and a sense of belonging. And Ellie Shu and
021um Teresa Renoso are the um coordinators of the sources of strength at um the ISMS. And so we're really thankful for all the work that they do for that. And um they during the year they facilitate what are called campaigns and those are um just kind of um targeted focused kind of events um to promote different themes for the students. So um and they have told me they wanted to be sure that the board is aware that they would welcome you to ever come if you would like to um see them in action when they have a meeting or something like that. They would love to have you to come and check that out. And then um secondly, we I have some um guests here. Um some amazing um in particular um officer Dash and
022um Chief Wilson are here and another um one of our officers. But we just really wanted to recognize our incredible um school resource officers, but also just the broader law enforcement um community here in New London. And I have I I remember when I um had a meeting with um Chief Wilson when I first came to the district. It was in the first few weeks I think when I was here and I remember you had told me that we had such a great partnership and um this past month. I mean, I've seen that the whole time I've been here, but within the past month, that has just been just so crystal clear. Uh because we've had opportunities to see that in the most critical moments, how that's happened and just really appreciate, um all that
023happens. And so, um this our school's just very grateful to our school resource officers and to the police officers and recently demonstrated just what we would is exceptional professionalism and care and compassion in supporting a student and their family um during really a very significant mental health crisis. And um they're have this calm presence and manage the situation so well and really careful and thoughtful in their communication and um collaborating with a variety of different, you know, our school folks and other um spots within the community. And um that the student, you know, was connected with the help that they needed and it was a really difficult time, but but they did what was um what they needed to do, but really, I would say, even above and beyond. So, any everything that we would
024hope they would they would do, they were able to do that. They exemplify, I would say, the best in law enforcement by balancing safety with empathy and responding not only to the situation that was happening, but also to the emotional needs of those involved. And administration and the family as well felt that these officers should be recognized and um so in the um board report you can kind of see um officer Schmidt, Officer Papendorf, Officer Gash who's here, Officer Ewing, Officer Elliot, and Officer Ruff Dashel um were all very much involved in that. And so we're just really thankful and appreciate you guys being here with us tonight. >> [applause] >> All right. And um one last update I have for you is the um Wisconsin seal a smile. And um boy, we really have
025it going on here in New London with that um seal a smile. When I'm popping around to all the buildings in the district, we have really taken care of those kids teeth. And um we had 531 students in our district recently um have the dental screening and um as a part of that, you know, the kids don't have to leave school. They're having that taken place and that how convenient that is for families. And during that um 769 sealants were placed and 110 of those students needed to have some dental followup um required. And so they were able to make those referrals and 10 of those students needed something urgently done and so they were able to make that referral happen. And um so just really appreciate having that opportunity for that very important preventative
026um dental care because obviously we all if anybody has had anything not quite right with their um dental you know their dental status they know that that pain is really something and it would certainly impact learning for a student. So something else that's been going on. Any questions? Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to teaching and learning services. Tamila McCartney. >> Happy November. Um I want to talk first about our professional development day. On October 24th, we held our first of three professional development days. um where students stayed home and our full staff was there to get what they needed. Uh the among many other opportunities, our K through4 ELA staff got to work on that clear implementation of the UFly um resource that we are implementing this year. Our uh 5
027through eight ELA teachers are working through their own literacy uh progression as they study the book shifting the balance um in as a way to improve their literacy practices and intervention at the middle school. Our K12 math, all of K12 math teachers worked on discourse in math and improving student communication during math so that students are talking about what they're doing um which is developing another layer of numeric understanding for our students. Our high school staff got to work with Jeff Karen from CISA 6 who came in and helped um work with their PLC's on developing stronger practices and um stronger um alignment of um the curriculum within their PLC's. And then the middle school staff and some elementary also work with Jeff Karen in the afternoon um through uh some refining assessment practices. And
028what's really nice about Jeff and all that work that happened there, it's through a a grant from um the DPI. So, that one came on the state of Wisconsin. So, we had some great great p um professional development um with through that. If you ask staff members that attended Jeff's um sessions, they will attend to how well that went. Uh we also had the people services uh folks working within multiple different areas within our district with their leaders and with their specific content and areas in order to develop those practices. Everything from um preparing for giving the excess testing that's coming up in December to aligning practices um for special ed and literacy. So that was the October 24th date. We have two more coming up uh February and March and we're already in the
