Cadott School Board; First look at facility survey results shared
School Perceptions project manager Daren Sievers shared the results of a community survey on potential facility projects, during a Cadott School Board meeting Nov. 14. The three projects with the most community support were the safety and security improvements, capital maintenance projects and tech ed updates. Photo by Julia Wolf
By Julia Wolf
The results from the community survey on proposed facility projects, were available during the regular Cadott School Board meeting Nov. 14, and school board members took a first look at the responses.
Daren Sievers, project manager at School Perceptions, the company that ran the survey, was on-hand to go through the results.
First, Sievers went over who responded to the survey. The survey had 359 respondents, which is about a 14 percent response rate. While the response rate may seem low, Sievers says it is not bad.
“Anything above 10 percent, we get excited about, because we find that once you get above 10 percent, the numbers really don’t change that much,” said Sievers.
He says it does mean that the board must keep the margin of error in mind, which is +/- 5.3 percent.
Of those who responded to the survey, 18 percent were staff.
“Bad news for within the results we’ll talk about later, they’re only about 1 percent of your voters,” said Sievers.
Another 50 percent who responded are parents with a child in the district, but only 25 percent of the voting population are parents. Sievers says the 75 percent of the voting population who are not parents or staff, will make or break the decision, if the board decides to put anything to a vote.
Safety and security updates, which include improving upon a secure entrance by moving the main offices to an addition on the west side of the junior and senior high building, were marked as high importance. Sievers said capital maintenance projects, including building-wide air conditioning, also had quite good support.
Tech ed improvements, including the addition of an auto lab and art room improvements, saw survey support, as well.
“That also scored lower, but still fairly favorably,” said Sievers.
The expanded kitchen and cafeteria did not come back with as much support.
“More medium and low, than high,” said Sievers.
Fitness and multipurpose space additions, and renovations also did not see much support, which Sievers says trends with what they have seen across the state.
The survey also gauged funding support, which can cross-correlate with the projects the community indicated they value the most. Various sized referendums were presented on the survey, for respondents to share what they would be willing to tolerate.
“You need 50 percent, or more, to pass the vote,” said Sievers.
The cutoff line for parents was in the lower $18 million range and fully supportive of the $14 million range. Community members who are not parents or staff, were between the $10 million and lower end of the $14 million range.
“We compile all that data into a weighted average,” said Sievers.
Sievers says the weighted support lands squarely at the $14 million threshold. He says the data School Perceptions has, predicts the district would receive 55 percent support for a $14 million referendum. When accounting for the margin of error, Sievers pointed out it is not a shoo-in.
“Your three highest scoring areas, fall right at $14.1 million,” said Sievers.
That means the capital maintenance projects, safety and security updates, and tech ed improvements, could be done with a referendum that size.
“You could consider giving the kitchen and cafeteria project a look, maybe just as a second question,” said Sievers.
He says another piece they could think about, is dialing back the scope of the kitchen and cafeteria project a little bit to lower the cost.
The yearly impact of the various sized referendums also decreased some since the survey was mailed, after the mill rate was set in October.
Board president Cory LaNou asked how the comments on the survey are. Sievers said district administrator Jenny Starck will have access to the comments, sorted by theme, but cautioned comments usually only come from people who feel very strongly on the subject, one way or the other. LaNou says he knows some people said they put ideas for modifying the projects in the comments, so he wants to make sure the board sees them.
State test scores from the 2021-22 school year, were also shared out, with Forward Exam, Aspire Test and ACT results available now. Starck cautioned that, because of the number of students Cadott has, one or two students can make a couple percentage points difference.
Board members also saw how economically disadvantaged students scored, in comparison to non-economically disadvantaged students. The district aims to close the gap between the two groups, since the gap is something the district was previously flagged for.
“One of the things that we are going to be doing, is reviewing growth of students in the target group,” said Starck.
She says they also will continue to improve implementation of instructional strategies, including a new literacy curriculum, new instructional training. They will also look at FastBridge results to see areas of strength and where they can improve, including topics within subject matters, like math.
A FastBridge update was also shared out during the meeting, with math and reading for kindergarten through 11th grade.
“Our focus is always on growth,” said Deb Delyea, director of special education.
Delyea says FastBridge is more of a diagnostic tool for teachers, to determine which areas students are struggling.
After a Wisconsin Association of School Board (WASB) meeting on effective board meetings, those who attended reported on what they learned. Starck says she learned agendas do not need to reflect which items are for action and which are for discussion, if they don’t want them to.
Instead, a notice could go at the top of the agenda, saying the items may be for discussion or action, as the board reviews them.
“I just didn’t want to change it without everybody talking about that,” said Starck.
Becca Blanchette, board member, says she thinks it would be helpful, because, if there is something the board wants to take action on after discussion, they can. LaNou also says it would also work the opposite way, where they don’t feel pressured to take action if they don’t feel they have enough information to do so.
Ced Boettcher, board member, suggested they ask Neola, the company who helps keep the district’s policies updated, the next time a representative is on hand.
LaNou says he also learned how to more clearly record board directives for the administration, to make sure everyone is on the same page with what is being asked.
Casey Yeager, district parent, also brought up her concerns about the district’s library policies during public comment, after she did not see many changes since the last time she brought up the topic in March.
“I am concerned that this entire issue is not being taken seriously enough,” said Yeager, who added she will not forget about the issue.
Yeager says she spent countless hours reading and reviewing materials, and says there are sexually explicit materials in the school library.
“I consider this a very serious matter, that must not be swept under the rug,” said Yeager.
She also says she has not yet received the pubic records she requested on the previous library policy and library book discussions.
The board approved a roof bid for the elementary building, during the meeting, from RTS Roofing for $359,812, with a $30,000 contingency.
Starck says the contingency is needed, because some units need to be lifted.
Members also approved the hire of Pat Rothbauer, junior high wrestling coach, and Melissa Kleinschmidt, Destination Imagination adviser. The board also approved creating a limited term special education position at the elementary school for the 2022-23 school year, and approved the hire of Meagan Henning to fill the position.
As a notice to the public, Monday, Dec. 19, will be the Cadott School Board’s sole meeting for the month, after a vote to adjust the schedule.
