PEPIN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
510 PINE STREET
PEPIN, WISCONSIN 54759
PHONE 715-442-2391
FAX
715-442-3607
REGULAR BOARD OF EDUCATION
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
7:00p.m.
Pepin Area School District LMC
510 Pine Street
Minutes
AGENDA
A.
Call to Order
President Tim Stajkowski called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
B.
Roll Call: Tim Stajkowski, Betty Glander, Debbie
Larson, Gordon Riesgraf , and Ardyce Johnson
Roll call attendance was taken, Tim, Betty, Debra and Gordon present, Ardyce excused. Also in
attendance, District Administrator Quinton, Principal Gnos, and Lori Tulip.
C.
Approval of Agenda
Board President Tim Stajkowski stated the agenda was posted at three public buildings: Pepin
Post Office, Bank of Alma Pepin branch and Pepin Area Schools. The press was notified of the
agenda. Debra Larson made the motion, seconded by Betty Glander to approve the agenda as
posted. The motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes voice vote.
D.
Public Comment
E.
Approval of Minutes
1) Regular and Special School Board meeting April
27, 2015.
Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded by Betty Glander to approve the minutes of the
Regular board meeting and Special Board meeting on April 27, 2015 as presented. No
discussion was held. The motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
F.
Announcements:
District Administrator Quinton announced that 50 students participated in the post prom event
organized by the NHS and thanked Lori Tulip for her continued leadership.
Mr. Quinton thanked the Sportsman’s Club for allowing the Junior Class to have the Junior
Prom at their facility.
Mr. Quinton also thanked the junior class and their advisor Margie Collett for an outstanding
prom.
Mr. Quinton recognized the students who competed at state solo and ensemble.
Band Solos
Isabelle Miller-Clarinet Solo, II
Lacy Quinton-French Horn Solo, II
Erin Seifert-Sax Solo, II
G.
Buildings and Grounds Committee Report
Tim Stajkowski updated the board on the May meeting. All members present. Discussion was
held on the 3 year maintenance plan, lighting and bus bids will be forwarded to the full board
for approval.
H.
Principals’ Report
1) School Year Update
Principal Gnos updated the board on the busy month of May PreK-8 activities.
 7 & 8 grade awards ceremony in the afternoon.
 Valley Fair 7 & 8 grade and FACES
 June 2nd, Elementary Assignment Book Reward day. Nugget Lake
 8th grade National Geographic Award
I.
New Business
1) WIAA contact days
Mr. Quinton reviewed information on “Summer Coaching Contact” Athletic
Director, Kacey Moline, forwarded to the board for review and approval of these
activities related to the changes made by the WIAA. Debra Larson made the motion,
seconded by Betty Glander to acknowledge that the board has reviewed and conditionally
approved these activities in our district. Mr. Quinton stated that he had directed Ms. Moline to
notify the coaching staff that if any students are being asked to be in two places at one time, the
district will develop policies to address these issues including not allowing any outside of the
season contact with student athletes, if issues arise. No further discussion was held. The
motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes voice vote.
2)
Resignation(s)
District Administrator presented the board with a letter of resignation from Amber Guza as 712 science teacher. Mr. Quinton stated, Mrs. Guza has done a wonderful job for the district this
year, but has found a job closer to where she lives. Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded
by Betty Glander to approve both resignations as presented by Mr. Quinton. No further
discussion was held, the motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes voice vote.
3)
Contracts
District Administrator Quinton presented the board with a contract for
Mr. Mike Huber as 7-12 science teacher. Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded by
Debra Larson to approve the contract as presented by Mr. Quinton. No further discussion was
held, the motion passes with a 4- 0 yes vote.
4)
Policy-Final Reading
a) Lead Teacher
b) Dean of Students
District Administrator Quinton presented the Lead Teacher and Dean of Students policy for a
final reading. Betty Glander made the motion seconded by Debra Larson to approve the
policies as presented by Mr. Quinton. No further discussion was held, the motion passes with a
4- 0 yes vote.