029planning stages for those. Uh second quarter is here. We are over a quarter of the way through the school year. Uh report cards went home to those elementary kiddos in the Thursday folders. Middle school uh grades can be seen using Skyward family access there and high school grades are posted only in semester. So parents can always check in with Skyward to make sure that they've got an update on how their students are doing by accessing that parent access in Skyward if they would like to. And again, reach out to your teachers if you have a question, please, because they're going to be the best ones to answer those questions. Um, before our professional development day on October 22nd, our 9inth graders came to school and they took a pre-ACCT test and our 11th graders came
030and took a practice ACT. And what was great about that timing, I'm sure the kids enjoyed the day immensely because that's just an awesome day of sitting down and trying to figure out what you know. But both of those assessments allow our kids and our teachers to get almost instant feedback on how they did. And because of that, our high school staff was able to take the data from that 20 the testing on the 22nd and on the 24th, they were able to use it immediately to look at groupings for interventions, to look at supports that are needed for different classes um and to set things up to help move keep moving our kids forward um in their learning and on those assessments. So we thank uh everybody who put the effort into making that
031day possible um and are really grateful that we have that beginning of the year data for that baseline. Uh two more things. The first one is that we had our first extra family engagement event in the district uh based on your recommend your your um looking for us to have those family engagement events in order to improve attendance. And this was our magic of reading event. So last Thursday, uh, families came to the high school. They were treated to some pizza and cookies and water donated by First State Bank and we, uh, had had the had the meal. The kids watched a magician, which my husband said was, you know, pretty good for a kids magician. So, I don't know if anyone else heard any reviews. Everyone got a little magic wand and we took
032the parents into the auditorium. And in the auditorium, we were able to talk to them about the importance of attendance. Okay. Uh reading at home, the new grade advancement policy, the reorming of ACT 20, and just best practices about routines at home that we can use to support the kids at home so that getting to school is um a priority. We really want to thank the National Honor Society members and the be uh bulldog peer mentors. There we go. students who came because while those parents were in the auditorium, someone was keeping an eye on these kids and it was those high school students who came to help. So, it was a real effort all around from all of the elementary principles who took part in helping organize that and the um students who came
033to help super. So, it was a fun event. Who doesn't love some magic? And balloons. There were balloons at the end. All right. The last thing is our little instructional insights. I wanted to talk to you uh today about CFAs. So, Common formative assessments are something that our PLC's used. So, for example, a group of second grade teachers, all of the second grade teachers from our district who meet twice a week um in a PLC meeting to talk to each other use common formative assessments to talk about how each of their kids are doing on the same skills. So, we all just finished this unit. We all gave an assessment or we gave a quick quiz partway through the math unit. How did your kids do? How did your kids do? and then they make
034comparisons and talk about strategies they've used and strategies that they could use from others. So, it's a way to professionally develop each other and have conversations about what's happening and to hold each other accountable for taking those moments of formative assessment with the students. So, there's your little uh nugget of knowledge for the day. Any questions? Thanks, >> Charles. Good evening, everyone. Uh, as Mrs. McCartney said, the first quarter has ended. Uh, students have had a lot of success in the classroom, but they've also had a lot of success outside of the classroom. A few things that I'm going to highlight tonight are including fall sports, which have wrapped up. Some of the highlights from fall sports was Brandon Clark in cross country. You've heard me mention him before. He qualified for the state competition
035individually and he placed 35th at that race and was the fourth fastest sophomore in the entire division 2 throughout the state. And then also through across all the sports there was 26 total allconerence awards that were received by athletes at New London High School. So that's a very good representation that we had based on how competitive our conference is through all the sports. And then with fall sports ending that means winter sports are started right away. Um Rock climbing, girls basketball, and hockey are all some of the sports that have started. The first girls basketball game is going to be next Tuesday against Palaski at home up at the high school. And bowling also has a very good representation for students. There's 34 high school students that are part of the bowling team and they
036have had their first competitions this week. Another sport is esports. They have meetings almost at every day after school and they are winning at all all the games that they play including Super Smash Bros. Madden, Rocket League and others. FFA they had their competition a couple weeks ago in Indianapolis their national competition and the a issues team made up of Vincent Bakus, Danielle Tank, Lane Ienberger, Bri Schmidt and Morgan Williams earned a bronze on their co-anorobic digesttor topic. So from what I understand that means that it was uh they got to choose what they wanted to present on. They presented on their um digesttor and they placed very well nationally. So that means we have very smart students at the high school that are understanding more about a issues than I would. Some of the
