The Owen-Withee School Board held their regular meeting on Monday, February 16 with Joan Jalling absent. Under the Consent Agenda, the board approved minutes, payment of bills, the resignation of Hailey Kadolph as Assistant High School Track Coach and the resignation of Nate Johnson as Middle/High School Principal. Before the vote was taken, board member Dean Schmelzer asked a question about a bill from Swiderski Equipment for bobcat repairs in the amount of $1,527.64. He felt they had just paid a large bill to them last month. District Administrator Randy Bergman said they replaced a bobcat part and also bought a new snow brush for it. The bobcat would just stop running. It had to be transported there as it wouldn’t run. He said they could look for a cheaper place to do repairs next time. Schmelzer also asked about the life insurance payment. It is for the teachers.
Preliminary enrollment numbers are in for the January count. There are 220 students in the elementary, 92 in the middle school and 139 in the high school for a total enrollment of 451. Since the count was done on January 9, a few more students have moved into the district.
The medication policy and rule were discussed. A couple of items were added to tighten up the rules on administering medication. In the rule it now states that if a medication changes or is discontinued a new prescription is required. It also states that all medications must be stored in the office and only administered by approved staff or the school nurse. Parents may also come to the school to administer their child’s medication. The policy now says prescription and non-prescription medications can only be administered by school personnel authorized to do so. A part that board members found confusing was in regard to students in grades 6-12 being allowed to possess and administer their own medications, such as an inhaler or Epipen, with parental permission. After discussion the changes were approved.
The contract with CESA 10 was approved for the 2026-2027 school year. The total cost will be $65,542. The Complete Control bid for the replacement of the boiler in the elementary school was approved in the amount of $131,257. Their equipment will work with the current software. Work will start in April. An alternate bid to remove an old vent pipe was not approved due to the cost of removing asbestos. The pipe will not be disturbed. They also approved a bid from Huotari Construction to replace four windows in the amount of $25,658. They will do the ones in the worst shape and the plan is to do four windows per year until they are all done.
Elementary Principal Julie VanArk gave the AGR Report. They have seen improvement in some areas with some goals already met for the year. Some areas where scores dropped a bit were related to move-ins that hadn’t been using the current curriculum. She said 4th grade is the most challenging grade due to the number of ESL and special needs students. In the 5th grade every student but one increased their reading scores.
Under the WASB Convention Report, Schmelzer said that the resolution about free school meals for all students failed because of the cost, no one knew where the money was coming from. He attended a workshop on Strategic Teacher Compensation. It was mostly about larger schools that had an onsite clinic to save money. He also toured a bilingual school where all students learn to speak Spanish as well as English. The other workshop he attended was about a school that built a new high school and had to adapt the process after their referendum. Board member Julie Wendler attended a workshop on strengthening board policies and the services that could be used to update them. She wondered why they couldn’t just adapt the policies from another district paying for the service. She also attended a workshop on pharmaceuticals, but felt it didn’t really apply to O-W, it was more for schools that are self-insured. She also attended a workshop on passing a referendum in a politically divided community. She said that Owen-Withee did things right during their last referendum. It was noted that the Medford School District just went to self-insured the beginning of the year. Owen-Withee could see how it goes for them. Schmelzer asked about incentives for wellness checks and is all the staff going. Wendler said that usually insurance companies do those. Bergman said they can’t ask about staff attendance for wellness checks. Board member Todd Nelson attended a workshop on mentoring new teachers. He felt O-W does a lot of what was talked about, but it was noted in the workshop that it is better to have a mentor from a different grade. He also went to a workshop on transgender issues that are currently in the court system. He said in the elementary a parent has to be notified if this is being taught and can opt out. He also attended a workshop on federal funding. All they said was that no budget was passed.
Under Administrator Reports, Elementary Principal Julie VanArk said that students would be going to an indoor playground for their PBIS incentive trip. A few students were able to participate in a CESA 10 STEM Day. More will be going. In addition, the district is having CESA 10 come in to do some STEM enrichment activities for all students. They are working on the curriculum review for science, looking at three different curriculums. Child Development Day is coming up. The Blackhawk Blastoff event went well and they are looking at doing another one. They are planning activities for Read Across America Week. Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up for parents they need to talk to.
Middle/High School Principal Nate Johnson reported that middle school FBLA competed at a Leadership Conference and nine students earned top five finishes. The FFA Public Speaking team competed in Neillsville and nine students placed in the top 10. They had 105 students go to Bruce Mound for their second quarter incentive trip. FBLA had 71 members compete in regionals at Loyal with 16 students moving on to state competition. The Middle School Archery Team placed second in Gilman for 3D. It is CTSO Week and activities are being planned to promote career and technical student organizations. They are planning for the ACT testing in March. All students except juniors will be out of the building that day.
District Administrator Randy Bergman said that a new science curriculum will cost around $80,000. The grant for a reading coach has been written. If the district gets the grant, it might free up some money to put toward the science curriculum. They will be doing a playground grant in April. If the Fulcrum Foundation feels their plan is a good one, they will get called in to do a presentation. He is planning for the Strategic Planning Committee to meet one more time, but presented a one-page outline of the work that was done.
The board went into closed session to discuss Middle/High Principal search. They were in closed session for an hour and 45 minutes. In open session, the board announced that they will seek to hire a full-time middle/high school principal.