BASD News & Information

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Families,

As we reflect on the beginning of this school year, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for your unwavering support, collaboration, and commitment to our students’ success. The start of this year has been nothing short of inspiring, and it is because of the compassionate efforts from our entire school community—families, students, educators, and staff—that we’ve been able to make such a positive and promising start.

The first few months of the school year have been filled with remarkable energy, growth, and learning. Our students are thriving thanks to your dedication, commitment, and involvement. We know that success for students encompasses a shared responsibility between the school district and families and we want to thank you all for your continued partnership.

As we work to continually increase our expectations for students both academically and socially within all of our schools we encourage all of our families to continue to collaborate with our staff in partnership for the betterment of your students! Always remember we are on the same team as we work together to develop our future leaders!

Lastly, your support makes all the difference, and I am confident with your continued involvement we will accomplish even more in the months ahead.

With deep appreciation,

Dr. Jill Oelslager, Superintendent

You can find additional information about these events and other helpful resources at the

School Social Workers Corner Newsletter.

• Get ready to dive into an underwater adventure with the Star Stuff Theatre production of Finding Nemo JR. The performances will take place on November 15 & 16 at 7:00 PM and on November 17 at 2:00 PM at Dyer Elementary School. Click here for additional information or to purchase tickets.

• The One Act Play won a bid to Sectionals in order to compete at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Speech and Dramatic Arts Association (WISDAA) this fall. The 2024 One Act Play is The Lost Boy. The public performance will take place on Tuesday, November 19 at 7:00 pm at the BHS Auditorium.

Heather Mielke, teacher at BHS, has started an Educators Rising Club for students who are interested in the field of education! Over 40+ teachers are eager to invite students interested in the field of education to observe within their classrooms! Students will start to observe staff starting at the end of November and/or early part of December going first to elementary classrooms! What an awesome experience for our students who are interested in the field of education!

Prior to looking at the spring 2024 data I wanted to remind everyone what our 5 year goals are for students. Below are the goals we set during the 2023-2024 school year that we are seeking to achieve by 2029. You will notice that we have already surpassed goal 1 and 2! Additionally, it is important to set 2024-2025 goals so that we are focused on the incremental steps necessary to hit our goals by 2029. Therefore, below the 2029 goals you will see our annual student goals for 2024-2025.

1) Improve from 63.5% to 65.5% for students in grades 3-8 scoring proficient or advanced on the English Language Arts (ELA) Forward Exam.

2) Improve from 67.2% to 69.2% for students in grades 3-8 scoring proficient or advanced on the Math Forward Exam.

3) Improve from 20.5 to 20.7 in the student composite score on the ACT.

4) 18% of seniors will align with at least one career path that resonates with their interests.

5) Elevate student experience from 3.76 to 3.86 as indicated by the Student Experience Survey.

The first graph compares the percent of students proficient and/or advanced in grades 3-8 in the subject of English Language Arts (ELA) where it is comparing BASD (orange) to the state average (gray). What is important to note is that, as a district, we have grown over the years and held a solid 12.2 and 12.4 points above the state average the last two years! We are excited to continue to strive to increase the gap between BASD and the state average with the adoption of new ELA resources in grades 5K through 10th grade at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

The bar graph below shows how the percent proficient and/or advanced in grades 3-8 English Language Arts is in comparison to our neighboring communities. Burlington is the ORANGE bar.

The bar graph below shows how the percent proficient and/or advanced in grades 3-8 math is in comparison to our neighboring communities. Burlington is the ORANGE bar.

Since the spring of 2015, all students within public schools are required to take the ACT during their junior year as the state required assessment in the state of Wisconsin. The below graph shows the BASD ACT composite comparison data to the state average where BASD is shown in orange and the state is shown in gray. BASD has historically been fairly close to the state average, however the spring 2024 data presents a larger increase above the state average.

Below is a bar graph showing where our ACT composite falls in comparison to neighboring school districts. Burlington is ORANGE within the bar graph. Some great results!

• Girls Volleyball won a WIAA Regional match over the Kenosha Indian Trail.
• Boys Volleyball earned a WIAA Sectional runner-up.
• Soccer finished the season at 11-5-2, the highest winning percentage in program history. The team also won its first home regional playoff game.
• Grace Debbink (Soccer) and Micah Daubner (Soccer, Football, and Baseball) were recognized by the Racine Country Sports Hall of Fame as the 2024 Racine County Scholar Athletes.

• Girls Tennis: Holly Adamek qualified for the WIAA Sectional Meet.

