Colfax school board members report good experiences at state convention
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Members of the Colfax Board of Education report that they had positive experiences at this year’s Wisconsin State Education Convention in Milwaukee January 22-24.
There are 421 school districts in the state, and there were a majority in attendance at the delegate assembly for a quorum, said Ken Neuburg, school board member and Colfax’s delegate assembly representative, at the Colfax Board of Education’s February 17 meeting.
Neuburg also said he was surprised that not all 421 school districts had representation at the delegate assembly.
Two resolutions did not pass at the delegate assembly, one related to public and private school funding and another about accountability and school report card standards, Neuburg said.
Those who voted against the resolution regarding public and private school funding believed that the state education convention was not the time or the place to discuss the issue, he said.
Regarding accountability and school report card standards, the delegates at the assembly indicated that what they were the most interested in was “the truth,” Neuburg said.
Both resolutions were heavily debated, but there “just was no agreement,” he said.
Two more
Two resolutions that had been proposed to the Policy and Resolutions Committee but that had not been approved for the state convention were brought back by the sponsoring schools, Neuburg said.
A resolution can be brought back to the delegate assembly for action by the schools sponsoring the resolutions if two-thirds of the delegates agree to bring the resolution to the floor, he explained.
The first resolution was “Save Women’s Sports” brought by the New London school district, and the second resolution was “Parity of the State Aid Formula,” brought by the Neenah school district, according to information Neuburg provided to the Board of Education.
The New London resolution on Title IX in K-12 education was to prevent biological males from competing in all-female sports, Neuburg said.
At least 24 states have passed legislation banning biological males from competing on all-female sports teams in K-12 education, although Wisconsin has not yet passed such legislation, he said.
Neuburg said he had voted “yes” so that the issue would come up for debate, although there were not enough total “yes” votes to bring the resolution to the floor.
It was not especially clear whether “Save Women’s Sports”/banning biological males from competing in girls’ sports is referring to transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports — or whether it is referring to boys competing in girls’ sports, in the way that girls compete in football or in wrestling, for example.
According to Politifact, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association does not keep statistics on the number of transgender athletes in high school sports, so it is not known how many, if any, compete in Wisconsin K-12 sports.
State Representative Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc) had said at a hearing in October of 2023 that — based on complaints her office had received — there were six transgender athletes competing in Wisconsin. Those were complaints, however, and there was no verification of whether the number was accurate, according to Politifact.
Dittrich provided two specific examples, but it turned out that the two athletes were adults who were not competing in high school sports, according to Politifact.
There are an estimated 164,000 female athletes in Wisconsin high school sports.
Politifact conducted a search for reports of transgender athletes and found one possible example at one Wisconsin high school, although the one instance was based on the complaint of a parent.
Equalization aid
The goal for the parity of state equalization aid resolution brought by the Neenah school district is to reduce the funding gaps among school districts, Neuburg said.
Neuburg had voted “yes” to bring the resolution to the floor, but the total number of “yes” votes fell short.
The two resolutions came up at the end of the day, and most of the people at the delegate assembly did not want to engage in additional debate at that point, he said.
Pre-K funding
Another resolution at the Wisconsin State Education Convention that was debated heavily and was approved related to support for funding for three-year-old kindergarten and four-year-old kindergarten, said Jackie Ackerlund, school board member and the representative at the delegate assembly for CESA 11.
A number of daycare providers also serve on school boards, and they pointed out that when school districts run their own three-year-old and four-year-old kindergarten programs, they are hurting local daycare businesses, she said.
Defibrillators
William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, reported that the school district has purchased 12 cardio-pulmonary resuscitation mannequins and two automatic external defibrillators using money from a nearly $20,000 grant received by the school district.
One of the defibrillators will be placed in an outdoor box for outdoor sports, he said.
The school district has never had a defibrillator outside before, and it will be placed in a location where it will be in view of a security camera, Yingst said.
The AED will be taken inside during the winter and summer months, although if a group plans to use school facilities during the summer, the AED can be brought back outside, he said.
The CPR mannequins were purchased at a cost of $1,452, and the two AEDs were purchased at a cost of $3,370.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Learned that the earliest starting dates for spring sports would be track on March 10; softball on March 17; baseball on March 24; golf on March 31.
• Learned that Tim Schmitt and Nathan Boesl represented Colfax in the District 5 FFA Leadership Development Event held in Durand. Tim placed fourth in the Creed Speaking Event. Nathan advanced to the next level with second place in the Discussion Meet.
• Learned that the 2025 Colfax High School forensics schedule included the invitational meet at Menomonie on February 8, an invitational at Ellsworth on February 15 as well as the subdistrict meet at Colfax on February 22. The district meet will be at Hudson on March 22, and the state meet will be at UW-Madison on April 11-12.
• Learned that Elizabetha Heitkamp, the Colfax Middle School champion in the Scripps Spelling Bee, and Bryce Arnold, the Colfax Elementary champion, competed on February 19 in the CESA No. 11 Regional Spelling Bee at Turtle Lake.
• Learned that Colfax Elementary will celebrate Read Across America the week of March 3 through March 7.
• Learned that the summer swimming dates will be June 9 through June 20, 2025, at the Elk Mound High School swimming pool.
• Learned that Little Vikes Junior Kindergarten Daycare continues to have 12 students enrolled.
• Learned the Colfax Middle School eighth graders successfully completed the National Assessment of Educational Progress on February 4. The NAEP assessment for high school juniors will take place on March 11.
• Learned that Indicator 8 Parent Involvement surveys have been distributed to parents. This is the second step of a three-step compliance audit. Parents have until June 30 to complete the surveys. The school district is encouraging parents to complete the survey during parent-teacher conferences.
• Approved the following updated policies as recommended by Neola: meetings; district sponsored trips; employment of personnel for co-curricular/extra-curricular activities; controlled substance and alcohol policy for employees who transport students; attendance; administration of medication/emergency care; graduation requirements; academic honesty; student use or possession of intoxicants, drugs or paraphernalia (new policy); food services; wellness (new policy); free and reduced-price meals; transportation; transportation by private vehicle for district-sponsored activities or trips (new policy).
• Approved WIDA English Language Learner standards.
Closed session
Following a close session, the Colfax Board of Education approved the following spring athletic coaches:
• Softball: John Dickinson, head coach; Rick Geissler, varsity assistant coach; Tasha Bjork, junior varsity.
• Baseball: Ben Anderson, head coach; Myles Jensen, varsity assistant coach; Sawyer DeMoe, junior varsity.
• Track: Chuck Brown, head coach; Tina Johnson, assistant coach; Courtney Sarauer, assistant coach; Alley Heiden, assistant coach. Another assistant coach is to be determined.
• Middle school track: Megan Cormican and Felisha Glomski (Dupey).
• Boys’ golf: Ryan Krall, head coach. Assistant coach is to be determined.
