A revised policy for volunteers in school classrooms and the curriculum additions, deletions and revisions (CADR) for the 2019-20 school year were approved by the Neenah Joint School District Board of Education at its Nov. 20 meeting.
Any volunteer in a classroom or at a chaperoned event will be subject to a criminal background check. Additionally, any individual currently on a registered sex offender list will not be permitted to volunteer in schools. The Board discussed several specific types of roles and whether they would be considered a classroom volunteer or a school visitor. After extensive discussion, they requested administration develop more specifics and bring forward an even more detailed policy to a December or January meeting.
Much of the CADR proposal discussion centered around a change to the Neenah High School schedule that would maintain seven classes per semester, but change them to 90 minute classes that rotate between days. An academic and career planning time is also added to provide more flexibility to the schedule. Some Board members expressed concern about how the schedule was developed with minimal Board input. The changes to the schedule come at no cost and some Board members believed it was worth looking at additional options to create an even better schedule. Principal Brian Wunderlich spoke in high praise of the new schedule and the Board approved the new plan.
Other changes in the curriculum allow students who participate in a varsity or junior varsity sport to take a half-credit of physical education in another core subject area. Another key change adds the completion of one post-secondary, credit-yielding course to the graduation requirements. Additional changes include an update to the accelerated math progression at the middle and high school levels and an elimination of some prerequisites at the high school level to allow students more flexibility.
An actuary from Milliman provided a review of the District’s Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) funding. Assuming that the District continues to fund these liabilities at a rate of $5.5 million per year, Milliman is estimating that the liability will be fully paid off at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. There is also an option to pay the liability by the end of the 2020-2021 school year and then continue to have between $1 million and $1.6 million of annual expenses for retiree medical benefits. The report was purely informational. The Board may decide to use the second funding plan at a future meeting or simply maintain its current funding model.
Board policies in regards to nursing services and student health conditions were also approved.
The Board honored junior Av Osero on her third consecutive WIAA Division 1 state diving championship.
The next meeting is set for Dec. 4.
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