Greenwood School Board Discusses Employment Matters and More

Tuesday, August 29th, 2023 -- 11:00 AM

The Greenwood School Board discussed employment matters at their meeting on Monday.

The Board approved:

• Valrie Behrns – Elementary Special Education Aide (Part-time),
• Nathan Bier – Substitute Teacher,
• Brandon Elmer – Middle-High School Technology Education Teacher,
• Deanna Jordan – Elementary Teacher – Sixth Grade ELA (Part-time),
• And Shari Smith – Volunteer.

The Board also approved the FFA to the Annual Convention in Indianapolis, Oct 31-Nov 3. The approval of the Co-op Football Head Coach for the next school year was tabled. The Committee Calendar schedule for the academic year was shared with the request to share any conflicts with District Administrator Joe Green. Meetings are subject to change.

The Board also approved the co-curricular transportation permission form as presented with updates made as discussed, heard updates on athletic co-ops, and approved Trainer Contracted Support contract with Crystal Frese for the 2023-24 school year as presented. The annual Seclusion/Restraint Report report to the board on the amount of seclusion/restraint used by staff to de-escalate situations was shared.

They also heard an update on summer projects. Cement work at middle/high school building along with shrub removal and wood chips replacing rock; Elementary outdoor classroom received a couple loads of gravel and a few more are scheduled to arrive.

Custodians have done great work clearing out brush and getting grounds around the facility and parking area ready for use. Projects that will be needed in the near future include: Tennis Courts – Filling cracks and resurfacing, Football Field Announcers Booth/Concession stand roof needs repair/replacement.

The Board also approved the ADS contract as presented for the 2023-24 academic year and approved participating in the CEP food service program for the 2023-24 academic year. The proposed referendum timeline was shared with the board. Will bring more information back at the September board meeting for timeline decisions to be made.

They also approved Tricor Insurance new premiums with no changes for 2023-24 as presented. The Board also heard a staffing update, approved 2023-24 Co-curricular contracts, and approved the following 2023-24 co-curricular contracts including:

• High School Assistant Cross-Country Coach – Dan Pieper,
• Middle School Cross-Country Coach – Nick Konopa,
• Forensics – Stephanie Glaser,
• And 3-Act Play – Stephanie Glaser and Kelsey Hoverson.

The Board also heard the Administrators’ Report. Elementary Principal’s Report Shane Lilly reported:

• Dr. Williams, Assistant Superintendent of Library and Media from the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, toured the elementary and middle-high school and community libraries;
• Fast bridge is up and running;
• Initial screening at beginning of September;
• Summer training – ARC training shared with Loyal and Owen-Withee School Districts has been completed;
• New Staff welcomed;
• And an increase of 20+ students since the beginning of August.

Dean of Students and Athletic Director Jenny Mayenschein reported on:

• Fall athletics up and running with enrollment in fall sports shared with the board;
• New SWAY concussion testing went well;
• And Loyal will be using our home football field for games and practices as their home field is having some updates.

Director of Instruction, Noah Werner, reported on:

• The CTE Report including August 10th, Mr. Green, Mr. Lilly and Mr. Werner went to CESA 10 mtg to recalibrate Educator Effectiveness. Will be working with a team to meet EE goals, and to utilize the EE goals to achieve HRS goals;
• MS/HS staff have been assigned PLC teams which will meet weekly to discuss HRS process, EE and curriculum related topics;
• ACP team met in August to identify/plan goals for the 2023-24 academic year and goals include lesson review & improvement, CTE/Arts night, ACP webpage updates, and ACP “capstone” project;
• And Greenwood ACP graduate portfolio has been developed by ACP team. Plan will be shred with industry partners and then brought to board for approval in future.

District Administrator and Middle/High School Principal Joe Green reported on:

• HRS Kick Off – Tue, Aug. 15 Greenwood and Loyal participated in in-service to learn about the change in culture it will take to become a high reliability school;
• Board Governance to be held on September 13th will be the last session that Greenwood and Loyal boards attending. Topic of discussion will be strategic planning;
• Survey through Solution Tree which includes questions about climate & culture, will be sent out to students, staff and parents after Labor Day. Results will be used to drive our goals and work with HRS. Results of survey will be discussed at September 29 joint Inservice meeting;
• CESA 10 and local districts are reviewing new legislation that will require districts to become compliant with updated reading and language arts standards;
• Lawmakers are working on passing legislation that will allow school board members to volunteer time as district bus drivers;
• 10 juniors are scheduled for College Prep course at Loyal;
• Transportation is being worked out;
• Lisa continues to work with students on schedule changes at the middle/high school;
• An assembly was held to welcome students and review general expectations;
• The District also hosted 3 exchange students including a 10th grade girl from Spain, a 10th grade boy from Latvia, and a 12th grade girl from France.

Also Board Member Jamie Gardner attended the CESA 10 Annual Meeting:

• They pproved 3 new delegates (including Jamie Gardner), August 4th;
• Speaker Tasha Shoe guest speaker had a good information on mental health.

They also heard an update on the Joint Board Committee. The met August 22nd at Greenwood:

• Discussed shared transportation with splitting cost 50/50, purchase of larger van discussed, waiver form and guidelines for transportation between school districts discussed;
• Communication expectations discussed with plan drafted;
• Update on students attending courses between districts was shared;
• October 1st deadline for WIAA fall sports applications;
• Potential parent survey – no consensus at meeting on a survey. Committee discussed survey but came to no consensuses to share with each board. Mr. Green shared that the board can direct the committee to revisit this and discussion with request to bring back recommendations at next months regular board meeting. With both boards receiving recommendations from the committee that the board can discuss and take possible action on. Board agreed with this directive.

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