The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular meeting on Monday, September 16, with board member Angela Greschner absent. Board members Dean Schmelzer and Julie Wendler were recognized for their achievements, with Schmelzer reaching Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) Level 3 and Wendler reaching Level 4. The consent agenda including minutes, payment of bills, and accepting the grant for digital mapping of the school were approved.

Last year’s state track students were recognized. Caleb Green was present to talk about their achievements, as were team members Mason Gay, Dominic Sherwood, Colton Paczkowski, and Brandon Geldernick. Vince Henke and Ryan Nelson graduated in the spring, and foreign exchange student Alex Ledesma returned home. Last year they had 20 boys and 12 girls go out for track. The team broke two school records and are on track to break records again this year. Green said they were not just good in the relay, but also good in their individual events.

Athletic passes were also discussed. Athletic Director Hailey Kadolph was on hand to explain what is being proposed. It was brought up once before, but they want to try it again. It would be a season pass for all home events. It would be $50 for one pass or $75 for two passes. She said she thinks it would save some families a lot of money. There would be no name on it, so any family member could use the pass. Questions were asked by the board about whether they thought this would have an effect on the privilege cards that students can earn to get into athletic events for free and whether it made sense to give a discount for this when they are adding fees for other things. Board member Joan Jalling felt it would be a convenience for family members. Board member Dean Schmelzer felt it would definitely help families with multiple kids in multiple sports. Kadolph said it might also mean that they would only need to have one person taking tickets at games instead of two, which would be a cost savings. The passes were approved and will be implemented soon.

The preliminary enrollment count as of the meeting was 461, not including what they can count for students open enrolling into the district and summer school. Schmelzer asked if summer activities for FFA and FBLA are also counted. The response was yes as are Hunter Safety and Mennonites who take driving through the school. The enrollment is leveling off and even growing a bit from the prior year.

From this they went into discussion of the preliminary budget. It can’t be finalized until property value numbers are final on October 1, although an increase in values of 3.9 percent is projected. Three budgets were given to the board to look at, one with an approved referendum and $300,000 in defeasance payments, one with no referendum but including defeasance, and one with the referendum approved and no defeasance. The board will need to make a decision about defeasance at their next meeting. The final state aid numbers will be known on October 15. The state aid for technology is final and is $2,700. The deferred personal property amount is also not known yet. Last year’s mill rate was about $7.50 per $1,000 of property value. This year’s projections on the three budgets ranged from $5.55 to $6.88, depending on whether the referendum passes, defeasance, and final numbers being available on student count, state aid, and property values.

Credit reimbursement for teachers taking classes was put on the agenda by Schmelzer. He had a question because they approved the resignation and reimbursement for a teacher at the same meeting. He felt that the purpose of paying the credit reimbursement was to keep staff here. District Administrator Randy Bergman said that they pay in January for fall credits and September for spring credits. They only pay in September if the teacher is still on the staff at O-W. In regard to the teacher in question, they were paying for that person’s fall credits that were turned in late. Schmelzer felt that it should go to an annual payout instead of semester. After discussion, it was suggested that any credits to be reimbursed needed to be turned in in a timely manner and language stating that should be added to the policy. It was also asked if the credits reimbursed are job specific or administrative. Bergman said he has to approve the credits. Board member Robyn Renderman said that it is benefitting the teacher and the district, even if only for the second semester. Wording will be added to the policy about turning in credits for reimbursement in a timely manner and it will be brought back for board approval.

The Annual Meeting is set for October 21 before the regular school board meeting.

Under Administrator Reports, Elementary Principal Julie VanArk said they have received many donations this year, including corporate and individual. Fall assessments are in the process of being done. Grandparents Day is October 18 and some things will be done a little different this year to make it easier for grandparents to spend time with all of their grandchildren. Staff has begun Lit Talks about Act 20. They are testing out a couple of reading programs as the program they currently use is not on the approved list for Act 20. They are being looked at in a couple of classrooms and they will see which one the teachers feel works best for the students. The school will be switching some of their assessments to aimsweb. They will also continue using FastBridge for other assessments.

The report of Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson was read as he was running clock for a game. They have done some professional development through CESA 10. Summer school attendance was up by 10 students this year. Students can earn Bruno Bucks for acts of kindness and will win a free lunch with the principal or a staff member of their choice at A&W. Play auditions for the one-act play have taken place and 20 students are involved in the play. Picture day in the MS/HS had to be rescheduled. Homecoming is coming up with the Homecoming Dance scheduled for Saturday, September 28 in the high school gym. Schmelzer had a question about donated items for Bruno Bucks. VanArk said donations are still coming in.

District Administrator Randy Berman said they are working on their new crisis plan. They have added surveillance camera awareness stickers in the building. One of the items that was wanted as part of the CESA 10 grant for the crisis plan was fencing around the building but that isn’t feasible. He has gone around checking doors periodically and found them to be locked. The baseboard and tile is almost finished in the fitness center. They are waiting on parts to complete the sawdust collection system in the AgTech room. They are working on finalizing insurance needs. He also said the Wall of Fame hasn’t been touched since COVID. He was wondering about making people aware that they could nominate someone and bringing it back. It was suggested that the person chosen could be recognized at graduation in the spring. Schmelzer asked if all the cameras were working. The response was yes. He also asked that the generator in the Forward Center be checked to make sure it was working.

The board was in closed session for about an hour to discuss the district bookkeeper position and student discipline issues. They reported nothing in open session.