Staff with the Shawano School District dominated much of the time Jan. 26 as the district held one of two listening sessions intended to give them direction on what should be eliminated, altered or trimmed to help cut $1.6 million from its operational budget for the next school year.
Twenty options were presented earlier in the week to the board, and many of the comments addressed those suggestions. One option, changing block scheduling to a seven-period day schedule, is estimated by the district to save more than $1 million if implemented at Shawano Community Middle School and Shawano Community High School.
Matt Zoll, a SCMS teacher, called out the board on its claims of block scheduling at his school. He noted that block scheduling does not happen as four 90-minute classes but only for English and math — with English classes as a block for 20 years and only in the last few years for math.
Zoll questioned why the district didn’t look at changing the block schedule in 2022, when officials claimed more than $2 million needed to be cut from the budget. Later, it was discovered that the district had a surplus.
“When you have inaccurate information in a document like this, it brings up the question, how do you come up with the numbers that you do?” Zoll said. “If we could have saved money by reducing to a regular schedule like a seven-period schedule, why did we go to a block schedule 15, 16 years ago at the high school? If we could have saved money on this in 2022, why didn’t we go back to a regular schedule at the high school instead of continuing with a block if it’s that much more expensive?”
Jennifer Schmidt, another SCMS teacher, said that the current English block schedule at the middle school allows for 45 minutes of reading and 45 minutes of instruction in other English necessities. Going to a seven-period schedule would cut down the reading time by more than half, about 20 minutes.
“If not, you still have to teach language arts and reading,” Schmidt said. “That means you have to create another whole class, so you would have five core classes at the middle school instead of four, because you have to have those taught at least through seventh grade.”
She added that reading-only classes require a certified reading teacher, while combining it with the English class does not.
Ross Beversdorf, a master electrician living in Shawano, also signaled against eliminating the block schedule, saying trades and skills classes don’t work well on a seven-period schedule. He noted that doing away with a block schedule and increasing class sizes in the schools would be problematic for students wanting to learn a trade.
“If you increase it to 30 kids in a woods class or 30 kids in a horticulture class, they’re not going to get that attention. They’re not going to get that one-on-one,” Beversdorf said. “They’re going to break those connections, and you may not have 30 students sign up for that class (in the future). At 15 or 18 students, they’re going to get that skill. They’re going to get that experience.”
Rosie Thiel, who works at Olga Brener Intermediate School, urged the board not to make any decisions that would cut trades and skills classes, noting that the classes are still needed, in spite of artificial intelligence supplementing some businesses.
“We have to think of the kids’ futures. AI is taking over the world,” Thiel said. “Who is going to fix cars? Who is going to build houses? We have to think about what our kids are going to be able to do 20 years from now.”
Jennifer Tonn, a teacher at Hillcrest Primary School, questioned the wisdom of cutting elective classes when work is being done at SCHS to expand facilities for music, art, family and consumer sciences, and more.
“We just passed a $51 million referendum that allows us to do amazing things for our school district, which includes our music department (and) includes all of those things,” Tonn said. “If we cut those programs for those students, what was the point of building the new facilities? Cutting programs for students or services is definitely not the way to go.”
Suggestions were also made that weren’t among the original 20 options. Shawano resident Dick Karth noted that, with the continuous declining enrollment, closing a school to cut down on operational expenses might be the way to go, as the biggest expenses are facilities and personnel.
A similar suggestion was made by district officials in 2022, but it was decided not to do so.
“I applaud the district for not depleting the savings, because in the long run, I think that would hurt the district,” Karth said. “I’m concerned that you have students for three buildings, but you have four. If you haven’t reached that point … you’re going to reach it in the next few years.”
Matt Brunette, a SCHS teacher, suggested that instead of cutting the full $1.6 million, a combination of cutting expenses and utilizing the district’s fund balance might be the solution.
“We all have a savings account because, when it rains, we have stuff to fix,” Brunette said. “Our fund balance is our savings account, and it’s a rainy day, people.”
Ellen Kann, another SCHS teacher, suggested not moving on to newer textbooks as an option. She also suggested looking at the district’s technology expenses.
“Have we looked within each school for smaller budget cuts that we could make,” Kann said. “The English department at the high school is looking at getting a new textbook or a new curriculum. That seems like something we should wait on because it’s a huge expense at a time when money is tight.”
Dan O’Connell, a SCMS teacher, was another voice questioning whether the district should be spending so much on technology.
“I’m not saying it should be eliminated, by any means,” O’Connell said. “My question is, do we need one-to-one technology from kindergarten through 12th grade? My other question is, do we need Mac products? These are extremely expensive items, and I understand that this administration did not put this in place, but you are living in a community that cannot afford these products if something goes wrong.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
