The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular meeting on Monday, February 17, 2025. The Consent Agenda consisting of minutes and payment of bills was approved.
The student count for the third Friday in January was 459, which is down about 10 kids from September. Some of those students switched to online learning rather than be deemed truant.
The contract with CESA 10 was discussed. Board member Dean Schmelzer asked about the Youth Apprenticeship Program. This is not handled by CESA and a report will be added to a future agenda. The contract was approved in the amount of $95,203, which is down slightly from last year.
The next item on the agenda was summer maintenance projects. The Buildings & Grounds Committee had met to discuss possible projects. The urinals in one of the boy’s bathrooms will be fixed. The concrete by the lobby doors will be raised as will the concrete by the downspouts. It is believed they will drain away from the building better after the work is complete. The snowplow needs to be replaced and repairs done to the pickup with the plow. The art room floor was also discussed. Dirt will be added to the football practice field and to a couple of low areas on the regular field. The softball field fence is in need of repair. The cost for all the work will be approximately $50,000 and the projects were approved.
Policy revisions were approved for the Services for English Language Learners Board Policy and Acceptable One-One Technology Use Policy for Staff and Students. Language on hotspot use was added to the technology policy.
Changes to the length of the school day and removing a school vacation day were discussed. The changes are necessary because of the number of school days missed so far this year due to weather, etc. Beginning Monday, February 24, an additional 15 minutes will be added to the end of the school day. Easter Monday will no longer be a day off from school. If any more inclement weather days are needed before the end of the school year, they will have to be added on to the end of the school calendar. The changes will allow the district to meet the required days and hours of instruction required by state statute.
The hiring of an assistant softball coach was tabled until the next meeting where it will be discussed in a closed session. Owen-Withee is currently paying for a head coach and assistant coach and Thorp will pay for their own head coach for the baseball co-op. All of the other expenses for baseball will be split by the two districts.
Elementary Principal Julie Van Ark reviewed the first semester AGR report. Board member Angela Greschner asked if the assessments were comparable to last year. The reading assessment was switched so it is hard to compare to prior assessments. Van Ark said that math started higher, so there is maybe not as much advancement. She said that everyone who attends summer school this year will have a reading class. Board member Todd Nelson said it was disappointing that numbers are not getting better. Van Ark said it takes three to five years with a new curriculum for it to make a difference. Students in grades K-3 are generally doing better in math than reading. Some of that is affected by how many students in the class are English language learners and how many are special education students.
Board members who attended the WASB state convention reported on their takeaways. Joan Jalling said it was enlightening and beneficial to learn. She found value in the sessions that she attended. Schmelzer went on a tour to the Milwaukee School of Engineering and learned some things about robotics. He also did the sessions on legislative updates. Greschner attended a session on referendums. She heard about one school’s planning process and how they developed a logo so everyone would know that when they saw that logo it was information about the referendum. Julie Wendler talked about a session where one school did a project learning class. She talked about the need for students to be college, career, and life skills ready. She attended a WIAA meeting on the factors for schools being moved up a division. She also attended a session on strategic planning. She learned about community involvement in the process. She was also surprised by the number of sessions on how to spin your numbers to make your school look better.
Under Administrator Reports, Elementary Principal Julie Van Ark talked about their activities for Heart Week. The elementary raised $3,758.62 for the American Heart Association. There are plans to take the lower elementary to a movie and the upper elementary swimming. Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up. Child Development Days will be March 6. They had 15 kids and their parents attend the Blackhawk Blastoff event. The reading curriculum pilots are in progress and the teachers are finding value in them. Attendance is getting better.
Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson said that they have had no compliance issues with the no backpacks in the classroom policy. They took an incentive trip to Bruce Mound with 125 students attending. In the middle school 73 percent of students qualify for privilege cards and 81 percent qualify in the high school. This is a gain in the middle school with the high school staying about the same. They will be doing activities for CTSO Week. They are planning for the ACT exams. On that day the freshman and sophomores will visit NTC. They are still working on a plan for the