Colfax school district has one year left on wrestling cooperative agreement
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — After being in the wrestling cooperative with Bloomer for eight years, the Colfax school district has one year remaining on the cooperative agreement.
The Colfax Board of Education will have to make a decision by March 31, 2018, on whether to have a wrestling team in Colfax, said Bill Yingst, district administrator, at the Colfax Board of Education’s June 19 meeting.
The Dunn-St. Croix Conference wants to see a minimum of ten members for a team. Colfax ended the season this year with four wrestlers, Yingst said.
Yingst said school board members ought to start discussing whether Colfax should have its own wrestling team in January or at least certainly before the state wrestling tournament the third week in February.
“We need people to come forward if we want a team,” he said.
At least ten are needed on a team to make it “worthwhile” considering there are 14 wrestling categories, Yingst said.
“The wrestling co-op has been a good opportunity. Can we support our own team?” he said.
Yingst’s report about the wrestling cooperative, and his suggestion that the Board of Education start discussing whether Colfax should have its own wrestling team, preceded the agenda item for renewing Colfax’s membership in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Boys WIAA sports for Colfax include spring baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf and track and field.
Girls WIAA sports for Colfax include basketball, cross country, golf, softball, track and field and volleyball.
The WIAA suspended the requirement to have school districts pay dues in April of 2015, Yingst said.
Prior to the suspension of dues, Colfax was paying about $700, he said.
The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved renewing the WIAA membership.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Received a reminder that the school district’s annual meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 24, at 7 p.m. in the Colfax High School cafeteria.
• Approved setting the audit review meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, July 17 and approved setting the budget review meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 17. The regular Board of Education meeting will be at 7 p.m. July 17.
• Approved a motion to allow any invoices arriving before June 30 to be paid. The school year officially ends on June 30.
• Approved adjusting budget functions as required. The goal is to get the 2016-2017 budget as close to zero as possible, Yingst said. About $47,000 remains in the budget for this year, he said.
• Accepted the resignation of Carly Rubenzer as a middle school special education teacher. Rubenzer has accepted a job at a school in Chippewa Falls. She lives about two minutes from the school, Yingst said.
• Approved hiring Trista S. Arendt-Klemish as a high school special education teacher. Before coming to Colfax, Arendt-Klemish was a K-6 special education teacher in Cadott.
• Approved hiring Corey Adams as a high school science teacher. Another science teacher is needed because of an increase in sections of freshmen biology and chemistry, Yingst said. Adams previously taught high school science in Altoona.
• Approved hiring Julia Hydukovich as an elementary teacher. Hydukovich, who is president of the Colfax Library Board, was a fourth grade student teacher in Colfax this past school year. She lives in Colfax and has children who attend school in Colfax.
• Approved the nine-page Education for Employment Plan. The plan focuses on business and education partnerships and provides work-based learning opportunities for students. The students are employed, take technical college courses and earn technical college credit. School district staff and CESA staff collaborate to make this happen for students. Christie Hill, school board member, said she had found several grammatical errors and typographical errors in the plan and asked that it be proofread carefully before the plan is released to the public.
• Reviewed for a first reading policies on open enrollment and disposal of school property.
• Received the report on seclusion and restraint for the 2016-2017 school year. Each school is required to report seclusion and restraint to the school board by September 1. Last year there were four incidents of seclusion and restraint: two elementary students and one high school student on two occasions.
• Accepted the low bid from Earthgrains (formerly Sara Lee) as the bread vendor for the 2017-2018 school year. The prices have not changed in the past few years, Yingst said. A 24 count package of whole grain steak buns will cost $3.22; a 30 count package of whole grain coney buns will cost $3.15; and a 30 count package of whole grain hamburger buns will cost $2.95. The bid is through CESA No. 11’s food service bidding.
• Accepted the low bid from Dean Foods as the milk vendor for the 2017-2018 school year. Eight ounces of one percent white milk will cost .1638 (compared to .1521 last year); eight ounces of skim milk will cost .1515 (compared to .1400 last year); eight ounces of TruMoo chocolate fat free milk will cost .1613 (compared to .1516 last year). The bid is through CESA No. 11’s food service bidding.
• Approved the following new curriculum: K-5 Language Arts — Reading Wonders by McGraw Hill Education; K-5 Math — My Math by McGraw Hill; 6-8th Math — Glencoe by McGraw Hill; 6-12th English/Language Arts — My Perspectives by Pearson; 9-12th Math — Algebra/Geometry by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Educational Learning Resources. Some of the new curriculum was part of the referendum dollars approved last November, Yingst said. The recommendations were made by curriculum committees composed of teachers at Colfax. Whenever a new curriculum is implemented, it is important to have buy-in from the staff, Yingst said.
• Approved transferring Ryan Krall to teach sixth grade to replace Eve Suckow, who retired at the end of the school year. Hydukovich will replace Krall in fourth grade.
• Accepted a bid of $1,551.51 from Kevin Snyder for bus No. 12, a 2000 Blue Bird bus with a Chevy chassis and 202,348 miles. The minimum bid was $1,200. Accepted a bid of $175 from Chad Johnson for the 1993 Dodge 15 passenger van with a wheel chair life and 254,875 miles. There was no minimum bid on the van. The school district did not receive bids for a 1998 Blue Bird bus with a minimum bid of $800 and 165,209 miles or for a 1988 Blue Bird bus with a minimum bid of $1,000 and 165,209 miles. The two Blue Bird buses that did not receive bids will be scrapped.