Loyal School Board Discusses Employment Matters

Monday, October 3rd, 2022 -- 9:00 AM

The Loyal School Board discussed employment matters at the Loyal School Board meeting.

The board approved the resignation of Jared Zemke from his Foodservice Director position as he accepted a position at ADS in Greenwood. The Board also discussed the projects currently in progress including:

• Air Handlers in the FACE Room and Library;
• Five new Uni-vents to be installed either Thanksgiving Break or Christmas Vacation;
• And LED Light Fixtures in classrooms.

Future projects that they are getting prices and creating plans for include:

• Elementary Parking Lot repair/resurface;
• Removal of concession stand;
• Renovating elementary library into K/4YK classrooms;
• Expanding art room into 4YK room;
• More air handlers;
• Bathroom upgrades;
• Middle School locker rooms;
• And hallway area adjacent to Sports fields improvements.

Also, Senior Mason Strey has applied for early graduation.  He will have all of his graduation requirements completed and would like to graduate at the end of the second trimester.  The Board approved his request.

The concession stand is in extremely poor condition and needs to be removed and replaced with a new building. Different plans/options/pricing were reviewed and discussed.

It will be a project for the District’s building trades class with Mr. Montalvo and a volunteer group will be created to help with the construction. The new building will be handicapped accessible with a covered concrete area.

There will also be an area for storage for the physical education department. With the building trades students and a volunteer group doing most of the work the project should cost around $25,000.

Funds for the new concession stand will come from the District’s Community Service Fund, the general school fund, and possible school organizations.  This project was approved by the Board.

The Board of Education also approved the District’s plan to apply for an Early Start Waiver for the 2022-23 so they can start school before September 1st. There will be a hearing on this request at the October School Board meeting.

The Board approved a request from Mrs. Donnerbauer for the FFA officer team/members to attend the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 25th-28th.

The administrative team is currently working on a flier to go out to all the people in the district in the next newsletter; and the District Administrator will be attending township meetings to talk about the upcoming referendum.

They are also working on a video about the referendum, which will be on the District’s social media page.  The following informational meeting dates were set including October 19th at 7:00 p.m. and November 1st at 7:00 p.m.

Elementary Principal Nancy Popp reported on the:

• Elementary’s LEP sale began on Monday, August 29th and Sandy Haselow, who is in charge of the sale, said it was a successful sale and money earned from the sale goes towards special things for the classrooms such as plays at the LuCille Tack Center;
• The Boy Scout Recruiter was at the District during the school day on September 14th to get students interested in Boy Scouts and he had an open house time to meet with parents in the evening on September 15th;
• SOLES held their first meeting on September 26th and meetings will be held the 4th Monday of every month and all parents and staff are welcome to attend and they are planning some new fundraisers for this school year;
• Field Trips are off to a good start with grades K – 4th going to meet with an author at the Spencer School, grade 5 is going to the Highgrounds, and several grades will be attending plays at the LuCille Tack Center;
• They’ve begun doing yearly staff observations and they’ll meet with each teacher to discuss their goals for the year; and they’re beginning a new year of team meetings to address UDL and curriculum.

Special Education Director Megan Dieckman reported on:

• Early Childhood Screeners have taken place and they have four new referrals based on the screening process;
• They received Professional Development on Touch Math Curriculum/Intervention and ARC Training continued;
• The new version of SEEDS is still in the process of updates and it definitely has its challenges for the teaching staff;
• Students benchmarked with IRLA through the ARC curriculum and they found a huge discrepancy between Fastbridge and IRLA data;
• New and annual 504 plans have been implemented;
• Several new behavioral plans are in the process of being written and implemented, due to a high need within the elementary;
• She Attended the annual Title I Fall Kick-Off Meeting and provided another reminder that Loyal School District is a Schoolwide Program vs. a Targeted Program, yet we are currently operating more as a targeted program, with a targeted program Title I supplemental services are provided to a select group of children and eligible children, children identified with the greatest academic need (failing or most at risk of failing) the state’s academic achievement standards and Schoolwide Program is all staff, students, and resources are part of the Title I schoolwide program, the schoolwide program is a comprehensive reform strategy designed to upgrade the entire educational program in order to improve the achievement of the lowest achieving students;
• Schoolwide Services can focus on behavior, reading, and math;
• All of last year’s ACCESS scores and Language Development Plans have been completed and sent out to the appropriate teachers for the 2022-2023 school year;
• And in the process of developing a contract with another District on providing transportation for a family to and from school.

In the next 30 days for special education, they will:

• See a continuation of professional development on Touch Math progress monitoring;
• Participate in FastBridge SAEBRS (Social, Academic & Emotional Behavior Risk Screener) training - Social Emotional progress monitoring - Set for September 30th;
• Continual work on implementing more team teaching within our core subject areas for our students with an IEP;
• Continually promoting the significance for General Education Teachers to provide data (formative and summative assessments) at IEP meetings, along with completing a classroom data form provided by the special education teacher;
• Focusing time and effort on behavioral concerns on students with and without IEPs;
• Continuing writing and having behavior plans implemented within the classroom setting;
• Ongoing review of current 504 plans Schoolwide Programming;
• Work collaboratively to shift more to a schoolwide program vs. a targeted program;
• Prepare for ACCESS assessment in the winter;
• Keep ongoing track of current and possible future families in need.

A challenge they’ll face is to continue to find ways to meet the educational needs of each and every student in the general education setting through Universal Design for Learning.

High School Principal Doug Dieckman reported on:

• ARC instructional coach on site for first visit (Sep. 2) with great feedback from her on where our teachers and students are;
• Our second visit will be on Sep. 28;
• Completed GIT groups for term 1;
• Meeting with MS grade groups each Monday during GIT - reviewing and practicing expectations in common areas;
• Have had Jesse from CESA 10 on site for teacher technology support;
• Conducted Classwize train the trainer session with a group of staff;
• Did a second training on Sep. 26;
• Junior class attend education fair in Eau Claire along with a tour of CVTC and UW-Eau Claire;
• PAC (Principal Advisory Committee) meeting - focus on planning for a Spring carnival night, guest presenters, community/county resources, and family mentors;
• Homecoming plans underway for both MS and HS;
• CPR training conducted after school for staff;
• Hosted FFA fall leadership workshop;
• Have been meeting with some of our media productions students on different ways to incorporate multimedia into this new class, which is a student lead class;
• Juniors completed the ASVA;
• And completed Fastbridge math and reading screener along with IRLA (ELA).

In the next 30 days:

• Homecoming schedule for Oct. 7 in place;
• Looking to make modifications to MS and HS Choir schedule/rotations;
• Kick off District PLC;
• Will be taking teacher nominations for Loyal Leadership Academy;
• Plan to start with a couple of students from grades 7, 8, 9, 10;
• Sep. 30 PD day with staff;
• Next PAC meeting on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m;
• Will be starting term 1 observations;
• Working with some MS staff on some common behavior management techniques.

Some challenges include staffing for Choir/music and Art positions.

Finally, Superintendent Chris Lindner reported:

• He attended the WASDA State Superintendents conference in Madison last week;
• The administrative staff is still working on trying to find a Chorus and an Art Teacher;
• He thanked Mrs. Odeen and her Foods class for the wonderful Chacuterie boards they provided for the School Board Meeting;
• Friday, September 30 was a no school/staff in-service day;
• And he thanked all of the staff for all of their hard work getting through the first five weeks of the school year.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.