The North Crawford School District’s ‘Beyond the Bell’ after-school program is by all reports filling a strong need in the community, and serving the community well. Nevertheless, uncertainty about federal grants means the program’s future remains uncertain. The district is currently in year three of a five-year federal grant, but they wait every year to see if the funds awarded will actually become available.

Board member Judy Powell asked ‘Beyond the Bell’ program coordinator Amy Anderson what the outlook is for the federal funding crucial to maintaining the program in its current configuration?

“In the President’s initial budget for next year, the grant we receive is not currently in the next budget,” Anderson responded. “It was that way last year, and in late August we heard that we were going to get the money, but it would be a 13% reduction. And then, sooner or later, we did get a fully funded program.”

Anderson said that in the beginning of the current school year, when the funding for the program looked uncertain, they’d had some things “in their back pocket” to ensure the program continued in some form.

“It may look different, but we hope we can find some way to provide some care for our students,” Anderson explained. “It's obviously a needed program. Most of our students come five days a week, and they need the transportation too – our families need it.”

In her end-of-year report to the board, Anderson expressed appreciation for the staff that have stepped forward to work in the program, and pride in what they’ve accomplished.

“This program wouldn't be successful without our great staff, and we are so very lucky that our staff are our teachers,” Anderson emphasized. “They know the kids, they know the curriculum, they know their strengths, they know their weaknesses, and that makes us one of the very lucky districts.”

Anderson reviewed the program’s goals and success metrics for the board. She said that their goal was 70% of enrolled students would hit benchmarks for math and literacy. In math, 75% of enrolled students hit benchmarks, and in literacy, 73%. She said that as far as behavior improvements, 97% showed reductions in problem behaviors.

“One of the best things is that student survey results show that 100% of enrolled students say they feel safe, that they belong, and that the staff cares about them,” Anderson said. “Family survey results show 100% satisfaction with the program, saying staff communicate effectively and support students academically.”

Anderson described for the board some of the activities ‘Beyond the Bell’ offered to the 74 enrolled students (60 full-time). Those included a programming partnership with the Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove libraries, visits to the businesses in the Mercantile Center, including the Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout newspaper with editor Charley Preusser.

“Dawn from Crawford County Health Services came, and she'll be coming in a couple weeks again, and talking about lungs. Their focus is on lungs, and so they make paper bag lungs, and they suck them in and out,” Anderson shared. “We've been swimming at Bigley Pool, and we took the third, fourth and fifth graders on a skiing trip to Mount La Crosse. They go cross country skiing, ride bikes, and have even made snacks for the group. In the winter, the cafeteria becomes our pickle ball court, and Liz has helped kids learn to knit hats, which they made for Christmas presents. The second graders have a Lego Day that they find very absorbing, with some programming involved.”

Anderson said the group has also gone out and cheered on the home teams at athletic events. She said they’d also had several special events like a scavenger hunt in the school, and Winter Wonderland, a STEM activity.

Administrative reports

North Crawford Elementary Principal Amanda Killeen reported that the district had recently completed a round of testing as mandated by Act 20.

“You can see we started the year with 27 of our students falling below benchmarks, but in winter the number was 38, and now it has gone back down again to 31,” Killeen shared. “When looking across assessment windows, the number of students identified below benchmark increased from fall to winter, which is expected as assessment rigor and expectations rise mid-year. From winter to spring, we are now seeing that number decrease, indicating that targeted interventions are beginning to have a positive impact on student outcomes.”

Killeen said broader literacy data available to instructional staff show an increase in the percentage of students meeting benchmarks, and a decrease of students in the highest risk category.

North Crawford Middle School/High School Principal Rob Sailer told the board about how the district had recently been recognized for its foreign exchange student program, and how welcoming the community is.

“The award showcases how welcoming this community is,” Sailer said. “It’s really a community-wide award.”

Sailer also discussed a grant the district recently received from the State Department of Administration in the area of suicide prevention and firearm safety.

“The $31,000 grant will allow us to do three, one-hour sessions with the community invited,” Sailer explained. “It will provide safe gun locks, gun storage systems, actual gun safes, and we'll give that free to the community for those who come to that event. Participants will learn how to safely store guns, and the idea to keep guns out the hands of kids.”

North Crawford Student Services Director Amanda Wagner said that the last month had been all about “testing, testing, testing,” and that she expected the district’s official testing to be wrapped up by April 24.

Superintendent Brandon Munson discussed trends at the state and federal levels for school funding.

“A quick re-cap of statewide referendum results as it pertains to school districts shows that this April, there were 75 questions statewide. Of those, 46 of those were passed by their communities, and 29 failed – a 61% passage rate,” Munson said. “What this demonstrates is that the needs are great and varied across the state, particularly on the operational side.”

Munson also discussed recently released statistics on teacher retention.

“Just shy of 53% of teachers remain in the classroom by their eighth year of teaching, meaning, within that first seven years, we're losing nearly half of our teachers out of the classroom,” Munson told the board. “Specifically to special education, that number is even more alarming. Only 43% of special education teachers remain in the classroom after the initial seven years.”

Munson said that there is a teacher shortage statewide, and this is reflected in the lower number of applications districts are receiving for open positions.

Lastly, Munson said the district had received word about their federal funding for the 2026-27 school year.

“We're looking at a reduction in Title One, Title Two and Title Four - the significant one for us being Title One funding, which is projected to be down in our district by about $20,000 from what we were allocated this current year. So we will certainly have to look at that.”

Munson explained that Title One funding specifically goes to help support instructional coaches in the district in the math and ELA areas. He said that, as a result, the district will need to look at making some adjustments in that area.

In other business

In other business, the board:

• heard reports on the benefit of the Playhouse Program from three different students
• heard reports from the boys and girls basketball coaches about their seasons and future prospects
• approved a $1,500 donation to the Gays Mills Swimming Pool
• approved an overnight trip for theater students to Sugar Creek Bible Camp.

Closed session

After the open session, the board moved into closed session to consider various applicants for teaching and coaching positions, and to meet with their superintendent search consultant to review applications for the superintendent position, and choose semi-finalists.