5)
Summer School Schedule and Staffing
District Administrator Quinton issued a huge Thank You to Barb Winberg for again organizing
the summer school schedule and for her hard work and dedication to student learning. Mr.
Quinton presented the board with a list of Summer school Debra Larson made the motion,
seconded by Gordon Riesgraf to approve the list as presented. Discussion about specific
offerings and structure occurred. The motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes voice vote.
6)
Student Assurances Services, INC Renewal
District Administrator Quinton presented the board with a quote from Student Assurance
Service, Inc. Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded by Debra Larson to approve the
Student Assurances Services policy renewal. No further discussion was held, the motion passes
with a 4 – 0 yes voice vote.
7)
WIAA Membership for 2015-16 school year
District Administrator Quinton presented the board with the WIAA membership form for the
2015-2016 year. Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded by Betty Glander to approve the
membership as presented. No discussion was held, the motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
8)
LED Project
District Administrator Quinton asked the board to authorize him to move forward with the LED
lighting bid from Backwoods Electric and North American Sales Group. They are putting the
final touches on their bid with additional incentives from Focus on Energy. Their bid was the
lowest before the additional incentives. Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded by Betty
Glander to approve authorizing Mr. Quinton to complete the LED lighting project with
Backwoods Electric and North American Sales Group. Discussion was held, the motion passes
with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
9)
Bus Bids
District Administrator Quinton asked the board to authorize him to move forward with the
purchase of at least one Blue Bird Bus. Mr. Quinton stated that Blue Bird would not be able to
deliver a bus until at least August and he needed to check with the auditors on whether the
district could prepay for that bus. If not, the district would purchase on bus in next year’s
budget. Gordon Riesgraf made the motion seconded by Debra Larson to approve authorizing
Mr. Quinton to purchase at least one Blue Bird Bus. Discussion was held, the motion passes
with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
10) Revised Summer Maintenance Plan
District Administrator Quinton asked the board to approve the updated summer maintenance
plan. Mr. Quinton stated that a butterfly garden project and storage off the cafeteria were
added since the board’s last approval. Debra Larson made the motion seconded by Betty
Glander to approve updated summer maintenance plan. Discussion was held, the motion
passes with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
11) Donations
I will bring a donation from the Sportsman’s Club for use of their facilities for
Prom and a number of businesses for post prom to the meeting.
District Administrator Quinton asked the board to approve Donations from prom and post
prom from the following groups:
2015 Senior Class
River Road BP
The Garden Pub
Pepin County Dairy Promotion
River City Welding
Northern Manufacturing
Third Base Bar
Auth Electric
Bautch Insurance Agency
Bank of Alma
Pepin Marina
Lake Pepin Real Estate
Fresh Impressions
Savvy
Pickle Factory
Ralph's
Stockholm Town Mutual
Shear Satisfaction
Pepin United Methodist Church
Countryside Co-op
Steve Johnson D.D.S.
Pepin Lion's Club
Pepin Sportsman’s' Club
Sabylund Lutheran Church
Debra Larson made the motion seconded by Gordon Riesgraf to approve all donations.
Discussion was held, the motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
J.
Administrator’s Report
1) State Budget Update
District Administrator Quinton reviewed the education budget that is going to the state senate
and state representatives for approval and the impact it could have on the district and public
education in general. In summary:
1. Pepin Area School District, and schools across the state, will have their state aid cut to allow
for voucher expansion-these are public tax dollars used to pay for a student’s private
education. Voucher expansion will mean less money for public schools, including the Pepin
Area School District. Any decision that is made to publicly fund religious and other private
schools will diminish the quality of education in our public schools.
2. This budget drives Wisconsin under the national average in per pupil spending (according to
Michael Griffith, a senior policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States).
Wisconsin has had a proud tradition of adequately funding our public school system. The
legislature is pouring money into private schools at the expense of maintaining a public system
that has been a source of pride in our state for over 100 years.
