Approving the referendum question, discussing open enrollment openings and the superintendent’s upcoming retirement were some of the topics of discussion at the Ellsworth Community School District Board of Education’s meeting on Jan. 8.

The board approved a pair of resolutions regarding the $25.445 million referendum which will be voted on by members of the district on April 2.

The first resolution was to authorize what the finances from the referendum would go toward, while the second was to approve a referendum election with the referendum question presented. The approved question reads as follows:

“Shall the Ellsworth Community School District, Pierce County, Wisconsin be authorized to issue pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $25,445,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of a school facility improvement project at the Middle and High Schools consisting of:  construction of additions and renovations, including for physical education, fitness, career and technical education spaces; capital maintenance, building infrastructure, systems and site improvements; and the acquisition of furnishings, fixtures and equipment?”

Open enrollment

Multiple resolutions regarding open enrollment space were approved at the meeting. The board approved resolutions to not limit open enrollment, except for special education seats.

“Basically that we would not place a limit on the number of open enrollment seats available for regular education seats,” Administrative Assistant Deb Ristow said.

As for special education space, due to the current enrollment being the maximum the district can take on right now, the board passed a resolution to establish that there are no openings for special education open enrollment in the 2024-25 school year.

Fifteen categories of special education including speech and language, physical therapy and more; all had listings of zero openings due to current space and staffing.

In addition to open enrollment talks, projected class sizes were included in the school board document. High school class sizes for the 2024-25 from grade 9 to grade 12 are as follows: 125, 141, 129 and 146.

Lower grade levels had some variance as well, with the kindergarten class projected to be the largest at 116 students, and the first grade class to be the smallest in the district at 92 students.

Cain’s retirement

Superintendent Barry Cain addressed the board about his retirement at the end of the 2023-24 academic year.

“Sixteen years as a superintendent, it’s been a wonderful experience, and I think we’ve gotten a lot done,” Cain said. “I am very thankful for a very supportive community, supportive staff and very, very supportive school boards.”

The board is expected to make a decision on whether to hire an outside firm to complete the hiring process for the next superintendent or to complete the process internally at a virtual special board meeting at 5 p.m. on Jan. 17.

“The three main things that I found was WASB (Wisconsin Association of School Boards) can assist us with a search, so I have a contact there, there are a handful of independent search firms that would host and do the job for us and then we have the opportunity to do an independent district committee,” Board President Katie Feuerhelm said.

Personnel report

The board approved the following personnel changes:

Hires: Rebecca Alpers, speech language assistant; Brianna Greene, long term substitute teacher; Carissa Johnson, long term substitute teacher; Christine Karlstad, elementary food service staff; Cherri Peterson, occupational therapist assistant; Alicia Sadek, elementary food service staff; Nikole Westerberg, transportation assistant

Resignations: Kjrsten Lokker, elementary school speech and language pathologist assistant (effective May 1, 2024); Alisa Frion, middle school food service; Amber Kruse, middle school teaching assistant; Lisa Toenjes, elementary school food service

Retirement: Barry Cain, superintendent

Transfer: Heather Ziegler, from elementary food service staff to elementary/middle school food service staff

Other business

• Approved Board Vice President Susan Beck as the school’s delegate for the Wisconsin State Education Convention. The delegate’s job is to represent the school in a number of voting items at the convention. The results are used by WASB to push for legislation at the state capital. The delegate assembly will take place Jan. 17.
• Approved the second reading of Neola Volume 32, Number 2 school board policies. A notable change which was debated during the first reading on Dec. 11 is the removal of language allowing board members to volunteer as a coach or supervisor of an extracurricular activity.
• Drew for the order of the names on the spring 2024 school board election ballot. The order drawn was Steve Mark then Mark Stoesz. The election will take place April 2.
• Approved job descriptions for team leader and guiding coalition jobs. Cain said the descriptions are to keep up with how the positions have changed over time.