St. Matthew’s

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would like to see some price quotes from other firms before moving ahead, and board member Ted Knoeck questioned whether it would even be worth spending the money.

“Even for classroom stuff, I am not for it,” he said, citing concerns about the logistics of having students and staff at a separate building that may not have adequate kitchen and playground facilities.

“We have no space for those kiddos to be outside,” he said. “There’s nothing there for a playground, and those kiddos have to be outside.”

Board member Paula Vesely agreed with Knoeck’s concerns.

“I’m having a hard time thinking this is a good idea for us,” she said.

When the board first discussed the church’s offer to sell the building to the district at last month’s meeting, the conversation focused on a few different ideas for using the space, including an early education center for four-year-old and five-year-old kindergarten, an alternative high school or office space for administrative staff.

Parks said he believes it’s worth it for the board to consider the offer, since the district may have to look at adding onto existing facilities in the future if enrollment continues to increase.

“We are good within the space we have right now,” he said, but if the district continues to grow, new construction may be required if another facility is not available.

Board member Beth Seubert said she was open to accepting an invitation from the church to tour the facility and having an open dialog before revisiting the possibility of a feasibility study. Board members Lia Klumpyun agreed, saying the board should really get a good look at the building before deciding on the church’s offer.

“I think we should stay open to the idea just in case, and not close our minds totally to it, because we have not seen the building and we don’t know what’s there,” she said. “I think having a building already there is going to be cheaper for us in the long run than having to build or add on.”

Parks said he would provide board members with several possible dates for touring the church, and then schedule a visit based on their availability.

Open enrollment

The board voted to open up two additional open enrollment spots in four-year-old kindergarten next school year in order to allow a couple of kids with siblings already in the district to attend classes at Marathon Area Elementary School.

A total of 16 open enrollment applications have been submitted for the district’s 4K program, with just five openings originally available under caps set by the board earlier this year.

MAES principal Max Weinke said it’s always a challenge to set limits in 4K, because administrators “always expect some surprises” when it comes to new applications.

“We never know exactly what we’re going to get,” he said.

Among district residents who are guaranteed a spot in the school, 26 students are enrolled in 4K for 2025-2026, he noted, but two families living in the district have not yet decided if they are going to send their kids to St. Mary’s Catholic School or MAES. Assuming that those kids come to MAES and a few more students enroll over the summer, Wienke said the expected 4K enrollment is around 30 students.

Of the 16 open enrollment applicants, seven came from siblings of students already enrolled in the district, who are traditionally given first preference when filling open spots. However, because the number of siblings exceeded the open enrollment caps, Wienke said they waitlisted two of those families, along with 11 others who do not have brothers or sisters in the school.

In discussing the situation with Parks, Wienke said they’re comfortable with increasing the number of open enrollment spots from five to seven to accommodate the siblings and then taking a wait-and-see approach on the other 11 applicants.

“If we get to the first day of school and we feel like we have some room, we can talk,” he said.

Parks said 4K enrollment has been as high as 42 students in recent years, but they try to stay in the range of 38 to 40 just to limit the size of classes going forward. Wienke said several families every year will start their kids in 4K somewhere else and then enroll them in five-year-old kindergarten at MAES the following school year.

“So, we leave some buffer room from 4K to 5K because we know it grows,” he said.

In addition to approving the two additional spots in 4K, the board signed off on 12 additional open enrollment applications for other grades next year. Two students were waitlisted for 5K and one in fourth grade, and two were denied in sixth grade.

Other business

■ The board accepted quotes for two summer projects: $10,658 for Ellenbecker to replace sections of sidewalk and $4,009 for Marathon Industrial Finishing to powder coat the equipment at the Marathon Wellness Center. No action was taken on three other prospective projects, which include repairing parking lots at MAES and Marathon High School, remodeling an unused second-floor space at MAES and adding either shades or film to block sunlight at the MVA/MAES multi-purpose room.

■ The board took no action on possibly eliminating sports games passes for high school students, who can currently pay a one-time fee for attending all of the districtsponsored athletic events throughout the school year. The passes generated a total of $3,520 in revenue last year, but administrators are wondering if eliminating the fee would encourage more student attendance at games. High school principal Dave Beranek said the district could also go back to just charging students admission for each sporting event they attend. The board decided to leave the system as is for now.

■ The board approved a 10-cent increase in lunch and breakfast prices for next school year, as required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. In a related matter, the board also approved an application for a state program that would offer free and reduced lunches for all students in grades 4K through eighth grade, regardless of income.

■ The board accepted the only milk bid submitted for next year, from Graykowski Distributing of Wausau. The cost will be 39 cents per carton of white milk and 40 cents for chocolate milk.

■ The board approved a new sick leave sharing program for employees, which will allow a staff member to contribute up to five days of unused sick time to a co-worker facing a life-threatening event. Any requests for more than five days must be approved by the board.

■ Lizzie Noland, a science teacher at Marathon Venture Academy, spoke to the board about a new curriculum, Amplify Science, that she and Wienke would like to purchase for the school. Since starting at the school two years ago, Noland said she has had had to write about 75 percent of the curriculum “from scratch,” spending an estimated 50 hours outside of class.

Wienke said Amplify Science aligns with the state’s English Language Arts standards, but the initial cost provided by the vendor was higher than he would like to spend, so the board tabled the discussion so a better price could be negotiated.

■ The board approved the hiring of Jessica McCarthy as an ELA instructor at MVA and accepted the resignation of Jacob Skalitsy as high school social studies teacher.

■ The board approved a restructuring of the administrative assistant position in light of Jackie Hanke’s retirement. The number of administrative staff will be reduced from three to four, with one administrative assistant for both the high school and the district. Nimisha Patel will continue to serve as business manager and Emily Waldvogel as human resources/payroll, with some additional duties added to her job.