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Loyal School Board Hears Update on District's Financial Situation

Thursday, June 30th, 2022 -- 11:00 AM

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The Loyal School Board heard a presentation about the current financial status of the district.

Deb Brunett from Baird Financial reviewed the Loyal Financial Model and talked to the Board about the current financial status of the district and about an operational referendum.

The 2022-23 school year will be the last year of our current operational referendum and, if they do not get an operational referendum approved for the 2023-24 school year, they will have a significant budget shortfall.They will have an opportunity to present an operational referendum question at the November 2022 or the April 2023 Elections.

They also accepted letters of resignation from Art teacher Autumn Tietz and middle school science teacher Paul Ziebell. Autumn is building a house in Menomonie and Paul will be going to Neillsville. Best wishes to both of them.

They District hired Heidi Foottit as the Elementary Title I teacher, Logan Fulwiler for Middle School Science, and Shaylee Croxall as the Instrumental Music Instructor. They also hired Jaime Wolf as the Full-Time Library Assistant and Zachary Zarnke as the Custodial/Maintenance Supervisor.

They are still currently working on hiring an art teacher, vocal music instructor, and Title I teacher. The Board also heard updates on the District’s summer projects. In the District Library, carpeting and painting are done.  The shelving has arrived and is being assembled.  Staff is bringing elementary books up to the new library and putting them on shelves.

In the Copy Room, flooring and lighting was replaced and they'll be getting new shelving. For the Interior Door Project, Zvolena Masonry will be starting the installation of the new doors next week.

For Playground Equipment, Lee Recreation will be installing the new playground equipment next week. For Uni-vents and air handlers, the air handler above the area that used to be the elementary library will be installed in August.  The five uni-vents are not in yet; they anticipate that they will be delivered in October and will be installed either during Thanksgiving Break or Christmas Break.

The exterior elementary wall project is on hold while they work with Ratsch Engineering to find a better R-Value solution. The new ceilings and LED lighting in 4 elementary rooms are being installed.

A total of 7 classrooms will be upgraded to LED lighting. Zvolena Masonry is working on the tuckpointing project this week. The playground blacktop was resealed this week.

The Board of Education also decided to waive all registration fees and athletic fees for the 2022-23 school year. Lunch prices are currently:

  • $1.80 for Breakfast;
  • $3.20 for high school lunch;
  • $3.00 for middle school lunch;
  • And $2.80 for elementary lunch.

The decision on 2022-23 breakfast and lunch prices was tabled until the July meeting.

The Board decided to leave the Driver Education - Behind-the-Wheel fee at $300. The Board also heard the SAGE/AGR end of year report. Kindergarten met all their goals. First and Second grades met their reading goals and were close on their math goals. Data tells them that they will need to continue planning for extra support for First and Second grades for next year, so they can close the gaps in math.

They had zero cases of seclusion or restraint in the 2021-22 school year. All of the elementary budget requests have been reviewed and ordered; and the middle/high school budgets have been reviewed and materials are being ordered at this time.

There was a brief discussion on the results of the end of year teacher survey.  There were concerns regarding communication and school climate. They are working on updating the Employee Handbook. The final version should be approved at the July meeting. Some of the items include:

  • Insurance,
  • Post Employment Benefits,
  • Retirement,
  • Curriculum Pay,
  • Bereavement Pay,
  • In Lieu of Insurance Pay,
  • In House Sub Pay,
  • And Paid Time Off.

They had a discussion with the Recruit and Retain Committee concerning this.Most of these items have already been approved at the Board level, but they have not updated the employee handbook to acknowledge these changes since March of 2019.  The Policy Committee will need to meet to review the changes before approval.

The Board also heard the Middle/High School Principal’s, Doug Dieckman, report to the Board. Int the past 30 days:

  • Finalized all budget packets for 2022-23;
  • Wrapped up all student awards and assemblies;
  • Held first 8th grade promotion ceremony;
  • End of the year class trips completed, all went well;
  • Choir did an outstanding job at the Brewer game singing the National Anthem;
  • They had 6 track girls qualify for state, Relay team(Aubrey, Leah, Sheila and Lisa) and Alyssia Z medaled;
  • Interviews for Band, Chorus, Title, Art and Library Assistant being conducted;
  • Held first PAC meeting on May 22 , have next one set for August 14th;
  • 2022 Graduation went very well;
  • Finalized 2022-23 master schedule;
  • Students received a copy;
  • Initial meeting with CESA partners to begin planning for a school wide behavior plan;
  • Finalized plan for our first professional development day for ARC-August 11;
  • Reviewed all summer professional development requests from staff.

In the next 30 days they hope to:

  • Make updates to Teacher handbook, student handbook, parent handbook and employee handbook;
  • Develop a club/advisor “working” handbook for the 2022-23 school year;
  • Fill all vacant teaching positions;
  • MS Washington D.C. trip (June 26-July 1);
  • And Prep for registration day.

Challenges they face include staffing.

Special Education Director Megan Dieckman did not have a formal report for the Board at this time, but took an opportunity to let them know that she is currently working on processing the American Reading Company materials and is looking forward to implementing the program and thanked the Board for their generosity to the staff and administrators.

Elementary Principal Nancy Popp reported:

  • That the FFA hosted Ag Day for the elementary students on May 13th, all grades enjoyed a petting zoo, checking out tractors, and various other activities;
  • The older elementary students also went on Ag related field trips around the community, thank you to the FFA students and Mrs. Donnerbauer for organizing this day for the students;
  • The SOLES Committee held a Bike Rodeo on May 14th, free bike helmets were handed out to all that attended, thank you to this group for taking over this popular activity;
  • The 4th grade class was chosen to receive a visit, and a potato themed party from the Spudmobile on May 17th , ll grades were invited to check out the Spudmobile and learn more about Wisconsin potato farming;
  • The 4th grade participated in Food for America on May 19th.  This event was held at the Luchterhand farm;
  • The kindergarten classes enjoyed community field trips the last two weeks of May.  They visited many local businesses and organizations to learn how they help our community;
  • The 4K classes held graduation on May 31st for the Tuesday/Thursday group and on June 1st for the Monday/Wednesday group.  Mrs. Schley and Mrs. Dillenbeck did a fantastic job getting the kiddos ready for this important milestone;
  • The 2nd grade went on a field trip to visit the Chippewa Valley Museum on May 31st;
  • The kindergarten class went on their annual field trip to Marshfield.  They visited the fire station and spent time at the Wildwood Park and Zoo;
  • Summer school started on June 13th and runs through July 1st . They have about 105 students enrolled this summer. They have two sessions of swimming being offered this summer.  Session one was June 6th -June 17th and session two started June 20th and ends June 30th . There are about 40 student per session participating;
  • Interviewing for a variety of openings in the district including band, choir, art, Title I;
  • Planning training for our FastBridge assessment tool;
  • Wrapping up end of the year cycle for Educator Effectiveness and AGR;
  • Playground equipment is coming in at the end of this week and I am excited to see the kiddos reaction to the new activities;
  • Their FFA members had some outstanding achievements at the State Convention last week.  A big congratulations to Devani Hinkelmann for being selected as a state officer;
  • Congratulations also go to the Roehl Family on hosting an outstanding FFA Alumni Dairy Breakfast last Sunday.  Over 2,000 people were served;
  • Just a reminder that next month (July 12-13-14) the Roehl’s will be hosting the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days at their farm and that volunteers are needed; it is a good way to raise funds for all of our organizations;
  • They are also looking at adding five minutes onto the student day, so the student day would be 8:10 – 3:25.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.