By Kayla Barnes
The over three hour long meeting on Monday, March 23 of the Pecatonica Area School Board held a lot of discussions and approvals. The board of education approved a second high school English position along with approving a Communications & Community Relations Director position.
The district currently has one 1.0 full time English teacher and a .2 FTE (full time equivalent) English/.8 FTE Social Studies teacher. This position would take away the .2 FTE from the Social Studies teacher, making them a 1.0 full time Social Studies teacher. The district would then have two 1.0 full time English and Social Studies teaching positions.
The recommendation was to reallocate the finances allocated for the Spanish teaching position to create the additional English teaching position. One reason behind this ask was to expand course offerings within the district. Speech is one of the most requested Start College Now classes being taking at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore. Over the past five years, speech has been requested 36 times by students.
Another reason was looking at the test scores of the pre-ACT and ACT. Consistently over the last four years, students have not been performing as well as the state average.
Student representative Mazie Theorin wanted to make sure even though the district doesn’t have a foreign language on campus that they are still highly encouraging students to take a class.
“Knowing another language is beneficial knowledge for life. It can make them well rounded,” Theorin stated.
Middle/High school principal Dr. Mark Stateler acknowledged that even though taking a foreign language isn’t required, it is recommended to take two years of the same language but the district foresees them continuing having online options for students to take classes with a live teacher.
Kevin Jayne questioned if the district would be able to fill the classes suggested they introduce with the new English teacher.
As previously stated, Speech is the number one requested class. Students are required to take four years of English. There are students who don’t want to only have the options as juniors or seniors to take English III, English IV or AP English. This second teacher will give them those additional options, like Speech or communication and journalism classes.
Student representative Luke Leonard felt that having more options would be beneficial for students.
“I just want to be doing the right thing,” Jayne expressed.
“The power of choice is important for students,” Stateler said.
Brian Schlafli questioned if they shouldn’t be investing into another shop teacher rather than another core teaching position. He didn’t feel the English courses were necessary over wanting to invest more in the trades Grace Knutson agreed that the district should be doing more with industrial education and trades courses.
“The ag industry has changed over the years. Should the Curriculum Committee be looking at less agriculture classes and more trade classes?” Knutson said. She added she would love to see more trades but was not sure if the district would need another teacher or just have different classes.
Schlafli just wanted to see the shop that the district has be fully utilized. The reason for the additional .2 FTE English with the Social Studies was not known by administration but believe it was due to fitting additional English into the schedule.
Trevor Dosecher felt that taking additional English classes would help students understand basic communication skills, like the correct way to write an email or letter or create a Cover Letter or resume.
Knutson made the motion with Cory DeSmet seconding to approve the second English teaching position. The motion passed 5-2 with Schlafli and Huffman again.
Strategic Plan and Communications Director
The board was asked to approve the Strategic Plan and Communications Framework. The plan represents an almost full year of work rounded in transparency, community voice and student centered decision making. It was developed through multi phases, community engagement secession, goal settings and refinement. It is guided by five shared values: relevant & empowering curriculum, staff learning & retention, culture & pride, operations: finance & policy, and community. It outlines a clear mission focusing on strong relationship and ensuring long term success for students, staff and community.
The Strategic Communication priorities are to strengthen trust and engagement through clear, timely, accurate communication with students, families, staff and the broader community; elevate the visibility and value of a Pecatonica education consistently sharing stories that highlight student success, staff excellence, and strong community partnerships; develop a cohesive, recognizable district brand that reflects the strengths, identity, and values of Pecatonica schools; and establish a clear strategic framework that ensures consistency, professionalism, and alignment across all district platforms and public materials.
Cassie Perenchio, a communications consultant contracted through the district, stated how she has never seen a focus like this in a strategic plan from a school district before.
“You can’t have a successful strategic plan without dedicated communications and you can’t have successful communications without a strategic plan. The district has had an opportunity to work on both at the same time,” Perenchio.
