Cadott School Board; Agreement with eSucceed extended another year

By Julia Wolf

The third year of a three-year agreement with eSucceed, an online charter school, was approved by the Cadott School Board, during a Committee of the Whole meeting, April 26. Cadott is a member of eSucceed through a consortium.

Superintendent Jenny Starck said, pre-COVID, only two students attended the charter school. This year, the number of students choosing the online option jumped. Starck says they felt they had to let those who wanted to do eSucceed try it this year, because of safety concerns some people had over in-person learning.

Starck says she believes the number of students who want to continue with eSucceed next year, will decrease to close to pre-COVID numbers.

Board members previously expressed concerns over the number of classes failed by those attending the charter school.

“For the kids that it’s working for, it’s working well,” said board member Al Sonnentag. “But for the ones where it’s not, it’s kind of an epic fail.”

Starck says some secondary students who were not succeeding in online school, were told to come back to the classroom in January.

Before COVID, Starck says they often screened students interested on the front end, and told them if they were not a good candidate for virtual schooling.

Starck said board members could also consider capping the number of students allowed to attend eSucceed, which makes costs more predictable, but risks those who currently like the program, open enrolling out.

Board members were also provided with the costs for eSucceed for the 2020-21 school year. So far, the costs to date were $278,121.15. Starck says they will still be billed for fourth quarter elementary students, any end-of-year reconciliations (they may owe Cadott) and any late entry students.

“I don’t want to see this go away,” said board member Christine Rowe, adding she would like the vetting process return, to make sure online learning is a good fit for the student, before they go full-time.

Caleb Hundt, junior and senior high principal, says online learning is not a silver bullet.

“Kids want it to be a silver bullet,” said Hundt.

He says the district is left to catch up students who find online learning isn’t a good match for them. Hundt says those who want online school will transfer out if an online option isn’t offered, but said getting an internal online option set up will be a challenge to start, because it will be new and difficult for staff.

“A lot of money will have to go to that, too,” said Hundt.

He also says Cadott is not alone in feeling frustrated over how their online learning options have gone this year.

“There are kids that it works for, and that’s kind of why you offer it,” said Hundt of online learning.

Director of special education Melissa Lesik says, typically, when students begin to look to full-time online enrollment, they try one or two classes online first.

“The rigor is different,” said Lesik, “the connection with teacher who is supporting is different than being in a class.”

She says she thinks encouraging students to try a few online offerings first has been successful in the past and is something they should keep doing.

Terri Goettl, elementary principal, says she would like to see elementary students in the building, because they are The third year of a three-year agreement with eSucceed, an online charter school, was approved by the Cadott School Board, during a Committee of the Whole meeting, April 26. Cadott is a member of eSucceed through a consortium.

Superintendent Jenny Starck said, pre-COVID, only two students attended the charter school. This year, the number of students choosing the online option jumped. Starck says they felt they had to let those who wanted to do eSucceed try it this year, because of safety concerns some people had over in-person learning.

Starck says she believes the number of students who want to continue with eSucceed next year, will decrease to close to pre-COVID numbers.

Board members previously expressed concerns over the number of classes failed by those attending the charter school.

“For the kids that it’s working for, it’s working well,” said board member Al Sonnentag. “But for the ones where it’s not, it’s kind of an epic fail.”

Starck says some secondary students who were not succeeding in online school, were told to come back to the classroom in January.

Before COVID, Starck says they often screened students interested on the front end, and told them if they were not a good candidate for virtual schooling.

Starck said board members could also consider capping the number of students allowed to attend eSucceed, which makes costs more predictable, but risks those who currently like the program, open enrolling out.

Board members were also provided with the costs for eSucceed for the 2020-21 school year. So far, the costs to Starck also added that sitting in front of a computer all day, could be more difficult for students and said the district would need a management plan for that learning format.

Cory LaNou, board member, also asked what could be done for those brought back to the building, since the curriculums do not align exactly, comparing coming back to switching schools.

“They’re already failing and now they’ve transferred a school, it just seems like we’re setting them up for complete failure,” said LaNou.

Sonnentag suggested they do eSucceed coursework, but in the building to reduce the number of changes.

Brad Sonnentag, board member, says he would like to see an option where Cadott offers an alternative for their own students who don’t think classroom learning is their best fit, before sending them to eSucceed. He says he is fine with keeping eSucceed as the district’s charter option.

Members voted to approve the eSucceed agreement and also to gather more information for an in-house option for students.

The board also heard the mask requirement plan. Starck says she wants a transparent plan for people to see and presented a draft plan to the board, based on information from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.

“I will say, we meet with all districts in the county,” said Starck. “Right now in Chippewa County, we are the only district that’s talking about lessening the mask requirement at this time.”

Starck also noted there is a federal mandate around masks on transportation, so masks would be required on transportation either way.

LaNou said, based on his quick math, Cadott is a small enough area that one positive case could dramatically effect the numbers Starck was proposing using. He says he thinks the district will either have to say yes or no to optional masking.

“If we’re going to present a plan, I want it to be something that’s achievable,” said Rowe.

At the board’s request, Starck will continue to monitor the Cadott and Chippewa County statistics, and possibly talk to Chippewa County, to understand how the statistics are formed. The data will be shown at the regular May meeting.

When it came to a potential third paid coach for baseball and softball, Starck says they could bring something for spring sports to the next meeting and that coaching numbers may be something to discuss with the new athletic director. More information will be brought to the next meeting.

Members also discussed potentially adding a human resources position, to reduce the workload of administrators. Starck says that is uncommon for a district Cadott’s size.

Rowe asked if it would be helpful to have someone dedicated to human resources, and Starck said it could be, but isn’t sure it should be a priority of the district.

Members also suggested another district may want to share the position with Cadott. Starck said she would reach out to staff to hear their thoughts on the issue and bring it to

not independent enough at that age to learn on their own. She also says the social piece of school is important for the youngest students.

“You learn how to interact, and give and take,” said Goettl.

She says they already have online tools for students who struggle in different situations.

Sonnentag says he would like a way to reach out to kids struggling earlier in the school year, to help before they get behind. Hundt says they probably could get reports from eSucceed to see who is struggling and bring them into a classroom, though he says that would probably take more people to manage the students.

a future meeting.

The board also heard a presentation from elementary school teachers on the elementary English/Language Arts curriculum. The curriculum will come to the board for approval at the next meeting.