The Shawano School Board worked to refine its role in the district and discuss what needs to be done to improve learning for all students during a work session Sept. 18.
Board members and administrators worked with Dave Honish, CESA 8 administrator, on a variety of group exercises that examined authority and teamwork between both groups. The session was a reality check for some board members as they outlined what they felt that individual authority over and what the board was able to manage as a group. Once the ideas were tallied, Honish pointed out that, by state law, there is little that school boards have full authority over.
“Sometimes that distinction is difficult for people, because they want to have authority over everything that happens, even though that’s difficult to do at times,” Honish said.
Individual board members have little to no authority on their own regarding the decisions they make as the full board in 90% of its work, according to Honish.
“The reason I say this is not because I want to diminish any of your roles as a board,” he said. “It’s quite the opposite. What I want to do is I want to highlight the strengths you have and the strength that comes from the team you develop as a board.”
In an earlier exercise, board members spoke about what made them seek out their elected positions in the first place.
Bobbi Lemerond explained that at one point, she had one child in each of the four schools, and everything seemed to be going great, but then things changed around the time of the pandemic.
Tim Renard, the newest board member, said he sought change when he saw his property tax bill last year and balked at how much he was going to have to pay.
Board President Mike Musolff told about how his son’s expulsion from high school motivated him to be part of the change in the system.
Honish noted all of those motivations are valid and noble but still don’t give board members the right to act as individuals.
“None of those things provide you any authority to do anything unless you’re working in team and understand those perspectives, a most critical element that help inform those decisions,” Honish said.
The teamwork is expected to be critical as the district works toward becoming one that exceeds expectations in all four schools and, by extension, the district as a whole. The deadline for achieving the goal is November 2027.
A previous administration had set the same goal, and the district was well on its way to achieving it before the pandemic shut down schools across the country and threw the education system into crisis.
A survey of the staff examined the district’s mantra of making sure all students are learning, no matter their skill level or situation in life. According to Superintendent Kurt Krizan, 71.3% believed that all students should be learning at high levels all the time, while 23% that said they should learn at high levels except in certain instances, and the remainder believing it’s not possible to achieve this for every student.
Krizan said the certain instances included having students at different learning levels, behavioral issues, the need for extra supports, mental health problems and more. He told the board that, to improve learning, staff would have to rise above the roadblocks.
“We have to change that idea of the ‘buts,’” Krizan said. “Our purpose is to ensure that all students learn at high levels, and that includes students with disabilities, from trauma, from low-income, from the tribe, that don’t speak English at home, that open enroll, that need intervention and who are apathetic.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Board looks at its role, education improvement
