BOSCOBEL - At their regular monthly meeting on Monday, the Boscobel Board of Education announced the hiring of a new varsity football coach to head up the program next fall.
Dustin Johnson, new this year to the district as a high school mathematics instructor, will now take the reins of the football program as well. Johnson will take over for Wayne Otto, who served just one season at the helm before parting with the district in December. Johnson brings a solid coaching resume to the position, having served as a key varsity assistant at Darlington and Lake Geneva Badger high schools.
In addition to the hiring of Johnson, several other positions were filled with board approval Monday evening. Other coaches approved for the Fall included Jamie Feye for Middle School Volleyball, Cross Country head coach Skyler Reynolds, Cross Country assistant coach, Grant Reynolds, and Middle School Cross Country Matt Fritz.
A Special Education paraprofessional position for the remainder of this school year, consisting of four days per week, will be filled by Teirra Tolzman. Nathan Hagemann was approved by the board for the full time second shift custodian position, available due the retirement of Frank Phalin.
Also approved Monday evening were several substitute positions: Substitute teachers: Jessica Linder and Michelle Timlin; Substitute paraprofessionals: Rozilen Bollman, Abbie Prinz, Brianna Kinley, Patricia Mattus, and Mary Schmidt; Substitute bus driver: Jason Sparrgrove.
Administrative Reports
Elementary School Principal Danelle Schmid stated that students and staff seemed to have made a smooth transition back to school to begin the new year. Schmid announced that MAPS testing will get underway this week and that the 4thgrade will be piloting a new program, iReady. Schmid stated in her report that heading into the second semester that the elementary school will, “…continue our work with students both academically and behaviorally to ensure we are developing today’s child for tomorrow’s world.” Finally Schmid noted two key upcoming events: January 27 at 6:30 will be a concert for grades 4 and 5, and February 17 from 5:15-7:15 will be Family Math Night.
High School Principal Wally Byrne noted that high school students and staff were currently taking semester one exams. He noted that the snow day had thrown a kink in the schedule, but that he and the staff had worked out a solution that will extend the end of the first semester by one day.
Vaping presentation
Byrne informed the board that on Tuesday, high school and middle school students would gather separately for a presentation on the topic of Vaping. The presentation is provided through a partnership with the Boscobel Police Department and Clarity Clinic LTD, and will also offer a question and answer session for the students to participate in.
Byrne briefly outlined the registration process for the 2020-2021 school year, noting registration for high school courses would begin January 27 and conclude February 7th. The process would include an information night for eighth grade parents, whose students will be moving into the high school next year.
Director of Special Education Laurie Genz Prien informed the school board that she had arranged the schedule for all remaining meetings to discuss student Individual Education Plans through the end of the school year. She will continue to review and make accommodations on State testing as appropriate.
District Administrator Greg Bell touched on several areas in his report to the Board. Bell mentioned that he and his staff will begin looking at salary considerations for the 2020-2021 school year, using the Baird model and 3% and 2% raises considering a 1.77% CPI for their projections. In addition to beginning to look at salaries for the next budget, Bell also touched on the following:
• Mock Safety Training— Working with Boscobel Chief of Police Jayden McCullick, who would also like to include the Grant County Sheriff’s Office as well, discussions have been on-going in the development and scheduling of a mock safety training for school staff. Funding would come from a safety grant to conduct the training.
• Summer Projects—Initial discussion on summer projects is underway, with focus on smaller projects. Work on a facilities plan will drive recommendations for larger projects.
• Facility Planning Committee—Monday, February 17, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. has tentatively been set for the first planning meeting to begin the process of looking at facility recommendations.
• Summer School—The dates for elementary summer school 2020 are set. Session 1 will be June 15 to June 26 (M-F) from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Session 2 will run from July 27 to August 6 (M-Th) from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Other Business
• Board minutes from previous meeting and current budget reports were approved.
• Job description updates for the Head of Transportation and School Nurse were reviewed and approved. Positive comments were offered by board members and administrators for the services provided by those currently holding those positions, Suzanne Brinkman, School Nurse; and John Paetz, Head of Transportation.
• The board determined to not set a cap for incoming open enrollment requests for the 2020-2021 school year. This is an annual consideration.
• A bid to replace the air-conditioner unit in the server room, which must be cooled year round, was accepted from JR Electric for the amount of $6,969.
• The board accepted the following donations from the community:
Christie Anderson, $410 to the Vocal Music Department, to be used for copies of vocal books for solo ensemble.
WSPF (Wisconsin Secure Program Facility), $55 in the form of one $25 gift card for Bender Foods and one $30 gift card for Dollar General to be used for supplies/snacks for school use. It was also noted that WSPF had also requested a family to assist over Christmas and that they had been very generous to that family.
Theresa Brewer donated $50 to the Art Department.
Boscobel Pharmacy donated $125 for “Blue Jean” donations as listed: $25 for Cross Country, $30 for Football and Boys Basketball, and $40 for Volleyball.
