Things are Good at the Richland School District

Repairs at the Richland Primary School will not cost as much as first thought. Richland School District Administrator, Steve Board, reported at last night’s (Monday) meeting that four classrooms at the Primary Building are sinking and will have to be repaired. The Building & Grounds committee at first had thought that the repairs would cost the district around $1.5 million over budget. The estimate has since come in at a much lower bid of $435,000. The funds will be covered by savings from the new roof.

Board also reported that the District has two Board of Education seats up for election on the Spring of 2025 ballot. The two seats on this ballot are: Area #2 West, covering the Village of Boaz and the townships of Bloom, Sylvan, Marshall, Akan, Dayton, Richwood, and Eagle, currently held by Erin Unbehaun; and Area #3 City, currently held by Neil Huntamer. Both are for a three year term. Those interested in running for the positions can start circulating nomination forms December 1. All nomination paperwork is due January 7.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Shari Johnson, presented the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Report Cards for The Richland School District, Richland Center High School, and Richland Center Intermediate School. The district improved to a four star rating with a score of 72 out of 100. This is an improvement over last year’s score of 67.7. The high school also improved over last year from 64.8 to 70.1 and the intermediate school improved from 73.9 to 77. The DPI does not provide a report card for buildings that have a low number of students, such as the PARTNER and Richland Online Academy, as well as for those buildings that only have students under third grade. Johnson reported that chronic absenteeism is a big factor in bringing scores down. The pandemic is still effecting the score for all schools averages. Out of the six schools in the Southwest Conference, the Richland District is in third

place, with River Valley in first with a score of 74.1 and Platteville at 72.5. Out of the 10 area school districts, Richland Center is in second place following River Valley in first. Dr. Johnson also congratulated district staff for the improvements made over the past three years as the district has gone from 32nd place among all schools in the CESA 3 District in 2021-22, to ninth in 2023-24.

Board member, Scott Behling, reported that a wage study has been completed and the district wages have improved and are now competitive and as a result, when there are openings in the district, more applications are being received.

Shaun Tjossem, Special Education Director, submitted the Seclusion and Restraint Report to the board. Seclusion means the involuntary confinement of a student, apart from other students, in a room or area from which the student is physically prevented from leaving. Staff must maintain constant supervision of the student and seclusion may be used only as long as necessary to resolve the risk to the physical safety of the student or others. Physical restraint means a restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a student to freely move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head. The law prohibits the use of seclusion or physical restraint by school staff except in very limited circumstances where a student’s behavior presents

a clear, present, and imminent risk to the physical safety of students and/or school staff. The law also requires at least one staff member in each school where restraint might be used to be trained. In the Richland School District, administrators, regular education staff, student services, special education teachers and support staff in each building are trained in nonviolent crisis intervention training. Wisconsin schools are required to submit a report containing information on the use of seclusion and restraint within schools. During the 2023-24 school year, the Richland School District had a total of 27 seclusion and restraints across the district. All of the instances involved special education students and trained staff intervention.

The Board also received a report from principals regarding discipline within their building, covering the first quarter. Due to the shifting of grades to new locations at the start of the 2021-22 school year, comparing data prior to this point would not provide an “apples to apples” view. Therefore, this year’s data is compared only to data since the building reconfiguration. While the reports show an increase in discipline reports, it was noted that some things being reported have been added, and more reports are being made. While the report shows bad behavior of students, it was noted that good behavior is also being celebrated.

In action items the Richland School Board approved the 2025-26 and 2026-27 district calendars; and the Spanish and Science Clubs to take a District-sponsored trip to Puerto Rico in June of 2026.

The board also accepted the gift of a 1998 Yamaha Motorcycle for the PARTNER School from Emily and Alex Dolan. It will be used to fix up and learn from. This will be an opportunity to connect with local experts and work together to get the motorcycle running. No students will ride the motorcycle and it will not be sold without taking the proper precautions regarding liability.

The Richland School Board was also informed that historically, the Southwest Conference has scheduled non-conference games with smaller schools from the SWAL and Six Rivers Conferences due to their geographical proximity. However, in late 2023, the Six Rivers Conference committed to a “super conference” for basketball, baseball, and softball, which requires their schools to play 18 conference games, leaving only six non-conference games for basketball and eight for baseball and softball. This change significantly reduces the SWC teams’ options for non-conference games, forcing them to look further for opponents. This development has accelerated discussions about the creation of a 10-team SWAL/SWC conference, a concept that has gained momentum recently. Dodgeville Assistant Principal

and Activities Director Joey Martin, along with River Valley’s Jaime Hegland, are spearheading this realignment effort. In February 2024, they met with SWAL athletic directors and principals to discuss the proposal and provide an update on the ongoing talks. On October 10, the SWC athletic directors and principals voted to move forward with submitting the “SWC/SWAL Plan” to the WIAA following the November ADs/Principals meeting, officially starting the realignment process. If approved, this plan could take effect in the 2029-2030 school year.