The Seneca School Board had lengthy discussion with Seneca ag teacher Bridget Loeffelholz about extending the Youth Options to include letting students use work release to work on their home farms.

Loeffelholz believes strongly in allowing students the option to use work release to work for their family business.

The ag teacher presented a proposed 12-page training agreement for high school students working off-site including on their home farms. The proposal also outlined expectations for confidentiality by students for the employer and the requirement that students keep a 3.0 grade point.

Outgoing Seneca School Administrator David Boland questioned the wisdom of having students work on their home farms with work release from school.

“What’s the difference? You’re doing it on Saturday and Sunday and all summer long,” Boland said. “Why should we get involved?”

Loeffelholz explained that during work release hours, the students could become involved in some of the higher levels of running the farm, like familiarizing themselves with accounting by working in the farm book and also doing all the breeding entries to understand the genetic history of the herd.

The ag teacher noted the work release program could allow students to prepare to take over the farm. Work on the farm while being in school holds them at different levels. She noted not getting the added experience on their farm from work release would mean they can’t gain that experience until they graduate.

In answer to another question, Loeffelholz indicated that other family businesses besides farming can benefit in the same way by allowing a student to work and learn more about the family business.

She noted that there were less opportunities for experience in a family businesses in Seneca than places like Platteville of Tomah where there is a bigger diversity of businesses.

Loeffelholz drew heavily on her six years of experience with work release while employed by the Platteville School District.

The ag teacher told the board that the district set the criteria. She explained the farm needed to be able to prove it was a legitimate business by providing tax documents and other things.

“My concern is administrative,” Boland said. “We need some very transparent criteria. Otherwise we’re going to be accused of favoring one over the other. People are going to say, ‘why is my kid working on another farm?’”

Loeffelholz noted that strict criteria were in place in Platteville when she worked there. One work release was pulled because of inappropriate behavior at the workplace by the employer, not the student.

She also noted that students must maintain a B average to be on work release.

“It’s a privilege, not a right,” the ag teacher said.

Boland questioned whether work release would be held to the same standards as the co-curricular code used for student athletes. Under that code a student who receives an F is ineligible to play for six weeks and a student receiving two Fs is ineligible to play for the semester.

Loeffelholz said the work release option can tie into the special ed program. In Platteville, that meant working with a program called HODAN.

Principal Alex Osterkamp said he believed it was possible to keep the work release students ‘feet to the fire’ by keeping them in study halls if their GPA is not 3.0 or above.

Bridget said she was willing to help with the program and take some of the work off Kayla Chamber’s plate.

Boland maintained the student would gain more by going to some other farm and seeing how things were done in a different approach.

School board member Matt Dahlberg moved to have Alex Osterkamp and Bridget Loeffelholz research expanding Youth Options to allow qualified students to use work release to work on their family’s farm. Then, return to the board with a policy addressing that expansion.

The motion to have the pair research expanding Youth Options and creating a policy to allow working in family business was seconded and approved by the board.

The board heard a lengthy presentation about employee health insurance from Tricor’s Brent Straka.

The presentation was broadly educational in nature and Straka emphasized and that it was intended to help the board understand healthcare options.

The presentation reviewed deductibles and how they might  work under different scenarios. Straka also reviewed how co-pays work and the different levels required for service by your doctor, special services, urgent care and ER. The district currently has employee health insurance through Quartz, which combines services from a few providers. The policy costs the district $580,000 per year and it is expected to be $622,00 in the 2025-26 school year with the same deductible. However, increasing the deductible would lessen the cost to the district.

In addition to the current Quartz policy, Straka also touched on plans offered by the bigger insurer like Anthem, Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Straka emphasized that Tricor works with all of the companies to find the best plan for the school district.

“We owe it to the employees and the taxpayers,” he said.

Specific plans with details and prices will be presented at a future meeting.

In other business, the Seneca School Board:

• learned the food service program appears to be facing a deficit, but put off action on changing prices until the final numbers for the year are available next month

• approved hiring CESA #3 to conduct a staff survey at a cost of $1,800

• approved paying $13,300 for a new hot water system

• approved hiring Vernon Memorial for athletic trainer services at a cost of $1,785

• approved the Seneca Area School District Monthly Recognition Award for three track athletes who qualified for the WIAA Sectional Meet–Aiden Payne 110M High Hurdles, Gabriel Hamann 1600 M, and Tucker Stluka hurdles; Mr. Davies for the Spring Concerts; and the baseball and softball teams for their outstanding seasons