037highlights for music are magical. It's um uh singers, dancers. They perform while the audience eats uh medieval dinner. It's at the high school common. It happens on December 6th at 6 PM and then also December 7th at 1 PM. So, if you're able to attend that, I know that the choir would very much appreciate that. Then the choir also has a concert, their winter concert on December 15th at the high school. And then the band has their Appleton Christmas parade November 25th, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. And then the New London holiday parade December 5th, the Friday after Thanksgiving. So if any of you are able to attend that, we the band will be there. And then they also have their winter concert on December 8th. And then as Mr. Black had said before, NHS induction
038ceremonies tomorrow. So there's new juniors and seniors that are going to be inducted into the program. So if any of you are able to join, it starts at 6:30 in the auditorium. Um Mrs. Walford is the wisdom speaker. So she'll give a speech on her experiences and how to help these. And then afterwards there will be refreshments out in the comments for anyone who would like those. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to the third Friday people count report. >> So board members within your packet uh represents our official documentation of the third Friday count from September. Uh just some highlights noting total number of students physically that attend our district that were counted 1,935. Um, open enroll students uh within our district are 117. Open enroll 266. And then for the purpose
039of our reporting to the state and what that number and how it plays into our annual funding recognition of 2,120 students were accounted for. >> All right, Joe. Do you want to move right into the vouchers? >> Yes. Um, as I mentioned in the director report, um, one of the vouchers for the month to highlight is for RGM construction that is doing the stadium project that was progress billing so far. And then you can see below in the receipt highlight American Deposit Management Company. that number matches because we're taking that money from fund 46 for long-term capital improvement fund which the board approved when the project was approved. So taking the funds from um our fun 46 to pay for the project and then this is the time of the year where we begin to
040take line of credit dispersements due to the timing of our revenues and expenditures. So you can see we took a draw on the line of credit for our cash flow. We start to do that through the time we get our taxes and our next date. Any questions about any vouchers for receipt? So, we're looking for a motion to approve expenditures in the amount of $1,693,000476.35. >> Do I have that motion? I'll make a motion. Do >> I have a second? >> I'll second roll call. >> Uh Mark Rosson, >> yes. >> Nate Grundy, >> yes. >> John Haidderman, >> yes. >> Chris Martinson, >> yes. >> Andy Thorp, >> yes. >> Katie Batton, a yes. >> Receipts. Record receipts in the receipt register of November 5th, 2025 in the amount of 1,272,63343 cents. Do you
041have any anything else? >> Nothing else. >> Um I would note a $1,000 donation to the girls golf um team um for green fees and cart usage from Glen Karen Golf Course. >> Terrific. Thank you. >> Where are they? >> Oinsburg area. >> Okay. >> Between Marian and Oinsburg. >> So they can just go there and use them, >> right? >> Whatever. >> Right. Yes. >> All right. No unfinished business. Moving right into new business. >> Sure. >> Okay. First item up is the board update on our board of education smart goals addressing chronic absenteeism and uh curriculum. and board members in your packet I shared again the the two goals which were identified earlier this fall at your workstation I have a handout which many of our conversations tonight touched on some targeted areas
042in which we're driven from these goals just a quick uh reminder of where we're at the first goal on chronic absentism is to increase attendance in grades one through four by 25% over two years measured by state criteria area of chronic absenteeism uh with those benchmarks of improving 15% by June 26 and additional 10 by June 27th. So what you have in front of you is just a small narrative of things that have been done thus far when we talk about targeted areas of ways to communicate out that absenteeism and the importance of school attendance. All of us remember the our district-wide commitment that we made verbally publicly um and the time spent to do that coordinating efforts with students and families as to why this is important. At the beginning of the school year,
043our attendance proclamation that was recognized by the city of New London and townships where it was offered to as well to be recognized promoting attendance awareness in the month of September. uh the attendance awareness video which was produced and sent out multiple times on our um social media platform talking about the board's initiative as well as our annual initiative to uh strengthen student attendance and why it's important and how it makes a well-rounded students and you know is that foundation of best results community partnerships I had the uh not a new career choice but it was entertaining and fun um participated in the new London area chamber Thomas Frog Country 923 um one-hour radio visit with uh Cruz was the uh the DJ there and the district had the all the entire hour in between
044songs news and advertising to talk about the school district of New London. So during that time I emphasized the work of our board subgroup as well as attendance and curriculum act 20 as well as other initiatives that are important as to why our district is great. It was just it was a fun opportunity and uh the day after I was actually driving to work and um the radio personality randomly brought us up again just talking referencing the conversation from the previous day and uh some talking points there. So that conversation I think made a real strong impression and hopefully community members heard that as well or at least raised some awareness of that. As Mrs. McCartney had mentioned our parent engagement and education uh our first I'll say well ststructured engagement activity that was all
