October 2010 School Board Meeting

Skylert Notification System approved for Elmwood School District


Submitted by citizen journalist Rick A. Talford



ELMWOOD, WI - October 18, 2010 the Elmwood School District Board Meeting was held.

During public input, I (Rick Talford) spoke to the board on a recent sighting of wild animals within the village limits. Just a few days prior to the meeting, it was written up on the Pierce County Herald website that a cougar and her cub were seen crossing County Road P, into Butternut Park. A second sighting of the cub was reported near a apartment building on the south side of town. I felt the board should know of this sighting to keep the staff aware, and informed of the wild animals coming into the village. The need for the staff to keep an eye open for these animals while children are outside at play, was my largest concern. No action was taken by the board.

The Administrative Report followed, with Principal Jennifer Alwin speaking to the board first. Alwin discussed the fall sports wrapping up. The last home football game is scheduled for this Thursday, with it also being “Parents Night.” The last home Volleyball game was held, with everyone wearing pink for “Breast Cancer Awareness.” The Cross Country team is preparing for Conference, Regional, and Sectional competition in the upcoming weeks. And the Dance Team will be sending Jessica Bechel and Ashley Osteen to a All Star Dance performance in Florida on Nov. 1st. The FCCLA Haunted House will be on Oct. 29th, and they will be collecting food donations to provide the local food pantry. Alwin then explained how well the recent Parent-Teacher conferences went. A total of 48 families attended over a four hour period. “We also have a Student Teacher for the semester”, Alwin added. Lisa Hulburt, from Rock Falls area is helping Mrs. Sand in the Special Ed classroom. Completing her report, she stated the school will be having a Veterans Day Program, and a Fall Sports Banquet. Scheduling the banquet has not yet been determined.

Superintendent Paul Blanford then spoke to the board. There will be a workshop for the teachers K-5 at Spring Valley School upcoming, and the teachers will each spend a half day. The PTO book sale went very well over a ten day period. The Parent -Teacher Conferences had a 90% attendance for the Elementary students, with many grades having a perfect 100% attendance. The September K-8 Map testing was completed. There will be another period of testing in May to check the students’ growth. The students with low scores on the first test will be given a winter test to help bring them along with their peers. On Nov. 9th there will be a web based program for the K-8 teachers called “Compass Learning.” As of Friday, the superintendent report was completed with all the calculations. Oct. 12th was the Regional Meeting, with Superintendent Blanford, Paul Peterson and Bernard Christman attending. The October PAC meeting was held, with the hot topic being Technologies. “We are well ahead of other schools in this area”, added Blanford. Finishing up, Blanford told the board the Dunn-St. Croix meeting was held last week, and all the negotiations with the teachers are agreed upon. Rick Garfield has also provided information that a 97’ Ford bus is ready to sell. The School plans on taking bids for this sale.

In Action Items, The Skylert Notification System for student management was approved for purchase. The cost for the system will be $1,300.00 for the Module and $973.00 annual service fee. The Module is a one time cost. Hopefully, this will be up and running within six weeks. The system will be used to notify parents, students and staff of school closings and other needs the school may find useful. The module can call the entire district within just minutes, saving the office staff a lot of time. The 2010-11 tax levy was approved at 4.2% as discussed last month. The board also approved the repair of the current Intercom System. A Technician came to the school and found the system to be in need of repairs, due to a possible lightning strike in August. This may be covered by insurance if lightning is found to be the reason for the repairs. A deductible of $1,000.00 would be the cost. If the damage is from age, then it could cost up to $7,000.00 to replace the components needed. Finishing the action items, the board accepted the resignation of Dick Jones as the Assistant High School Basketball Coach, and approved Samuel Sujecki as his replacement. Sujecki is a current student at Stout.

In the Information Items, the Board Committee Updates were discussed. Evaluations for Staff, Student Allowances for competition, and a Special Board Meeting to be held after the fourth Monday of April to reorganize the board, will all be action items. The “Bullying Policy” will also be included. Superintendent Blanford told the members of the board that he has reviewed a DPI model policy that most of the school districts are going to use. There may be minor changes the board may want to make to enhance the policy to specific needs of the district. This policy will be used to ensure the investigations of bullying and harassment claims. “It has not been a major problem, but I have noticed it is a weekly problem that comes to my attention”, Blanford concluded.