The days of a stand alone football program will soon be a thing of the past for the Highland Cardinals.
Due to shrinking enrollment and a concern for the safety for the athletes the Highland School Board voted last Wednesday to co-op the football program with Iowa-Grant after this season. That will return the program to 11 man as it currently competes in eight person.
Highland has had one of the state’s most successful football program. It has made two state tournament appearances as an 11 man program, playing in the championship game at Camp Randall Stadium where they earned runners up honors. Those appearances were under coaches Bruce Hebgan and Joel Oleson.
The co-op will take on a different look for the fans as Iowa-Grant competes in the Six Rivers conference for football and the SWAL for all other sports. That will mean finding new facilities to watch their athletes play.
Highland already co-ops in wrestling with I-G and with the I-G gymnasts with the Dodgeville co-op.
Next year they will also co-op in softball and baseball, again because of a shortage of athletes.
The board also discussed co-oping in volleyball but tabled that discussion as while slim, there are still projected numbers to keep that sport at Highland.
Highland athletes will also be able to join the track, cross country and golf teams.
Also tabled was co-oping boys and girls basketball.
Further public meetings about cooping program are anticipated.
The deals are not completed until the Highland board accepts the contracts. There is concern about retaining Highland coaches in the I-G programs. It has been established that the current head coaches at I-G will stay in charge.
There is also concern about keeping Homecoming at Highland as part of the football season. That event draws alumni back to Highland and gives the business community a tremendous boost. Equity of games/events at Highland is also a concern to be discussed.
In other business the board filled the three year old program staffing by hiring Carley Soderstrom.
The Library Media Coordinator position will be filled by Morgan Hach.
The board passed a resolution authorizing contract renewals and issuance of intents to employ. The resolution includes an acceptance/rejection letter.
It was noted that two positions from this year will not be filled and the duties will be split among current staff.
A wage increase for the 2026-27 school year was tabled.
The board learned that grants are no longer available for feasibility studies. They also were informed that insurance will increase 7% and voted to keep the property and liability insurance with Tricor (EMC). The board received a presentation about forming a HOSA which is a student program for future health professionals. Having a chapter will open up programs which will be beneficial to the curriculum. It would start in the high school and could be spread to the middle school.
There is no cost to the district and the only fee would be for membership. The board later gave the program the go-ahead. The board also:
-approved a request for the FBLA trip to Nationals and gave an additional fundraiser the go ahead. -approved open enrollment requests
-approved the use of district owned athletic equipment for summer use -approved continuing with the Wisconsin School Nutrition Purchasing Co-op with is used to purchase school lunch supplies at a discount
-approved the contract with CESA #3 for needed services
-approved parental transportation of students compensation
-tabled trainer and therapy services with UHH.
Reports included that the lawnmower was sold for $5300, the concession stand work is complete and the lightning damage to the scoreboard is covered by insurance and has been repaired.
Under public comment the board heard an update on a new slate of officers for the Booster Club and was asked to increase participation. They also heard a report on the Little Dribblers program and received a request to move public comment to the end of their meetings so the public can hear about what is on the agenda, the action the board takes and then be able to comment and discuss.