Matthew Ballance

This document outlines the strategic initiatives for the 2025-2026 school year, focusing on five key areas: Learning and Teaching, Wellness, Foundational Systems, Athletics and Activities, and Innovation. The plan aims to prepare all students for the future by addressing their needs and developing their interests, ensure access to comprehensive mental and physical wellness resources for all students and staff, transparently advance long-term facilities, fiscal integrity, and strategic staffing, connect every student to athletics and co-curricular opportunities, and provide an innovative and evolving educational experience.

This document provides an Instructional Space Analysis Study for the Reardan-Edwall School District. It aims to eliminate the district's reliance on portable classrooms by assessing current space utilization across elementary, high school, middle school, alternative learning programs, and special education. The study highlights that current on-campus instructional space is fully utilized, with approximately 25% of the district's instructional capacity housed in portable buildings, driven primarily by middle school growth. The report proposes permanent construction to replace up to 10 portable classrooms and associated office/support spaces, address leased space needs, and outlines proposals for prioritized permanent space additions for middle school, special education, and alternative learning, with future plans for CTE/Ag and additional Options replacements.

The committee meeting focused on analyzing instructional space requirements, addressing current facility constraints, and reviewing permanent space plan proposals. Key topics included a review of audit findings regarding portable and leased classroom utilization, strategies for framing capital projects, and a comparative analysis of phased versus immediate funding approaches using levy and bond strategies. Participants discussed project costs, local tax rate impacts, and prioritized infrastructure needs such as classroom additions, facility remodels, and site improvements.

The board meeting agenda covered a range of operational and administrative topics, including updates on travel guidelines, the elementary math curriculum, and sidewalk discussions with the town. Action items included the adoption of a revised school year calendar, delegating authority to the WIAA, updates to bid and request for proposal policies, the approval of scholarship recipients, and various personnel actions such as hires and revised retirement dates. The board also accepted several donations for extracurricular programs and awarded sealed bids to the highest bidders. Financial updates included a review of payroll, account payables, and budget status reports.

The board meeting included a facilities committee update and finance report during the workshop session. Business items involved student representative reports, recognitions for school security and various state athletic achievements, and a legislative session update from the superintendent. Discussions were held regarding supplemental workshop facilitators and updates to bidding requirements policies. Action items included the adoption of a new SEL curriculum, revisions to policies on learning assistance programs and sexual harassment, approval of an overnight field trip, various personnel hires, and the authorization to surplus two buses.