045elementary driven was this last week uh through the magic of reading. Uh the goals were first of all to invite families in do a fun activity uh together as families and then as well have an opportunity to talk about act 20 and what our elementary team and uh teaching and learning and staff have been doing to facilitate the assessments practices thus far this year with the uh testing that is ongoing. and then take some time to review the the policy which the board recently recommended on retention and promotion and what that means to them and the timing. Since then as well, we're looking at developing our cadence of communication that will come forward whenever we have an opportunity to talk, you know, report cards or something that where it's all going out collaboratively together. having
046that be part of um communication the act 20 the uh promotion retention policy understanding well in advance before we uh start next school year spontaneous attendant events I'm going to pick on a couple of our principles here to share um what has been going on in their buildings Mrs. pitch. Can you share some attendance activities that you've been focusing in on with your team quickly? >> Well, would it be I'm sorry my voice is not 100% right. Um but um with it being the month of November um we currently have um if you want to call it a campaign a campaign right now where it's no miss November where um students are able to actually be recognized for those positive attendance habits individually in home rooms and then also as grade levels. So every um
047day students get updates in terms of how well they're doing. And then after a week's worth of attendance, we spin a wheel during our um lunch periods at the middle school. So if a student has attended all five days during a five-day week, they have five chances to win from the lucky wheel. And um we've been very fortunate to have some gift cards that have been donated from local businesses throughout the community to go ahead and just again recognize students for having those positive attendance habits. And then um with our leadership structure looking a little bit different this year, um our two student success liaison are regularly meeting with students to set individual goals. For anyone that has typically struggled or had some challenges with attendance in the past and most often many of those
048students don't realize how many days um throughout the week that they might be missing and what that looks like in terms of instructional minutes because when you actually have them visualize what that looks for a calendar set of time. They often don't realize just how much that might be impacting them. So those combination of things have been in place since September this year and students are really enjoying kind of that friendly competition and then also that positive peer um connection with one another where everyone's being recognized for those positive habits and kids are encouraging other students to be at school. So that's been really beneficial to see. >> Thank you Mrs. Pitch. Mrs. Peterson, would you be willing to share a couple of your activities that you were having with your spontaneous attendance >> activities?
049>> Sure. Um, so we have been doing once a month surprise attendance days. So those are days um that the kids don't know that are coming, but teachers um understand that they're coming and then any kid that is there on those days get an extra um something. So this last month in the month of October, we did a nature scavenger hunt um across the street at H Park and so kids that were present um were able to participate in that activity and then teachers have been talking about that um with their classes too. The other thing we started this year as well is teachers um each week are setting a goal for attendance with their class even all the way down to kindergarten. We found it to be successful. And then at the end of
050the month when we have our bulldog of character assembly um we recognize the classes that have met their goals for the whole month. Um which also then gives us an opportunity to talk about attendance not only with the students but then all the parents that have kind of attended as well. >> Thank you. Those are just a few of the examples that are happening within the buildings throughout. um just in that building level monitoring within board members that just shared the September October attendance rates and how they uh fleshed out at the end of each month accordingly and then the the chronic absenteeism understanding that where we are at the time of the year. Okay. um that it's quite low and this number will grow you know typically throughout the throughout the year and again
051attend chronic attendance is 10% of the um of the days in which students are or have been in school or scheduled to be in school. Typically, if you use that 180day, you know, school year, which is a little bit less for our district, you you're looking at between that 16 to 18 days overall where they would would be chronically absent with that. So, our goal is to keep that number as small as possible as we progress through the uh the academic year. Looking ahead, uh >> Scott, just a question on that um on how you measure it. >> [clears throat] >> So if you're saying September chronic u attendance is u 99.2% at park view as an example in other words point does that mean that uh uh 10% of the September days have been
052missed by that >> right >> is probably one person at that >> very minimal you are interpreting that the right way. >> So you're you're not waiting until they actually get 10% of the whole school year put on this We're monitoring that individually. >> That's looking ahead as you heard the second distance communication partnership engagement throughout. We'll continue to discuss best strategies to support what new engagement opportunities will look like. Next time perhaps the high school and our other elementaryaries will give them an opportunity to report back as to their initiatives. Uh the second one is just simply a board report update on the reading interventionist staffing update which was uh the board's goal to hire two full-time reading interventions interventionist with licensing um in readings 316 uh very over that conversation that we had
