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School Board approves moving 6th grade to high school
Boscobel
Boscobel School District
Emily Schendel
Published: Jun 25, 2021, 1:17 PM

BOSCOBEL - The Boscobel School Board met for its regular monthly meeting Monday night. 

Board President Todd Miller started the meeting with a special thank you to all of the staff and students for their tremendous efforts on getting through “another weird year.”  Additionally, Miller thanked Interim Administrator Bryce Bird, who was sitting in his final meeting before the board will transition to working with Lisa Wallin-Kapinus as the new district administrator for the Boscobel School District.

“We would have been lost without you,” Miller said to Bird, who came out of retirement as District Administrator of the Riverdale School District to help the Boscobel School District following the death of the previous administrator Greg Bell. 

One very exciting approval during the June meeting was the approval of moving the incoming sixth graders to the high school for a more cohesive “family” unit among the students. 

District Administrator Lisa Wallin-Kapinus wrote in her proposal to the board, “A middle school concept involves a common group of students who are instructed by a team of teachers. The teachers and students form a “family” unit for building cohesiveness and a sense of belonging during their unique transition years towards entering high school,” Wallin-Kapinus reported. “Currently the sixth grade students are housed in the Annex building by themselves. The students leave the building to participate in PE, Band, Choir and Other special classes. In this situation students are losing valuable instructional minutes in transitioning between campuses. By moving the sixth grade students and the teachers to the middle/high school building it would allow us to increase the number of instructional minutes and students would also get the opportunity to explore a more diverse range of curricular and extracurricular activities.” 

Byrne spoke on this as well sharing that they have cleaned three specific rooms for English language classes, math ad the science and social studies classes.  “We also have the locker space available and we will continue keeping the numbers smaller for lunch time with the sixth graders having lunch with the seventh graders and then rotating out for the eighth graders to eat,” Byrne reported. The board was in favor of this new plan and approved the motion.

Buildings audit

Following closed session, representatives from Smith-Rosenfield presented the board with an audit they completed on the district’s buildings. This audit was done to help the board get a better grasp on various things they could and should spend Esser Funds on to improve the facilities. The representatives told the board that they did additional work to also get a scope of other work, not covered by Esser Funds that are needed on the buildings.  Some of the suggestions the representatives made to the boards included various structural issues at the elementary school, lacking of ventilation in the kitchen, janitor office, ice room and others, an elevator that has a slight drop/tripping hazard and possible condensation issues. This is in addition to outdated boilers and other various HVAC issues reported. Overall, the cost was estimated at approximately $7 million.

Funding possibilities

Aside from the Esser Funds, the representatives also shared with the board, various other funding possibilities, beyond simply running a referendum as well. 

Bird pointed out to the board that they need help prioritizing what truly should be upgraded in the bigger picture of what is going to be done with the several buildings that make up the school district as, he pointed out, “It’s something that has held us up in the past.” 

Boscobel Elementary Principal Danelle Schmid gave her report to the board. 

“It’s a wrap! We did it, we made it—we rallied and persevered for a successful school year that showed growth and continued commitment to serving our students,” Schmid reported. “I am very proud of our entire staff and can’t thank everyone enough for all they have done and all the support that has been given throughout this school year.” 

Schmid shared with the board that students have been enjoying various end-of-the-year activities such as a petting zoo, class trips and visitors as well as other various projects. The safety patrol members that were also in good standing were able to take a trip to the Deer Valley Lodge in Barneveld.

“We allowed this to take place since the annual Dells trip was not possible again this year,” Schmidt reported. 

The sixth grade recognition was also reported to have gone very well. 

“It was nice to recognize our students for their time at Boscobel Elementary School. The sixth grade band and choir concert took place after the recognition ceremony and the performances were wonderful.”

The status of the elementary playground was also brought up to the board. 

