Presentation from DataWrangler, electronic transcript services
Before the regular Pecatonica Area School Board meeting on Monday, May 18, the board met for a special meeting where they discussed rules and requirements for board members and reorganized their board as they added three new members, Marsha Crooks, Megan Leonard and Steve Acheson. Megan Reading was reelected as the board president, Steve Acheson is the vice president, Trevor Doescher is clerk and Megan Leonard is treasurer.
One major change to the reorganization of the board was changing the time of the meetings instead of starting at 7 p.m. to starting 6:30 p.m. They will still remain the third Monday of the month.
Then at the board meeting Monday night, the board approved an electronic transcript service and listened to a presentation from Data Wrangler.
Ryan … from Data Wrangler of Madison had presented to a superintendents meeting about what the company can do for school districts. Data Wrangler installs precision metering and delivers monthly savings reports that help school districts cut electric bills by 10-25 percent. They educate school districts on their energy bills and help them become more energy efficient. They also help identify food services expenses in Fund 50 but can also improve any third party facility usage.
“We are looking at peaks throughout the usage month and identifying what is attributing to those peaks,” Ryan explained.
“They look to see when we are using the most energy and see how to change human behavior to lessen that use,” Superintendent Dr. Dani Scott added on.
On the utility bill, Alliant Energy has two demand charges, peak demand and customer demand. Peak demand is the highest 15 minutes of monthly usage. Customer demand is a rolling 12 months of that 15 minute window. About 40 percent of the total bill comes from two fixed 15 minute periods in the calendar year or billing period. That is what Data Wrangler is looking to help the district reduce.
They are also starting to enroll districts that use their services into Energy Star building tracker. This qualifies any district with their metering for a Utility Bill Verified Savings incentive. Energy Star would look at a 12 month period and focus on energy savings. The district(s) would then receive a check for that movement within that Energy Star.
There is a one time start up fee of $29,113, which is based on the sq. ft. of both buildings and the set up for both. It includes labor installing the network, metering hardware, collections computer and onsite set up.
The district averages spending $4,500 a month for each building, which equates to $108,000 a year on electricity in both buildings. They are looking to reduce the bill by $1,620. This would be around $20,000 a year reduced from the districts bill.
There would be a fee of $250 per building for a total of $500. They would then be saving $1,120 off their bill, making it a total of around $40,000 saved over a three year period. This again is for both buildings. The district could just turn on metering for one building if they so choose.
Tracking third party facility usage would allow the district to understand how much energy they use and possibly charge them a cost that would go into Fund 80.
There is a one year opt out in the contract so if the district were to go with Data Wrangler and not see results they could opt out without any penalty.
The Data Wrangler presentation was only for information and would be brought back to the board in June to see if they would want to pursue it or not.
Electronic Transcript Service Looking for ways to make the district’s practice more efficient, Dr. Scott looked into a company to help with electronic transcript requests. Parchment is a service that is frequently used by area districts, such as Argyle School District. This gives the district the flexibility to set fees to be able to pay for the annual subscription. Currently the district doesn’t charge anything.
Other districts don’t charge current students for transcripts but do charge a fee for alumni and third party requests. All of the requests are currently filled manually. On an annual basis, the district gets 15-20 requests from alumni. It depends on the amount of time spent on fulfilling the request. If they are electronic it is easy but there are some that are not digitized and that takes time. Now transcripts are printed off and mailed or the hard copies are picked up.
Leonard mentioned that at Argyle School District, where she works as the Business Director, their counselor is getting several requests during this time of year and this service is saving her so much time. She said on the business side of things they are seeing some of that recoupment back.
Kevin Jayne was not in favor of charging the alumni for requesting transcripts. Dr. Scott gave an example of if the district charged $10 for requests, Parchment would retain $5 plus a 20 percent processing fee, so the district would receive $4. Leonard estimated that Argyle charges $20 for alumni but charges third party vendors more. She said that they most of their income from the third parties, employers, who are requesting.
Doescher made the motion to approve Parchment with $0 fees for current and alumni and a $30 fee for third party vendors with Acheson seconding. The motion passed.
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 had two Pride of Pecatonica winners this month. The first elementary Pride of Pecatonica winner is Bryson Burkeland, nominated by fifth grade teacher Madeline King. Burkeland is the sweetest, most respectful student in the building. He is kind, inclusive to everyone and everyone wants to be his friend. He is always lending a helping hand and has grown so much self confidence over last year.
The second elementary Pride of Pecatonica winner was Levi Hughes, nominated by fifth grade teacher Savannah Meligan. Hughes has seen a growth in his self confidence. He strives to everything he puts his mind to and has grown academically. He is a leader in the classroom and an overall great person.
The middle school Pride of Pecatonica winner is Johnathon Deal, nominated by middle school Science teacher Ann Sciborski and the middle school teacher team. Deal always come to class with a smile, is a friend to all his peers, and is a joy to have in class. He has a phenomenal background knowledge in all things science, is smart with technology and comes prepared to participate. He has a great sense of humor, is thoughtful and contributes meaningful insight in class. He is fun, energetic, kind, and creative. Deal is considerate, observant and willing to use his talents to help others.
The high school Pride of Pecatonica winner is Chayse Hirsch, nominated by Carly Rindy and the high school teaching team. She is a great student but has stepped up her game. She has had so much growth and never hesitates to ask for help. She goes above and beyond in her work. She is always pleasant and thoughtful and shows amazing leadership skills. She is determined, kind, community orientated, and never gives up. Working as a TA (teaching assistant) this year, Hirsch made great connections with the students and was respected by them.
Distinguished Service Award
New to the district is the Distinguished Service Award. This is at the state level and at the local level. Criteria for this a person who is recognized in the district for being supportive, a leader who insists in maintaining athletics as an integral part of the total education program, makes full use of school and community resources involving as many students in programs as possible and specifically making a significant impact on the lives of students and having athletics as a catalyst for achieving demonstrable progress in a financial, social and cultural environment for the school and/or community.
Doug Schriber has had a huge influence on what Pecatonica is trying to do as a district. He has done tons of work on the fields, and with the equipment. He helps the coaches get equipment out and putting it back. He make sure that students learn new skills and life lessons. He gives back to the students, the school and the community.
Other business
Pecatonica Area Elementary will host the Iowa County Emergency Response training on June 17 from 6-9 p.m.
Outstanding lunch fees are $13,920. Other outstanding fees are $4,670.
The board approved:
– hiring Haley Kammerude as a High School English teacher.
– co-op agreement with Argyle.
– resignation of Shawn Mezera, part time custodian.
– invoices over $4,000: $13,308 for Infinite Campus; technology upgrades that will be using referendum money: $4,046.92 and $7,776.41 both to Dell. These are updating new laptops, desktops and docking stations.
– extra curricular stipend: Boys Basketball Head Noll, Scott $3,000; Boys Basketball Assistant #1 of 2 Schlimgen, DJ $2,000; Boys Basketball Assistant #2 of 2 Whyte, Scott $2,000; Volleyball Head Melissa Schlimgen $3,000; Middle School Boys Basketball #2 of 2 Burkeland, Brad $1,000; Middle School Boys Basketball #1 of 2 DJ Schlimgen $1,000; Art Biz (weekend Activities) Nancy Huffman $275; Math Meet Lisa Bockhop & Savannah Meligan $275 each.
– donations: $250 school PTO for field trip, Ellie Kyle Lyne $275.50 for field trip to Madison, Hollandale Legion Post $1900 toward lunch balance, Anonymous junior prom $933.30 paid for junior class meal, Anonymous lunch balances $400.
