On Tuesday, April 16, the Owen-Withee School Board met for the regular monthly meeting. During informal discussion, OWHS Consumer Science teacher, Holly Hudson, said she sent an email to the board members regarding the concerns she had with her position being changed to part-time. At this time, she just wanted to make herself available for questions. School board member Joan Jalling asked how many students she has in class.

Paul Heggemeier receives recognition for 15 years of service on the school board.

“My Careers Nine is 20 kids, but then my electives get a little bit smaller. They have around four or five to six kids just this semester, but last semester, I had nine kids in Foods One, and I had 14 kids in Independent Living. So, it does vary this year,” Hudson replied. When asked how many per semester she stated, “First hour I teach 20 kids, second hour I teach four, third hour I teach four, fifth hour I teach 22 kids, sixth hour I teach 11 kids, seventh hour is four kids again, and then it's my eighth hour, which is our Resource Time, which is the whole sophomore boys’ class.”

Larry Herrington and Kris Karaba updated the board on the progress on the Forward Center mural to be created in memory of Larry’s wife Diane.

“I'm just representing the estate and helping Larry with some of the legwork on this one,” Karaba began. “As you know, last time when we talked, you got us the original plan, and it was very prompt, thank you very, very much. When you guys built the FEMA building there was a sign that was included in the proposal that was 15’ tall 22’ wide, that was supposed to be the size of the sign. Larry's been meeting with his family on a regular basis and we did get quotes from several different places as far as just a fiberglass sign to go on it that would just have our logo on the outside of the building and we started with that. But I wanted to just offer some options to Larry's family and see what else was available.”

One option was a regular fiberglass sign, which could be backlit, and it would have the logo “Welcome to Blackhawk Country” which is very similar to the one that was originally proposed. The second option was to make it more personal and have a mural commissioned. They have contacted the artist who painted all the murals in the Marshfield Hospital.

Karaba handed out a few examples of the basic design. The family was concerned that the new Blackhawk which looks more realistic would not match the current Blackhawk logo. The board did not see that there would be a problem with this new rendering of the logo. The family also suggested putting the mural on the whole east side of the FEMA building. As all the expense of the initial mural would be covered by the Diane Herington Memorial Estate the board approved the plan to extend the coverage. The muralist estimated the paint will stay vibrant for 10 years. At that time, the expense of either repainting or possibly sandblasting it off would rest with the school. The board approved moving forward with the commissioning of the mural. Karaba requested that the initial design of the mural not be shared with the public because it is really just a simple rough draft but it will include an American Flag, and a Blackhawk.

After speaking with the O-W Baseball coaches, the board approved entering into a co-op with Thorp beginning Spring of 2025. The O-W board approved this co-op last year but the Thorp High School Board rejected the agreement.

The Fitness Center is ready to be open to the public. Residents who wish to use the center must sign a waiver, watch or attend a training video and pay $10 for a key FOB. The center does have cameras installed to assure the safety of others and to keep tabs on the facility. After approving the Fitness Center agreement, Schoolboard Member Nelson, advocated for setting up a similar agreement for the Forward Center. This would allow the public to use the gym on an individual basis during non-school hours. After much discussion regarding when the gym could be open to the public, Nelson made a motion to use the community center for open gym fitness from 8 to 10 p.m. seven days a week with the Use Agreement signature. All approved the motion.

In the wake of the failed operational referendum, District Administrator Winch discussed possible cuts to the budget and announced, “that if the district does not pass or chooses not to go for referendum in November of 2024, there will need to be a gap of $390,000 to make up with reduced spending and increased revenue.”

Potential considerations to balance the budget other than personnel include:

Non Personnel Reductions totaling $216,000

$80,000 – in reduced spending from this year's budget, we will have a surplus of funds this year and can trim this back, Fund 46 would need to cover any large purchase needed;

$60,000 – No computer purchases for 24-25;

$52,000 – Reduce District HRA contribution for employees $1000 for single, $2500 for family plans;

$12,000 – Eliminate six coaching positions (roughly one per sport);

$9,000 – Eliminate Kids Club;

$3,000 – Eliminate Golf;

??? – Eliminate wrestling co-op with Thorp, have not received a bill yet not sure of savings;

Increased Fees totaling $22,000

$10,000 – Start charging building use fees, youth sports, archery, any groups that use the building;

$4,500 – Increase Athletic participation fee from $25 to $50 per sport with no cap per sport;

$1,500 – Increase Driver’s Education fee from $150 to $300;

$2,000 – Increase District user fee from $10 to $20;

$4,000 – Extend user fee for all district students (adding elementary).

After reviewing this list of potential reductions and additional fees, the board decided to take more time to research the options and come back to the discussion in May.

The board approved the following capital projects: parking lot repair and sidewalk repair, gym floor refinish, doors for the Fitness area/bathrooms, painting the yoga room/bathroom, flooring for the new bathrooms. The board tabled purchasing the air compressor for the shop area until they could get more information and speak to Travis Engel and tabled purchasing the new plow for the white truck.

Before entering into closed session, District Administrator Winch thanked School Board President Paul Heggemeier for serving on the board for 15 years. He was given a hardy handshake and an engraved bell.

The May meeting was moved to May 13 because there are going to be preliminary non-renewal notices given out. After the closed session it was announced that due to budgetary constraints, preliminary layoff notices will be issued to High School teachers Barry Dmytro and Caroline Wee.