Board of Education Meeting Recap

Marcie Pfeifer-Soderbloom

Board of Education meetings can be viewed live on YouTube here and previous meetings can be reviewed here.

Dr. Clardy and the BOE congratulated School Counselor Rachel Reshower and a team from Country View for being awarded Program of Promise status by the Wisconsin School Counselor Association (WSCA). This year, seven school counseling programs received the prestigious Program of Promise award from the WSCA. Awards are given to school counseling programs that meet or exceed the requirements in a Wisconsin School Counselor Accountability Report.

The Program of Promise award is the highest recognition a data-driven comprehensive school counseling program can receive from the WSCA. This award is granted to a small number of Wisconsin schools each year. To be considered, the school counselor must submit the accountability report and fulfill stringent WSCA data expectations. This peer-reviewed report illustrated the school counseling program's impact on students' academic, social-emotional, and career development.

In their report, Ms. Reshower explained how Country View addressed the equity gap related to attendance. Students who miss multiple days of school lose access to instructional time, and by the end of the 2023 school year, 8 students had missed an average of 45% of school days. The school counselor and school social worker used the Check and Connect program to meet with these students every morning for the first 42 days of the 2024-25 school year, helping them develop the skills needed to be successful at school. Through the support of the school counseling program, students increased their attendance rates by an average of 21%.

The supports and timeline for students scoring below the 25th percentile on the state screener (Aimsweb+) is shown below.

VASD prepares a Personalized Reading Plan (PRP) to monitor student progress for any student in K-3 scoring below the 25th percentile on the screener. The PRP contains a description of interventions, routines, and practices that will be used to address reading deficiencies, a comprehensive reading instruction/intervention that fits Science-based reading curriculum, strategies for families to support their students with grade-level literacy, additional services, and links to the district website with further information. PRPs are built into the Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) of students receiving specially designed instruction as part of Special Education who also demonstrate a need for support on the literacy screener.

Promotion Policy

As part of Act 20, districts may adopt the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI’s) Model Promotion Policy or adopt their own. VASD has a small team working to review the model policy and create a VASD policy to bring to the BOE this Spring. The policy must include plans for students promoted to 4th grade without exiting their PRPs. The plan must include an intensive summer school reading program. The 2025 Summer School model will incorporate more opportunities for literacy learning for all students.

Forging Partnerships

Ms. Buxton reported on partnerships that have been a key part of this work. While the process of data review and determining student supports is not new, VASD has leveraged this opportunity through Act 20 to build essential partnerships to ensure sustainable systems. Specifically, Ms. Buxton cited the staff from Next Path, VASD’s system to help schools collect, organize, and use student data and Dr. Barb Novak from the Office of Literacy at the DPI as particularly helpful and flexible resources. She noted that CESA 6 has offered valuable professional learning for our principals. She expressed gratitude for our staff and their dedication to continuing to prioritize student growth in literacy. Executive Director Engelkins shared that we are keeping something that could become very technical focused on student impact.

Act 95 Wisconsin Guarantee Waiver

Relevant Policies: Operational Expectations (OE) 10: Learning Environment/Student Behavior, OE 11: Instructional Program

Executive Director of Academic Services Amy Engelkins and Verona Area High School (VAHS) Principal Brian Cox refreshed the BOE on the Wisconsin Guarantee and the need for a related waiver request. Wisconsin Guarantee is a college admittance program based on Wisconsin Act 95 in which first-year/freshman applicants from Wisconsin high schools who are in the top 10% of their class at the end of 11th grade are guaranteed admission to all UW System Schools except UW-Madison; those in the top 5% are also guaranteed admission to UW-Madison.

VASD and all other Wisconsin school districts are mandated by law to participate in the Wisconsin Guarantee. The program offers guaranteed admission to all University of Wisconsin System Schools for all who qualify. According to Act 95, “Pupils shall be ranked on the basis of academic achievement and the sole criterion for ranking pupils shall be the pupil's grade point average (GPA)”. If, however, more than 5% or 10% of students have the highest possible GPA, Boards of Education may submit a waiver to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for permission to use criteria in addition to GPA to determine the top 5% and top 10% of students.