3. In year 1 up to 3 students from the Pepin Area School District could receive vouchers to
attend private religious or secular schools. $7,856 for each high school student from our
district would go with each student for a total of $23,568 in the first year. In year two up to 5
students and $39,280, in year 3 up to 8 students and $62,848, etc. In year 10 up to 25 students
and $196,400 could leave the Pepin Area School District to support private school educationthese funds are state tax dollars. After year 10 there would no limit on the number of voucher
offered to students in our school district. If private schools are publicly funded as proposed, the
Pepin Area School District will struggle to maintain the educational quality that people in this
community have worked so hard to build.
4. The new law would allow home school students and virtual school students to participate in
any extra-curricular or athletic team our district offers. Students from area private schools
would also be eligible to participate on our school teams in certain sports. This raises a
multitude of eligibility questions and different eligibility requirements for members of the same
team. The WIAA has come out strongly against this proposal as have many home school
advocates.
5. The new law would allow “learning portfolios” to replace up to one-half the credits needed
to graduate from high school. The law would require a diploma earned in this manner be the
equivalent of a diploma earned through actual course completion. This proposal has the
potential to change what high schools look and feel like across the state; including the
likelihood that the rigor needed to earn a high school diploma will be significantly reduced
jeopardizing both in and out-of-state college acceptance.
6. The new law eliminates many standards for licensing teachers- no bachelor’s degree needed
to teach our students in multiple subject areas. Educational programs and training have been
built and improved over decades with Wisconsin having one of the top performing educational
systems in the nation. With this one legislative change, students could have undertrained and
ill-prepared educators without the prerequisite knowledge to meet the many needs of our
students.
7. The proposed law allows students in special education to use $12,000 in publicly funded
annual vouchers to attend private and parochial schools. In these schools they would not be
guaranteed the legal rights and protections afforded to them by federal law. In addition, the
dollar amount is completely arbitrary as actual costs vary drastically from student to student.
At the same time the legislature is allocating money for special education students in
private/parochial schools it has not increased funding for public school special education
students in eight years.
8. There is a new requirement in the law that mandates passing a civics assessment for high
school graduation-this would be a 100 question test. This test is in addition to the multitude of
other state mandated tests that students are already required to take. This proposal, set to
become law, has had very little discussion and a plan for implementation of this test does not
exist.
9. Our school will be subject to a rating system based on stars much like a hotel rating system.
Can a star rating system adequately portray the quality of our school?
10. The tests that students are required to take will be different for the third consecutive year.
Districts will not be required to take the same test; making district to district comparisons very
difficult. Our students do extremely well on the standardized test they are given. Common sense
tells us adequate comparison can only be made when students in each district are taking the
same standardized tests.
K.
Approval of Vouchers
Gordon Riesgraf made the motion, seconded by Betty Glander to approve hand payables
#21005 - #21063 in the amount of $77,629.23, voucher checks #21064 - #21131 in the amount
of $49,549.43 and ACH payments in the amount of $68,062.89 for a total of $195214.55. No
discussion was held. Roll call vote was taken, the motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
L.
O.
Set Future Meetings
1) Regular Board Meeting-Monday, June 22 at 7:00
p.m.
2) Policy Committee Meeting-Summer Recess
3) Community-School Partnership-Summer Recess
4) Buildings and Grounds Committee-Tuesday, June 9
at 5:00 p.m.
Executive Session.
The Board will convene to closed session as authorized by
state statutes 19.85 (1) (b) (c) (e) (f): To consider various
employment matters, including hiring, dismissal, demotion,
promotion, compensation, performance evaluations and
disciplinary matters, and/or personal information of specific
persons which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have
a substantial adverse effect on the reputation of the person.
Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public
properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other
specified public business, whenever competitive or
bargaining reasons require a closed session.
The purpose of the closed session is to discuss personnel
matters.
President Tim Stajkowski read the statement and stated the reason for closed session. Debra
Larson made the motion seconded by Gordon Riesgraf to move into closed session as stated.
Roll call vote was taken, the motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes vote.
Debra Larson made the motion seconded by Gordon Riesgraf to reconvene into open session.
No further discussion was held. The motion passes with a 4 – 0 yes voice vote.
P. Adjournment
Debra Larson made the motion seconded by Gordon Riesgraf to adjourn. No further
discussion was held. The motion passes with a 5 – 0 yes voice vote.