The Highland School Board met on Wednesday, June 10th, with the Finance Committee meeting earlier. The finance committee met to develop recommendations for the full board concerning the teacher and support salary schedules. The committee also reviewed the 2026-2027 budget projections and fiscal year 26 expenditure and revenue updates.
The full board listened to Oliver Wolf make his senior exit project presentation.
He put together a plan to have goats clean the brush in the Highland School Forest. Oliver would like to pursue making this project into a small business in the future. This will not be Oliver’s first experience with goats in gleaning an area.
Goats do not find grass as tasty, but rather like the brushy thistle, burdock, and other thorny invasive plants. Instead of a fence, the goats will be wearing solar-powered collars. The collars use GPS to show location and report on battery condition. The collars connect with an app on a phone to control boundaries where the goats will be allowed to graze. This should control plants that in the past have not had a favorable outcome for the district.
Principal Ashley Halverson mentioned the donations the Highland School received. The Community Foundation awarded $4,400 for Student Education Planning. The Iowa County Dairy Promotion donated cheese, yogurt, and ice cream to the summer school program. She went to Richland County as the college was cleaning the buildings and putting new school supplies into dumpsters. In the tossed inventory, school supplies that could be fit into a vehicle were playground balls, digital cameras, and general education supplies, which were welcomed in the district. She gave a special thank you to Chelsea Olday and Upland Hills for their contribution to English Language Arts. The ELA includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language to foster critical thinking skills and is state-required but community-tailored. Halverson finished with an optional recommended read to the board of a document titled “The Harms of Screen Use” by the Surgeon General. This document mirrors the sentiment of the book The Anxious Generation.
Superintendent Josh Tarrell, the district administrator, reported that the insurance bid was down $10,000 from last year and that included cyber insurance. Tarrell continues to have discussions with Iowa-Grant. He said that he is happy with the concerts and heard such positive reports.
He also said the scoreboard will be repaired at less cost than originally considered for replacement and that Fillback continues to look for the best fit for a van to be purchased by the district for the uses and needs of the district. The ACT test redo, because of a glitch, had scores with an increase or no change. No down scores were reported. He mentioned the probability of an increased student-to-staff ratio and some students having higher needs and requiremore traveling.
Tarrell reported that nationally, Wisconsin is ranked 33rd in math and 30th in reading. It was mentioned that screen time might be part of the poor scores in Wisconsin. Discussion on options to reduce screens focused on the elementary students. Plans are to implement screens only as needed in the future curriculum, and how viewed by parents.
It was noted that students have been told not to bring a Chromebook to class, but it still happens, and they are able to view social media.
The Tech Ed Shop had three bids to do a deep clean in the shop area for fire and safety. The lowest cost bid was recommended and accepted, as they have done a thorough job in the past. The other shop discussion concerned the planer and whether it should be rebuilt or replaced. The present old planer needs some maintenance and operates differently from a new machine. The old planer is worth selling, and the decision to replace it, spending up to $6,000, was approved. Rebuilding the current would be about $5,000 and cost more in future years.
The board discussed the Academic and Career Planning Plan and it was approved. This aligns with the Portrait of a Graduate and relates to opportunities locally in Iowa County. The question is what this should actually implement, and how to engage all parents and caregivers who have students in the Highland School District. It was stressed that it is important for all students, including those with Individual Education Plans, from Pre-K through 12th. The implementation could be divided into four divisions and relies heavily on Social Emotional Learning and how to get along. Every age group has different expectations. The curriculum is intended to teach youth empathy, social awareness, and critical thinking skills through communication and collaboration. The goal is to build resilience to be reliable and responsible citizens. A discussion focused on the best way or time to get parents to be involved.
Other community meetings for the Boys Basketball Co-op and Girls Basketball Co-op were again discussed for getting the best engagement for these important topics.
The district newsletter was also discussed because the athletic schedule changes many times after the calendar is printed. The goal is to have an accurate, up to date schedule so fans do not show up to a canceled event. This is more problematic for out-of-town athletic events.
The Three-Year-Old Program Handbook follows the Wisconsin Daycare Licensing and Guide best practices. The rules and guidelines are different when it comes to potty training and the staff-to-student ratio in the final implementation.
The start time is suggested to be 8:15 a.m. to reduce traffic and confusion with the other student body. The same with the 3:15 p.m. release time.
The rules for reduced and free lunch, along with other wrap-around opportunities, are planned. This will be discussed in a yet-to-be-scheduled planned community meeting now that the plan is approved. This is the first year of a three-year-old education program.
Both the 2026-2027 Upland Hills Athletic Trainer and Therapy Services were approved with a 4% increase for a cost of $86,000.
In personnel concerns, the summer custodian asked to change to a fourday schedule at 10 hours per day. The schedule would be staggered to keep the building staffed all week in the summer.
Mike Aide is stepping down as the middle school football coach, but intends to be active and engaged for both middle and high school football teams. Grant Hying was approved to be the middle school football coach. The Athletic Director position has not had a qualified applicant to fill the position as desired for the needed responsibilities.
The District Administrative Assistant contract was offered to Joni Degenhardt after reviewing several great applicants for the position.
The summer school contracts were approved, and it was noted that summer school is off to a great start.
Jackie Johnson was offered the National Honor Society Advisor. A teacher contract was offered to Katie Olson to be part of Special Ed, the library, and some keyboarding.
In action from the finance committee, the professional staff salary scale was approved and discussed as to how that will affect the scale in the future, and hopefully retain educators. The Support Staff salary was decided to implement a template for consistency in the future, and when hiring. A wage increase effective for the 2026-2027 school year of 2.63% or an average of $1,519 per staff member was approved.
A special school board meeting was tentatively set for Thursday, June 25th, at 5:30 p.m.