Gilman schools to study possible daycare center option

School districts throughout the state of Wisconsin have been creating daycares at their schools in recent years. Creating a daycare within the Gilman School District as well as a before and after school program was a big topic of discussion at the school board meeting on October 16. During the Superintendent’s report, Dr. Walter Liepart asked the board to consider a community study to look at the interest for a daycare and a before and after school program. Liepart noted multiple times throughout the discussion that these would be two separate programs. Board member Darrell Thompson asked how long ago a study was previously done. Liepart responded, “It was at least five years ago.” Board Vice President Tammy Weir was in agreement with the study stating, “I think we should do a study.” Member Lauren Zach also agreed saying, “I think it is worth looking into.” Gilman 4k-12 principal Jerry Smith, worked very closely with a school daycare at a previous job and he added that there are costs that the school would incur, giving an example of, “You have to do snack before and after school.” He also added that, “there are a couple of different avenues to look at.”

Playground Update

The Gilman School District did receive the playground equipment for phase 1 of their playground project. Unfortunately, the equipment was not received in time to install this year. The equipment will be held in a storage facility for the winter and installed next spring. Liepart explained to the board the reason that the equipment came in late was because they had decided to wait to order the equipment until they received the grant money this past spring.

Liepart asked for the board’s thoughts on ordering phase two and three now instead of waiting until grant funds arrive next spring. He explained that the board could use Fund 46 dollars as well as some Fund 10 dollars to pay for the equipment. The district would still be able to apply for grants, which would lower the cost to the district. Liepart said, “The only reason I’m bringing this up is so that this way we would only be tearing up the playground once.”

The risk for paying for it all now is that if the district does not receive grant funds, they are stuck with the whole bill. Member Zach asked, “What would happen if we don’t get grant funds?” Liepart responded, “We would need to budget $227,563.” Liepart added, “If you want me to wait, it is just going to be in multiple steps.” Member Chris Skabroud asked if there was a mobilization fee each time new equipment is installed. Liepart did acknowledge that it would cost more to have the installation company come two or three times versus once.

The board did approve the district to order the $227,563 worth of new equipment now so that the installation could all be done at once.

Employee Sick Leave Bank

Clerk Valorie Kulesa was recently asked by a retired teacher why teachers could not donate some of their sick days that they have accumulated over the years to other employees. The simple answer was, because that is what the policy says. But, the board wanted to discuss the topic to see if that is something that they should change.

Clerk Kulesa asked Liepart to explain to the board the policy that is in place now and what the district offers. She added that when she explained it to him, she understood it much better. Liepart did explain to the board how sick days currently work. Currently, each employee is given ten sick days per year. They can accumulate up to 115 sick days. At that point, if an employee has over 115 sick days at the end of the year, they are paid $50/day.

Liepart also explained that the district does provide employees with disability insurance that pays 67% of their pay after 61 days of disability. This provides a stopgap for a long term illness. This is a policy the district pays for.

The district also gives employees the option to purchase Aflac short term disability. This would be out of their own pocket, but the option is there.

Liepart ran some numbers to give to the board of the actual cost of an employee donating sick days to another employee. The district would incur more expense than the $50 they currently are paying if a teacher accumulates more than 115 sick days. It would cost the district at least $102/day and could cost as much has $472/day depending on the teacher.

The other issue that was discussed is what is the criteria for donating and what are the limits. The board was in agreement that they didn’t want to change anything currently. Member Thompson said, “lets not complicate things,” adding “the district does pay for a disability plan.”

Veteran’s Day

During the Principal’s report, Smith indicated that the Veteran’s day program this year will be held on Friday November 10. There will be a pancake breakfast for veterans starting at 8:10 a.m. The Veteran’s will be able to eat with the fourth grade students. The Veteran’s Day program will then begin at 9:15 a.m.

Approval of 2023-24 Budget

The school board held its annual meeting on October 2. Following the conclusion of the meeting, the board needed to adopt the 2023-24 district annual budget. The motion to approve the budget was made by Zach and seconded by President Cheryl Ustianowski. The motion was passed.

The board also needed to certify the 2023-24 tax levy. A motion was made by Clerk Kulesa and seconded by Thompson to certify the 2023-24 tax levy. The motion was passed.

Fund 46

The board also discussed Fund 46. Fund 46 is a long term capital improvement trust fund. The reason for the discussion at the meeting was to update the long range facility plan to include a solar energy project. During the Superintendent’s report, Liepart discussed the possibility of a Solar Energy Project on school grounds. Liepart did make it clear that there is zero commitment at this point, but wanted to share the project with the board. Board members agreed that the price of energy continues to go up and looking at alternatives should be considered. Liepart shared that the project would cost approximately, $303,000. There are rebates available that would bring the net cost to the school district to approximately $173,000. The solar panels would produce about $18,000 in energy savings each year. This would be a nine to ten year pay back for the project.

The board did approve to include the solar energy project to the long range facility plan.

In other Board business:

Liepart gave the board a report on the 2023 Summer School program in Gilman. Overall it was a very successful program. There were a total of 106 students that took part in the different summer school offerings. There were four teachers and nine paraprofessionals who taught summer school this summer. Liepart noted that the district hired any former students who have graduated and are going into education as paraprofessionals for the summer school program. This gives those former students hands on experience.

The third Friday in September is the date in which the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction counts all students enrolled in Wisconsin schools. These numbers are used for calculating state funds that are provided to public schools. Liepart informed the board that this year, the Gilman School District has 279 students in the building. They also have 57 students enrolled in e-Suceed Charter School. As part of the report, Liepart also shared that there are 26 students who open enroll to Gilman.

As part of the report, Liepart also discussed the enrollment projections for the next five years. Like many schools in the state, Gilman is expecting lower numbers over the next five years. The major reason for this is because the graduating classes are bigger than the 4k classes starting school. These are all projections and can change from year to year. Liepart did say that, “we will most likely see the mill rate go back up in the future.”

The board did have to approve out of state travel for the upcoming National FFA Convention and Expo that is held in Indianapolis, Indiana from November 1-4. The board did approve the trip for those students interested in going.

The board approved the hiring of Chanse Rosemeyer as the new middle school boy’s basketball coach.