The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular meeting on Monday, November 18. Under Public Participation, the basketball coaches spoke. Coach Russ Weiler spoke along with allowing a couple of players to speak. Colton Paczkowski said another set of eyes is good and they need more than one coach to be there. Sam Wells said it is nice to have the third coach, even when he is on the bench it gives him someone to talk to and learn from when the main coach is coaching. It also adds different points of view. Russ talked about the advantages of having a third coach when they are on the road. That person helps get the equipment on the bus, etc. He said that they owe it to the kids to have adults to help students become young adults. Russ felt that it is a sign of respect to give a coach a contract rather than asking them to volunteer. They will have a C-team, they will just have to play on off nights as some members of the JV team will have to play. Russ also spoke about what happens if a kid is hurt, he asked if he is expected to keep coaching or take care of the kid if there is only one coach present. Coach Josh Jalling said he has 23 girls out for basketball, which is almost double what they had when he started coaching. He said it is better for the players to have one-on-one time with a coach. The third coach is important. He talked about Shanna Nernberger taking care of a sick kid in the locker room. He spoke of another kid who had a panic attack and went into the locker room. There was no female coach present so they sent a female manager in to check on her. Josh felt that the number of fans that traveled to watch the state football game shows how much the community supports athletics. He said the third coach helps maintain a successful program. It also means that no kids feel left out. Board member Joan Jalling asked about a C-team. Josh said there would be no games without a third coach as no conference schools have a C-team and they would have to travel. They are working on scheduling games. Coach Greg Weiler said that last year both basketball teams were one game from state. He talked about building a youth program and said parents are excited. Shanna helps with the freshman girls. She also checked on a ill girl in the locker room multiple times. He said it disrupts practice if he has to take one of the other girls into the locker room with him. Josh asked if it was an all or nothing thing for coaches. He said the girls have three paid coaches and the boys have four currently.

The board discussed coaches as part of their agenda. Board president Julie Wendler said they dropped a coach from each sport when the referendum failed. District Administrator Randy Bergman said he understood what the coaches were saying and he had met with them and said no due to the computer needs for students and staff taking priority. He added that the staff didn’t get a raise and insurance went up. Board member Robyn Renderman pointed out that they had raised some fees. Board member Dean Schmelzer said they had set the referendum at $500,000 before they knew they would be losing some funds because the enrollment is no longer declining. Bergman said that additional students this year helped offset that. Schmelzer said they only increased the referendum by $100,000 and costs are still going up. He said the board needs to save now to reduce the deficit later. Renderman said that volleyball paid for their own C-team coach. She also asked how many kids went out for football feeling that things should be equitable. Football has five paid coaches for 23 kids. Girls basketball has only three for the same number of kids. Board member Angela Greschner said that girls basketball has one less coach than boys. Bergman said that maybe the board could set up an athletic committee to talk about it. Renderman felt they need to look at numbers. Schmelzer said it is hard to set a magic number, you hire an extra high school coach and three weeks into the season have kids drop the sport, then what? Renderman said to maybe not use a number but teams, one coach for varsity, one for JV, and one for C-team. Schmelzer pointed out that they cut one coach per sport. Greschner said girls and boys basketball should have the same number of coaches. Schmelzer has heard from both those who support athletics and those who say the board needs to cut spending. Wendler said they cut the coaches in May for a reason. Schmelzer asked who decided which coach was cut, that Shanna was hired as a bridge between middle school and high school. Caleb Green said that Darren Ovyn made the decision to have only one girls coach in the middle school. Schmelzer also wondered why if Shanna was hired first, why wasn’t she kept on as the JV coach. The response was coaching experience. Josh Jalling said no coaches were included in the decision. Bergman said with talk of cutting the federal Department of Education, they might get less Title I funds or even less of other funds going forward, which will also be a consideration for future budgets. Renderman said the coaches were cut for a reason. Schmelzer said he was also concerned that volleyball would ask for the money they paid for a coach back if coaches were added for other sports. Wendler said that they can find their own coach just like volleyball did. Greschner suggested that since Thorp will be helping pay for a baseball coach, maybe they could use some of those funds to pay for another girls basketball coach to even things out. Wendler said they should have an adult female coach for girls basketball. Renderman suggested seeing how things go this year and discussing it again next year, but she also agreed a girls basketball coach could be added back.

The board voted to add back a girls basketball coach with the unneeded funds for baseball and it was approved. Coaches will be brought back for discussion in March. Schmelzer also pointed out that baseball and basketball were not paid the same.

The hiring of Mara Kreuscher as bookkeeper was approved with Jalling voting no. There were only two applicants. Jalling asked if a degree was required. Bergman said no. Greschner asked about using a job search site to get applicants, but Bergman said other schools are looking too and no one is getting applicants. Renderman asked about tabling the hiring and trying other avenues to get applicants. Jalling asked about testing to make sure the person knows what they are doing. Kreuscher had applied for the administrative assistant position but administration felt she would be a better fit as bookkeeper. Elizabeth Bier was hired to direct the three-act play.

The referendum results were reviewed. Bergman suggested that the board do strategic planning and look at possibly changing any future referendum to recurring. He said it would require educating the community. Strategic planning will be put on the agenda for next month.

Under Administrator’s Reports, Elementary Principal Julie Van Ark said that report cards have gone out. The Bruno store where kids can use Bruno Bucks to purchase items is up and running. The Student Council is doing a food drive and planning on donating items to the Red Door Pantry at Holy Rosary. She then went on to speak about chronic absenteeism and how it affects learning. Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10 percent of school days, 17 per the O-W calendar. This amounted to 43 of 184 students last year. Letters have been sent to parents. She said this is a nationwide problem. They are also looking at how they report absentees to DPI. Currently they only report morning or afternoon as opposed to the high school where they report by eight periods. They want to make the reporting in the elementary more accurate. Monday is the most missed day, so they are looking at a Manic Monday incentive where kids will get Bruno Bucks for being in school. If they earn enough, they will get a sundae bar. The police have been involved in discussions and will write citations.

Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson said that the PLC team gave teachers examples of how they can modify assignments and assessments using artificial intelligence. The National Honor Society held a blood drive. At the end of the first quarter, 64 percent of middle school students and 81 percent of high school students qualified for privilege cards. Mason Gay is up for the WisSports Player of the Week. The Middle/High School leadership team is planning a movie day at the Medford Theatre for students with privilege cards.

District Administrator Randy Bergman congratulated coaches and co-curricular for their fall achievements. He gave the board a preliminary 2025-2026 calendar, which he will be taking to the staff for input. School will start September 2 and end May 22. Renderman asked about doing parent-teacher conferences during the day. Principal Johnson said they could look at doing a Thursday night and Friday morning.