Boyceville School District denies petition to move property into Menomonie District
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Amber Hayden
BOYCEVILLE — At the Wednesday, February 19, meeting Superintendent Nick Kaiser suggested the Boyceville School District deny the petition from Dan and Jenna Brandenburg that would alter the school district boundaries.
“It wouldn’t be in our best interest,” Kaiser explained. “We would be giving up those tax dollars and student count if we allowed the alteration.”
The Brandenburgs had addressed the board at the meeting held on February 5, and explained their request. They are wanting to build a home on the 11.95 acre parcel that is attached to the Boyceville district, while the other half of the property lays on the edge of the Menomonie school district.
Board president, Tim Sempf, was in agreement with Kaiser, asking also if the Brandenburgs decided to build the home on the Menomonie side how it would work toward the student count for the school district.
“They would be counted in the district where they lay their head at night,” Kaiser explained.
Superintendent Kaiser did state his belief that Boyceville’s school district would be capable of handling the special needs of one of the Brandenburg’s children, which was a main point in the petition.
Board clerk Peter Score made the motion to deny the alteration which was voted five to zero to keep the acreage in Boyceville.
Valedictorian & Salutatorian
At the start of the meeting, the board members were introduced to the co-valedictorians and salutatorian for the 2019-20 senior class.
Jasmine Windsor and Brendan Sempf were named co-valedictorians, and Noelle Wheeldon will be the senior classes salutatorian.
High school principal Tyler Moy asked the board to approve the Academic Excellence in Education Scholarship to Jasmine Windsor after following the tie breaker set by board policy.
Windsor will be attending UW-River Falls, and Sempf will attend UW-Madison beginning in the fall.
Moy also introduced the top students in the senior class and the university they indend to attend which included Cade Klefstad, UW-Platteville; Ana Evenson, NDSU; and Caitlyn Pelikan.
In total the six students have taken 23 advanced placement (AP) honors classes throughout their high school careers.
Dyslexia
Director of Special Education, Bonnie Barker, brought information to the meeting in regards to a law that was recently signed by Governor Tony Evers, Act 86. Act 86 calls for the creation of a dyslexia guidebook for school districts in the state.
Barker admits that in the past dyslexia was not something she screened students for, but noted there was a reading disability instead.
“Dyslexia has always sat in the laps of the doctors,” Barker explained.
Barker provided an explanation of what dyslexia is, stating it is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin.
It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities, Barker explained.
Barker has used the Woodcock Reading Mastery tests in the past which allows for specific strengths and weaknesses to be identified in reading skills, but she is looking at moving to the Feifer Assessment of Reading which will allow staff to examine the underlying cognitive and linguistic processes that support reading skills.
Aviation Class
Tim Sempf asked Mr. Moy for a quick update on the number of students that are looking at taking the aviation class that will be offered in the fall to incoming freshmen.
Moy explained that the student packets would not be going out to the students until Friday, February 21, with meetings to be held later this week.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will allow students to log part of their flight time on a simulator for which the airport in Boyceville has been raising funds. The cost is estimated between $7,500 and $8,000 for the simulator.
“There will be a need for hundreds of thousands of pilots in the next ten to fifteen years,” Moy stated.
In other business the Board of Education:
• Accepted the resignation of Keri Peterson as head volleyball coach.
• Approved the hiring of Kacey Lane as head varsity volleyball coach.
• Approved Jasmine Windsor as the 2020 Academic Excellence recipient.
• Approved the elimination of student athletic admission fees beginning with the 2020-21 school year for Boyceville students K-12.
