The Sconi

Germantown School District recently issued the following announcement.

Regular Board Meeting: November 15, 2021

•  Student representative Hannah DeGrace updated the Board on events at the schools — Amy Belle: teacher conferences and PTA-hosted online shopping event; County Line: fall parties and virtual MSO concert; Rockfield: month’s character value “gratitude”; MacArthur: spirit days, senior bingo, DI team formation, spelling bee, and the biggest book fair ever; Kennedy Middle School: virtual conferences, after school activities, and Key Club’s food drive to benefit St. Gabriel and St. Boniface; Germantown High School: National Honor Society induction ceremony, academic achievement ceremony, blood drive, WIAA award of excellence, student-athlete letters of intent, and a fifth-place finish at state for the girls’ swim team.

•  Superintendent Stousland led discussions on the Return to School update regarding current area district COVID levels and student cases as displayed on the website’s COVID dashboard. He also discussed student behaviors and that despite all of the excellent things happening in our schools we are seeing double the amount of misbehaviors (harmful language, unkind behaviors, fighting, vaping, noncompliance) in the middle and high school than normal. Bus misbehaviors are decreasing. Using a three-prong approach of education, consequences, and parent support, he will bring a plan to the December Board meeting regarding standards of behavior to address these issues. Medved noted that the Board takes student behavior seriously and expects that there will be consequences to such situations, mentioning that when these situations do occur that the Board must exercise privacy regarding students.

•  Superintendent Stousland led discussions on the Virtual Charter School update, noting that the District recognized the need for a virtual school option and is soliciting parent involvement for the planning of the Virtual Charter School. Maureen Hager and Maureen Fitzgerald described the makeup of the Governance Board and detailed that it meets on the third Thursday of each month and that the board is seeking someone to fill the treasurer role. At the November meeting, they stated that they plan to discuss and adopt the bylaws and referred to the GVS (Germantown Virtual School) section of the district website for additional information. Soderberg thanked them both and let them know it will be very rewarding for them. Medved noted the quality of people on board and asked if they had any idea how big they expected to be. Loth thanked all parents. Stousland noted that in order to be on the Governance Board that you cannot be a school district employee. Stousland mentioned that this pilot is a unique opportunity and approach to teaching and learning. Soderberg added that he would like to thank Director of Teaching and Learning Brenda O’Brien for doing the heavy lifting on getting this started. Medved mentioned that the district oversees the Governance Board, but that they are not involved and cannot be on it.

•  Pawlak led discussions on the return of the Instructional Improvement Council (IIC). The responsibilities of the committee, under the direction of O’Brien, include continuous evaluation of curriculum, priority areas of revision, and how best to implement new and revised courses of study. Pawlak described the positions within the Council: Stousland as a representative, one principal, teachers from school/grade level/subject area, a representative from the Board, and community members. Community members can request participation; Pawlak said this could be a larger group, but that it does need to be manageable. Medved asked for clarification that this Council is not replacing the Curriculum Committee. Pawlak also noted that the Curriculum Committee representatives are not automatically on the IIC.

•  Director of Human Resources Mike Nowak led discussions on the teacher retention report included in the Board packet, mentioning national averages and that the report did not include retirees. Soderberg said that he appreciated Nowak doing this report and that he hopes that it can be kept up to date.

•  The following citizens addressed the Board regarding distractions in the classroom, prepackaged teaching tools, higher standards, objective thinking, an annual report for the district and where we are academically, internal tracking, curriculum transparency, quarantining, vaccines, consequences for poor student behavior, showing trust in staff, and not discriminating against them: Kyle Suprenand-GEA representative, Jean Merry, Melanie Smythe, Alyssa Pollow, Jeni Price, Richard Biank, Sarah Larson, Jodi Graf.

•  Loth updated the Board on the discussions held during the Finance Committee meeting. Motion to move forward with a positive recommendation from the Finance Committee to award a contract to Nelco Electronic Inc. not to exceed $10,850 funded from the Food and Nutrition Department Fund 50 budget to install electric wiring and panel for a dishwasher booster, and to award a contract to Hobart Milwaukee not to exceed $10,906 funded from the Food and Nutrition Department Fund 50 budget to purchase a dishwasher booster heater for Kennedy Middle School kitchen. The motion does not require a second. Brief Board discussion. Motion carried. Motion to move forward with a positive recommendation from the Finance Committee to award Morton Buildings a contract not to exceed $52,409 and award Brainerd Excavating, Inc., a contract not to exceed $17,491 for a total of $69,900 funded from the Buildings and Grounds Fund 10 budget to build a 30’ x 60’ pole barn at Germantown High School. The motion does not require a second. Motion carried.

•  Pawlak updated the Board on the discussions during the Building Committee meeting, noting that Commercial Consultants will be starting building inspections next week with a follow-up in the spring. There was also a request to see what else they can help us with regarding referendum building issues, mentioning three outstanding issues from the referendum in need of resolution. Pawlak gave an update on phase one of the Germantown High School greenhouse project. He also mentioned the vacant Citizen Committee seat on the Building Committee with the resignation of Mark Koenke. Information regarding this vacancy will be available on the website; anyone interested could reach out to him or Don Erickson for assistance.

•  Discussions on the request to revise the current quarantine motion. Medved asked for Board discussion. Motion by Loth, second by Soderberg to approve vaccinated and unvaccinated students, if healthy and showing no symptoms, are free to come to school with a positive case of COVID-19 in their home, parents will make the final decision to send their students to school or not and included vaccinated and unvaccinated teachers, if healthy and showing no symptoms, are free to come to work with a positive case of COVID-19 in their home. Board discussion. Reinemann confirmed with Stousland that the District is still requiring a student with two or more symptoms to provide a negative test result to return to school. Motion carried.

•  Director of Business & Auxiliary Services Brittany Altendorf led discussions on the final 2020–2022 Professional & Technical, Support Staff, and Administration wage adjustments. Motion by Loth, second by Reinemann to approve a 1.81% pay rate increase as presented for the 2020–2021 year effective July 1, 2020, and a 1.23% pay rate increase as presented for the 2021–2022 year effective July 1, 2021. Motion carried.

•  Director of Teaching and Learning Brenda O’Brien led discussions on the Measure of Academic (MAP) success renewal. Motion by Pawlak, second by Borden to approve the MAP renewal for 2022 as presented. Soderberg thanked O’Brien and asked how long have we had the plan in place and did it have a metric component. O’Brien said well over 10 years and yes it did/we can run reports. Motion carried.

•  Approval of an anonymous donation of a Meade Telescope. Motion by Reinemann, second by Soderberg. Motion carried.

A recording of the meeting can be viewed here.

Original source can be found here.