053at the board level was very in-depth and we knew that there was a lot of moving parts that went into trying to reach our goal. So we posted accordingly the opportunity within our district. We had uh a couple individuals internally that had some initial interest within um and some outside interest uh very minimal. We were able to go down to a recruiting fair at W Whitewater. Mrs. McCartney attended that to share the opportunities which are available in our district now and potentially going forward. Um when the when the dust settled, if you will, um we feel that waiting would be our best interest right now. our internal candidates have cordially removed themselves from the pool right now at this point in time. Initially, we thought there might be an opportunity for um capturing one of
054the positions at semester break unless something drastically changes between now and uh January 16th, end of our first semester, um it probably won't happen. So, what will happen? So our typical uh timeline for hiring new staff through attrition andor new positions that would be created as this is uh in that month of February we would look to repost again and refresh uh the the description as to what that might look like reconnect with other universities that are having hiring events throughout and share that opportunity for candidates to take on that. If there is internal interest, again, we'll definitely evaluate that piece and look to secure those individuals as we move forward. Any questions on that? >> The um I'd be interested in learning more about what's happening within each of the buildings for monitoring um
055the the uh the the attendance. I attended um one of the breakout sessions at the state schoolboard convention last year. was called absenteeism for engagement and they had three different uh districts present what they've been what they've been doing and the successes that they've had and and the the the common theme that I heard from all three of them is that every building in the district was on the same page >> right down to the secretaries when it came to deciding when um a child should go home from school or not because they were they were ill. they were finding that every building varied and that was having a negative impact on their on their chronic absenteeism. But the other thing the other thing that I I heard was the fact that um they had
056task force that were meeting once a month and trying to get ahead of the curve when they saw they saw some students that you know had missed like three days or whatever. And um and then they had different different methods that they developed for engaging with with the the parents and and um and one of them even went so far as to if they if the if the child lived within the range where they couldn't be picked up by the bus, they would get picked up by the bus regardless of whether it was two blocks or it was six blocks or it was a mile and a and a half. they were taking away all the impediments of getting that that that student to to school. And um but I what I took away from
057it was is that they were staying on top of things. They weren't waiting until that number hit in Skyward that says it generates a letter. And um but and then again the the consistency across the district and one of the districts was 1,900 students, one was 5,100 students and one was um Kiwasum which is smaller smaller than ours and um and they were they were having a lot of success with with you know keeping those kids in the in the building. >> We can certainly look at that and next presentation incorporate some of that into the discussion for sure. All right. Okay. Moving to the next item. Scott again. >> Okay. Um item B on new business is promoting school safety. Vape detectives is the agenda descriptor on there. The board members and community. I
058just wanted to take just a few seconds and talk about uh vaping sensors and some trends that are currently going on uh not just in New London but in society as a whole. First, a vape sensor. Uh, and what that is, it's a device that's located uh, you know, in a any type of particular area that picks up um the the sense of vapor that's not normal. Okay. From whether it be a nicotine vape or a THC vape or something that's out of the ordinary outside of smoke, it probably would pick up smoke as well. U detecting that an alert that something's going on in a certain area. and you know, individuals that should know, be aware of, are notified to do just that. So, as a district, okay, we we have one, we have
059two actually. Um, and they're within our one's up in the high school, one's over at Catalyst. It's no secret that they're there. And, um, the intent is just to promote health and safety environments just as we encourage that on a daily basis. students make the right choice, you know, coming in in prepared for school, creating healthy environments and supporting our continuous improvement plan of safe, healthy organizational structure within. Um, so this device is being utilized to send alerts to uh individuals that have been designated when it does go off that we can investigate to see if um that individual we can talk to and and see exactly pinpoint what exactly was going on at that time in space within our buildings. just a simple fact that nearly it says that nearly 30% of high school
060students um have indicated that they've beaten 10% of middle school students. That's a pretty big number when you think of the number of students that are um potentially involved with that. And again, our quest and journey to support healthy habits, healthy living spaces, safe environments uh within our district. Um ultimately, you know, there is one component of prevention. All right? We want we don't want students to actively partake in a habit that could be lifelong, costly, potentially bring forward, you know, health effects. The one thing about anything you put in your body, you don't see the effects till later on. And vaping is no u no different there. Uh the studies show that really don't have the longitudinal study as to the effects of what that is. Uh but indicators are that it it's not
