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Stoughton
Thursday, October 10, 2019 • Vol. 138, No. 12 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
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Stoughton Area School District
Enrollment dip continues Frustrations about working with city to attract young families SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
Birgitta Svensson and Areli Salgado Flores sprint their first lap during Fox Prairie Elementary School’s Fox Trot Friday, Oct. 4.
Trotting Foxes Inside
More photos from the school Fox Trot Page 14
Dane County
Silverwood County Park aims for agroforestry, pollinator education Park gets grant for interpretive signage SAMANTHA CHRISTIAN Unified Newspaper Group
On a sunny September afternoon, Edgerton resident Jamie Wright brought her Morab horse, Max, to the Silverwood County Park, on a trail they’ve ridden several times. “A lot of people don’t trail ride show horses, but we want them to experience the world,” Wright said while she and Stoughton resident Nyssa Sheridan prepped their horses
for the ride. Trails loop through the agricultural fields, woodland and pollinator prairie of the nearly 300-acre park bordering Rice Lake in the Town of Albion. The property had been in the Silverwood family since 1870, and Edgerton High School teacher Irene Silverwood donated it to Dane County in 2001 to be used for park, recreation, conservation, research, education and agricultural purposes. The Friends of Silverwood Park, which formed in 2013 and became a nonprofit in 2015, is seeking funding opportunities to support the development and maintenance of the park.
Courier Hub
One of those, for trail signage, is coming from a grant this year. In the parking lot by historic farm buildings, Wright and Sheridan drove their trucks and trailers up a long gravel driveway. On one side is a corn field, and the other features rows of skinny white tubes, some with green leaves sticking over the top. Painted stakes at the end of each row indicate the starter trees and plants growing within, such as wild plum, white oak hybrid poplar and black currant. This 18-acre agroforestry field is one of two in the park that will
Turn to Silverwood/Page 2
Some positive news was that the number of students open enrolling out of the district has leveled off. While only 68 students open enrolled into SASD schools this year, compared to 82 last year, the district only lost one more student to open enrollment (208) than last year, leaving the district with an open enrollment net loss of 140. count, which showed 65 fewer students in the district for the 2019-20 school year than the year before. And while the number is less than the 94-student
Turn to Enrollment/Page 11
Becoming historic Landmarks Commission looking to take oversight of downtown building protections MACKENZIE KRUMME Unified Newspaper Group
A proposal to label Stoughton’s entire downtown as a historic district would give the Landmarks Commission review authority of the look and style of the buildings from Fifth Street to the Yahara River. The locally designated historic district is a mechanism to preserve the character of historic buildings. It means an extra layer of protection for downtown buildings, switching authorization for exterior changes away from the Planning Commission.
Landmarks Commission chair Peggy Veregin alluded to the controversial razing of the Kittleson building last year to explain her interest in the change. “There is nothing to prevent demolitions of our historic Main Street, and considering the fact that we continue to have demolition on Main Street – this problem is real,” she told the Hub in an email. If property owners want to change the color of their facade, replace windows, add signage or complete structural additions, they would have to go through an approval process, landmarks commission member and City of Stoughton zoning administrator Michael Stacey told the Hub. The designation would not affect the interior of the building, nor will it require
Turn to Historic/Page 11
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Students from Fox Prairie Elementary School ran laps to raise funds for their school on Friday, Oct. 4. Email reporter Mackenzie Krumme at mackenzie.krumme@wcinet.com with any questions.
It’s not getting any worse, but it’s also not getting any better. As the Stoughton Area School District’s student population continues to decline, school board members are becoming increasingly concerned about the effects on district programs and facilities. And some are growing frustrated about a seeming lack of action from city officials to help attract and keep young families, the lifeblood of a school district. Monday night, administrators and board members discussed the annual “Third Friday” official student
Silver lining?