The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular meeting on Monday, January 20. Under the Consent Agenda, the board approved minutes, bills, activity accounts, the retirement/resignation of Steven Shilts as school psychologist, the resignation of Matt Bottlemy as assistant softball coach, and adding bookkeeper Mara Kreuscher to the bank accounts.

The 2025-2026 calendar was approved. The staff is supportive of the calendar that was presented. It was noted that one staff member wanted a week-long spring break but that wasn’t supported by other staff. Parent/teacher conferences will be scheduled with some earlier in the day and some in the evening to allow more people to attend. There will be summer school from August 25-28, with school officially starting on September 2. School will be done for the year on May 22. Board member Robyn Renderman asked a question about snow days and how the district is doing this year. District Administrator Randy Bergman said things are okay with the elementary but the minutes of instruction are close in the middle/high school. She asked about cancelling school on the morning of, rather than the evening before, if needed. Board member Dean Schmelzer said that creates a problem for people trying to find babysitters, but he also personally felt that school shouldn’t be called off until morning, if necessary. Bergman noted that the buses won’t run in the extreme cold that we had. He said he was the last administrator in our area to call off school. Board member Angela Greschner asked about doing a 2-hour delay instead. Bergman said if they had known sooner they maybe could have switched the in-service day from Friday to Monday.

In regard to Open Enrollment for Special Education, the only area that has open slots is for speech/language services. For regular education, the only area where Open Enrollment is closed is 4th grade. This was approved for next year. The board also approved the Early College Credit/Start College Now Students. There are 26 students enrolled in 39 classes.

The wrestling co-op with Thorp for both boys and girls was approved. It was noted that the co-ops need to be approved separately.

It was stated that nothing in the proposed WASB resolutions was controversial or would have any real impact on Owen-Withee. The board felt that delegate Dean Schmelzer could use his judgement in voting.

Hours for the Fitness Center and Forward Center were updated and approved. The Fitness Center is open to the public Monday-Friday 4:30-7:30 a.m. and 3:30-10:30 p.m. On weekends and in the summer, it is open from 4:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. The Forward Center is open to the public Monday through Friday from 7:30-10:30 p.m., Saturday from 4:30-10:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Key fobs are needed to get in.

Under Administrator Reports, Elementary Principal Julie VanArk said that winter assessment data has been reviewed and plans for the next intervention are in process. They have a person coming who will teach kids about how to use a yo-yo. The Elementary Student Council is planning a Valentine’s Dance for February 6. Elementary staff is working on literacy training. Attendance on Mondays is getting better.

Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson said that middle school girls basketball and 3-Act play rehearsals have started. Second semester is now complete. He also spoke about the FFA Halftime Conference, All-Conference Band and Choir, and FBLA Regionals. CESA 10 will be doing some PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) training for staff at their February in-service. The PLC (Professional Learning Community) team has planned a trip to Bruce Mound on February 12 for eligible students.

District Administrator Randy Bergman said that the fire department had come in to discuss occupancy numbers for the Kroeze concert. The school has been given a 120 day grace period to get things corrected, so the concert can take place as scheduled. The estimated occupancy for the gym is 1,000. But it is necessary for an engineer to determine that and then a plaque needs to be on the wall stating the allowed occupancy. This only applies to public events like the Kroeze concert, not school events like band and choir concerts. He said that Total Electric has completed the work in the Forward Center. There is also an issue in the shop area and they hope to use some working parts that they were able to salvage from the Forward Center. Board member Todd Nelson asked about the letters the 7th grade students have to write to the school board. Johnson said he reviews them and then talks to the class. They are just a class assignment. Nelson said he would like to see them. Bergman went over CPI numbers in regard to what needs to be offered to teachers. He suggested that maybe the support staff negotiations committee could meet with the support staff to see if they had any suggestions on things they would like to see. He said that Building & Grounds also needs to meet soon to talk about the work on the bathrooms and possible summer projects. Schmelzer said that a sidewalk is needed from the concession stand to the football field. The issue of backpacks staying in the lockers was starting. Students were told it was a safety issue and they will meet with them again in a month to see how things are going.

The teacher negotiating committee met with three staff members to hear their thoughts. They would like to see paid time off rather than sick days. The teachers also suggested a longevity incentive, being given a small amount of money for each year they stay. They would like to see parents and grandparents invited back into the building as well as other opportunities for the community to come into the building besides sports. They also suggested that student teacher assistants fluent in Spanish might be able to work one on one with English language learners to help reduce language barriers.

At the end of the meeting everyone moved into one of the classrooms so that Kristi Ruggles could show a video presentation on Owen-Withee’s school report card. Ruggles said that report cards are based on two things, achievement and growth. Because of the number of students that qualify for free and reduced meals at O-W, the school gets penalized as their numbers are primarily based on growth rather than student achievement. In the video it was noted that 81.6 percent of students at O-W are white, while 13.4 percent are Hispanic. When it comes to economically disadvantaged students they number 57.2 percent. The report cards weights are directly related to economically disadvantaged numbers. The overall score for the district is 53.6, which is at the high end of meets few expectations. In CESA 10, 13.8 percent of schools are at this level. The speaker on the video went through all of Owen-Withee’s scores and what makes them up.