Loyal School Board Discusses Volleyball Program, Project Updates, and More

Monday, October 31st, 2022 -- 10:00 AM

The Loyal School Board heard updates on the districts’ volleyball program.

In Public Comments, Viki Pieper spoke to the Board regarding the issues that were brought up last month regarding the Volleyball program.  Head Volleyball Coach Jaedyn Pieper also addressed the Board regarding the issues brought up last month at the Board meeting.

The Board also approved the Application for Early School Start Waiver for 2023-24 School Year.  If this is approved by the DPI, they will have the option to start the 2023-24 school year before September 1.

The Board also heard an update on maintenance projects:

Air Handlers:

Two of them will be here in the next 2-3 weeks.  They will be installed above the FACS room and the Elementary Library area.  Five Uni-vents are also ordered and on their way.  Hopefully, they will be installed during Thanksgiving or Christmas break.

ESSER Funds will be used to pay for these projects.  The rest of the air handlers that they will be replacing (New Gym, Old Gym, high school library, high school office, elementary office and the tech ed. area) are scheduled for next summer.  These will also be paid for with ESSER funds.

Elementary parking lot:

There was a broken storm drain under the northeast corner of the parking lot which needs to be repaired and the parking lot will need to be resurfaced.

Circle Drive and west side parking lot:

Snow plowing bid from Paul Bugar Trucking has been accepted.

Roof projects:

The membrane roofs on the 1997 additions are starting to wear and will need to be replaced in the next few years.  These areas include the high school library, the elementary office addition, the weight room and tech ed. areas, the band room and wood shop. They received an estimate from one roofing company at around $220,000.

Balance of interior doors:

There are still a few interior doors that were not replaced in the big interior door project this past summer.  Ted Zvolena has been out to get a list of the doors that still need replacing and will get them a price on it.  They will pay for the rest of the doors with ESSER funds.

Former Elementary Library:

They are working with Ratsch Engineering to get a plan put together to transform this area into two or three Kindergarten and/or 4K classrooms.  They will need to put restrooms in for the students.

Art Room:

If they can create a new 4YK space in the old elementary library, they will move Mrs. Schley’s 4YK class to a new area and her classroom will be modified to allow for the current art room area to have an actual doorway in the hallway rather than walking through the elementary gym and elementary phy. ed. storage area or the Music Room.

Tennis Courts:

They tore out the old tennis courts last spring.  They are working on plans for new tennis courts but do not have an exact location as of right now.

Baseball infield improvement project:

The dugouts have been torn out and they have had Eric Landini out to see if they can add drain tile around the infield and to the south of the football/baseball field to properly drain the rainwater before they apply the new surface. They're waiting on a recommendation and estimate.

Also, the 2023-24 Budget was approved last night. A copy of the budget can be found on the BoardDocs site or you can contact the administration office if you have any questions or concerns regarding the budget. The 2022-23 Tax Levy was adopted last night. The 2022-23 Tax Levy will be $1,610,185.00.

The Board also heard the update on the Concession Stand Project. They reviewed copies of the blueprints for the proposed concession stand.  They are currently planning on having the fire department remove the current concession stand building.

They have plans drawn up for a 24x60 building.  Half of the building will be athletic/phy. ed. Department storage.  The other half will have a concession area and room for restrooms.  A lot of the work will be done by the building trades class and volunteers.  They are currently getting prices on the concrete and building materials.

Also, with the resignation of Jared Zemke, their former foodservice director, they reached out to Greenwood to share their foodservice director.   They have a 66.030 agreement with Greenwood to share their foodservice director, Jeri Haase on a 60/40 basis, Loyal being 40%.  This agreement was approved.

Now that they no longer have a full-time foodservice director in house every day, they have promoted Lisa Mahoney from foodservice assistant to Kitchen Manager.  She will oversee the day-to-day operations of the foodservice department; this is a part-time position.  They also officially hired Pat Bennett as a part-time foodservice assistant.

The Board also discussed the Operational Referendum. They have the referendum information posted on the school website and social media.  They held an informational meeting on October 19th and did a presentation at the Annual Meeting on October 24.

Another informational meeting is scheduled for November 1.  The District Administrator have been attending local organizations and town board meetings to provide information on the referendum.

They are also producing an informational video which we plan to have on the website/social media by the end of the week. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the operational referendum, please feel free to contact the Administrator or any Board member.

Now that the football season is over, both districts are meeting to evaluate their plans for next year.  They are looking at the possibility of starting the co-op in the 2023 season, but they would be ineligible for the playoffs.