On October 28th, the Board held a meeting to set the original budget and to certify the tax levy for the 2024-2025 school year. The tax levy is set at $25,977,964 (this is not our full budget for the district, this is just the amount that comes from local property taxes), which is an increase of 5.35% over the prior year. However, an increase in the state school tax levy credit is anticipated to lower this by approximately 1%. In addition, the total levy does include $5,065,000 towards prepaying our long-term debt for the 2018 capital referendum, which will save us money in the long run. This is a higher amount of money towards the debt payments to keep the mill rate fairly consistent over time. In fact, several years of levying extra for prepaying our debt has allowed us to reduce the final payment by five years bringing the final payment to the year 2034. This is a fiscally responsible financial decision by the school district as it lowers the debt total interest expense. This is also a tool to have a steady mill rate / tax levy for the community. Lastly, this would allow the district (come 2034) flexibility with future planning needs versus five years later (2039).

The tax mill rate calculates at $6.77 per $1000 of equalized property value. It is important to note that changes in property values vary between the eight municipalities that encompass the school district, which means that individual tax bills will vary from the overall district levy increase mentioned above; some will be more than this, and some will be less than this.

Additionally, a common misconception is that when new construction is added within the community that the school district receives additional dollars. This is not true due to what is called the revenue limit. A good analogy for this is a medium sized pizza. The size of the pizza (medium) is the amount of money received based on the revenue limit formula and is a FIXED size. The slices of pizza are all of the properties across the 8 municipalities. When new construction is added it just changes the number and size of the pizza slices, it does not change the size of the actual pizza - the district dollar amount is still the medium.

There are a few ways to add dollars on top of the revenue limit: open enrollment, grant dollars, gifts/donations, and operational referendums.

The below graph shows the change in tax levy / mill rate over time.

• On Monday, October 28th, the Health Services Department held the first Car Seat Safety Clinic at Dyer Elementary! A big thank you to District Nurse Molly Souza, our Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, for sharing her expertise and helping families with proper car seat installations. We will have more events planned for the future!
• The Health Services Department offered two onsite clinics for staff and over 100 flu shots were administered!
• A huge thank you to our amazing families and staff for their hard work and dedication in achieving 100% in the State of Wisconsin Immunization Compliance Report for the entire District!

Our team applied for a Cybersecurity Grant Pilot Program Grant through the FCC for $160,000. If awarded the grant, it will help us offset some of our annual costs for the equipment and subscriptions we currently pay to protect our network for three years.

• November was first declared as National Homeless Youth Awareness Month in 2007. Since then, November has been a time to acknowledge those children and families experiencing homelessness. Homelessness looks different throughout Wisconsin, including Burlington, but it happens in every community, whether rural, suburban, or urban. Homelessness is not always visible. People may live doubled up with friends or family, in shelters, hotels/motels, or they may be unsheltered and staying on the streets, in a tent, car, or other places not meant for human habitation. Fleeing domestic violence can also contribute to individuals becoming homeless. As a school district, it is our job to help support those students and families living in these situations and to come together to address homelessness with our communities. Within BASD we have approximately 50 students who classify as homeless.

• October was our District Safety month and all of our schools participated in five safety drills. Our students were successful throughout all of the drills and productive discussions took place in our classrooms. Reports from staff showed that the level of questions students asked were indicative of the students understanding the purpose of our drills. The BASD Safety team debriefed after each drill and met with the Burlington PD to review our safety practices. Thank you for engaging in conversations around safety in school and at home.

• During spring of the 23-24 school year, a survey was sent to all BASD families with a child involved with special education programming. We had 81 families participate and answer questions regarding how our school teams engage them in their child’s programming at school.
• 96% of families responded that they felt BASD provides a welcoming environment and that families feel like an equal partner in the Individual Education Plan (IEP) planning process.
• 97% of families responded that they felt BASD creates a respectful environment for IEP meetings to occur, where staff listen to concerns from the family and integrate their thoughts and hopes for their child into the IEP.
• 88% of families responded that they felt BASD provides the support families need throughout the IEP process. Within this area, a team of teachers will begin looking at needs identified by families for support outside of the school day. For example, the team may look at options for mental health support being more clearly communicated or transition activities for families with students at the secondary level.

• Instructional walk-throughs started in October with Winkler Elementary! Admins observed math and ELA lessons in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade! 3rd graders in Mrs. DeCheck’s and Mrs. Dummer’s classroom learning all about animal classification in their ELA block. Students are using rigorous vocabulary (ie. Primatologists), utilizing fluency techniques like echo and choral reading, and engaging in a variety of daily writing activities around their learning.

