Rib Lake School Board looks at staff satisfaction survey results

At the Rib Lake Board of Education (BOE) Meeting on March 27, the Board received the results from a survey given to District staff members. This survey asked staff to rate statements from one to five. One was “strongly disagree,” and five was “strongly agree.” Some of the topics the staff were asked about included their compensation and benefits, if they felt like they were a part of something important, their satisfaction with technology and IT, their satisfaction with the facilities (such as the buildings and cleanliness of the facilities), if staff felt appreciated, and whether they were satisfied with their opportunities for professional growth.

The IT score was the category that saw the most growth from last year’s survey data. On average, staff rated IT 3.06, whereas last year’s data showed a 2.65 rating. This rise in rating is due to the survey results from the previous year. The administrative staff and Board noticed the staff had a problem with the school’s IT. They brought in people to help fix this, including Skyward staff, who significantly improved the school’s networks and added more wifi access points. District Administrator Travis Grubbs said, “We have seen a significant improvement; I think there’s still growth, and we’re going to continue to work on it.”

The rating for the benefits that the staff receives, such as insurance, dropped from a 4.08 rating in the 2022-23 school year to a 3.57 this year. Grubbs noted a change in the health insurance package this year with the switch to Aspirus Health Plan from their previous health plan.

In other business:

 The newly purchased therapy dog-in-training for the Rib Lake High School was present at the meeting. The dog’s name is Eddie.

 The Board approved students using the “Start College Now” program, which allows high school students to take college-level courses in high school for college credit.

 The board approved the purchase of and use of Community Fitness Center Fobs. These fobs are available from the Rib Lake High School office with a deposit of $10, which will be refunded once the fob is returned. $10 is the rough price to purchase the fobs.

 The Board discussed sticking with the Aspirus Health Plan for district-wide health insurance. During the switch to Aspirus Health Plan last year, Aspirus agreed to a 9% rate cap, meaning they cannot raise the rate for health insurance by more than 9%. Grubbs has not yet received numbers from Aspirus regarding the rate for next year’s insurance.

 All staff members were recommended for contract renewal for next year.

 During the citizen comments portion of the meeting, board member Rollie Thums suggested changing the Board procedure for the citizen comment portion of the monthly meetings. Due to the nature of the comment and needing the topic on the agenda, the Board could not discuss this comment or make decisions regarding it during the meeting.

 The Board elected not to participate in the CTE10 Teacher Pipeline program, and Medford and Gilman are also not participating in it.

 The Board approved keeping their property insurance this year with CM Regent. As Grubbs explained during the meeting, the company recently changed its policies and will now only insure those who group property insurance with other coverage. The District only insured property through them, though. They had until a specific date to give the district notice of this change but did not. After the date passed, Rib Lake School District representatives reached out to inform them that the district had not received this notice and that they needed to provide insurance for this year for only the District’s property. They raised the insurance quote, but it is still lower than the other quotes the District received. One reason for this is that, in the eyes of CM Regent, the district has not seen a rise in property value - this is inaccurate. Next year, when the property insurance company changes, the District will pay more for property insurance because the property is worth more.

 Some work was done in the schools over spring break. The internet was down for a few days while Skyward was installing a new switch in the buildings.

 Read Across America week was a success. Elementary principal Jon Dallmann admitted that the books he chose “might have been a little too long, but the kids were very good at following along.”

 The Rib Lake students did very well in solo ensemble, both in band and choir. Several individual pieces will go to state solo ensemble both at the high school and middle school, which is uncommon. In addition, for the first time, all of the high school band members are going to state.

 The April and May BOE meeting dates have changed to April 17th and May 15th.