Elk Mound plans to hire another tech ed teacher
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound school district plans to hire another technology education teacher.
The Elk Mound Board of Education approved hiring another technology education teacher for the 2024-2025 school year, along with continuing with the mental health coordinator for another year, at the December 18 meeting.
The current high school technology education teacher also teaches middle school tech ed, said Eric Wright, district administrator.
Because there is only one tech ed teacher who also teaches in the middle school, some classes are only offered every other year, he said.
By hiring another tech ed teacher, the Elk Mound school district will be able to offer an “academy” in house or classes for transcripted college credit, Wright said.
According to the Chippewa Valley Technical College website, “High school academies are a series of courses that lead into a degree program. Academies are designed to meet high school needs with broad goals of offering program exploration, a recognized industry credential or embedded technical diploma, or up to a full semester of an associate degree program. High school academies can be offered at a CVTC campus or at the high school location. Academies may include any combination of transcripted credit or Start College Now course sections.”
The school district plans to post the position for a tech ed teacher in February, Wright said.
“We want to start the hiring process early so we can find the best candidate,” he said.
The most recent referendum held in the Elk Mound school district included funds for updating and remodeling the woodworking and metal shop areas.
Fund 46
The Elk Mound school board also approved an updated list of projects that are eligible for funding through the Fund 46 capital improvement fund.
Elk Mound started the Fund 46 eight years ago, Wright said.
Under the Fund 46 capital improvement fund program, school districts can transfer any money left over at the end of the budget year into Fund 46 to use for a list of capital improvement projects.
The projects must be on an approved list in order to be eligible to use the Fund 46 money.
School districts are required by state law to put money into Fund 46 for five years before the school district can start using the money.
Elk Mound’s Fund 46 capital improvements list had never been updated, Wright said.
Some of the items on the list of projects were covered by the last referendum, so it was necessary to remove those items from the list and then add other items, he said.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Learned that all of the Christmas concerts went very well and were well received by the community. The concerts are a credit to all of the music teachers in the district, Wright said.
• Learned that high school scheduling for the 2024-2025 school year will begin soon.
• Learned that there will be a meeting pertaining to high school scheduling on January 22 with the eighth grade students and their parents in the high school auditorium. The students and their parents will meet with high school staff. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
• Received the necessary paperwork for completing a performance evaluation for the superintendent.
• Received an update on the final audit for the 2022-2023 school year. “Everything looked good,” Wright said. The only “issue,” which is true for most school districts, is a separation of duties, he said. To resolve the separation of duties issue, the school district would have to hire additional accountants, and that is not financially feasible, Wright said. Most municipalities are flagged for separation of duties as well, since the municipalities also are unable to hire enough people to be able to separate all of the financial duties.
• Approved a list of short-range planning items and authorized administration personnel to complete the items on the list as the funds become available.
• Received an update on the turf fund raiser being conducted by a private individual and not through the school district. Wright emphasized that the efforts to raise funds are not originating with the school.
• Accepted the resignation of Randy Simpson, a middle school teacher in the district.
Following a closed session that was held at the beginning of the meeting, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Approved hiring Misty Miller as the high school assistant track coach.
• Approved hiring Kevin Meyer as the high school head softball coach.
The Elk Mound Board of Education meets next on January 15.