In January and February, the district contracted with Perenchio to conduct focus groups and surveys about communications needs and priorities. This stemmed from a desire to formalize marketing and communication efforts while also facing feedback from the public about desired and needed improvements. All of the focus groups agreed that communication was central to longterm sustainability and how communication fosters both trust and transparency.
Knutson hoped the district would make this information available for other school districts to look at and glean information on what the district has done.
DeSmet made the motion to approve the Strategic Plan with Huffman seconding.
The board was then asked to approve the posting and hiring for a Communication and Community Relations director. Superintendent Dr. Dani Scott stated the position would have the salary paid through split funding sources of Fund 10 and Fund 80. The split would be an 80/20 split.
Jayne, who has been a huge advocate of having the district to have a communications director was cautious on how the position would be financed. Fund 10 is the districts general fund or Fund Balance. Fund 80 is a community fund. Camp Pec’s budget also comes out of Fund 80. The estimated salary for the position is around $60,000-$80,000.
Perenchio commented that every focus group ask how could the district make sure that we are drawing people in and preventing people from wanting to open enroll out. The communication director could help get out the facts.
“Public perception is a lot of the issue. If we don’t get ahead of the narrative there can be risks. The community deeply cares that Pecatonica stays Pecatonica,” Perenchio said.
Knutson stated that the board has been complaining about how the district isn’t good at communicating. This is a position the board and the community asked for and she didn’t feel like they should go back to communicating on a minimum basis.
“We should try this and if it is not working, then we have another conversation and go another route. I will be sad if this doesn’t go through and feel like we are letting everyone down. I don’t know what we will be doing, going back to where we were and not happy. This is the solution we have right now,” Knutson said.
Schlafli felt this was taking away from academics. Dr. Scott stated that there are so many amazing things that are happening in the classroom that nobody knows are happening because the district doesn’t have someone to help them tell everyone about it.
“If I thought this was going to take away from course offerings or hinder students, then I would have told you to do something else,” Perenchio said. “Academics are the most important. If you don’t tell the story about how great your academics are, you have to ask the question of will you even be here.”
Huffman made the motion with Knutson seconding. The motion passed unanimously.
Summer School Coordinator
During the February meeting, Dr. Scott gave the board numbers on potential FTEs the district could obtain doing summer school. Fortunately, her calculations were wrong and she found that the district could be gaining significantly more FTEs so she came back to the board and asked them to reconsider summer school and approve a Summer School Coordinator position.
Dr. Scott commented that the coordinator will be in charge of the logistics of the program, figuing out where the program will be held, if there will need to be a shuttle from Hollandale to Blanchardville and what will happen to those students attending Camp Pec. She added that none of the administration will be able to take on the roll.
The district is hopeful they will be able to have it this summer, bringing in additional revenue. There are a lot of factors that go into it still that need to be worked out. Since they are working on this later in the year then they had hoped, it might have to be moved from happening in June to taking place in August.
Jayne brought up data he found from area districts on what they had done during their summer school and hoped that whoever would be in charge could take some advice from those districts to make sure that Pecatonica’s summer school is successful.
Huffman made the motion with Knutson seconding. The motion passed unanimously.
Pride of Pecatonica
The Pride of Pecatonica awards were given out to deserving students in the district that embody what it means to be a Pecatonica Viking.
The elementary Pride of Pecatonica winner Aero Anderson, nominated by third grade teachers Ellie Lyne and Kayla Meier. Anderson has a positive attitude, is a great role model and is intrigued about learning. He is a master math ninja, excels academically and is a kind friend. Classmates stated he listens, is a good athlete and a helpful, funny friend.
The middle school Pride of Pecatonica winner Leona Ballard, nominated by the middle school teacher team. Ballard works well with others, is a diligent worker, clever, smart and witty. She has excellent participation, an avid reader and goes above and beyond. She has a strong understanding of instruction, is kind and strong. She is a great self advocate and has a very open mind.
