Advertisement Jay Clark, the school district support services director, presented a boundary change proposal Monday to the Holmen School Board, which will vote on the changes at the June 23 board meeting. The new school is scheduled to open at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year.
Clark said there had been two listening sessions, not very well attended, but he had at least 150 pieces of correspondence from people commenting about the changing boundaries.
“We had some verbal feedback,” Clark said. “There were people wanting us to do what we could to preserve long-term relationships. We took those suggestions as we evaluated three different scenarios.”
According to projections, 54 percent of the student body at Evergreen Elementary will transfer to one of the other schools, 17 percent of Sand Lake students will transfer and 44 percent of Viking students will transfer. By the time the new school opens, enrollment at Evergreen will be 389, Prairie View 359, Sand Lake 458 and Viking will have 401 students.
“There are still people who want to stay where they are but are slated to move,” Clark said. “We understand their concerns. We also know most start to work with us as they learn and understand everything we’ve considered.”
The goals of the boundary changes are to ensure equity and academic success at each elementary, promote community diversity, create staff balance between buildings and reduce absenteeism. Free and reduced lunch counts also were considered.
According to Clark, the boundary committee considered a number of issues before finalizing the proposal to change the boundaries: proximity, educational factors, transportation and grade/size were all factors considered by the committee. Included in educational factors were issues such as equity of opportunity, long-term relationships, mobility and continuity in designation of neighborhoods.
Clark told the board they already had a problem with parents about the perception of equity in opportunities. “Parents already don’t believe we have equal opportunity in the elementary schools,” he said.
When asked by board member Dardy Berge if the board should be doing something about that, Clark said no.
The following generalizes the boundary changes. Details can be found online at www.holmen.k12.wi.us.
The committee is recommending some accommodations for different situations. Fourth-grade students will be given the opportunity to choose to stay or move. Younger siblings will be assigned to their new school, Students in looping programs will be assigned to their new school. Students in special programs will be assigned to the schools best suited for instructional delivery.
Bleachers storage
The school board is considering enclosing the space underneath the bleachers at Empire Stadium and adapting it for storage of sports equipment and other items.
District building and grounds director John Daily recommended approval of a bid from Green Bay-based JW Industries, original maker of the bleachers. Cost would be at least $55,300, not including costs for a headroom barrier, electrical wiring, smoke detectors, prevailing wages and sales tax. If approved at the June 23 meeting, the project would be completed by Aug. 29.
Daily told board members the costs would be funded through three avenues: one-third from the maintenance budget, one-third from the high school activities budget and one-third from the booster club.
Board member Anita Jagodzinski asked if there had been any consideration to the fact that students shelter themselves from the rain by standing under the bleachers.
“This is a question as a track parent,” she said. “I know kids sit under there in the rain in the spring.”
Activities director Linzi Gronning said storage space was needed for athletic equipment and if the equipment is left outside, it will be damaged by the weather and will be costly to replace.
Programs cut
Four programs will be eliminated from middle school offerings. Activities Director Linzi Gronning recommended the board eliminate cheerleading (grades 6-8), debate (grades 7-8), flag football (grade 6) and intramural golf (grade 6).
These programs are on the list of offerings to students, but have been inactive for years because of a lack of available coaching/advising staff, lack of facilities and/or a lack of student interest, Gronning said.
Teacher Michelle Wuensch told the board she objected to the elimination of the cheerleading program and felt the eight-step process for deciding whether to eliminate a program had not been carried out.
“I’m here to speak up for programs up for elimination unless they meet the steps,” Wuench said, offering to serve as a coach. “I know there is interest in this program. We have over 100 elementary kids participating and at the high school we have never had a problem attracting participation.”
Gronning acknowledged there might be interest in cheerleading, but presented some statistics showing students had not requested the four programs, including cheerleading.
“We have not had sign ups for cheerleading in seven years,” said Gronning, who helped start the middle school cheerleading program. “I’d like to see programs continue, but we can’t address every program for every interest.”
Gronning suggested middle school students interested in cheerleading could participate in the village recreation department program and then come to HMS sports events to cheer.
She also said that after several communications about the proposed eliminations in parent newsletters, school newsletters, inclusion in a story in the Holmen Courier, no one had objected to the proposal.
Board member Tim Medinger was not convinced. “I find it ironic we’re talking peanuts and yet, spending $50,000 for storage, we don’t even question,” he argued. “I think middle school — taking away options for the kids disempowers them. Kids have to choose. They need a diversity of offerings to experience.”
Board Treasurer Chuck Olson disagreed. “I don’t think an inactive program should stay out there,” he said.
Medinger argued the perception of cutting programs but spending money on storage would be a worse perception than having a program listed as an option even if it is inactive because there’s no coach.
Gronning said that if students express an interest in an activity, the school district will find a way to provide for that. “I will work with Ms. Wuensch to promote cheerleading if you elect to keep it,” Gronning said. “If you elect to eliminate it, I will work hard to find a spot for those children.”
The proposal is to take the four programs off the books and shift resources to the cross-country team by adding another coach, to move resources from the flag football program to tackle football and to consider a wellness lab pilot proposal.
The board will revisit the recommendation at its June 23 meeting.
Boys hockey co-op
Board members on June 23 will consider whether to expand the existing boys hockey co-op to four teams. Cochrane-Fountain City wants to allow students — there’s only one with an interest so far — to join the existing co-op consisting of Holmen, Aquinas, and G-E-T high schools.
Rubbish bids
Board members will consider whether they should accept a committee’s recommendation to hire Waste Management Inc. for refuse hauling. They were the low bidder at $3,213 per month, including a fuel surcharge. The highest bid was $3,700 per month.
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