Glenwood City school board hears community concerns over open gym sessions, prepares for spring months

By Cara L. Dempski

GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City School board heard from two community members during its first meeting of 2017.

Bridget and Matt Oehlke, both of Glenwood City, expressed their disappointment with the administrative team at the January 9 meeting after being told no open gym sessions would be made available to students to prepare for spring sports.

Bridget had contacted the administrative team regarding open gym for the students playing on the softball team. She argued the open gym would help all the players prepare for the season.

“We can afford to send our kids elsewhere to work on this,” Oehlke informed the board, “but not all parents have the means to do so.”

Superintendent Tim Johnson addressed Oehlke’s comments, stating that the board does not address community comments. He informed Oehlke and the board that the decision was made to not allow the open gym times for participants in spring sports because it would not be fair to the students participating in winter sports.

Johnson indicated it would cut into the space and practice time of the winter sports teams.

Oehlke requested the open gym sessions shortly after the administration denied a similar request from the new high school baseball coach. She stated her intent was to have the gym available for students during weekday evenings, but she was open to having time in the mornings.

The board acknowledged Bridget Oehlke’s concerns, and she expressed gratitude for the board taking the time to listen to her.

Several school administrators then informed the board of some of the positive things that have happened for students and staff in the Glenwood School district. Athletic director Nicole Brite said she received an email from a family in the Eau Claire area regarding the wrestling team.

The Hilltopper wrestlers were returning home from a weekend tournament in Cadott on January 7 when they stopped to eat at Red Robin in Eau Claire. The mother who wrote to the school said her family was seated just as the wrestling team and coaches came into the restaurant. The team was seated nearby, and the mother expressed she initially wanted to ask to move to another area.

However, she decided to give the young wrestlers the benefit of the doubt, and her family remained seated nearby. She wrote to the school district to express her pleasure over how polite and respectful the team and coaches were while at the restaurant and wanted to acknowledge the district, parents, coaches, and team for their exemplary behavior.

Brite then gave the board a brief update on winter sports and co-curricular activities. She said the winter sports season is in full swing. While both basketball teams have gotten off to a rough start, the wrestling team is currently 2-1 in duals and has seen a great deal of individual success. The Hilltoppers finished fourth out of 14 teams at Cadott on January 7.

The DECA team competed in regionals at UW – Stout on January 7. The team took 17 students, and 10 wound up with medals or trophies. Brite also said Carrie Hentz, the DECA advisor and Personal Finance teacher, was recently awarded a $1,000 grant for her Personal Finance class from WESTconsin Credit Union.

Brite informed the board that there will be a lot of testing occurring between the beginning of January and end of May. Starting this week, students are going through ELL testing, and several other state and federal exams will be administered over the next few months.

Elementary principal Betsy Haltinner then took over and provided a brief video presentation of students working in the new innovation lab in the elementary building. The area is used for many different activities, but contains a large number of STEM activities for students to engage with and learn from. 

The video featured students creating basic computer programs to make a ball move, building robots that move around, and constructing working circuits. Haltinner stated the Parent Teacher Connection is interested in purchasing more STEM tools for the innovation lab and hopes to apply some of the money from its spring fundraiser will allow it to do so.

Board vice president Judy Achterhof asked after the video presentation if the STEM activities will be continued in middle school and high school. Haltinner informed her the things the students learn in elementary school are carried through middle school and high school through the curriculum.

“We have rigorous standards that do address STEM,” Haltinner told the board.

Haltinner also provided the board a recap of the Holiday Family Fun Night. She reported the event had 13 parents volunteers and four student volunteers, and over 400 people attended it.

“We could have a marshmallow roast, and they would show up in droves,” Haltinner stated of the community. “They are so supportive of the schools.”

Patrick Gretzlock then took over and gave a report on the plan for finals for the first semester. He presented a schedule for January 19 and 20, and informed the board that a message had been sent to parents encouraging them to please not schedule things on those days to allow students to be present for final exams.

“There are a few students who are not able to attend,” Gretzlock said. “There is one senior who will be attending the inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C. on January 21, and will not be in school. We do not have school on January 23, but teachers will be available for any student who has to miss the scheduled days to take his or her exam.”

Johnson then spoke to the board about his administrator evaluation and the need for each member to complete his or her evaluation document. The board scheduled a closed meeting for January 30 to discuss Johnson’s evaluation, and will meet with him in closed session after the February 13 regular board meeting.

The superintendent has also drafted two potential compensation schedules to be presented at the January 23 meeting. He explained he needed to speak with the school’s insurance brokers before he brought the two plans to the board.

Finally, the board held a random drawing for placement of candidate names for the April 2017 ballot. Jon Mrdutt and Lisa Kaiser were the only two seats to be filled, and both filed candidacy papers.

In other business, the school board: 

• Discussed the district policy on gifts and memorials and agreed to revise it.

• Approved the 2017 – 2018 open enrollment seat parameters.

• Approved giving Judy Achterhof authority to make decisions on behalf of the school board.

• Approved Jake Carlson as a volunteer baseball coach.

• Approved Jesse Knops as a volunteer wrestling coach.

• Approved the resignation of special education paraprofessional and assistant track coach Nicole Miller.

• Approved posting job notices for 28 hour per week paraprofessional and an assistant track coach.

• Approved Sunday practices for the girls basketball team on January 15 and February 5.

• Approved the marching band summer trip.

• Accepted Carrie Hentz’s $1,000 grant from WESTconsin Credit Union.

• Read the schedule of upcoming meetings. The WASB Convention is January 18 – 20, and school board meetings are scheduled for January 23 (committees at 5:30 p.m., regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.), January 30 (closed session at 6:30 p.m.), February 13 (committees at 5:30 p.m., regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.), and February 27 (committees at 5:30 p.m., regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.).