By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
The East Troy Community School District sent a letter to parents this week informing them of the district’s facility needs and the process that will be used to address the needs.
The letter from Dr. Christopher Hibner, superintendent details the needs of the district as identified by the ad-hoc facilities committee in November 2011.
In January, the School Board voted unanimously to engage the community in an effort to find a sustainable solution to the district’s facility needs. The goal of the board is to bring the matter to referendum in November. Similar referendums have failed twice in the past two years.
According to Hibner’s letter, the categories of importance that the committee wanted to address were: efficiency, community relations, safety and security, long-term vision, fiscal responsibility, 21st-century learning spaces and practices, and space for art programs.
The letter is one of the first steps in this new process to inform the community of the real and urgent needs of the district and ask the community’s help in fixing the problems.
The full letter can be read by clicking the link at the bottom of this article.
A Monday night’s meeting of the East Troy Board of Education, Hibner told the board the next step in the process to get a referendum on the November ballot would be a memo sent to the staff and teachers regarding the board’s four preliminary options and rough schematic drawings to obtain feedback, which will be coordinated at each building in the district to be shared with the board at a working session in early April.
After the board takes the educator’s feedback into consideration and make any necessary adjustments to the preliminary option, the district will work on a survey for the community at large. That process will eventually lead to open house and listening meetings to hear from the community.
Hibner told the board the process outlined last month is on track.
Fees increased
The board voted Monday night to increase the parking and sports fees for the 2014-15 school year.
Due to the increased cost of snowplowing and maintenance on the parking lot, the $30 annual parking fee for students will be increased to $50.
According to Business Administrator Kathy Zwawigzdas, the parking fees haven’t been raised in six years. Board members commented that perhaps the parking fee should be increased $5 a year in the future to avoid this type of large single increase.
“At $50 it’s $5 a month to park,” said board President Dawn Buchholtz. “It’s still pretty reasonable and we’re giving them plenty of advance notice.”
Board member Martha Bresler also noted that the School District provides free transportation to all its students.
Sports fees were raised $5 from $55 to $60 a sport.
Resignation
The board accepted High School Counselor Mike Weygand’s resignation Monday.
Hibner said he will be sorely missed and that he asked Weygan several times if he was sure he wanted to retire, hoping to get him to change his mind.
“Pete puts in enormous hours,” said Hibner. “Well beyond what you’d expect for a guidance counselor. It has been our privilege and honor to work with him.”
Naming of facilities
Hibner also brought a proposed policy to the board on the naming of district facilities. As no policy stands now, and the matter has come to the board recently with a request to name the High School baseball fields after a local man who died of cancer in December, Hibner thought the board should adopt a policy on such matters.
He presented the board with several policies from other districts in the state and asked for their feedback on what they’d like to see in the East Troy policy. Board members indicated some of the things they’d like to have, with emphasis on the fact that East Troy is not the same as a school in Madison and they wanted to see it localized.
Hibner got his marching orders to write up a policy to be reviewed at the next meeting.
Read the letter sent to the School District parents HERE.
