Marathon K-12 declines offer to buy church

Marathon City School Board members have decided not to look any further into the possibility of buying the old St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church.

Following a tour of the church last week, board members declined to make a motion at their July 9 meeting to approve a feasibility study, which would have generated cost estimates for repurposing the property on Hemlock Street into classrooms or administrative offices.

Church representatives had offered the district a chance to buy its existing building back in May. Retiring superintendent Rick Parks then obtained a $2,000 cost estimate from a design firm for a feasibility study to look at the space available at the church and what structural changes may be needed. In June, board members said they wanted to look at the building first.

Board member Lia Klumpyan was the first to offer her impressions at last week’s board meeting following the tour.

“I think it’s a lovely facility, but I don’t think it’s going to work for us,” she said. “In my opinion, it would cost way too much to put rooms in there, and then we’d have to deal with putting in a playground.”

Klumpyan said she was also worried about the logistics of running extra-curricular programs at the old church and preparing meals out of the small kitchen.

“I’m kind of thinking that’s not the way to go,” she said.

Board president Jodi DeBroux questioned whether the district was in the position financially to undertake a project like that right now, and board member Beth Seubert said a feasibility study should only be pursued if the board decides it really needs the extra space at this point.

DeBroux acknowledged that the district has some impending space issues with enrollment increasing in recent years, but she doesn’t believe it’s at “that pivotal point” where it needs to spend $1 million or more for additional facilities.

Board member Ted Knoeck noted that the district has existing facilities that require maintenance, including parking lots that need resurfacing.

“If we had a million bucks sitting around, I’d say ‘Hey, let’s do it,’” he said. “Maybe that would be a good idea if that were the case, but we don’t.”

Board members also got a chance to see the new St. Matthew’s Church on CTH NN, which includes a basement that could be rented out, but that idea didn’t gain much traction, either.

“I think need to keep our kids right here,” Klumpyan said.

Angela Woyak, the district’s new administrator, said the district will continue to explore its options for expanding or better utilizing its existing building space as part of its long-range strategic planning process.

“That is a large undertaking, and we will work to achieve that and keep the board informed on the progress as we get through the cycle of that strategic plan,” she said. “That will be a priority.”

Video scoreboards?

As part of an ongoing discussion on summer maintenance projects, board members talked about the possibility of upgrading the scoreboards in the high school gym and on the football field to include video displays. Each videoboard would cost $100,000 or more, but those costs could potentially be recouped if the district were to sell advertising to local businesses.

If the board were to decide to go with videoboards, which could display instant replays and statistics, Woyak said the district would be in charge of selling advertisements, but the vendor, Daktronics, can provide guidance on how to do that. Woyak said the ad sales could possibly be a project for a marketing class.

High school principal Dave Beranek said the Daktronics sales reps claim the videboards can potentially pay for themselves within three to five years, and after that, they could be a revenue-generator for the district.

“But that money has to come from somewhere,” he said, regarding the initial investment.

While board members wanted to know more about the scoreboard options before making a decision, they all strongly agreed that the sound systems in the district’s athletic facilities need to be updated.

“We absolutely have to do the sound system in the gym,” Klumpyan said. “I cannot stand another season of going in there and not hearing what they’re saying.”

In a memo to the board, Woyak said “Recent issues have resulted in no sound at key moments of competition, angering the crowd and opposing teams, and the staff jerryrigging with wireless mics when the system is not functional.”

The high school gym’s sound system “pre-dates virtually all staff” in the district, Woyak wrote, and the newest components were installed 15 to 20 years ago, making it a top priority. The main gym’s scoreboards are still functioning fine, but the high school’s auxiliary gym and the one at Marathon Area Elementary School (MAES) have issues with the buzzers sticking and the control boards not responding right away.

Woyak said she is still learning about the condition of the high school auditorium’s sound system, which is used for choir concerts, musicals, award presentations and other events.

When it comes to the track and football field, Woyak said the scoreboard has several digits that are out, which affects the display of stats and timekeeping. The sound system is mostly adequate for football games but it does not project far enough for everyone to hear at track meets, Woyak said.

“If you have an east wind down there, you can’t hear it at all,” said Knoeck, an assistant track coach, noting that officials have had to use handheld speakers to relay announcements at field events.

In other summer project news, Woyak said the start of a track resurfacing project had been delayed until last week due to rain, and a roof replacement at the high school was also delayed by a couple of weeks. Woyak said it will take the contractors an estimated two months to replace the roof.

“They do know when school starts,” she said. “They will make every effort to be out of there by the end of August.”

Woyak also reported that new doors are being installed at MAES, a sidewalk has been fixed, and new furnishings and equipment have arrived for the high school business education and science rooms. Parking lots at MAES and Marathon High School (MHS) are slated to be resealed in early August, she added, but board members agreed to postpone a more intensive resurfacing of the high school’s back parking lot.

“I think we can make it another school year and try to do it next spring,” Knoeck said.

Other business

■ Woyak presented the board with the first draft of the proposed 2025-2026 budget, which currently includes $16.4 million in projected revenue and $16.6 million in estimated expenses, which could result in the district having to spend about $250,000 out of its fund balance.

The final budget numbers won’t be set until October after the district has been notified of how much state aid it will receive, how much equalized property values have gone up, and what the district’s enrollment is.

■ The board authorized the Marathon Venture Academy (MVA) to participate in a research project being conducted by a PhD candidate, Maggie Olson, who is studying the impact of restorative disciplinary practices on behavior and conflict resolution. Olson will be collecting data and interviewing staff and students as part of her research, so informed consent forms for parents will be required.

■ The board approved a new science curriculum, Amplify Science, for grades sixth through eighth. The new curriculum will be phased in over three years, one grade level at time, and cost the district an estimated $17,500 for the first three years.

MVA principal Max Wienke said Amplify Science aligns with state standards and will help improve literacy and writing skills, with every student being given access to an online portal for the lessons.

■ The board approved new student and staff handbooks for all of the district’s schools, with mostly minor changes made by administrators. Before approving the handbooks, board members asked the principals about student cell phone policies. Beranek said enforcing the policies is “an enormous battle” for MHS teachers, who try to get students to only use their phones between classes and at lunch. Wienke said students at MAES/ MVA are required to leave their phones and other devices in their lockers, and if a teacher sees one out, it is confiscated.

■ The board reviewd the district’s 2024-2025 nursing report, which showed that students visited school nurses a total of 3,395 times last school year, mostly for headaches, bumps, scratches and other minor issues.

■ Woyak told the board that an application filed by her predecessor for free and reduced-price lunches for all Marathon students was not approved.