Rice Lake Area School District Northern Lakes Regional Academy Red Cedar School 33 Ann Street Rice Lake, WI 54868 Northern Lakes Regional Academy Governance Council Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Minutes

I. Call To Order: The Northern Lakes Regional Academy Governance Council of the Rice Lake School District met in regular session at 4:05 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at the Northern Lakes Regional Academy, 33 Ann Street, Rice Lake, Wisconsin, with Andrew Mommsen, President presiding.

II. Roll Call: Present—Jolene Anderson, Karen Chilson, Jean Havenor, Andrew Mommsen, Dave Myre, Pete Peterson Absent—Dave Armstrong, Sue Peterson Others Present—James Kiffmeyer, Mariah Shafer, Jon Dobosz

III. Rube Goldberg Demonstration: Mariah Shafer and Jon Dobosz shared the group project designed by the students involved in this project. On March 20th, this team, accompanied by Pete Peterson and Steve Adams, participated in a competition held at UW-Stout. While NLRA did not place among the top three teams, all agreed that it was a valuable learning experience. One of the chief lessons taken away was to start the building process sooner.

IV. Notice of Posting: Pete Peterson announced the following: The Council hereby finds communication and public notice of the open meeting, as required by section 19.84 of the Wisconsin Statutes, had been properly given by the presiding officer’s designee, Curt Pacholke. Such a notice and agenda to the official newspaper, the Rice Lake Chronotype, to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, the school district website, and to radio stations WJMC and WAQE, indicating the date, time and place of the meeting and such notice was given more than 24 hours prior to the meeting.

V. Approval of 2-28-17 Minutes: Jolene Anderson motioned and Karen Chilson seconded to approve minutes with the amended correction of Dave Myre’s absence. All present approved.

VI. Voting in New Member: Pete Peterson motioned and Dave Myre seconded a Council approval to accept James Kiffmeyer as a new member.

VII. Charter Contract with School Board: Curt Pacholke related the initial reaction of the School Board to the staffing report for 2017-2018. There are approximately 52 teachers and 9 paraprofessionals at the high school while at NLRA there will be 3.6 full-time employees. When averaging cost per student the high school average is $7500 while NLRA is $7700. While looking at these costs and the pupil/teacher ratio, the Board offered no negative comments to Curt. Pete relayed that following a discussion with both Curt and Randy Drost, our site will be maintained for the foreseeable future. Additionally, Randy wants to establish another five-year contract for NLRA. It was originally thought that there was more time to work on contract language; however, the Board wants an updated charter contract before May 1. The majority of the meeting today was modifying and clarifying the existing contract for that purpose. Some of the issues of enrollment were a springboard for deep discussion, however, in the interest of time, it was decided to shelve these for a future meeting. Following a lengthy process, Pete Peterson motioned and Jean Havenor seconded adopting the revised contract to present to the school board.

VIII. School Updates: A. Staff Update—Steve Adams remains out for medical reasons. It is hoped that he will return on April 3rd. B. 4th Quarter Seminars—Beginning on March 28th, the majority of students are enrolled in Colonization. Three rotations of this course will involve history content, writing, and CNC use. Other students are in Pete’s seminar, Amusement Park Physics. C. 2017-18 Enrollment Update—To date, 12 students have turned in paperwork for attending NLRA. Because many students enroll over the summer, we may have to hold a lottery depending on our enrollment cap. This information also caused a lengthy discussion on how that cap should be set. D. Testing Update: Juniors recently completed the ACT test. Because we have fewer than 75 students, we are not required to publically report our scores. Underclassmen will soon be taking the ACT Aspire/Forward exams. E. Thursday, May 25th—On Thursday, May 25th, NLRA will hold their Makerpalooza from 4:00 to 7:00. All students are required to present a project to the public on that day. Pete also put out preliminary feelers for governance members to serve on panels to evaluate the Senior Defense speeches. This will take place on Tuesday, May 23rd from 8:30 -11:30.

IX. Budget Update: After a deposit of $250.00 from Rotary, the current balance stands at $1468.02.

X. NLRA Community Survey: Pete shared a survey that will ask questions of alumni, parents, community members, RLASD faculty and staff and governance members to obtain information to improve our instruction and to provide input to the School Board. Pete Peterson motioned and James Kiffmeyer seconded to adopt this survey as a tool to gather information. All present voted aye.

XI. Schedule Next Meeting and Adjournment: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25 at 4:00. Andrew Mommsen motioned and Pete Peterson seconded a motion to adjourn. All voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 5:54. ______Jean Havenor Date