The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 21 due to the agenda not being posted in time to meet on Monday night. The presentation of State Student Athlete was postponed due to lack of availability.
The consent agenda was approved including minutes and approval of claims. Evelyn Fryza was approved as Middle School Track Coach, Josiah Goerlitz as Middle School Track Coach, and Keith Kalepp as Physical Education Teacher. The resignation of English teacher Timoly Brodhagen was also accepted.
Amy Dahms was approved as the new Middle/High School Principal. The committee interviewed five people and she was the first choice. She is currently working for the Altoona School District.
The Health Insurance was the next topic of discussion. District Administrator Randy Bergman met with staff about the insurance. The current plan covers 100% after the deductible of $3,000 for single, $6,000 for family and they can go anywhere. Or they can choose a plan that stays in the Security Health area and that has a $2,000/$4,000 deductible. The increase would be 12% because of a cap on what the increase could be. The consortium came up with a plan that would drop the increase to 7.5%. After the deductible, the employee would pay 10% of the bill, insurance 90% until maximum out-of-pocket is reached. Then they would cover at 100%. This is one way insurance companies are trying to get people to have more accountability. Bergman also looked at the self-funded plan at Mayville. The board approved going to the new plan effective July 1.
Thorp has approved the baseball co-op with Owen-Withee for two more years. Owen-Withee voted to approve it also. Bergman said he would like to have a meeting every year after the season to talk about what worked and what didn’t. Board member Dean Schmelzer said he had attended the meeting. Thorp said their policy for hiring coaches is the same as Owen-Withee’s but they post the positions every year and do interviews. So a coach could potentially be replaced. He said O-W has never done that. Bergman said he hadn’t been told that, but Thorp said they would like to use their coaching policy. Bergman pointed out that O-W is the school in charge of the program. He said that is why the two schools need to talk and that maybe they need to get rid of a coach or something. Bergman said they can’t just haphazardly get rid of a coach. Thorp also put something on their agenda about golf without asking Owen-Withee. He said when they met, he was hearing about our coaches and how nobody cared for how things were going, but he had never heard that from anybody except a person who didn’t get the job. Thorp administration hadn’t heard it either. Schmelzer said it was presented to the board and the community as it would be posted every year. They could evaluate the coaches after the end of the season. Bergman said they need to have a meeting to discuss things after the season. Bergman added they need to keep supporting the kids.
They then moved on to District Technology, Phones, and Infrastructure. For phones, they can replace the obsolete phones they currently have for a cost of $22,366.75. They will make sure all areas are covered. They would no longer have to make separate announcements in both the high school and elementary. That would be done this summer. They also have the option of bringing fiber into the building at a cost of $1,300. They are still working on server storage or cloud storage. The phone system was approved.
The Spring Recognition Dinner will be May 22. It will be held right after the kids leave.
For the enrollment report, they have added two students.
They then discussed the sewer pipe that runs through the golf course. It is only buried about three feet deep and it was bubbling up. The golf course took down a tree over the winter that might have created the problem. Bergman wanted to send a camera through the pipe to see what happened. The city is going to clean the pipe out and then Haas will check it to see what the issue is. It is working okay now. Bergman said it might drag on for a couple of years. He feels the school should only be responsible up to the roadway. They are going to go back to see if they can find an easement agreement. Depending on the issue, it might be possible to line the pipe, but they wanted the school to pay for that too. They don’t want it on the golf course and would prefer it be moved into the road.
The Students Awards and Scholarships Policies and Rules were changed. The changes will allow Owen-Withee students who attend the Rural Virtual Academy to be eligible for scholarships. Items related to GPA and dates were also taken out of the rules for the Wisconsin Technical Education Scholarship. The changes were approved.
Board president Julie Wendler read the Elementary Principal’s report in the absence of Julie VanArk. The first parent lunch of the year was held and there are two more planned. The Scholastic Book Fair is done and the dollars earned will be used to purchase items for students. Cardinal Eye Center donated $500 to purchase books for students. State testing is done. Summer school packets have gone out. A variety of classes will be offered June 1-19. A session of swimming lessons will be offered in early August. Students are participating in field trips currently. Many businesses help with funding to make these trips possible.
Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson reported on the Regional CDE Conference: forestry took sixth place, milk quality, fourth place, farm business second place, agronomy, first place and all qualified for state. Four members of the forensics team qualified for state. Another student made it to district. Three students advanced to the National Leadership Conference for FBLA. One student also earned Who’s Who in Wisconsin FBLA recognition. Owen-Withee was awarded fourth place in the outstanding chapter small school award, fourth place in the community service award, and first place in the market share award. Owen-Withee Archery Team qualified for nationals in both bullseye and 3D. Junior prom was held and everything went great. FFA, FBLA and Senior Banquets are coming up. Graduation is May 16. Board member Todd Nelson gave an archery update. They don’t meet the minimum boy-girl requirements for a team. They could for 3D, but opted not to go this year. Emily Nolt will compete though as an individual.
District Administrator Randy Bergman said he had two items. The windows are going to be ordered, but if they put in stationary windows, they can get five for the price of four. They have air conditioning so there is no reason to have the windows open. They can get everything in the courtyard done this summer. A question was asked about safety issues if the windows don’t open. The board felt it might be okay in the high school, but weren’t sure about in the elementary. Bergman also asked that they approve putting sealant on the asphalt that was put in two years ago. They are getting bids, but it will probably cost around $15,000 to seal all the parking lots and restripe them. This will be on the May agenda.
A question was asked about athletic policy revisions. They have been completed and will be on the May agenda. Bergman said that those in other groups such as FBLA, FFA, etc. should be held to the same standard as athletes. It will also have an honesty clause. The appeals process has been streamlined a little bit.
Another issue that came up was about the milk supplier. Board member Angela Greschner said she is hearing that they are getting expired milk again. Johnson said that is not accurate. He said there have been some mislabeling issues. The students are focusing too much on the dates. Schmelzer asked them to look at the security camera by the dumpster to see who is dumping garbage in there. They could add more cameras or fence in the dumpster with a locked gate. People need to understand that it is not a public dumpster.