ELLSWORTH — The Ellsworth School Board heard superintendent goals, approved contracts with the School District of River Falls and listened to back to school updates during the Sept. 9 meeting.

In a special meeting prior to the regular board meeting, the board heard the first-year goals for Superintendent Brian Nadeau. No action was required on the item, and it is being treated as a “living document” that can be amended if the board feels the need.

The three goals identified during a board workshop were building relationships with stakeholders, administrative team leadership and construction project oversight and leadership.

Within each goal, there are outlines of how Nadeau can achieve each of the goals.

“Your goals are listed, the execution might change a little bit to achieving those goals,” Board President Julie Lundstrom said.

Contract approvals

The board approved contracts with the school district of River Falls for Project SEARCH and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. Each of these are contracts that allow the district to enter students into the programs without actually hosting the programs.

“Project SEARCH, a transition-to-employment program for individuals with disabilities, recently celebrated the achievements of its latest cohort. Licensed through the School District of River Falls, Project SEARCH is a one-year transition-to-employment program that provides valuable career exploration and employability skills to students and adults from across western Wisconsin,” an article submitted to the Journal from the School District of River Falls states.

The program has seven interns, four from River Falls, one from Ellsworth, one from Prescott and one from the adult system and is hosted at the River Falls Area Hospital. The contract allows the schools to share the cost depending on how many interns they have enrolled.

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program contract is similar in its cost sharing nature, with Ellsworth and Prescott each taking on 10% of the costs and River Falls taking on 80%.

Personnel

The board approved the following personnel changes:

Hires: Ryan Christenson, high school phy-ed teacher overload - first quarter; John Flynn, high school/middle school technology education teacher; Renee Helgeson, middle school FCS teacher overload - first pent; Janelle Lacy, elementary special education teaching assistant; Seth Maina, middle school FCS teacher overload - first pent; Yanin Mendez Manzanarez, elementary custodian; Patricia Peterson, elementary special education teaching assistant; Corey Poellinger, assistant mechanic; Madeline Poulos, high school phy-ed teacher overload - second quarter; Michael Rundle, high school special education teaching assistant.

Resignation: Melissa Olson, elementary teaching assistant.

Extra/Co-Curricular Hires: Lindsey Augustine, high school FFA assistant advisor; Brandon Carleton, seventh grade assistant football coach; Josh Erlandson, assistant varsity wrestling coach; Lisa Groh, mentor; Jessica Kuske, mentor - .25 FTE; Anders Lantz, JV girls golf coach; Julie Winegar, mentor - .75 FTE.

Other business

• Acknowledged the seventh annual Back to School event where 160 pairs of new shoes and 115 backpacks were provided for students in need. Also acknowledged board members Kurt Buckner and Lundstrom for their work with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. Buckner has worked with the association for over 16 years.
• The board heard from each of the schools’ principals regarding the first week of school and positive reports about emergency procedure drills.
• Approved a policy that more clearly defines medication use in the schools and during extra-curricular activities.
• The board heard the elementary school Title 1 Schoolwide Program Plan and the Teaching Assistant Guidelines.
• John Shafer spoke during public comment about the board making the meetings more available to the public. Shafer said a video call or live stream option would be an improvement.