Winter sports will follow WIAA, Cloverbelt guidelines

Cadott School Board

The Cadott School Board discussed what winter sports will look like amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, during a regular meeting Nov. 9.

“Our recommendation is that we would follow the Cloverbelt Conference guidelines,” said superintendent Jenny Starck.

Starck says the guidelines address spectators and expectations during events. She says there is ongoing discussion on mask use by student-athletes during the activities.

Rod Tegels, board president, asked how the Cloverbelt guidelines align with WIAA guidelines. Starck says there is a line inside the Cloverbelt guidelines that says WIAA guidelines will be followed for all games.

Starck says the Cloverbelt guidelines go more in depth regarding spectators.

“As far as wrestling goes, how in the world?” asked Al Sonnentag, board member, of mask wearing, adding he is hoping the Cloverbelt Conference will figure that out and tweak the guidelines in the near future. “It’s a moving target.” He says he agrees the board should approve the Cloverbelt guidelines, since that is where they will play, while WIAA guidelines would be based more on statewide viewpoints.

Brad Sonnentag, board member, disagreed, since the Cloverbelt guidelines did not contain as many specifics as the WIAA guidelines.

“I know we have specifics with the WIAA,” said B. Sonnentag.

B. Sonnentag motioned to follow WIAA winter sports guidelines for rules and regulations, and Cloverbelt guidelines regarding spectators. The motion passed with five in favor (B. Sonnentag, Mark Schley, Cedric Boettcher, Donna Albarado, Becca Blanchette) and two opposed (Tegels, A. Sonnentag).

Members also approved the 2020-21 annual scorecard goals, with the addition of a goal for a 4 percent increase to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) report card, from the most recent report card received.

The board also heard a charter school update. Starck says they will need to narrow down a focus area for the charter school.

“We’ve had quite a bit of discussion about online learning and personalized online learning, similar to the eSucceed program,” said Starck, referring to the online charter school consortium Cadott is part of. “There’s also been discussion about what I would call an environmental-based, hands-on charter school, similar to Augusta.”

Tegels says his main push behind the charter school is financial stability moving forward.

A. Sonnentag asked about how CESA 10 online classes fits in with blended learning and possibly using the program as the school curriculum. Starck said that would not necessarily be a charter school and comes down to the venue the district offers the classes through.

“It made sense to access them through eSucceed, because we’re part of that consortium anyway,” said Starck.

Starck added that, if they do not plan to stay with eSucceed, they would need to get back into the CESA 10 consortium to have access to the Wisconsin Virtual School (WVS) online classes.

Starck also said they need to compare more than just the course costs for both programs, but also the consortium costs. Tegels asked if it is possible to look at price comparisons for the options at the upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting. Starck says they can, but not all the prices will be even comparisons, since WVS does not have a charter school component like eSucceed does. The item will be on an upcoming meeting agenda for further discussion.

As part of the COVID-19 update, Starck says there is a COVID dashboard available for the public to view, on the Cadott School District website. The dashboard shows the numbers of positive and quarantine cases, broken down by school, and can be viewed by clicking the red COVID bar across the top of the page, then clicking the dashboard. The dashboard is updated weekly.

Members also accepted a $500 donation from the Cadott Tornado Relief Fund for baseball dugout improvements.

As a notice to the public, the next Committee of the Whole meeting will take place Monday, Nov. 30.

Members also approved the hire of Jake Anderson, high school boys assistant basketball coach; James Bremness, high school boys assistant basketball coach; and Nathan Hager, junior high girls basketball coach.