Regular Board Meeting: November 20, 2023
Superintendent Dr. Chris Reuter provided a District Administrator Update mentioning the release of the State Report Card for the 2022-2023 school year with all of our schools receiving exceeds expectations; the GHS Fall WIAA Sports State results; two WSPRA Communications Awards were received, the Award of Excellence for our monthly parent newsletter and the Award of Merit for our Teacher appreciation project and the 4K registration and enrollment campaign; and a Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Superintendent Dr. Chris Reuter presented Jon Bell, Frank Lord, Clinton Roby, and Ben Schuh with School Safety Recognition Awards and thanked them for their heroic and brave actions during the critical incident at Kennedy Middle School on October 23, 2023.
Mr. Tony Gonzalez presented students from MacArthur Elementary to share their personal writing narratives. A 5th grade student went to the zoo and had a lot of fun seeing all of her favorite animals. A 2nd grade student shared her story about pumpkin seeds. A 3rd grade student shared her story about going to a house to pick up Cocoa Bean, her new cat. A 4th grade student shared her story about a 10 year old girl’s very busy day.
The following citizens spoke: Lisa Van Zummeren with the GEA, Dan Knodl to say thank you for those involved in the October 23rd incident.
Motion by Barney, second by Pawlak to approve Consent Agenda Items A-D. Mr. Nowak highlighted the resignations and teacher contracts. Dr. Reuter highlighted the donations. Motion carried.
Ewert provided an update from the November 6, 2023 Teaching & Learning Committee Meeting mentioning the reading pilot update and DreamBox Learning for math.
Motion with a positive recommendation from the Teaching & Learning Committee to approve the purchase of DreamBox Learning Math. Motion carried.
Loth provided an update from the November 6, 2023 Finance Committee Meeting mentioning the October vouchers, Do the Math Tier III Intervention K-8 purchase, and the laptop purchase.
Motion to the Full Board with a positive recommendation from the Finance Committee to approve the purchase of Do The Math Intervention resources for an amount not to exceed $20,181.49. Motion carried.
Motion to the Full Board with a positive recommendation from the Finance Committee to approve the purchase of 28 HP G860 G10’s for $27,725.60 from Vanguard Computers Inc as the winning bid for the RFP using Common School Library funds. Motion carried.
Ewert provided an update from the November 6, 2023 Personnel Committee Meeting mentioning teacher resignations, teacher contracts, and the staffing update. Also mentioned was the ongoing compensation study.
Barney provided an update from the November 13, 2023 Policy Committee Meeting mentioning the discussion of 23 policy changes; 7 new, 14 revised and 2 rescinded. Barney highlighted the Attendance Policy which clarifies the types of absences that require a written approval; the New Academic Honesty Policy that deals with the impact of emerging technologies which makes engaging in academic dishonesty more accessible such as artificial intelligence; the New Artificial Intelligence Policy; Policy 5530 - Use or Possession of Intoxicants, Drugs, or Paraphernalia which will reflect the changing and expanding scope of drugs that are becoming available; and New Policy Community Services Fund - Fund 80. The committee is not bringing forward Policy 2521 - Instructional Materials and Equipment at this time, as further clarification around terminology is needed from Neola.
Motion from the Policy Committee with a positive recommendation to the full Board to approve the updates and modifications to District policies, as discussed, 0100 - 9800.01 with the exception of Policy 2521 which shall be tabled for further discussion. Motion carried.
Barney led discussions on proposed Policy 2133 - Class Size. This proposed policy was introduced during the Policy Committee meeting and provides desired class size guidelines across all grade levels for core academic classes and electives.
Director of Human Resources Mike Nowak led discussions on the health/dental/vision insurance rates for the 2024 Plan Year. R&R Insurance shared a presentation. Board discussion on rates and HSA contributions. Motion by Pawlak, second by Barney to approve the proposed UMR options for Health Insurance coverage for the 2024 plan year and Dental/Vision plans through Delta Dental and Delta/EyeMed in the Germantown School District for the 2024 plan year with all costs noted in the document provided. Motion carried.
Director of Business & Auxiliary Services Brittany Altendorf led discussions on the 2023-2024 Budget. Motion by Barney, second by Pawlak to approve the 2023/2024 Final Budget as presented and adjust the appropriate accounts identified as the Adoption Format which was presented at the annual meeting for final submission to the Department of Public Instruction as required. Board discussion on how the budget is prepared. Motion carried.
Superintendent Dr. Chris Reuter along with District Legal Counsel Kevin Pollard led discussions on the action to call a Special Meeting to approve Resolution G4 of the 2023 Annual Meeting. Dr. Reuter shared what the Annual Meeting is and what the Powers of the Annual Meeting are, the two motions that were made surrounding Resolution G4, and the result of the vote on the two motions was no compensation for the Board, which doesn’t appear to be the intention of the electors. Motion by Ewert, second by Higginbotham pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute 120.08 (2)(a)(b)(c) to call a Special Meeting to reconvene to consider and act upon Resolution G4 of the October 23rd, 2023 Germantown School District Annual Meeting: Approve Salaries and Expense Reimbursement for School Board Members. Motion carried.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS:
Special Meeting of the Electorate of the Germantown School District - December 11, 2023
Regular School Board Meeting — December 18, 2023