• 5th-8th Grade Math teachers engaged in their 2nd professional development with the math institute of Wisconsin. They focused their learning around on the math practice standards and best teaching practices in a math classroom.

BHS

• On October 31st, BHS wrapped up our high school reality fair! Students stepped into the real world, exploring career paths, budgeting, and making decisions that will shape their futures. A huge shoutout to all the volunteers who made this event possible. Here’s to building bright futures!

• Our students had an incredible field trip to Faust Heating and AC Company! Mr. Ty Faust shared insights about the HVAC career pathway, current industry trends, and valuable tips on starting a career in HVAC.

• Many BHS students took part in the Second Annual Day of the Death celebration in downtown Burlington on Saturday, October 26th. The entire Loop was adorned with papel picado, incredible local hispanic food vendors, dancing, singing and a spirit of community. Our Spanish 3 students made calaveras de azúcar (sugar skulls). Our Spanish 4 and 5 students made two ofrendas (altars to commemorate the lives of the dearly departed, and 2 of our Spanish 5 students (Jamie Foss and Janeth Guerrero) served as interpreters for the host of the Day of the Day parade. Four of our football players (Porter Tiedt, Kade Boyd, Ryan LeSage, and Brady Weis- all current and or former Spanish students) garnered the fastest times for the Spooky City Coffin races.

• BHS FFA chapter had a great experience at the National Future Farmers of America Convention in Indianapolis, IN. The National FFA Convention & Expo focuses on cultivating the next generation of leaders.

• Congratulations to the incredible cohort of 10 students who have successfully completed the Gateway Nursing Assistant course in BHS’s very own nursing skills lab! Your hard work and dedication have brought you this far, and we couldn’t be more proud. As you prepare to sit for your Certified Nursing Assistant exams, we wish you the best of luck!

• A huge thank you to After the Dash for making the Anti-Bullying assembly possible on October 18th possible! Our BHS freshmen, DRIVEN, and NHS students played an incredible role in leading this important conversation. The assembly focused on the impact of our words and the language we use—reminding us all how powerful and lasting our words can be.

• On Tuesday, October 8th, student leaders from Burlington High School took part in an incredible high adventure leadership training session with the 108th Forward Company of the Wisconsin National Guard. They tackled both physical and mental challenges, bonded over some tasty MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), and even started planning their annual community service projects!

• BHS Freshman seminar students had the incredible opportunity to visit Gateway Technical College for the Fire/EMS high school visit day on October 4th. Our students got hands-on experience, learned about various career paths in emergency services, and met inspiring professionals in the field. A huge thank you to Gateway for hosting us and igniting our students' passion for service and safety!

Burlington Alternative School (FRC, Project WIN, PAC House)

• Fox River Consortium (FRC) - Project Based Learning at FRC
• October was a great month at FRC! Students have completed 143 Project Based Learning (PBL) in which students have full autonomy over their learning, recovering 71.5 total credits so far this year. We had 3 additional graduates as well!

• Project Active Citizen (PAC House)
• Students in the PAC Program participated in weekly small-group cooking lessons designed to build practical kitchen skills. This fall, they have completed lessons on essential topics such as kitchen safety, measuring ingredients, and understanding portion sizes. They have also practiced cooking simple meals using a variety of appliances, including the microwave, air fryer, and stovetop.
• Project WIN (What I Need)
  
• Congrats to our 1st Project WIN high school graduate of the 2024-2025 school year!
  
• For Hispanic Heritage Month, our students loved the opportunity to learn and explore the history and traditions of Day of the Dead. Students also had the opportunity to participate in the Dia De Los Muertos art contest hosted by the Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism. What a fun and rewarding learning experience.
  

Cooper Montessori / WisCo (Wisconsin Connect Charter School)

• During the month of October, Cooper Montessori and WisCo students in levels 5K through Level 3 completed a hearing screening.

• Also, Cooper Montessori students had an all school parade showing off their favorite book characters.

Dyer Elementary School

• Dyer Elementary School proudly held its first SuperHero Student Award Ceremony where students were recognized for exemplifying the Dyer Way: being Respectful, Responsible, and Safe. 4K through 4th-grade students were celebrated in front of their peers for their commitment to our core values. Congratulations to all the honorees!

Karcher Middle School

• Karcher students dressed up for spirit week and the energy at Karcher was positive and exciting!

• We had a magnificent turnout from our community to the Karcher Kupboard. Donations included: snacks, condiments, and meals. Karcher is so lucky to have such a wonderful community to support them!