“It is my opinion that the elementary playground needs some attention,” Schmid shared. “We have boards that are loose, nails have been coming out of some of the structures and while we try to repair them, the wood is rotting away so we don’t have anything to nail them into. We need some replacement pads for the swings and under the slides as well as a general check up on all the equipment to be sure that everything is in working order and safe. We also need to put mulch down on the playground. I have decided to keep the playground closed until we can figure out the next steps to ensure the area is safe.”

Graduation went well

Boscobel High School Principal Wally Bryne shared with the board that Graduation went well for the class of 2021. 

“It was a great ceremony and a great graduation for what was truly a unique year,” Byrne said. 

He went on to share that the projects such as cleaning, painting and replacing flooring in the gym are continuing. He also noted that the Gridiron Club recently bought equipment for the district as well. 

The situation surrounding hiring new staff continues to be ongoing. Byrne reported that they had successfully interviewed and offered a Math teacher position to an eligible candidate, however, the job was turned down, as the candidate made more money in their current district. 

“We are doing more interviews this week and I hope to come back month and report we were able to offer jobs and have accepted offers,” Byrne said. 

Boscobel Athletic Director Rob Scherrer shared in his report his gratitude for the district in their efforts to help make another unusual school year successful. 

“As we close out of the 2020-21 school year I would like to personally thank all those who helped make our athletic seasons happen this year,” Scherrer reported. “It was a challenging endeavor but we did it and everyone involved should be proud knowing we gave our students and athletes the best experiences possible given the situation.”

Sports successes 

In his report Scherrer reported that the Bulldogs baseball team received the seventh seed in the regional bracket. “They faced the number two seed Prairie du Chien baseball club on Thursday, June 10.  Our guys played great and knocked off PDC with a final score of 3-1. For softball, if you haven’t heard, we are the SWAL Conference champs! A big congrats to Coach Waltz and Coach Grassel as well as the athletes for the Bulldogs.” 

It was shared in the report that the last conference championship in softball happened in 1998. 

“We wanted to celebrate this accomplishment by having an escort of emergency vehicles lead the bus through town after their victory and we had an awards presentation in the Bulldog Cafe when they arrived at the school. The night was filled with excitement, tears of joy and a lot of laughter and fun times,” Scherrer shared. 

Also included in his report was track. 

“The SPARKY went off without a hitch and was a great event. We heard so many compliments from other coaches and fans that we were able to pull together such a big meet during a tough year.”

Food Service debt

The ongoing situation with negative and delinquent debt for the Food Service was also brought up. It was explained that as the policy currently lays out that students could be cut off from meals if their debt was outstanding. “But no one wants to cut them off and no one wants to make them feel shamed,” shared Bird. 

The administrators shared with the board that they have changed the language in the policy to say that families with account balances at or below $20 will be notified by an automated system that will alert them a minimum of two times a week. Families with a negative account balance will be notified daily by the system. Additionally, all accounts owing $25 or more will not be allowed to receive seconds (only first servings). If the accounts are owed more than collections efforts will be made. Families will be given until the beginning of the following school year before they will be officially “Cut off.”

The administrators noted, they will be given ample time to work on their debt and that the school will continue to be proactive in helping families get signed up or informed about the free or reduced lunch program. 

Following this discussion and approval $5,365.60 was transferred from Fund 10 to Fund 50 to write off the ongoing debt from the food service program.
Cuts threatening use of local food
School lunches
LFPA cuts_Spring Creek Cattle Company
SPRING CREEK CATTLE COMPANY is one of the local suppliers of food for the North Crawford Foodservice Program. Cancellation of federal funding will impact both the school district and the local agricultural business. Here, Bart and Amy Mitchell are seen with the beef cattle on pasture in the background. Spring Creeks Cattle Company is a family partnership between three brothers, their families, and their parents.
JORDAN DERRICK
Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout
Updated: May 1, 2025, 12:38 PM
Published: Apr 30, 2025, 2:49 PM

With the federal government defunding programs around the country, it appears the North Crawford School District Food Service department will feel the impact.

