Loyal School Board Hears Presentation From English Teachers

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022 -- 11:01 AM

The Loyal School Board began their meeting with a presentation by the MS/HS English Department on ARC.

English Teachers Erik Adams, Jen Luchterhand and Special Education Teacher Jaedyn Pieper gave a presentation to the Board about the new ARC program /IRLA system which they began using this year in the Middle/High School English departments.

The teachers explained the curriculum and how it is being implemented in their programs. They were very complimentary and excited about the new curriculum and reported that some achievement gaps have diminished.

HS English Teacher Leah Jacoboski had written her comments on the system which were read aloud as she was not able to attend the meeting. Also, they hired Rhonda Clark as their new MS Title I teacher. Rhonda will start on December 19th. She has 27 years of teaching experience and is licensed for Reading Teacher and Reading Specialist.

They also hired Crissy Bauer as a Foodservice Assistant. She started a couple weeks ago. District Administrator Chris Lidner updated the Board on the current maintenance projects including:

• Baseball infield project:

The backstop fence was removed, several loads of fill was hauled in for the infield and it was leveled and compacted. The field was 15” off grade between first and third base; and now is level. The material for the new surface is being delivered this week.

The Building Trades classes have been working on framing up the new dugouts. They have one estimate and are waiting for another estimate on the new fencing. Volunteers have provided much of the time and labor for this project. Several loads of black dirt will be hauled in to blend in the areas between the infield and the football field; and the area south of the infield.

• Concession Stand:

They are planning on building the new concession stand west of the current concession stand; they will also need to install drain tile south of the football/baseball fields for better drainage.  The chain link fence along the south side of the fields has been removed.

• Elementary Library-4YK/5YK area:

They’re working on possible plans, getting estimates.

• The Elementary Parking Lot:

They have an estimate for the asphalt; but not on the storm drain repair.

• Back Up Heater for the Greenhouse:

They have had problems with the heater in the greenhouse and plants freezing.  A new back-up heater in the greenhouse will cost $4,000 to $7,000.  They will contact the FFA Alumni to see if they want to contribute funds to help defray the cost.

• Air Handlers:

The new air handlers over the FACE Room and the former elementary library have been installed. The others are ordered and will be installed next summer. The estimate for the electrical hook up from Total Electric was $99,000.

They also reviewed the 2022-23 Property/Liability Insurance Renewal Quote with the Board. The District is seeing a lower renewal rate as a result of a very favorable Worker’s Compensation experience modification rate.

The 2022-23 rate will be $59,844.00 which is down from the 2021-22 rate of $62,255.00. They discussed the City of Loyal Softball Field. They will keep the field as “status quo” for the time being. They will re-evaluate in the Spring.

The referendum to exceed the revenue limit failed 556 Yes to 640 No. They will need to bring the question back to the voters in the Spring Election. They have a deadline of January 24, 2023 to decide on the amount to request and pass the resolutions necessary to place the question on the Spring Election ballot.

In order for this to pass we will need to get a community effort to promote it.  If it doesn’t pass at the Spring Election, the district will be forced to make drastic cuts to the 2023-24 budget as there will not be a fall election to present the question to the voters again. The District has two Board seats up for election in the Spring Election.  Kim Bremmer - City of Loyal and Tom Odeen - Area South of Highway 98.

The Board also heard the Administrators’ Reports. Elementary Principal Nancy Popp reported that:

Parent teacher conferences were held on Thursday, October 27th. The elementary end had 183 conferences. Since there was only one night scheduled for conferences this year, some of the elementary teachers connected with their parents and ran a second night of conferences so that they could see all the families.

The Veteran’s Day program was held on November 11th. The Scholastic Book Fair ran last week. On Monday, November 14th, Title I held a Family Fun Night from 4:00 – 7:00 that was open to all elementary families. November 17th, Mrs. Zarnke hosted a Financial Literacy Night from 5:30 to 7:00.

On Friday, November 18th, the kindergarten class had their fall program at 2:00 in the elementary gym. First collaboration day was held with the Greenwood teaching staff on Friday, November 4th. They came up with a wonderful list of ways that they can proceed; everything from common curriculum resources, to doing a vertical alignment with standards, to ways to share interventions that work well.

She was in many classrooms last week doing the 1st observation of the year. She met with teaching staff and ended the meeting by talking about what things they were proud of or thankful for so far this year.

They agreed that they are thankful for the growth that they are seeing in their students and for each other.  They feel very connected to their coworkers and value the support they get each day.

MS/HS Principal Doug Dieckman reported, in the past 30 days:

• They continue to work through staff observations for Term 1;
• Veteran’s day program - Nov. 11, Great program for our community;
• One Act play on Nov. 11, 12, and 13. Big thank you to all the students and Mr. Adams, Mrs. Croxall, and Ms. Jacoboski for the excellent performances;
• Met with all of the Leadership academy nominees and had our first meeting with both the middle school and high school members. Looking forward to working with this group of students;
• PAC meeting on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 6:30. Main topics were: spring carnival night, new family survey, county resources, social emotional curriculum, and surveying students on adult mentors;
• Classwize train the trainer opportunity for staff on Nov. 14 after school;
• FFA members attended the national convention;
• Continue to meet with MS grade groups each Monday during GIT - reviewing and practicing expectations in common areas;
• Began work on the baseball field, removed dugouts, getting field on grade;
• Girls basketball, Boys basketball and wrestling seasons officially started;
• Our behavior management plan has been going very well;
• ARC instructional coach visit #3 - all things continue to go very well.

In the next 30 days:

• Thanksgiving break for our students Nov. 21-25;
• End of 1st term on Friday, Nov. 18;
• Term 2 kicks of on Nov. 28;
• Staff PD on Nov. 21 and the morning of Nov. 22;
• Spanish students will be attending the International Folk Fair in Milwaukee on Friday, Nov. 18;
• Will have our new MS reading specialist in place around Dec. 19;
• Will kick off our behavior management plan with our 7th grade class on Monday, Nov. 28. Will do a reboot with our 8th grade class;
• Course description books will be distributed and reviewed by the teachers for the 2023-24 school year;
• MS Reach activity planned for Dec. 2 (in house activity);
• ARC instructional coach visit #4 on Dec. 2, will be conducted virtually with each staff member;
• Music boosters are sponsoring a trip to the “Fiddler on the Roof” for our students on Nov. 23;
• MS/HS Band field trip to UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 9;
• MS/HS Band concert on Dec. 12.

Challenges include staffing.

District Administrator Chris Lindner reported that:

• They will need to review the Covid protocol regarding quarantines;
• The Veteran’s Day Program was very nice;
• The teacher collaboration work day with Greenwood on November 4 went very well and they are looking forward to more shared ideas and resources for the benefit of our students;
• The Greenwood/Loyal football co-op will not start until 2024, if they start in 2023 we will forfeit two years of playoff games as Greenwood will suffer a two year penalty for breaking it’s contract with the conference, if they wait one year (2024), they will not be penalized;
• Congratulations to the cast and directors of our One-Act Play, They performed the play Clue on November 11, 12 and 13, and they did a great job.

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