At the May 13 Owen-Withee School Board meeting the first order of business was to elect the 2024-2025 school board officers. The nominees, all approved by casting a unanimous vote, were President Julie Wendler, Vice President Dean Schmelzer, Clerk Angela Greschner and Treasurer Joan Jalling.

During public comment Russ Weiler spoke on behalf of the teaching staff, many who were in attendance that night. He began by saying he understands since the failed referendum the budget is tight and the staff will not get a raise but advocated for not cutting the Health Reimbursement Account which was fought for several years ago.

“We also understand insurance costs have increased as usual for everyone,” said 4^th grade teacher Russ Weiler. “And we also understand that the school board has many difficult decisions to make the budget for next year. With that being said we're here tonight to express our concern of a possible budget cut to our HRA, which was suggested. I ask you to look at that $52,000 as not just a number, that it's people, us, your staff and our families. We'd like you to consider the following before checking it off as just a cut. That $52,000 is an appreciation to the staff that is staying and that have stayed in the district for many years.

“The big topic of discussion, it seems to be every April, May, June and July the last three years has been staff retention. I've talked to many of you about possibly getting together, possibly coming up with a plan. How can we stop people leaving this district? Staff retention. Staff retention. This is part of it. By keeping the HRA it shows a commitment to the staff. Because if we lose this, we all know we're not getting it back. That HRA amount was a negotiated item at one time years ago that we made concessions on, that we agreed upon, that we talked about it. And now our fear is… in one swoop, gone.

“Lastly, we all know that we're on the same team with the referendum failing. Our staff has always done more with less because that's what we do. A position needs to be filled. Nobody wants it. It sits there and finally somebody feels guilty and says I'll do it. That's what we do. So, we ask you to consider these reasons while looking at the budget cuts and that we are people and not just a number of $52,000.”

The board then approved the consent agenda and the non-renewals of Barry Dmytro and Caroline Wee. Winch said that the open 2nd grade position vacated by Lexi Opelt was posted internally and both expressed interest in applying.

The discussion then went to potential budget revisions due to the failed referendum. Superintendent Winch began with an overview of what is left on the list of possible reductions.

“This is basically the same list that I showed you last month. We talked about having the month to look at it, the $80,000 and the $60,000 for computers. You know, I think that's something that you can always look at coming back if the referendum will pass in the future. You heard Mr. Weiler and the comments for the group here tonight about the $52,000 HRA. If you choose not to do that, I mean obviously we're going to have to find somewhere else to find the $52,000. The extracurriculars we've come up with. I think it might not quite be $12,000 but it's close. Kids Club for $9,000. Golf, again, was what was discussed two years ago because there was one person participating. That's why that's on there. Now there's more people participating.  I don't know where you want to go with that. The wrestling co-op with Thorp, we haven't had to pay anything for two years. I don't know if we're going to start being charged with their budget situation. And if we're charging them for baseball.”

A staff member mentioned the idea of reducing the Dirks IT services from weekly visits to two a month to see how much savings that would bring. Increasing fees was another item on the list to balance the post referendum fallout. The board discussed charging a rental fee for the gymnasium for outside organizations or events.

Schmelzer then made a motion to eliminate the budget items 1 - $80,000 in reduced spending from this year’s budget, will have a surplus of funds this year and can trim this back, Fund 46 would need to cover any large purchase that would be needed; 2 - $60,000 no computer purchases for 24-25; 4 – $12,000 eliminate six coaching positions; and 5 - $9,000 eliminate Kids Club. All approved the motion.

As far as increased fees, Nelson made a motion to approve athletic participation fee of $25 per sport with no cap, increase driver’s education from $150 to $300 and district user fees from $10 to $20. All approved the motion.

On the capital projects list for the month, the board approved purchasing an air compressor from Tractor Central in Medford for no more than $3,000. Schmelzer suggested that the old school air compressor be put out to bid as he thought it would work fine for smaller projects.

The meeting convened into closed session with nothing to report at this time. Non-personnel reductions yet to be acted upon include $3,000 golf, wrestling co-op, reduce Dirks Group and the $52,000 reduction in employee HRAs. Increased fees to be addressed at future meetings: $10,000 building usage fees, and $4,000 extend user fee for all district students and elementary.