Executive Director Engelkins and Principal Cox shared two potential options for waiver language.

Option A

If in calculating the top 5% and top 10% of the class through the sole use of GPA, for the purposes of Guaranteed Admission through Act 95, multiple students are tied, the VASD will use the following criteria to break any ties:

1. Total number of credits earned through VAHS, an approved VAHS partnership, or transferred in from other high schools where a student participated in full-time enrollment prior to enrollment at VAHS.

2. Highest composite score on the ACT State assessment given during the VASD administration of the assessment in Spring of the junior year.

3. Total number of credits earned in Advanced Placement classes at VAHS or transferred in from other high schools where a student participated in full time-enrollment prior to enrollment at VAHS.

Option B

If in calculating the top 5% and top 10% of the class through the sole use of GPA, for the purposes of Guaranteed Admission through Act 95, multiple students are tied, the VASD will use the following criteria to break any ties:

1. Total number of credits earned at VAHS, through an approved VAHS partnership, or from a previous full-time high school before enrolling at VAHS.

2. Total number of Advanced Placement (AP) credits earned at VAHS or transferred from another full-time high school.

3. Highest composite ACT score from the state-mandated test taken in the spring of junior year.

The BOE clarified that this waiver language and the criteria used to break any ties can be changed in the future. Member Peguero asserted that students are so much more than what can be portrayed through single numerical data points. We are already beginning discussions about how future waivers might be able to incorporate a greater breadth of our students’ skills, talents, and passions to reflect more of who they are as a whole person. There are characteristics beyond a GPA or a test score that demonstrate students' preparedness to excel at UW System Schools. Other BOE members concurred.

Members of the Board of Education attended the Wisconsin State Education Convention on January 22 - 24, 2025. Member White provided an update on the Delegate Assembly, where topics included supporting new educators, gender issues within the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, and funding for 3 year-old Kindergarten (3K). The group discussed if Kindergarten is developmental appropriate for three year olds. Member White pointed out that a 3K program could address early literacy, opportunity gaps, and childcare disparities. The delegates vote on advisory priorities for WASB to recommend for legislative action. Member Peguero reported on his attendance at sessions for new members. He commended Dr. Clardy and Member Murphy for their presentations. Member Medina found the sessions informative and inspiring for future actions.

Greater Dane County School District Governance Consortium

The Greater Dane County School District Governance Consortium met at Mount Horeb High School on January 15, 2025. Member Murphy shared that many state-level organizations were there and that there was a rich conversation around priorities for legislative action on school funding, specifically indexing school funding to inflation and special education funding. Member Medina shared that he’s had multiple conversations with community members who are excited to hear that the BOE is participating in this work and taking a leadership role. He wondered about how the BOE could share this action more broadly to build community awareness and potential involvement.

The purpose of a Board Workshop is to provide a publicly available venue in which the BOE discusses current issues. While no BOE action is taken during a workshop, the conversation may impact future BOE decisions.

Proposed BOE Member Appointment Policy

The BOE discussed adding Governance Culture (GC)-10 Process for Addressing Board Vacancies to VASD’s policies. Using the example template posted in Board Docs, the group decided they would like to amend the application contents items to articulate that the required letter of interest much include the the reason the candidate wants to serve on the BOE, how they would support the district’s mission, and any other information requested by the BOE President. Member Peguero reinforced that a values question seems important so the BOE can assess a candidate’s connection to VASD’s mission. Other BOE members concurred.

Annual BOE Calendar

The BOE discussed the development of a calendar that would serve as the source document for organizing BOE meetings. Member Porco shared a working draft of a document with the BOE that included the following categories: opening business, recognition, Superintendent’s report, monitoring report presentations, BOE action, public comment, BOE workshop, consent agenda, board updates, closed sessions, engagement, and notes. The group discussed how such a tool could be useful. Member Stier Christensen raised the idea of completing a self assessment of BOE functioning. Member Murphy shared that she recently got a BOE self assessment tool for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards that the group may find useful.

The BOE planned to continue these discussions at a retreat in the coming months.

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