The Iowa-Grant school board had a busy agenda at their regular meeting Monday.
The board approved a routine consent agenda which included minutes of last month’s meetings, contracts returned, the Finance Committee’s recommendation for payment of monthly bills, and an agreement with Southwest Technical College for drivers education was approved on a voice vote.
The board received several donations which they accepted with gratitude. The donations include:
- $10,000 from Iowa-Grant Booster Club for football field sound system
- $1200 from Iowa-Grant Booster Club for three new TV’s for High School
- $150 from Iowa-Grant Lions Club for RIF (Reading is Fundamental)
- $142.84 from the Iowa-Grant Class of 1973 for Panther Packs
- $142.83 from the Iowa-Grant Class of 1973 for lunch accounts
- $126.00 from Trinity Episcopal Church for Panther Packs
- $100 from Iowa-Grant Booster Club to go towards Grab A Cone for Staff Appreciation Week
- Pork from Weber Meats for the FFA Banquet
- Teacher Appreciation week: o Pizza from Community First Bank
- Dirty Sodas from Patrick and Rita Riley
- Coffee Bar from Royal Bank
Retirements
Three staff members have notified the board they will be retiring. The board accepted their request and commended them for their years of service.
Those retiring are Special Education Assistant Sheila Campbell; District Bookkeeper Lorretta Reimanapp; and Food Service Supervisor Barb Hugill.
Other Business, Requests and Reports Year end updates and events were detailed by the principals during their reports.
The board received a request from high school activities director Zach Raimer to consider additional coaches for sports teams with three levels of competition. Many times all three teams play at the same time leaving no help for the varsity coaches.
Superintendent Michael Shimshak updated the board on the locker room renovation project, the insurance claim for the Hazel Dell school’s storm damage; and the ongoing discussions with Highland Community Schools about the possibility of more co-ops for sports in the upcoming years.
New Development
Shimshak advised the board about positive developments in school funding at the state level. A special
session bill is in the works to increase funding to special education and in general state aid. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau calculates that under its current iteration, the special session bill would send the Iowa- Grant School District an additional $71,983 for special education funding for the 2025-2026 school year and $194,779 for fiscal year 2026- 2027. Because the bill’s formula for general state aid is dependent on September 2026 enrollment, calculation of general state aid for next year isn’t possible, though the outlook is favorable.
Old Business
-The Emergency Nursing Plan was approved.
-The board once again re-elected its officers due to a procedural error in the previous meeting. Wisconsin statute requires the election of officers to occur within 30 days of the 4th Monday in April.
New Business
The board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Iowa County Opiod Task Force to continue its Sources of Strength suicide prevention program. The agreement stipulates that there is no cost to the cooperating school district; no fees or billing will be issued unless agreed upon in writing in advance; and that participation does not create any financial obligation for the school district.
The board also approved an annual review of the Iowa County Schools Safety Plan. The plan, developed in cooperation with Iowa County, is unchanged from its original form and standardizes language and procedures across all school districts in the county. A requirement for annual review is a part of the original plan.
Closed Session Action
The board returned to open session to act on a series of personnel matters.
-A list of volunteer chaperones for the 4th-grade field trip was retroactively approved:
The list of chaperones for the 4th grade field trip includes: Becca Raisbeck, Mary Dahl, Ashley Kosa, Beth Mueller, Michelle Pickel and Leia Shemak
-David Cushman was approved to be an assistant Football Coach.
-Madison Grunwald was approved to be a 4th Grade Teacher.
-Carrie Neff was approved to be an 8th Grade English and language arts teacher.
-Christi Kennicker was approved as a long-term substitute for fouryear-old kindergarten for the 2026- 2027 school year.
-Summer school teacher contracts and weightroom supervisors were approved for employment.
The list of summer school teachers includes: Jordan Boettcher, Bucky Boland, Darcy Breuer, Reagan Crist, Emily Downs, Jen Dubois, Heather Gile, Christi Kennicker, Rebecca Kretschman, Marta Leix, Amanda Linscheid, Debra Marty-Kramer, Heather Mayne, Karen McMannes, Brittany Nicksic, Dan Prochaska, Karyssa Prohaska, Art Pronschinske, Jennifer Rogstad, Mandy Rosemeyer, Tricia Sander, Michelle Tollefson, Rebecca Vacha, Amy Vesperman, Katie Wanie, and Anna Yelinek.
-The list of weightroom supervisors includes: Ryan Allen, Jacob Amenda, Dan Baker, Ryan Brown, David Cushman Shawn Dailey, Abe Enloe, Brent Holman, Tyler Kennicker, Marta Leix, Hayden Link, Karen McMannes, Art Pronschinske, Shaun Reuter, Kyle Riemenapp, Alexis Stevens, Adam VanOvermeer, and Jacob Winkler.
-The board took action on its summer custodial staff with Kenneth Halverson hired as a student helper and Lisa Henkel as substitute custodian.
-2026-2027 Non-Represented Contracts were approved for Human Resources/Payroll Specialist Allison Batton; Elementary/Middle School Administrative Assistant Danielle Hasburgh; District Nurse Amanda Linscheid; High School Administrative Assistant Alisha Martin; and Maintenance Manager Michael Oium.
Other Contracts
The 2026-2027 Extra-Curricular Contracts were approved.
A notice to support staff of expected continued employment was approved.
A final Notice of Non-renewal for Reduction in Force for business teacher Jessica Schultz was approved.
An adjustment of the salary schedule for the middle school activities director was approved. The new salary will be 5.5 % of the base teacher salary. The game manager pay is increased from $60 to $65 per high school evening event.
Administrative salary increases of slightly below a 2.63 % inflationary index were approved for the principals and business manager.