PRESCOTT — A group of parents used a Prescott School District listening session Thursday, April 15 to make clear they believe the district administrator has been creating policies related to COVID when the school board should be doing so. They also said they’ve heard from community members, though from a specific number is unclear, that district communication is lacking, that staff is leaving because of poor morale and that the district’s handling of COVID has put kids behind academically, socially and athletically.

School Board President Mike Matzek said the group “politely requested” a listening session at the March 17 school board meeting, backed by a petition signed by 40 people. The purpose given for the listening session was for the district and community to “work together proactively to resolve deficiencies created by COVID in regards to student academics and also athletic and social development that schools provide,” Matzek read.

“Our purpose for agreeing to hold tonight’s session is to take questions with regards to this request and to clear up any confusion in regards to health and safety protocols and authorities in place this school year as a result of the pandemic,” Matzek said.

When laying out the meeting’s parameters, Matzek said the session would not be used to debate state and county health and safety guidelines or personnel issues.

District Administrator Dr. Rick Spicuzza and School Board Vice President Steve Sizemore joined Matzek onstage, along with residents Kate Otto, Ken Anderson, Kewana Thomason and Jennifer Hanson, who said they represented concerned citizens and parents. Anderson ran as a write-in school board candidate April 6, and although he did not win, he received 372 votes.

In his introduction, Anderson said he and the others were not there to debate the dangers of COVID to students or staff or the efficacy of masks or vaccinations.

“We are here to notify you and the community that most of the district’s responses to COVID have not followed proper procedures laid out in state statutes and board bylaws,” Anderson said. “Therefore, any of these arbitrary rules are null and void and not legally enforceable.”

He said he would provide specific examples and proof that districts are governed by their bylaws and state statutes.

“Since COVID hit, there have been only six board motions approved by the board regarding COVID,” Anderson said. “None of these motions gave carte blanche authority to the district administrator to establish or implement rules outside of district programming models.”

He said a state emergency order cannot be used as an excuse anymore (the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate invalid in a 4-3 decision March 31), nor a Pierce County mandate, which he said he really an unenforceable advisory.

“Therefore, all rules and policies regarding COVID must be created and approved by the board,” Anderson opined. “We are here to make sure moving forward that the board follows proper procedures to establish protocols and policies to not only keep staff and students safe, but also to develop solutions to the educational deficiencies that this crisis has created.

“We believe that by not following proper procedures, the district has created multiple systemic problems where we now have an environment that an alarming number of great staff is leaving this district. We heard that the board recognizes this exodus, but believes it is due to understaffing and that it is happening everywhere. We disagree with the cause. We want to know what the district is going to do about these situations.”

Ahead of the listening session, the district requested Anderson’s group send its questions to the school board. The questions are listed here:

•It is our understanding that Prescott is following the Pierce County guidelines in regards to COVID 19, but when talking with other school districts’ staff, board members and community members, it seems they are taking a different approach and the school boards are creating the policies on COVIDrelated issues by setting the policy in district and voting on it as a board. Why has our district chosen to follow the guidelines when other districts are doing it differently? Who is making the rules and have they been voted on by the board?

•Why did the board go against Bylaw 0144.2C and give decision-making power to the superintendent? Even this decision was very limited in scope. This also is not a carte blanche license. When do these powers revert back to the board as they should be? Also, how Is the board actively seeking engagement of the staff, students and citizens as expressed

in the bylaw?

•What is the plan for the district to help close the academic gap caused by the district’s response to COVID? What are we going to do differently and how are we going to solve this problem? What is the plan going forward? Is there a virus infection rate or number that would put school back into hybrid or virtual? If so, what would that process look like? The hybrid model was successful in keeping kids in fact-to-face school parttime but it failed at educating our kids and failed for our teachers as well. Teachers cannot be expected to teach both online and inperson at the same time using the previous tools. What will be done differently in the future?

•The community has heard rumblings of distrust and low morale for a few years from the staff at the district. Many principals, teachers and support staff have resigned and left the district. What is the school board going to do to address the culture at the PSD?

•This is a public school district, which ensures equal access for all kids. What will you do to accommodate all children including children who have mask exemptions?

•What changes have been made to the sanitation processes to clean the schools? Are we using new chemicals to spray the schools? How are we ensuring the kids are safe from these new chemicals and processes? Is Quats Ammonia an ingredient?

In a public Facebook post April 15, Anderson said the listening session is “about following proper procedures to implement policy changes. Unfortunately, the line between elected officials creating policy and the district administrator ADMINISTRATING said policies has been blurred.”

During the session, Fran Finkel, a consultant with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, described a superintendent as the CEO of a district.

“It’s the board’s job to set the vision for the district … and they are encouraged to do that with stakeholders,” Finkel said. “They create board policy that everybody else has to live by.”

He also said the superintendent is charged with carrying out the board’s wishes, following laws, making sure kids are learning, and making a safe environment for kids and staff.

One question that arose was concerning the district’s handling of primary physician mask exemptions. Anderson’s group says Spicuzza is creating policy on how those are handled, and Spicuzza said he is simply following the board’s directive. Spicuzza said mask exemptions are handled on a case-bycase basis, because circumstances vary whether a child can be in a classroom with others, if he or she can use a face shield, if frequent mask breaks could suffice, etc.

“The board gave the superintendent and his staff the flexibility to make those calls,” Matzek said.

Matzek also denied that “carte blanche” authority has been given to the superintendent. He called attention to the fact that the statewide mask mandate ended March 31, and the school board hasn’t had a chance to consider new or updated COVID-related policies or protocols since it ended.

The other main takeaways in the two-hour long back-and forth discussion were:

•The school board “respectfully disagrees” with the accusation that Spicuzza is creating COVID policies.

•The parent group wants the school board to take a more proactive approach to creating formal COVID policies, communicating with parents and staff, and trying to retain staff.

•The parent group wants staff to be able to talk to the board if they have a problem with Spicuzza. Finkel advised them it’s important to adhere to following a chain of command, or the school board members may be bombarded with every little problem, that principals and the superintendent should handle.

•The school district will be addressing learning gaps created by COVID by assessing teachers’ thoughts on how the year went, state testing results and teacher-led local data retreats.

•The plan going forward, since most staff have had both doses of the COVID vaccine, is to expect in-person learning the rest of the school year. The main reason, according to Spicuzza and Matzek, for any hybrid or virtual learning, was because of staffing issues due to close contacts and quarantines.

While it seemed the meeting ended with the school board promising to consider working on clearer communication with parents and considering more formal COVID-related policies and resolutions, Sizemore told Anderson he would be glad to request agenda items regarding parental questions going forward. He also told Anderson, who said he plans to formally run for school board in the next election, that his attendance at school board meetings would be valuable experience for that potential undertaking.

The full session can be viewed on the school district’s YouTube channel.