061good for you and as a district we continually strive to do just that. Create safe environments utilizing technology to help us support that. Any questions on uh fate detectors and and where we are at the district? >> Charles, do you get a feel at at this at the high school about where kids are with with >> the people that I associate with? It seems like it's not um something that anyone does that I'm in contact with. >> But I do know that there are people that do it at the high school, just not specific people, but I know that there are groups that you hear um just stories in the hallway got caught who dropped it in the hallway or something and someone found it. >> But it seems like on the national level, it's
062much greater than it is at our high school, at least from what I've noticed. >> Okay. It's not something that they're just looking at as is like it's not a big deal. >> Yeah, it's >> I think I think that the school is taking the um measures that need to be taken to prevent vaping and doing what needs to be done to limit who is doing it. >> But I also think that the students realize that there's no benefits from it. So >> that's good because to me to to me it seems like there's a lot of pressure on them because the the stores are popping up everywhere, you know, and um ironically we had one just opened not too long ago right next door to the fitness center that I go to. >> It's
063like it's kind of an oxymoron, you know, but >> so that is just forformational board members knowledgeable of that and our community as well. >> Um just a quick detail on that. Um, I think the messaging because I work in radio for a long time was it was perceived as healthier. And for some reason that still permeates, but um, one of my very good friends is a respiratory therapist and she said they're seeing kids now with more damage in one year of vaping than 40 years of smoking like the >> bubbles. There's there's some new data that just came out on it that shows that it is um almost worse than worse than snow. She actually told her kids because I this is what I do every day at the hospital. By all means, please
064smoke instead of vaping. >> Mhm. >> Like I would support that first. >> Scott, if there plans to put a sensor in the middle school, you said the high school catalyst. >> Yeah, certainly there um we'll continue to investigate that through, you know, if it does seem like something that um would make sense. uh very well could be you know v they being as I mentioned it middle school's not immune to it you know and so it could happen there as well uh Mr. Sloma and Mr. Shusler officer Euing and the high school are are monitoring the frequency of this so it might be a discussion Mrs. Pinch and I have with Mr. name and their team as well when appropriate to do that. So, it very well could happen, you know, within that. >>
065All right, no more questions. Moving on to the next item, Wisconsin Act 42, >> wireless communication devices. So board members, uh you're probably aware of uh act 42 which was signed by Governor Ivers recently which uh states that all school districts are required to develop possibly policy uh prohibiting the student possession or electronic commun communication [clears throat] devices uh during during school hours. Uh is in the document and previous conversation. Our board is very aware that this is something that we have taken on already through handbook language. uh parent student handbook language and expectations in our intermediate middle school and high school specifically with guidelines to support best practice expectations again creating safe environments. So what uh what we will have to do as a district um is by July 1, 2026 formally uh put
066pen to paper and establish a policy which supports the expectations of act 42. Um there will be plenty of samples uh to look at but again looking at us locally uh policy committee I anticipate will bring recommendation forward for the board to consider and then we'll meet that statutory uh requirement as we move forward. So, a lot of districts again already have this in place. Some don't. Um, and they will by law have to to address that. Be a good thing. I guess questions on that. Just moreformational as well. Understanding moving forward. [clears throat] >> Yeah. I just would would add that um we do have a policy on on it now >> technology appropriate use of technology >> but um there uh Andy and I attended a educational conference in the spring uh conducted
067by Wisconsin Institute of Law of Liberty that had a speaker in who was an administrator from the district that had really uh kind of led the way on this type of uh polic. policy and um it's it's a tougher policy than what we have even um as as students come in if they have cell phones that they're they're turned in they're they're um kept in the office for for the day and then they're reissued on on their way out. And uh the person that gave the the presentation was really said it really made a big difference in their academic performance and in concentration in the classroom and everything. So I'm not saying that's the way we should go but it's definitely uh something to consider. >> Was it you Mark that said I think it
068was you were like kids were actually like talking to each other at lunch or somebody I just remember somebody saying that because they can have them at lunch. >> Um it was just a comment of like they were actually speaking to people. >> This district, they couldn't have them the whole day. They got they they had to turn them in as they came in the door, reissued as they gone out, as they as they leave. So, u again tougher policy than ours, but I think it does lead to more engagement between the students, you know, during the lunch hours and time, you know, time in between the classes, etc. Would ours pass muster as it stands now? >> Uh, we would have to just refine the verbiage a little bit. You know, it's pretty not
069to say generic, but it just says the times and where it could be or where it should be utilized. So, we just have to formalize it. >> Okay. >> But yeah, it the bones are there. >> I'm sure that'll be a active discussion. >> Yep. >> All right. Um, moving into review and potential approval of 2026 health insurance renewal. >> So, board members, uh, before I turn it over to Mr. Markwart, I just want to revisit just a couple items here and the process that we took to get here tonight. The, uh, compensation committee has put in a ton of work and effort to bring forth a recommendation tonight for consideration through their work on October 7th, the 18th. Um and uh ultimately tonight for our January one renewal um all of the discussions are