If the co-op happens for the 2023 season, there is a possibility of a two-year sanction against Greenwood because they broke their 8-player conference agreement. With this broken agreement, Greenwood could face a two-year sanction in which they would be ineligible for the playoffs for two years, the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Both districts are working with the WIAA to see what their options are, but no action was taken.

The Board also heard the Administrators' Reports. Elementary Principal Nancy Popp reported on:

• The 5th grade going to the Highgrounds on Tuesday, October 4th;
• Grades K, 1, 2, 3 and 4 went to Spencer to meet with Author Kevin Lovegreen on Tuesday, October 4th and she thanked the Title I teachers for setting this up for the students;
• On October 11th, the 4K classes went to the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station;
• Picture retake day was held on October 13th;
• Clark County held a flu shot clinic on October 18th at the end of the day for students and staff and they had open hours for the community after the school day was over;
• The 1st grade went to Turnpike Greenhouse on October 21st;
• The SOLES Committee held a family fun night at Tendershoots on October 22nd;
• Yesterday the 4K, K, and 2nd grade students joined students from neighboring school to see a play called Captain Friendship;
• Mrs. Zarnke will have a Financial Literacy night in November that will coincide with the library book fair;
• On Monday, Mr. Lindner, Mr. Dieckman, Mrs. Scherer, Ms. Bauer, and Mrs. Popp attended Threat Assessment training in Greenwood led by the state justice department and they have a follow up meeting of the group to begin the process that they will use at Loyal;
• Second FastBridge training will take place on Friday from 9:00 to 12:00 and this session will focus on Reading and there will be two more sessions after Christmas, one on Math and another on compiling end of the year data;
• Title I groups for the fall have been established;
• Mrs. Popp is working with the elementary Title teachers to continue our developing process assessments that they are using to place students in the program;
• And Mrs. Popp is researching some social emotional interventions that can be used with some of our students who need to improve their social skills.

Middle/High School Principal Doug Dieckman reported, in the past 30 days:

• They restructured MS and HS choir schedule for students;
• Kicked off the staff PD on Sep. 30 - reboot on UDL;
• They also did some work on adult behaviors and characteristics that may be visible in a school that will do whatever it takes to “ensure each and every student learns.”;
• MSHS football and volleyball seasons wrapped up, they still have cross country going with Connor G. going to State;
• MS boys basketball kicked off and numbers are a little low;
• Term 1 staff evaluations in progress;
• ARC coaching visit #2 completed, with lots of great feedback on where the teachers are at and the great things they are doing in the classroom;
• Reading intervention groups established and scheduled;
• Google suites and Kahtura training conducted for interested staff (district sponsored PD) on Oct. 25;
• FFA members attending the national convention;
• Academic awards assembly for term 3 last year was completed;
• First MS dance on Oct. 21 was a huge hit with the kids;
• Homecoming activities to include the dance went very well;
• Implemented a grade wide behavior management plan with the 8th grade team;
• Review weekly and highlight success/challenges at Oct. 28 PD;
• Meeting with MS grade groups each Monday during GIT - reviewing and practicing expectations in common areas;
• Began work on the baseball field, removed dugouts, getting field on grade;
• And nominations for a student leadership academy submitted and they're etting up a meeting schedule.

In the next 30 days:

• They’ll Continue to work through staff evaluations;
• End of the fall season coaching evaluations/check out/inventory completed;
• Staff PD on Oct. 28, focus on behavior management;
• Taking a group of staff to Greenwood on the afternoon of Oct. 28 for a PLC workshop;
• Fall sports end of season banquets;
• Veteran’s day program - Nov. 11;
• One Act play on Nov. 11, 12, and 13;
• Half day PD with Greenwood staff on Nov. 4.;
• End of 1st term on Friday, Nov. 18;
• Staff PD on Nov. 21 and 22;
• Continue to work with our leadership academy students on growing their skills;
• PAC meeting on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 6:30;
• Classwize train the trainer opportunity for staff on Nov. 14 after school;
• Spanish students will be attending the International Folk Fair in Milwaukee on Friday, Nov. 18.

Challenges include staffing.

District Administrator Chris Lindner reported on:

• Working on filling open teaching positions;
• Congratulations to Conner Genteman for going to State in Cross Country - best wishes to him on Saturday, October 29 in Wisconsin Rapids;
• They held the Cloverbelt Conference Cross Country meet in Loyal on October 15 and things went very well and thanks to the AD’s and cross country coaches for a job well done;
• On Friday, October 28 during staff development there will be a staff-wide wellness committee activity;
• On Friday, November 4 in the afternoon, Loyal staff members will be meeting with Greenwood staff members to discuss collaboration ideas;
• He would like to thank all the staff for all their great efforts through the nine weeks that we have been back.

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