School board to get Extension focus study

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 12:30 PM CDT

Watertown School Board members will learn about results from a Stakeholder Focus Group conducted over the past two years by the Jefferson County UW-Extension at its regular meeting Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Educational Service Center.

The board will meet in closed session at the beginning of the meeting for reconsideration of an expulsion order of a student. The parent of the expelled student requested the reconsideration. The board will take a short recess after the closed session and before resuming with open session.

Kathy Eisenmann, Jefferson County UW-Extension family living agent, will review a report created from the Stakeholder Focus Group that began in May of 2007. In 2007 the district in partnership with the Extension identified various stakeholder groups throughout the community and held three different focus groups.

There are two key findings of the report, which will be discussed further at the meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Doug Keiser will update the board on communications effort for the facilities referendum. The district is working on a Web site, e-mail address, phone voice mailbox and publication to inform district residents about the proposed facility plans. He will also be displaying drawings of the proposed additions to the various elementary schools.

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Dr. Dave Vitale, district director of curriculum, will update the board on the process of implementing a new computer program called Skyward. The program is a student information system and grade book.

District administrators have used the new emergency program, Alert Now, a few times this year for some routine situations. The rapid communication services will be used to inform parents of an emergency or to give general reminders to parents. Keiser will share with the board how the program has worked so far this school year.

Doug Linse, district business services director, will review the preliminary 2008-09 budget and if final numbers are in, he will review the third Friday student enrollment count that is taken every year and submitted to the Department of Public Instruction.

In other business, the board will be asked to approve:

- Staff resignations including retirements of Nancy Beck, high school business education teacher; Elizabeth Cornwell, Douglas School special education teacher; Thomas Heninger, high school instrumental music teacher; Linda Krueger, Schurz School fourth grade teacher; Mark Leiser, middle school and high school music strings specialist; Charles Peters, high school math teacher; Janice Runge, Webster School librarian; Mary Schultz, Douglas School first grade teacher; Valerie Wagner, Douglas School special education; Joseph Meyers, high school custodian.

- Staff appointments include Theresa Asmus, Lincoln School paraprofessional; Daniel Borth, middle school track coach; Craig Crogan, middle school basketball coach; Angela Douglass, Schurz School paraprofessional; Charles Fischer, high school gymnastics varsity coach; Sara Hendricks, Schurz School paraprofessional; Sandra Hinrichs, high school sophomore basketball coach; Ryan Hoffman, high school freshmen basketball coach; Cassandra Jara, Douglas School paraprofessional; Teresa Jensen, middle school volleyball coach.

Jeffrey Kube, high school basketball varsity assistant coach; Sarah Richards, Schurz School paraprofessional; Laura Sherman, Webster School paraprofessional; Lisa Slotten, deaf and hard of hearing limited term teacher for district; Lisa Vanden Heuvel, Douglas School paraprofessional; Patricia Wackett, middle school basketball coach; Joseph Zammit, high school wrestling coach.

- Changes made to various district policies and newly created policies including privacy in locker rooms, attendance, graduation, specific graduation, suspension and expulsions, suspension and expulsion procedures, at-risk programming, entrance age, director of human resources job description, director of business services job description.