Spring Green, Wisconsin
Thursday, January 23, 2025 | Vol. 6, No. 2 FREE, Single-Copy
Inside this edition
River Valley School Board approves force reductions
Editorial: Why Democracy Needs Us All
New Column: Wellness Warrior
Pages 1, 9, 10
Page 3
Page 8
River Valley School Board sets referendum, approves cost reductions and grade reconfiguration
Board votes to reduce workforce, impacting teaching, library and secretary positions
1/7/2025
RIVER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT
TABLE 1
CLOSURE OF EARLY LEARNING CENTER ANNUAL EXPENDITURES RV Early Learning Center
Luukas Palm-Leis, Reporter At the Jan. 9 regular meeting of the River Valley School District Board of Education, the board discussed the details of its upcoming operational referendum, voted on cost reductions and voted on district grade level reconfiguration following last month’s vote to close the district’s last satellite primary school. At the Jan 20 special meeting, the board voted on a reduction in workforce, which resulted in several staff reductions, including positions of five staff members being eliminated, with an additional retirement and a transfer.
Cost, force reductions
Based on the board's action at its Dec. 12 meeting to close the district’s Early Learning Center in Plain — formerly Plain Elementary — and its upcoming referendum, the board at its Jan. 9 meeting reviewed and discussed a list of cost reduction opportunities to go into effect after the end of the current 20242025 school year. Cost reduction opportunities were sorted into two categories, one that includes savings from the closure of the ELC, the other from a reduction in district workforce. Each section provided an itemized list of each cut item and its expenditure for the district, as well as the total value of all the reductions. The section for ELC closure included items for building maintenance, utilities, the decrease of three bus routes, cleaning services, a secretary and food service items, and totaled to $286,502. This itemized list was prepared to cut the individual items that go into the annual cost of running the ELC. The section for general reduction in
2023-2024 Annual Expenditures
Decrease 3 Bus Routes
$126,720
Electric & Heat (Alliant)
$21,650
Water & Sewer (Village of Plain)
$3,675
Employee Travel Mileage
$2,475
Mats, Towels, Aprons (Cintas)
$1,300
Mowing & Snow Removal (J&J)
$10,500
Pest Control (Wil-Kil)
$360
Landscaping (TruGreen)
$2,500
Internet (Spectrum)
$4,000
Delivery Mail/Food Service
$1,500
Secretary
$56,100
Cleaning Staff
$53,500 *Will be applied after 25-26
Admin Building Coordinator
$2,222
TOTAL Reductions - Closure of ELC
$286,502
REDUCTION IN FORCE - AT CONCLUSION OF 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR
TABLE 2
Item
Amount
FTE
Route eliminated in December / driver attrition
Eliminate 1 Bus Route
$42,240
In addition to 3 above
C. Ross reduced .25 / L. Hoffman reduced .50
Business Education Teacher
$62,625
0.75
Transfer of kindergarten staff to Grade 4 (1.0)
Elementary Teacher (Regular Education)
$83,500
1.00
Grade 5 position offer - A. Howe (1.0)
Librarian
$83,500
1.00
T. Cavagnetto reduced .75
Music Education Teacher
$62,625
0.75
Contract elimated
Speech and Language Teacher - Reduce Outside Contract
$83,500
1.00
Document via reduced by River J. Marshall 1.0 Valley School District Physical Education Teacher $83,500 1.00 L. Seybold reduced 1.0 English Language (ELL) Teacher $60,000 1.00 The force reduction plan passed by the River Valley School Board on Jan. 20. QR code inlaid to read. N. Tabrizi reduced 1.0 / M. Orcutt reduced 1.0 Secretary $112,200 2.00 After calling the to order, the district force included reducing ten disTOTALmeeting $673,690 TOTAL School Year into $906,692 boardof 2024-2025 convened closed session trict positions at the conclusion ofReductions the Conclusion IN FORCE - AT CONCLUSION OFStatute 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR TABLE 3 under Wisconsin 19.85(1)(c), 2024-2025 school year. Seven of whichREDUCTION Item Amount FTE which allows closed sessions specifi are teachers, two for business educaElementary Teacher (Regular Education) $83,500 1.00 cally CMS Cleaner (Contract Ends June 30, 2026) $53,500 for the purposes of “Considering Emtion, one each for regular elementary TOTAL Reductions Conclusion of 2025-2026Promotion, School Year $137,000 ployment, Compensation, education, music education, physical or Performance Evaluations.” education, English language and2024-2025 speech GRAND TOTAL Reductions & 2025-2026 $1,043,692 Wisconsin Open Meetings Law and and language. The other positions include two secretaries, a librarian, as relevant case law require governmental well as the elimination of one bus route bodies t0 identify what specifically will this past December due to driver attri- be discussed in closed session — in addition. The reduction in force savings total tion to the specific statutory exemption — for the meeting to be properly noticed $673,690. The list also included one regular ele- and legal, which the public notice from mentary education teacher and one con- the district failed to do for this meeting. tract for cleaning services to be reduced The board remained in closed session after the 2025-2026 school year, which for around 30 minutes before reconvetotalled $137,000. neing into open session. The grand total of all cost reductions Upon reconvening in open session, the made came to $1,043,692 annually, af- board took up the action item “Considter the 2025-2026 school year. eration & Action on Employees Selected The motion to approve the items for for Reduction in Force at the End of the ELC closure and staff reductions for the 2024-25 School Year”. passed with all board members in favor. Board member Fred Iausley motioned Specific employee decisions regarding to approve the reduction in force plan the reductions were ostensibly taken “as presented” at the conclusion of the up by the board at a special meeting on 2024-2025 school year. However, it was not clear to the pubJan. 20.
lic or gallery what exact plan was “presented” at the time of the meeting, as no specific plan was presented by the board upon reconvening and the motion did not verbally include specific employee reductions. The motion passed with all present board members in favor despite the lack of an explicit plan presented in open session. Board President Kathy Jennings and member Elizabeth Minich were absent. In correspondence after the meeting with District Administrator Loren Glasbrenner and Business Manager Brian Krey, Valley Sentinel received what the administrators said was the board’s specific reduction in force plan that the board had approved on Jan. 20, which included the names of staff which are being reduced. These employees are associated with the positions in the general reduction in workforce plan which was approved during the Jan. 9 meeting. Krey and Glasbrenner did not respond to a question inquiring if the decisions on specific employee reductions by the board were made in closed session, as the exact action was not clear in the motion. According to Krey and Glasbrenner, the following teaching staff members will see reductions at the end of the 2024-2025 school year: business education teachers Lori Hoffman and Cheryl Ross will be reduced by 0.5 Full Time Equivalency and 0.25 FTE respectively, music education teacher Tony Cavagnetto will be reduced by 0.75 FTE, physical education teacher Jacob Marshall will be reduced by 1.0 FTE and English language learner teacher Laura Seybold will be reduced by 1.0 FTE. The secretary positions held by Nancy Tabrizi and
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