The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 17. Under Public Participation, FBLA member Mason Gay gave their annual report. He said they will be competing in two weeks. O-W FBLA has 81 members and they ran five community service projects this year. Their focus on been on recruiting members. They have also formed partnerships with Knockout and Withee A&W. Gay said the organization has impacts beyond the school. They have 19 members that moved on to state competition.
Russ Weiler then spoke about the baseball program asking if the board members had any questions. He said that O-W has always had two baseball coaches. Currently they have two coaches and a volunteer. Thorp has one coach and is still looking for another. Board member Joan Jalling said they need to make sure the cost is split if Thorp only has one coach. Weiler said that last year Thorp paid for two coaches and Owen-Withee paid for 1½. District Administrator Randy Bergman said the agreement states each school pays for its own coaches, the rest of the cost is split. Weiler said they had 21 kids that showed up for the first day of practice, with four more out sick. He said they have a full varsity and JV schedule. He added the focus needs to be on what they are doing, that if a coach gets sick, who is going to be available to coach if they only have one.
Under the Consent Agenda, the board approved the minutes, payment of bills, and the resignation of Caroline Wee. Board member Dean Schmelzer questioned the bills for books and whether they align with the reading curriculum. Bergman said some of them are probably library books. The total cost of the reading program that is currently being piloted in the middle school is $12,000. The library also has approximately $50,000 from the Common School Fund that they need to spend on books. Bergman said in the past, they didn’t have a core curriculum and the teachers had to build their own. Now the standards will be completed where they belong.
The board moved on to new business. They approved Kendall Weiler as the recipient of the Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship. The scholarship will go to Mason Gay if Kendall doesn’t go to a state school. They approved Kendall Weiler and Mason Gay as co-valedictorians and Angela Baures as salutatorian. Lydia Lobacz was approved for the Technical Excellence Scholarship.
The Strategic Planning Process was looked at with some handouts being provided by administration. The template handed out related to the mission, vision, values, and goals of the district. It also outlined a process and some items to think about. The plan is to review the mission and vision statements and work on the values and goals in April. In May, they will review the values and goals and work on actions plans. In June they will create a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for the district. People are needed to serve on the strategic planning committee. They will be posted as board meetings so all board members can attend. They are thinking about 30 people to serve. In addition to those invited to be on the committee, it will be open to anyone who wants to come and be a part of it. Teachers and support staff will be included. They also would like to invite some people who have concerns about the district. The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. and are tentatively planned for April 28, May 27 and June 23. Each board member was asked to submit eight names of people to be invited to serve on the committee assuming there will be some duplication.
Bergman handed out two items related to the 2025-2027 budget. The first was in regard to federal funding, which could be cut by $792,700. This funding helps pay for meals for hungry kids, special education, learning supports for students facing poverty, mental health supports as well as career and technical education. It also helps keep class sizes smaller. He also provided a summary of Governor Evers’ budget as it relates to schools. He said it is time for the state to put more money into public schools. They do not know if federal funds will be given some other way if the Dept. of Education is closed. He said it will be a problem if the money doesn’t come, particularly as they are looking to hire a new science teacher to replace a staff member who will be moved into Caroline Wee’s position.
Under Administrator Reports, Elementary Principal Julie VanArk said they had good participation for Child Development Day. She thanked the O-W Lions and Bridging Brighter Smiles for doing dental screenings that day. They will be learning about EMFLS (Early Math Focus Learning System) at CESA 10. Attendance is going well. They are continuing to work on Act 20 compliance in regard to reading. Teacher Katie Hatlestad has put information on the district website. They are working on training for teachers, a promotion policy, and a literacy block for all summer school students. Cardinal Eye Center donated over $300 to be used to purchase books. VanArk said that the teachers like the Bookworms reading curriculum and will probably go with that one, although they are planning another discussion on that subject.
Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson talked about students that were recognized for being on Honor Roll, etc. The juniors have completed the ACT tests, freshman and sophomores went to NTC and UW-Stevens Point in Wausau that day. He congratulated girls basketball and said that baseball was started. National Honor Society is sending five students to Washington D.C. and New York. All Forensics students will be moving on in competition. Prom will be April 12 at Munson Bridge Winery. The board asked for the ACT results when they are received. It was noted that students who don’t speak English have difficulty with the test. When asked if the majority of students took the test seriously, it was felt that the majority did. Board member Dean Schmelzer said he would also like to see a score comparison between students with college plans and those who don’t plan to go to college.
District Administrator Randy Bergman said that they had a burst pipe in the boys bathroom. It has been patched until major repairs can be done over the summer. He mentioned the great support of the community for our athletes and how well behaved the kids were at the state tournament. Principal Johnson added that he had even been contacted by the Barneveld principal who had good things to say about our students.
After a closed session that lasted about an hour, the board announced the hiring of Kris Schmidt as assistant softball coach and Russ Weiler as assistant baseball coach.