Loyal School Board Discusses Policies, Open Enrollment Numbers, and More

Monday, January 30th, 2023 -- 1:00 PM

The Loyal School Board approved several policies at their meeting.

They also approved removing several policies from their books. The board designated for the following school year, the number of open enrollment regular education spaces, by grade, and the number of open enrollment special education spaces, by program or service, in the district using the criteria specified in its policy under s. PI 36.04(2). [Wis. Admin. Code § PI 36.06(5)(a) and Wis. Stat. §118.51(5)(a)1].

The Board approved no enrollment cap for regular education open enrollment spaces, and the following number of spaces for Special Education open enrollment spots:

Loyal Projected Special Education Enrollments and Slots Available for 2023/2024:

Level: Service/Program & Projected Enrollment & Slots Available:

• Early Childhood (3–5-year-olds) / 40% Contracted Early Childhood Team Projection = 3. 6 slots available.
• K-12 60% Contracted Speech/Language Projection = 28. 0 slots available;
• K-5 1 Special Education Cross Categorical Projection = 15. 0 slots available;
• 6-8 1 Special Education Cross Categorical Projection = 7. 5 slots available;
• 9-12 1 Special Education Cross Categorical Projection= 16. 1 slot available.

Slots are based on a Caseload Formula and student factors based on level of service (Minimal, Moderate, and Comprehensive). For non-resident students wishing to open-enroll, services are limited to the Loyal School District existing special education programs.

The Loyal School District may also use the following additional criteria when making a determination of whether or not there is additional space available, based upon the special education needs identified or related services required in a non-resident student’s IEP:

• Class size limits or pupil-teacher ratios;
• Staffing capacity limit, including:
• The amount of services pupils may need (e.g., minutes/hours, days per week);
• Class/group size based on intensity of pupil needs (e.g., 1:1, small group, crisis intervention);
• The type of staff to address various disability-related needs (e.g., special education teacher, pupil services staff, related services, paraprofessional, etc.);
• Projected pupil enrollment and changes to services in pupils’ IEPs;
• ther considerations concerning availability of space in special education or related services.

The Loyal Board President reviewed some of the WASB Resolutions that were discussed and approved at the delegate assembly at the WASB Convention last week. The Wrestling Cooperative Agreement renewal application was approved. Loyal has been in a co-op with Neillsville and Greenwood for Wrestling since the 2011-12 school year.

On the ballot for the Spring School Board Election, they have Tom Odeen running unopposed for the Area South of Highway 98 spot and they have Kim Bremmer and Derek Weyer running for the City of Loyal Spot. The election will be held on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

They will also have another operational referendum question on the ballot as well. This is what the question will be:

• “Shall the School District of Loyal, Clark County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $900,000 for the 2023-2024 school year for non-recurring purposes consisting of building maintenance and school operational expenses, and by $1,400,000 per year for the 2024-2025 school year and the 2025-2026 school year and by $1,500,000 per year for the 2026-2027 school year and the 2027-2028 school year for non-recurring purposes consisting of school operational expenses?”

Elementary Principal Nancy Popp reported:

That Christmas activity day activities were rescheduled for Friday, January 6th. Thank you to all the staff members who made the changes or participated in the activities; the children had a wonderful time.

The Spelling Bee for grades 5-8 was held on Tuesday, January 17th at 1:30 in the cafeteria. The elementary group was composed of 5th and 6th graders and the middle school group was 7th and 8th graders.

The 5th and 6th grade winners were Saiga Kubista in 1st place, Harmony Buchanan in 2nd place, Hannah Kayhart in 3rd place, and Jace Gadke in 4th place. For the middle school, Jacob Schmidt took 1st place, Ryson Ashbeck 2nd place, Lilly Boushon 3rd place and Eva Stieglitz 4th placed.

Congratulations to these students and a big thank you to all the students who participated, Eva Froeba for being the judge, the classroom teachers for working with the students, the custodians for setting up the area for us to use, and Cindy Campbell for doing all the leg work to make this competition happen.

The District CESA 10 contest will be on February 1st. Welcome to Annalyse Stratton, our new kindergarten teacher.  She is a resident of Loyal who just graduated from UW Eau Claire with her degree in education.

She has been working with Polly and Cesyn to get to know the children and getting her classroom ready. Parent teacher conferences were supposed to be held on Thursday, January 19th from 3:30 to 7:00. Because school was canceled that day, teachers contacted the parents via phone calls or emails. Thank you staff for making those contacts with the parents.

They had a Staff Development Day on Friday, January 20th. The elementary staff spent most of their time learning about how to use the data that is generated in the FastBridge reports. There was also a staff meeting that included a lengthy conversation about our upcoming referendum.

The Loyal and Greenwood Guiding Coalition Teams met together in Greenwood on Saturday, January 21st. We discussed content for our joint in-service days in February and March, attendance at Solution Tree summits this summer, and plans for PLC growth over the next few years.

The District Sponsored PD has been set for the rest of the school year.  This includes article reviews, standards work, and a book study.  Again, participation in the book study seems to be the most popular option.

Principal Doug Dieckman reported in the past 30 days:

• 2023-24 course description book finalized and schedule set for student registrations;
• Guiding coalition team from Greenwood and Loyal met on Jan. 21, discussed our way forward, upcoming collaboration days and summer institutes;
• Midyear budget review by department finished budget spending limited to only consumables and necessities for the remainder of the year;
• Term 2 midterms posted;
• And Midyear FastBridge screening completed for reading and math on the students who have been on watch.

In the next 30 days:

• Attending a HRS (High Reliability Schools Summit);
• Will begin term 2 teacher observations;
• End of term 2 will be on March 1st;
• Joint PD with Greenwood on Feb. 10;
• ARC instructional coach on site Jan. 31;
• HS sports will begin tournament play;
• CESA 10 spelling bee on Feb. 1;
• FFA alumni bowling tournament Jan. 28-29;
• FFA district speaking contest Jan. 30;
• Trap club meeting Feb. 1;
• Working with Leadership academy students on planning for a Spring Carnival night;
• Meeting with rep for Seven Mindsets on Feb. 2.

Challenges include staffing.

Superintendent Chris Lindner reported on:

• The collaboration meeting with Greenwood;
• Update on the PLC Journey;
• Both district’s Guiding Coalition teams met on Saturday morning, Jan. 21st, this was a very good meeting and the group agreed on why are we traveling down this path because we want to ensure learning with students and adults;
• Also, to strive for continuous improvement in this ever-changing education world;
• Developed plans for our February 10th and March 1st professional development days;
• Working on attending Professional Learning Communities and High Reliable Schools conferences over the summer;
• Football Co-op Update: It was discussed to select a coach like the softball co-op did and post for a head football coach for the coop team of 2024. Interviews will be represented by administration and Ads from both schools. This post will include a listing of a MS football and MS baseball coaches;
• They are looking at a mascot and colors for our cooperative teams, surveying students from both districts on their thoughts and take the top two to four and have the students vote on it;
• Schedule and calendar are continued to be looked at and worked on and they should have something in February;
• Position update: Art, Math, Chorus, Custodian. They are still looking for an art teacher. They approved a Chorus Teacher for next year at the last Board meeting. They are interviewing Math teachers and custodians;
• Room 13 – Sensory Room and Special Ed. Room. They have moisture problems in Room 13 (sensory room).  The sesory room has been moved to the old elementary LMC. Mrs. Kuchta’s special education classroom has also been moved to the old elementary LMC so the new kindergarten teacher can have her room which is located conveniently next to the other kindergarten room.
• State School Board Convention – last week, 2 sessions with a dig deep into school finance, 3 sessions on referendums.

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