Waller Elementary School

• Waller Elementary had the privilege to host La Perla Tapatía USA dancers and their teacher Liliana Retana to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Burlington High School, Share Club members also shared the culture, dances, music, and traditions of several countries with our students. We are so thankful to them for sharing their talents and culture with us!

Winkler Elementary School

• Students at Winkler Elementary have been busy hosting the first ever “Winkler Zoo” presented by the Winkler 3rd Grade. Third grade students finished up an ELA unit based on Animal Classification and capped the unit by creating a “zoo” in the Winkler Gym. They read and learned about the characteristics of different animal groups. They also read and learned about the work Jane Goodall did as a Primatologist.

• We also hosted our annual pumpkin decorating contest, annual halloween parade and first ever indoor trick or treat sponsored by the Winkler PTO.

• Lastly, on November 1st, Sydney Larson gave a presentation about Oral Hygiene for our 5K students.

Innovation Camp (Wednesday Late Starts)

• Students from our 4 elementary schools have been learning so much in our late start Wednesday Innovation camp. Everything is based on STEM principles. This last week was fall themed where older students were creating towers and younger students were creating ramps. The goal was to create the tallest tower and the most efficient ramp. Trial and error and failing forward is a big part of the principles they are putting in practice.

All Elementary Schools

• $2,066 to cover the cost for the third grade classes in all elementary schools to attend the Milwaukee Symphony on October 31, 2024 - Music Matters, Inc.

BASD Foundation Donations

• $1,893 towards specific students fees
• $2,750 towards elementary art in all schools, music at Winkler, and Winkler school needs

BHS

• $733.34 to cover the cost of a Vocal Music Master class grant for Penny Yankee's class on February 11, 2025 - Music Matters, Inc.
• $2,500 - Drama Club - Modern Woodmen of America
• $2,385 - Koral Klub - Barbershop Harmony Society
• $2,500 - Koral Klub - Modern Woodmen of America
• $750 - WBSD - Perfection Auto Body
• $500 - WBSD - Mertens Auto and Towing, LLC
• $40 - World Languages Travel - Laura Demoon

Cooper

• As of November 1st, the PTO has made the following donations:
• $500 for art supplies
• $160 for the Cooper Closet
• $185 for the Spelling Bee
• $200 for music materials
• $80 for sugar skulls
• $230.08 for dinner from The Main Event for the entire Cooper staff during parent-teacher conferences

Karcher

• $733.34 to cover the cost of the grant to bring Opera for the Young to perform the Magic Flute for the 5th grade class - Music Matters, Inc.
• $1,664.12 - Girl Scouts of America Troop #1255
• Food and snacks with an estimated value of over $200 for the Karcher Kupboard - Taylor Wishau
• $1,000 worth of food and hygiene products were donated to the Karcher Kupboard by the following community members:
• Jessica Cadle, Marian Hancock, Selia, the Lopes Family, Jennifer Jacobs Geyso, Todd Bauman, Melissa, the Kleine Family, Leslie Hotvedt, Kameron Morris, Dina Kis, Nancy Ryan, the Steffens Family, Heather Smith, Mariel Dowell, Andrew Debbink, Dori Filiatreault, Jessica Roedema.

Waller

• Two boxes of breakfast bars and clothing with an estimated value of $75 for the Waller Essentials Closet - Shaina Madden

Every year the district is able to submit business partner nominations to the Wisconsin Association for School Boards (WASB) who have shown significant support to the school district over the course of the past school year. BASD recognized 5 businesses. Three of them were recognized at the October Board Meeting and 2 were recognized at the November Board Meeting! The two recognized in November are:

Lavelle has always advocated for and supported our Public Montessori Program within the Burlington Area School District. The owners of Lavelle provided the school district with $185,000 in the spring of 2024 to assist the school district with renovating our Cooper Montessori School to improve the overall environment and spaces for all of our students and staff within our Montessori Community! We are beyond thankful for their contribution and willingness to support BASD and our Montessori Program!

Thank you to Miller Motors for the generous donation of a 2023 Lincoln Navigator for our Burlington High School automotive students to practice diagnosing, troubleshooting, problem-solving, and gaining real-world experience on a vehicle with all the up-to-date technology! The ability for our students to engage and work with a new vehicle is transformative! Our team is beyond thankful for Miller Motors’ support and dedication to the importance of providing students with the opportunity to practice and learn on up-to-date automotive technology!

