EMHS students discuss school safety

By LeAnn R. Ralph

ELK MOUND  — Following a school walk-out April 20 in which two students participated, Elk Mound High School students gathered in the afternoon to talk about their ideas for school safety.

The walk-out was in protest of gun violence in schools and in remembrance of the 17 students and staff killed at a Florida high school February 14. 

April 20 also was the 19th anniversary of the school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, during which two students shot and killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others before killing themselves.

The high school students talked about a variety of ideas on how to make Elk Mound schools safer, said Eric Wright, district administrator, at the Elk Mound Board of Education’s April 23 meeting.

Some of the suggestions from the students were bullet proof glass in the windows, door locks, metal detectors and a school resource officer, he said.

One student suggested monthly training on what to do if there is a school threat rather than training only two times per year, Wright said.

Another student suggested “doorway notes” similar to the ones that tell students where to go in the event of a fire or a tornado, he said.

The problem with instructions on what to do during a school threat is every situation is different, so it would be difficult to tell students beforehand where they should go to ensure their safety, Wright said.

As for the idea of hiring a school resource officer under the $100 million in grant money approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by Governor Scott Walker last month, much to Wright’s surprise, the grant has zero dollars for school resource officers.

Governor Walker visited Mound View Elementary March 27, the day after he had signed the legislation into law for grant money to be administered by the newly-created Office of School Safety in the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

The governor told those who had gathered at Mound View Elementary he had worked with the state Assembly and the Senate to put together a bill to set aside $100 million right away to help school districts make their buildings safer, whether it is physical changes to the building or adding staff, such as school safety officers. 

Governor Walker also said the school safety grant equated to about $115 per student for every public school in the state of Wisconsin.

For a school district with 800 students, for example, the grant would amount to $92,000 at $115 per student.

Wright said he had called CESA 10 and was told neither of those elements are true. 

There are zero dollars in the grant money for school resource officers, and there is no $115 per student allocation, he said. 

Organizational meeting

During the organizational meeting prior to the regular school board meeting, Tim Sivertson was re-elected as president of the Board of Education, and Kyle Jenson was re-elected as vice president. 

Patrick Rhude was re-elected as the district clerk, and Gary Bodenburg was re-elected as the treasurer.

Other school board members include Loren Hanson, Mark Oas, and Mark Cedarblade.

Other business 

In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:

• Approved health and dental insurance for the 2018-2019 school year.

• Approved the curriculum coordinator contract for 2018-2019. The curriculum coordinator will be shared with the Boyceville school district.

• Revised the policy pertaining to recognition of employees and school board members for five, 10 and 15 years of service to include Mounder attire and gift cards to create some flexibility. The policy has not been revised since 2006, and a coffee mug is no longer as useful because many of the new hires do not drink coffee, Wright said. The school board also increased the stipend by $10 for 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service. 

• Approved repealing the Youth Options policy because the program has been discontinued and approved for a first reading policies on Start College Now (CVTC), Early College Credit Program  (four year higher education), and part-time open enrollment.

• Scheduled the next meeting for May 21 at 3:30 p.m. for the staff recognition luncheon with the regular school board meeting at 5 p.m.

During a closed session of the Board of Education:

• Approved Morgan Radtke as the student representative on the school board.

• Approved teacher contracts and promotions.

• Approved hiring Jacob Hoag as the elementary school custodian for a school-year position.