By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
District Administrator Dr. Chris Hibner told the East Troy School Board Monday night that both the district’s elementary schools – Doubek and Prairie View – were named Schools of Distinction by the state’s Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Network.
This is the second year in a row the schools were recognized for their work in the program, which is a proactive approach to establish safer and more effective schools and is being implemented in about half the schools in the state. Last year the schools were named Schools of Merit.
East Troy High School was also recognized by the network and named a School of Merit for the second year in a row.
Weygand staying
High School Principal Rick Penniston informed the board that school counselor Michael Weygand, who had submitted his resignation in spring, would be staying on for one more year to help transition new hires into their roles.
Penniston said with the loss of two other counselors at the school, he realized that his entire Pupil Services department would be changing over and he asked Weygand to stay on one more year to make the transition smoother and provide the students with the services they needed.
Penniston said Weygan told him he had been struggling with leaving and was more than happy to stay on and help.
Funding for 1:1 initiative
Business Services Administrator Katherine Zwirgzdas updated the board on the funding options for the districts initiative to get laptops and/or tablets into the hands of each child.
Last month the Department of Public Instruction informed districts in the state that they could not charge technology fees for devices. After consulting with the district’s attorneys, Zwirgzdas told the board the attorneys said the DPI didn’t have jurisdiction in that matter and the district could charge fees.
Zwirgzdas said it was her and the administration’s view that the devices were more on the lines of a textbook. She recommended to the board that an annual fee of $30 be charged for each student, with reduced amounts for kids on the reduced meal program and no fees for kids who receive free meals.
Zwirgzdas said the rest of the replacement monies for the devices, which will be about $50,000 a year, could be made up with money out of the textbook account and other line-item budget cuts. The money for the initial start up purchase of the devices will come from budget cuts and any extra monies found in the budget in the upcoming school year when different items come in under budget.
Public comment
Tim Griffin spoke at the School Board meeting Monday night in the citizen participation. He said he was concerned about the talk he heard in the previous working referendum meeting about cutting down on the work to be done at the High School.
“If you’re not going to do what’s needed at the High School, I won’t support a referendum,” he said.
Griffin said he was also concerned about the lack of discussion about the operation budget for the district and how the district’s annual shortfalls are going to lead to an operational referendum very soon. He said worried that the new facilities being proposed would cost more operationally and no one was considering that.
“If you come back with an operational referendum of $5 million, they’re going to run you out of town,” Griffin said.
Hibner said a little later in the meeting that wasn’t necessarily the case, there might very well be operational savings with the facility needs taken care of, but that they didn’t know for sure now. He went on to say that the district and the board was aware of the shortfall and have cut $5 million from the budget over the past seven years to be fiscally responsible and not go to referendum for operations.