The Cooper Montessori team, lead by Mr. TJ George (building principal) presented at the school board meeting focused on sharing their school improvement plans for the 2024-2025 school year. Mr. George and the Montessori team shared their academic goals along with the goals they are working on when it comes to the already awesome culture taking place across the Montessori community! For more information about Cooper Montessori CLICK HERE.

The Wisconsin Connect Charter School (WisCo) team, lead by Mandy Adams (WisCo Coordinator) and TJ George (Administrator for the program) presented the school improvement plan along with how enrollment is trending as WisCo is a newly established program for BASD that had it's first true year as a charter school during the 2023-2024 school year. WisCo's enrollment is up to 90 students which is great growth given that the program is a very young and newly developed program in BASD. For more information about WisCo CLICK HERE.

The Policy Committee met on October 23rd to review the following policies that the School Board read for the first time at the November 11th meeting. The Policy Committee recommended that the Board accepted the following policies and their revisions:

• Policy 3431 - Employee Leaves for Professional Staff (Revised)
• Policy 4431 - Employee Leaves for Support Staff (Revised)
• Policy 5517 - Student Anti-Harassment (Revised)
• Policy 5610 - Suspension and Expulsion (Revised)
• Policy 6325 - Procurement - Federal Grants / Funds (Revised)
• Policy 7440 - Facility Security (Revised)
• Policy 7540 - Technology (Revised)
• Policy 7544 - Use of Social Media (Revised)

No items were on the agenda for board action during the November board meeting.

Committee updates since last board meetings:

• Buildings & Grounds Committee - Rosanne Hahn, Chair
• Met on October 17th with Jess Warren (Director of Buildings & Grounds) and Dr. Jill Oelslager to discuss the 5-10 year Capital Improvement Plan. The current plan was based on the district having $1.4 million per year towards maintenance needs. However, due to the financial state of the district BASD has been operating with $250,000 towards maintenance needs the last two years and prior to that with $500,000 per year. Jess and Jill talked with the board about the need to develop a new capital improvement plan with a lower expected dollar amount per year going towards maintenance needs due to our current state.
• Finance Committee - Peter Turke, Chair
• Met on October 21st to learn about the tax levy and mill rates.
• Policy Committee - Paul Kobernick, Chair
• Met on October 23rd to review policies 2221- 2260.02; along with Policy 1400.01 (Superintendent Job Description), in addition to NEOLA's recommended revisions to the policies that were presented during the Items for Information (First Reading).
• Teaching & Learning Committee - Aubrey Thompson, Chair
• Met on November 4th to learn about the ELA resource being used in the middle school and observed in 5th and 7th grade ELA classrooms.
• Personnel Committee - Noah Strohm, Chair
• Met on November 6th to approve the appointment as well as the resignations, retirements and terminations since the last School Board meeting.

• Recap of Community Connections Breakfast Series on October 16th and on November 13th
• We held two community connection breakfast series. The first focused on our overall enrollment trends, demographics, and the landscape of BASD. The second series focused on academic data, information about curriculum & instruction, and how assessments work. The next piece of the series will focus on Special Education and Student Services. We hope you can join us on December 11th @ 7:00 am at the District Office.

• November 18: Finance Committee @ 5:00 pm
• The committee will focus on learning more about private school vouchers.
• December 4: Personnel Committee @ 1:00 pm (Virtual Closed Session)
• The personnel committee is always in closed session to discuss personnel matters along with approving the recommendations to the full board for appointments, resignations, terminations, and retirements.
• December 5: Board Governance / Communication @ 5:30 pm
• The committee will focus on overall communication in regards to the district newsletters and discuss referendum planning.
• December 9: Regularly Scheduled Monthly Board Meeting
• BHS will be having dinner with the school board starting at 5:30 and then presenting their school improvement plan to the board during the board meeting.
• December 11: Community Connections Breakfast series @ 7:00 am
• This is the third session of the series with a focus on Special Education and Pupil Services.
• December 11: Teaching & Learning Committee @ 12:00 pm
• The committee will be meeting at the high school to learn about the progress taking place within the English department relating to the new resource along with answering any other questions the board has for the high school.
• December 11: Policy Committee @ 5:30 pm
• The committee will be reviewing policies 3121-3130 along with NEOLA's recommended revisions.

BASD Proud,

Dr. Jill Oelslager, Superintendent

Taylor Wishau, Board President

Marlo Brown, Vice President

Paul Kobernick, Clerk

Peter Turke, Treasurer

Rosanne Hahn, Board Member

Noah Strohm, Board Member

Aubrey Thompson, Board Member

• October 2024
• September 2024
• August 2024
• July 2024
• June 2024