Elk Mound school district hires another tech ed teacher
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — When school starts next fall in Elk Mound, another technology education teacher will be on staff in the Elk Mound school district.
Following a closed session of the Elk Mound Board of Education on March 25, the school board approved hiring Tyler Hanson as a technology education teacher, said Eric Wright, district administrator.
The Elk Mound Board of Education approved adding another technology education teacher for the 2024-2025 school year at the December 18 meeting.
The current high school technology education teacher also teaches middle school tech ed, so some classes are only offered every other year, Wright said at the December meeting.
Hiring another tech ed teacher will allow the Elk Mound school district to offer an “academy” in house or classes for transcripted college credit.
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 posted the new tech ed teacher position after the first of the year.
The most recent referendum in the Elk Mound school district included funds for updating and remodeling the wood working and metal shop areas.
The Elk Mound Board of Education also learned at the March 25 meeting that a middle school sixth grade English Language Arts teacher planned to transfer to an interventionist position in the school district.
Elk Mound will soon begin the hiring process for a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher, Wright said.
Substitute teachers
During the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts in the area were experiencing difficulty finding substitute teachers.
As many school districts did, Elk Mound hired two full-time substitute teachers so that the district would have those teachers available when they were needed.
The full-time substitute teachers were paid with money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), Wright said.
The ESSER grant fund program was authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to provide additional money for schools to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19.
The Elk Mound Board of Education has decided to continue with one full-time substitute teacher for the 2024-2025 school year, Wright said.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Learned that four-year-old kindergarten visitation would be held at Mound View Elementary on April 5 and April 12.
• Learned that Forward testing would take place in April. The Wisconsin Forward Exam gauges how well students are doing in relation to Wisconsin Academic Standards. Each year, students in grades 3 to 8 are tested in English Language Arts and mathematics; students in grades 4 and 8 are tested in Science; and grades 4, 8 and 10 are tested in Social Studies.
• Learned that a career fair will be held at Elk Mound Middle School April 24.
• Learned that a middle school track meet will be held in Elk Mound on April 25.
• Learned that PreACT Secure testing would take place for freshmen and sophomores at Elk Mound High School on April 16 and 17. PreACT testing is aligned with the ACT and ACT College and Career Readiness Standards and measures what students have learned in English, Reading, Mathematics and Science.
• Learned that the Elk Mound High School prom will be held April 27.
• Approved summer school course offerings. The summer school courses offered this summer will be similar to the courses offered last year for summer school.
• Learned that Elk Mound is planning two fairly large projects for this summer that include replacing the swimming pool filters and patching pavement in the parking lots.
• Approved revisions and additions to Neola policies.
• Approved the safety drills completed on March 22 as per ACT 143.
• Approved the Safe Return to School Plan, which is necessary for the ESSER funding. Nothing has changed in the plan, Wright said.
• Approved the self-funded dental plan for the 2024-2025 school year. There will be a zero percent increase in premiums.
• Approved physical therapy services through Star Therapy Services LLC. The school district previously contracted for physical therapy services through Prevea, and this will allow the school district to work with the same therapists who already have a relationship with students, Wright said.
• Discussed a proposal for a Purchasing Card that would be available through Bremer Bank. The card reduces opportunities for fraud and has the potential for the school district to receive “cash back” after a certain amount has been spent. Wright said he was continuing to gather information about the card with Bremer Bank and would bring additional information to the April school board meeting.
• Approved a retirement request from Rosalie Lindberg (food service) at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
• Approved hiring Hailey Bollinger as a part-time assistant high school track coach following the closed session of the Elk Mound Board of Education.
The Elk Mound school board meets next on April 22.
