Cadott School Board; Facility next steps narrowed down
The Cadott School Board looked over the district DPI report card for 2021-22. The full results for the district, as well as the elementary, junior high and high schools, are available online, at apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/. Screenshot
By Julia Wolf
The Cadott School Board discussed the next steps for facility improvements, during a meeting Nov. 28, after hearing the results of a community survey earlier in the month.
The board will meet with Miron Construction and ISG Architects Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 6 p.m., to take an updated look at the facility plans and pricing, after taking the community feedback into account.
Jenny Starck, district administrator, said it would be good to share board thoughts on the scope of the projects and which projects they want to continue to pursue, ahead of the December meeting.
Starck says the board needs to have a resolution done by Tuesday, Jan. 24, if we want to do an April referendum.
Board member Becca Blanchette asked what they need solidified by the January date. Starck says they need to know if they are going to ask one or two questions, and what the language of those questions will read.
Cory LaNou, board president, reminded everyone that the survey showed the tax tolerance for the community was in the $10-14 million range.
“It was hard for me to see the kitchen and cafeteria below that $14 million line,” said Blanchette.
Blanchette says she would like to see at least some parts of that project get done, especially if moving the offices to the west entrance of the junior and senior high school takes place.
“I agree, 100 percent, to do one and not the other, just doesn’t seem like it would line up real well,” said Kevin Roshell, board member.
Board member Christine Rowe said the updated numbers may help some, too.
Brad Sonnentag, board member, says the estimates seem high to him, so he is looking forward to seeing the adjusted numbers. He says, if they think they can get good bids for the work, he would like to see them go for everything.
“I don’t know, if we don’t get what we want, or what we need, we’ll never get it,” said Sonnentag.
Board member Ced Boettcher recalled when they did the elementary school updates, the track was probably the least popular part of it.
“I’m glad we got the whole thing done,” said Boettcher. LaNou said one of his concerns is tying up so much of the district’s borrowing capacity, adding 20 years is a long time to lock that up. He says he thinks, and Miron mentioned something similar, that the building is landlocked and long already.
He questioned if they want to go with a $14-18 million referendum, or if they want to try to scale the top three projects down, so they fit in less than a $10 million budget, so they can entertain the idea of a brand new facility in 20-25 years.
“I think a big part of our costs, is fighting the existing building,” said LaNou.
Roshell also worried the difference in the yearly tax impact, per $100,000 of property value, for the $14 million referendum to the $18 million referendum, was too much. He said he would be comfortable with the $10-14 million range, but agreed he would like to see the projects pared down so they can look into a new school in the future.
Blanchette said she would also be curious to know Miron and ISG’s success for finding community partnerships, or fundraising for elements like tech ed, which others agreed would be good to ask about. Starck says they may also be able to apply for grants for some equipment, just that they haven’t in the past, because they had nowhere to put the equipment if they did get it.
LaNou also said market conditions could change between now and April, and if the economy gets tighter, people may vote against a referendum.
LaNou said he would like to see the major components of each of the project packages, to see where the costs lie.
After further discussion about what direction the board would like to give, and what they need more information on, Starck said she would ask Miron/ISG for the general cost breakdowns and to whittle down costs to the $10-14 million range.
The board also discussed the district’s public comment policy, after members learned at a recent Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) meeting that a public comment should not be stopped, even if it is about an individual, because it is that person’s free speech.
Starck says the district’s attorney recommended making sure people are aware they are exposing themselves to potential defamation or slander.
Starck says the attorney said they could enforce their policy, but that would mean also stopping someone who is complimenting a staff member or something similar.
“Typically, what happens, is when people say positive things, you say thank you and then, if they say negative things, you shut it down,” said Starck. “You just kind of naturally fall into that trap.”
LaNou suggested they include the information on the public comment card people fill out, so they are aware of the risks. Others agreed that would be a good place to put the information, so it is not overlooked.
LaNou also noted that the reason the topic came up, is not because they have had issues at Cadott, but because other districts had issues.
The updates to the public comment policy will be on a future agenda.
Board members also had the chance to go through the 2021-22 DPI report card results. The district scored 68.8 overall, which fits in the meets expectations category.
“Our score did fall, our overall score, from the prior year,” said Starck.
The score is calculated by taking the areas of achievement, growth, target group outcomes and on-track to graduation into account.
Starck says the area with the most drop, was target group outcomes. She says the target group is the lowest 25 percent of students in English language arts or math, which are then compared to the top 75 percent of students in the school.
Starck says, when they dug into the results, some of their lowest performing students had some really good growth. Other students in the lower 25 percent are considered proficient.
“They did not grow as much,” said Starck.
When talking about action steps moving forward, Starck says they will focus on the target group outcome, to make sure those students more at the middle aren’t missing out on growth.
