In a Monroe school board meeting Monday, Sept. 23, the board:
• Approved a girls swimming co-op with New Glarus for the 2014-15 school year and a boys hockey co-op for 2014-15. Both the swimming and hockey co-ops will have to be approved by the Badger Conference and WIAA. The Monroe boys hockey co-op with eight other schools will also have to be approved after this season because this is the final year of a two-year co-op agreement.
• Heard an annual report from Joe Monroe, the district's director of pupil services. Monroe said the district has 30 to 32 special education referrals a year and about 11 percent of the students receive special education services. He reported an increase in office discipline referrals and attributed it to more accurate reporting. The district will again give students a social and emotional screening to see if they have emotional needs such as anger that need interventions.
• Monroe said there were 10 students last year who instigated more than three incidents of bullying. The district, in conjunction with the Jacob SWAG Foundation, is planning on bringing in Dr. Justin Patchin, an expert on cyber bullying of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, to give a presentation in March to Monroe students. Other districts including Black Hawk, Argyle, Albany, New Glarus and Monticello, are invited.
• Honored five teachers with Lamp of Learning Staff Excellence awards for being Link Crew leaders for the freshmen orientation at Monroe High School. The teachers honored included Curt Miller, physical education teacher; Debbie Schmidt; school counselor; Rachel Showers, English teacher; Tim Brown, special education; and Josh Firgens, business and marketing teacher.
• Toured the Bauer Learning Center, the home of the Monroe Alternative Charter School, along with office spaces for virtual school staff. Monroe said 18 of the 23 students in the charter school program have chosen to take at least one class the high school offers. Board members also toured the new chemistry rooms at the high school.
-Mark Nesbitt
• Approved a girls swimming co-op with New Glarus for the 2014-15 school year and a boys hockey co-op for 2014-15. Both the swimming and hockey co-ops will have to be approved by the Badger Conference and WIAA. The Monroe boys hockey co-op with eight other schools will also have to be approved after this season because this is the final year of a two-year co-op agreement.
• Heard an annual report from Joe Monroe, the district's director of pupil services. Monroe said the district has 30 to 32 special education referrals a year and about 11 percent of the students receive special education services. He reported an increase in office discipline referrals and attributed it to more accurate reporting. The district will again give students a social and emotional screening to see if they have emotional needs such as anger that need interventions.
• Monroe said there were 10 students last year who instigated more than three incidents of bullying. The district, in conjunction with the Jacob SWAG Foundation, is planning on bringing in Dr. Justin Patchin, an expert on cyber bullying of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, to give a presentation in March to Monroe students. Other districts including Black Hawk, Argyle, Albany, New Glarus and Monticello, are invited.
• Honored five teachers with Lamp of Learning Staff Excellence awards for being Link Crew leaders for the freshmen orientation at Monroe High School. The teachers honored included Curt Miller, physical education teacher; Debbie Schmidt; school counselor; Rachel Showers, English teacher; Tim Brown, special education; and Josh Firgens, business and marketing teacher.
• Toured the Bauer Learning Center, the home of the Monroe Alternative Charter School, along with office spaces for virtual school staff. Monroe said 18 of the 23 students in the charter school program have chosen to take at least one class the high school offers. Board members also toured the new chemistry rooms at the high school.
-Mark Nesbitt