070best interest of thinking of our district as a whole as well as our employees are uh which are a critical cog of our success and when we talk about our students report card success our our staff is a big part of that understanding that benefits as part of a portfolio or package or individuals return. Uh we knew that our u renewal would be challenging this year with increased utilization loss ratio currently over about 140%. Um which means you know that we're our vendors are spending more than we're putting into the plan and that only lasts for one year and then we have to reset as we move forward. So Mr. Markworth will share the the plan and essence of where we are in the recommendation consideration. Joe. Okay. Uh to go over a few items
071in the packet um that will help kind of bring the recommendation for that the committee spent time on tonight for tonight's recommendation. You you can see that there's a lot of information in the packet. The renewal is not a surprise to the committee or shouldn't be to the board and even to staff. We've had a lot of discussion about the utilization and how that directly impacts our expenditures. I I pulled the report from just the last 12 months before the meeting tonight because I wanted to make sure that I shared some numbers. $3.5 million was paid in as a revenue to health partners in the last 12 months. So that includes both the employee e portion and the employer portion. We don't separate it as a district when we send in the mail of a
072check. So it's easy math. You say it's $300,000 a month when you pay it out. So 3.5 million was paid out in the last 12 months through premium and then $5.5 million in expenditures. So that in itself is why the loss ratio is where it's at. It's not due to one thing. It's not due to two people. It's not due to anything that the board or the committee or even health partners is doing wrong. Utilization is utilization. So the committee spent a lot of time talking about a lot of topics over the three meetings and we feel tonight the recommendations uh that are coming forward for potential approval to you are going to be more costly to staff but really there wasn't a different alternative unless we were going to get out of the insurance
073business completely. That was something that was talked about as a committee, but right now being a fully insured plan is our recommendation. We know that we have a recommendation tonight, but yet it will still permeate in our committee because we have to keep finding a way to see if there's something different we can do moving forward with health insurance if the utilization continues to be what it is. So, inside the packet, you can see we have the topic summary with recommendations that would include no changes to our existing deductible structures. So we have a high deductible plan and a traditional deductible plan for our employees to pick from. We have three networks for them to pick from as well, a select, focused, and broad. And there are no recommended changes to that. Staff can still
074have choice in what they would decide to choose. Uh one recommendation that came forward from the committee is to increase the HSA contribution that the district would provide from a fund 73 uh contribution. So fund 73 is a postemployment fund or OPE fund and the board has the ability to draw on that fund to pay for items and HSA contributions qualify for that. So there was a little bit of discussion that last year's renewal, but in this year's renewal, the committee feels that providing an increased contribution to those who would select the high deductible plan would be eligible for that contribution right away in January if they would choose that and the board would ultimately approve that. uh inside your packet on page 60, you're able to see the costs for plans that are in
0752025 and then also for 2026. It shows the breakdown of the number of employees under each plan that are existing. Uh each year during open enrollment, employees can decide to switch back and forth if they wish, but you can see where the number of people are enrolled. These numbers do include a 5% premium share incentive that employees have for participation in a biometric screening and also health coaching. It walks you kind of through what the single and family plan are, what it is per paycheck, and then it shows the employee premium share percentage as well of what it would equate to for uh an employee with whatever plan that they would select. And then below you can see the additional costs of what it would take from fund 73 if we're using existing enrollment. I
076mean, that could change as a January 1 because we could have 41 people choose the high deductible plan for a single plan and 130 for a family plan. It's what we're using today's numbers um for that, but they're really good estimates. We don't usually have a lot of changes each year with the high deductive plans. Furthermore, you can see what Robin's rates look like showing what they have sent us for the renewal. And then we also have in the packet how it looks um per paycheck between the 26 20 pays and 19 pays. So it really lays out how it looks for individual staff members. Uh if the board would approve um a recommendation tonight, we would then schedule our open enrollment meeting time with staff and be able to talk to them about what
077is uh what has been approved for 2026 and let them get a chance to ask us any other questions that we have that they might have. Um Andy or John or Mark, did you have anything else to add from our discussions? You know, I think that the one of the things we really were were focusing on was to um take advantage of that HSA program. >> I mean, we looked at we looked at not doing that, lowering the premium. We looked at not doing that, increasing the deductible and so forth. and and we kept coming back to that H increasing that HSA contribution because if you don't use it, you don't lose it where if you get a lower premium, you know, you don't get a refund from your insurance company because you didn't use
