By Amber Hayden
BOYCEVILLE — On Wednesday, August 14 the Boyceville Board of Education was given a recent update on a pilot program the Special Education department will begin using at the start of the new school year.
Director of Special Education, Bonnie Barker, stated that the software will create the evaluation reports and IEPs.
Prior to this year, the district had been partnering with Frontline using their program called eStar, but the student information system (JMC) that Boyceville uses has moved on to partner with SpEd Forms, a company out of Minnesota.
“When we agreed to be a pilot for the program, the CEO of the company, Gary Lewis, dedicated two hours discussing the envision he has for Wisconsin,” Barker explained.
Susan Gilbertson, along with Barker, have been trained as administrators on the program and will train the Special Education teachers during in-service days.
SpEd Forms will also provide a library of goals and testing information that the staff will be able to utilize when writing IEPs.
“Even when I had to call for technical support the turnaround was quick,” said Barker. “The CEO was on the phone with me and said he would work to get it fixed immediately and he has been very helpful.”
Also, the Special Education staff will be conducting their self-assessment of their reports and process this year.
“The information that is found will be uploaded to DPI to determine if we have met compliance,” Barker stated. “Or if there are things that will need to be corrected.”
Superintendent Nick Kaiser also reminded the board that the date for the annual meeting has been set for Wednesday, October 9 at 6 p.m.
During the meeting the Board of Education:
• Approved the hiring of Clarice Essex as a long-term elementary school counselor.
• Approved the hiring of Hunter Lipke as middle school football coach.
• Approved the hiring of Colby Dotseth as an assistant high school football coach.
• Approved the replacement and repair of compressors at Tiffany Creek Elementary.
• Approved the 2019-2020 Student guidebooks.
• Accepted a $6,000 grant from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation.
• Accepted a $1,000 grant from the Ann Marie Foundation for the purchase of books/magazines & bookcases for the seventh and eighth grade Language Arts and Reading classrooms.
The Board of Education will meet again on September 25 with the board meeting beginning at 6 p.m.