Programs that fund food service at North Crawford, like the Local Food for Schools (LFS) and the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant, had their funds frozen on March 7, when the USDA announced they would be terminating those programs. 

For North Crawford, this means they have lost funding for purchasing food from local farms, something that the food service department has prided itself on. This summer, the district is covered for their efforts in serving local food. 

25% sourced locally

North Crawford Food Service Director Jen Kapinus said in story published last summer that about 25% of the food served at the school is local, and specifically beef, pork, and apples are the most commonly locally sourced.

Now, that 25% is likely to drop, depending on the department’s next steps, which will have a large impact on the future of the school and the food service department.

Because of the timing of the USDA’s announcement, the food service department will have very little flexibility in the coming school year. In February, commodity orders are due, while the grant money comes in during May. Since, commodities were ordered with the assurance of getting this money in May, the department will have to figure out how to get the food still needed.

“We can no longer make the purchases we planned,” Kapinus said. “We planned ahead for two years, and there’s no money for that now.”

Having to find food to replace the planned purchases is not the only trouble with these cuts. It will also put a strain on the budget and the local farmers who provide for the program, and it will cause the department to move backwards in quality.  

Cuts strain district

These cuts also put a strain on the district because they now need to work through existing suppliers to get food that they typically would not get from them. 

“(The budget cuts) result in us having to look elsewhere,” North Crawford Superintendent Brandon Munson said.

It is not just the school district feeling the impact of the cuts. Good partnerships with our local families and farmers are being lost.

Although Munson believes it won’t hurt them too badly financially, Harry Young, of Young Family Farms LLC, who has been providing meat to the district since 2020, is sad to see these programs go. 

Young noted the impact on the local economy. It supported farmers in the area and kept that money local. 

“It was a good program,” Young said. “It got fresher food to the kids, that was more nutritious than what could be bought through the supply chain.”

Since higher quality food costs more, the department will have to compromise the quality of the food they are purchasing. Aside from the nutritional benefits of higher quality food, higher quality ingredients tend to make the food taste better. 

While the department gets more local food than nearby schools, and students enjoy the food, many already feel that what they are being served is more processed than they would like it to be.

Kapinus believes that the reduction in quality will affect meal participation, which the program relies on to be able to serve the students the best they can. 

Meal participation is often a domino effect. When more students eat the food, the program has a bigger budget to buy better food, which leads to more participation, but if the quality goes down, less students will eat, which will shrink the budget, which leads to even lower quality and, therefore, less participation.

Kapinus is hopeful that, through donations and possible fundraising, the department can continue to serve high-quality meals to students, but it will take a lot of hard work and support. 

It can be difficult to rely on such variable methods, though. The district recently received a donation from a local farm, but there is so much to be cautious about with donations, especially with meat. It also is not consistent. Both fundraising and donations cannot be planned for ahead of time because if the needs are not met, the meals can’t be made.

Despite these hurdles, the department is doing what they can to serve the best meals with what is available to them, but there will have to be a decline in quality because of the cost of food.

“There will definitely be a compromise,” Kapinus said, “but we will continue to do as much scratch cooking as possible, and we are trying to find a happy medium between hyper-local and hyper-processed.”

Kapinus is working to prepare for the future, despite the funding losses, but it is unclear what will happen as time goes on, especially with the federal government aiming to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. 

With bad news after bad news for the food service department, a glimmer of hope has come in the form of school lunch debt forgiveness.

Through School Lunch Fairy, a national program based in Florida, The North Crawford School District will be receiving a donation to cover a portion of school lunch debt owed. 

School Lunch Fairy is a charity organization that uses donated funds from all over the country to support school districts struggling with school lunch debt and sets up emergency lunch funds to provide struggling students with free lunches before they fall into debt. 

With the donation this program will give the district, it puts the food service department in a better standing and relieves some of struggling students’ financial stress.

This program gives Kapinus and the food service department hope for where they are headed, even when things the future is unpredictable.