078it. And um >> it's not like flex funding either. They >> No, it's not. and and um I can speak from personal experience that you know um when when the time was right in our family, we really started pumping money into that and that really uh helped out with a lot of things as as as time went on. But um I know what John anything else that about sums it up. Um, >> I think we did the best we could with a bad situation. >> Yeah, >> I'd love to say that things are looking rosy for next year, but >> I don't think that would be very truthful. >> Well, it's a nationwide issue. I saw something on the news this morning that the average family premium out-ofpocket expense across the nation right now is
079just under $7,000 a year. and that's using deductibles similar to what we're we're talking about. Um and um it's and it's it is it's a nationwide issue. So it's it's not just us, you know, and it's not just the state, it's it's the state of of insurance right now. And yeah, we we we we put a lot of time into it and flipped numbers around and threw ideas out there and um than that. So, >> I will say it was hard to make the leap into an HSA in our family. Like, it's scary because you know, you have I always used to a certain known, but we were able to save enough that like my son had an appendecttomy emergency in January and I'm like, it wiped out our HSA account. But, and we pay
080$400 every pay period and still have a $7,000. >> But you had that's the important. So I'm saying it took but I'm saying it took a while like if that had happened right away I mean it's not always opportunity >> but I will say for us it has been beneficial because it was there. >> Um but it's hard to take the leap at first to the to the high-risisk plan. But what would happen if like Robin like do they have to work with us or could they just have said we're out? Like what is your like is there any plan B? I I wouldn't say they have to work with us, but they gave us renewal numbers. Others would not. I >> sure they're hoping that the book of business improves as well, so they
081>> because it's been a couple years that way, right? >> They could have just with us. >> Yeah. >> There's nothing saying they have to. >> No, they could have said >> we've had a company already drop us. They dropped everybody else in the state, too. >> Right. Right. Did Robin Cuz Robin lost money last year, too, right? with it in the year before. Maybe >> three. >> I just wonder why they keep doing it. Well, they're they're they keep doing it because they figure the next time it's going to go better, you know, >> we we didn't they do keep coming. >> I guess all I was thinking like the forward thinking part of us maybe getting to a point I saw you had self-insured in there. Like is there ever a point where
082you start? >> We we talked about that at our last meeting that we'll probably reconvene to talk about this >> ahead of time >> shortly after the first of the year to start having those conversations um about what alternatives are out there. Um right, you know, and um there aren't a lot self- insurance. We're not in a correct me if I'm wrong, we're not in in in that space yet where we could possibly do that. >> Well, each year we get closer. >> Yeah, we do. Yeah. Right. >> You know, the other thing that >> by choice or by force. The other thing that we talked about in in the meeting too is is that if if we have employees whose spouses are working and they haven't they have health insurance through their spouse's health
083insurance, highly highly encourage them to do a detailed investigation and comparison to see what else is out there. I mean, you're not not hurting by not getting your insurance uh through us, but um I mean, things are are are are starting to even out out there, you know, and and um it's it's something you really got to spend spend some time on to make sure that you've got the right program for your family. All right. If we don't have any more questions, um, do we have a motion to approve the health insurance plans with health partners effective January 1st, 2026 as presented? >> So moved. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call vote. Um, Nate Grundy, >> I just need to know we don't use the health insurance so I can
084vote on this. >> Oh, that's right. >> So, we don't use it. Yes. >> Is that that good with >> Yep. Yeah. >> John Heidi. >> Yes. >> Chris Martinson. >> Yes. >> Andy Thorp. >> Yes. >> Ky Madden, I'm a yes. And Mark Gman. >> Yes. All right, moving on to the dental. >> That one is is an easier one than health insurance. No cost increase to either the employees or the recommend the same plan moving forward for 2026 with a self-funded dental plan. And how many years have we been selfunded? We are >> Second year in working well. All right. Motion to approve the self-funded dental plan with Delta Dental effective January 1st, 2026 as presented. >> I'll make the motion. >> You have a second. >> I'll second. >> Roll call. >>
085Uh, John Hamer, >> yes. >> Chris Martinson, >> yes. >> Andy Thorp, >> yes. >> Katie, I'm a yes. Mark Gman, >> yes. Nate Grundy, and >> I need to note we do not use the dental insurance either. Yes. I close session. >> Y the first first one and then the bottom two. >> You don't need to do the second one. >> Well, I thought I did need to do the second one. Okay. Okay. Um person to section 19.851c A51C Wisconsin statute 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 pursuit of section 19.851F 851F Wisconsin statutes board of education will convene in close session for the purpose of considering personal information concerning financial, medical,
086social, or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons except where paragraph B applies which if discussed public would likely have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data. And lastly, pursuant to section 19.851A A51A and F as well as 120.131C Wisconsin statutes. The board of education will convene in close session for the purpose of a student expulsion proceeding. Do I have that motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> I have a second. >> I'll second it. >> Roll call. >> Uh Martinson, >> yes. >> Andy Thorp, >> yes. >> Katie B. Yes. Mark Gman, >> yes. >> Nate Grundy, >> yes. >> John, >> yes. >> They're supposed to be really good, right?