The high school Pride of Pecatonica winner Landon Wahl, nominated by the high school teacher team. Wahl is very respectful, hard working and diligent. He is reliable, a great teammate and a strong participant. He is fun, responsible, positive, kind, wise, and a great leader.
Public Comment
During public comment, two students, Jenna Kurschner and Calla Stateler, spoke out against head volleyball coach Melissa Schlimgen and the toxic environment they endured. Both stated they felt there was a lack of communication, the environment was hostile, and they felt excluded or less than by not only Schlimgen but by the entire coaching staff. They urged the school board to really consider the coaching staff for volleyball when that subject is breached. They mentioned they were just a few among other players, and parents, who had concerns with the coaching staff.
Brad Tisch, an assistant coach for volleyball, had nothing but praises for Schlimgen and the program she has built. Megan Jorenby wrote a letter to the board stating the same things and was behind Schlimgen. She commented that she trust her and the amazing work she has done with Jorenby’s daughter and the group that is against Schlimgen is small.
Roy Ruegsegger asked the board to vote down Policy 225 that looked to change the evaluation for a district administrator from twice a year to once a year stating that is too long to not discuss a person’s time in the district. He wasn’t against the person in the position but against people not working together. He stated that it is all about communication because “communication keeps the country running”.
Reports
Forward testing has begun in the elementary. Kids Heart Challenge has completed. Students raised $8,340.78, which is over $1,000 more than last year. A contest was had to name the Viking mascot at the elementary and the winning name came from the third grade class of Viktor. Grandview After School Art will take place Thursdays from 3-5 p.m. from April 9-May 7 at the elementary school. The Spring Concert is Friday, May 15. For a fundraiser for Upham Woods for the fifth grade class, the school held a school wide Penny War where $2,157 were raised to help offset the cost of the trip for the fifth grade students.
The entire Forensics Team has qualified for state. Juniors had their ACT tests. Sophomores will be having their pre-ACT tests soon. High school students went on several trips to area businesses to learn about potential job careers. Assessments are completing soon in the middle school. The district is in need of Middle School Track Coaches. At the time of the meeting, if the district is unable to get coaches soon, they will have to cancel the Middle School Track season. Practice begins April 13. They are also looking for a Strength, Speed & Conditioning Coach – Weight Room Supervisor.
Outstanding fees are at $6,231.50 and outstanding lunch balances are $15,251.59.
Action items
The district was approached by the Friends of Mckellar Park to see if they would be interested in purchasing the shed the group was using for the pond storage. The current shed the district has at the park is in bad shape and is smaller than the shed being offered to the district. Stateler stated he was going to approach the district at some point about needing to replace the blue shed. Schlafli wanted to see if students could build a shed instead of the district purchasing one. The motion to offer the group $7,000 for the shed failed 3-4 with Megan Reading, Huffman, Schlafli and Jayne against.
The board also approved: – 2.63 percent increase for salaries (that is the CPI and the maximum the district can offer).
Second reading of Policy 662.3, 224, 225, 226, and 165. – Start College Now/CollEDGE Up
Applications
- Purchasing a Diligent subscription, a software platform for better organization for board materials and policies for an annual subscription of $5,400.
- $250 stipend for fifth grade teachers and Ryan Cassidy for the overnight trip to Upham Woods.
- CESA 3 contract.
- Defensive coordinator, Dawson Jacobus for $2,000
- Deb Langrehr as the School Psychologist/ Director of Special Eduation and Pupil Services for $87,000.
- part time food services Travis Gilson $16/hr, 20hr/wk position
Donations: Green County Humane Society $54.70 for Pec FFA; Ginny Bean, $100, use at district’s discretion; Blue Ribbon 4- H, $100, to softball program; anonymous, $50, use at district’s discretion; and Pec Valley ATV, $500, put toward negative lunch balances.