Shawano School District

COVID-19 puts school projects on hold

Published by admin on Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:21am

SHAWANO — Plans to expand Shawano Community High School’s athletic and arts facilities have been put on the back burner, due to the COVID-19 virus. Efforts to help keep children learning despite a virus-caused shutdown have also met with challenges, the Shawano School Board heard on Wednesday.

The coronavirus pandemic shutting down most businesses and services have put future plans of many public agencies in limbo, and Shawano School District is no exception.

School district to offer pay for delayed work

Published by admin on Sat, 03/14/2020 - 3:57am

SHAWANO — The Shawano School District board took action Friday to offer hourly staff a way to continue to receive a paycheck despite the current shutdown of the district.

The board met in an emergency session after announcing that schools would be closed through April 12 due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

At the meeting, the board also discussed virtual educational options for students during the shutdown.

District moves to next step on SCHS expansion

Published by admin on Tue, 03/03/2020 - 11:05am

SHAWANO — The full Shawano School Board received a briefing Monday on a proposed expansion of Shawano Community High School that could cost as much as $3.3 million.

The plan is to take most, if not all, of the cost out of the district’s fund balance, which was just under $7.56 million at the end of the fiscal year in June. That amount is equal to about 24.48% of the district’s expenditures for the school year, an amount well above what financial experts recommend a school district have, which is 10-15%.

Board approves graduation specialist position

Published by admin on Wed, 02/19/2020 - 4:11pm

SHAWANO — The Shawano School Board approved a new position Monday that would help at-risk high school students get back on track, but it will only come to be if the money can be found for the position.

Old town hall could become alternative academy

Published by admin on Mon, 02/17/2020 - 3:54pm

SHAWANO — The Shawano School District has plans to restore the former Wescott Town Hall to an institute of learning, if plans discussed at the executive committee meeting on Feb. 12 move forward.

Summer school changes get green light

Published by admin on Mon, 02/17/2020 - 3:40pm

SHAWANO — Summer school will be four days per week for the Shawano School District instead of five, once the school board votes on the matter Monday night.

Rod Watson, associate principal at Shawano Community Middle School, presented his plan to the district’s executive committee. He said he investigated the possibility of making the school week shorter without increasing the number of weeks summer school is in session.

Teacher of the Year award revived, expanded

Published by admin on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 3:42pm

SHAWANO — The Shawano School District is looking to change its Teacher of the Year program, but it will need to raise at least $5,000 to make its plans come to fruition.

The district’s executive committee met Wednesday and discussed changing the parameters now that the Jefferies Fund, which provided the original donation for the award, has been depleted. Until last year, the district honored a teacher annually at Shawano Community High School’s graduation.

‘Everyone has a little bit of autism in them…’

Published by admin on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 12:44pm

SHAWANO — Dakota Maynard said he’s like Donald Trump or Sarah Palin — you either love him or hate him, with nothing in between.

It’s not because of his politics, though.

Maynard has Asperger’s, a form of autism, and he talked about his accomplishments and challenges on Wednesday in a presentation to an overflowing crowd at Shawano Community High School. Maynard’s visit was a joint effort between the Aging and Disability Resource Center of the Wolf River Region and the Shawano School District.

Shawano School District passes audit

Published by admin on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 10:04am

SHAWANO — The Shawano School District passed its 2019 audit with flying colors, the Shawano School Board learned this week.

Leah Lasecki, manager for Clifton Larson Allen LLP, presented the board with what she called a “clean” audit, with only two significant deficiencies found while she and her staff conducted the audit during the summer.

“That (clean audit) is the best that you can get in the industry,” Lasecki said.

Most area schools making the grade

Published by admin on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 3:39pm

SHAWANO — The state Department of Public Instruction released its 2019 school report cards Tuesday, and most area schools are passing the standards, although many of them saw a slip in district scores.

Shawano School District was not one of them. The district saw a boost of 2.5 points in its overall score as the DPI announced it had achieved 71.3 points, putting it in the upper echelon of three-star schools — the minimum number of stars needed to be considered a passing school.

In 2018, the district scored a 68.8.