CRIVITZ – The Crivitz School District Board of Education held a special organizational meeting on Monday, May 4, where they elected new officers, made committee assignments and voted on key district appointments.
The meeting opened with the annual board organization and election of officers. Selections were made on private ballots, which resulted in Cory Siebert being elected as the new board president in a 4-3 vote over Caitlyn Deschane.
Kim Hanson was elected vice president, securing four votes against nominees Sarah Roman and Deschane. Kris Heidewald was elected as clerk unopposed, and Deschane was chosen as treasurer in a 4-3 vote over Amy Grandaw.
Additionally, the board also established its committee chairs and members for the new term as follows:
In other personnel choices, Justin Lauber was appointed as the new middle/high school principal.
Lauber previously served as the high school associate principal at the School District of Tomahawk beginning in July 2024. He also worked as a special education teacher and co-athletic director in the Bruce School District and received his masters degree from UW-River Falls.
In his application for the principal position, Lauber wrote, “As an administrator, I want to help foster an environment that prepares all students with the skills and knowledge to be successful, no matter the career and life path they take following high school. I also want to ensure that I foster an environment that is focused on continuous improvement and promotes all staff’s growth and collaboration.”
Addressing the board, Lauber spoke on his passion for working in special education, achieving his masters degree in school supervision and instructional leadership as well as his love for the outdoors and family ties to the Crivitz community.
The decision to hire Lauber passed 6-1, with Roman voting against the action. She cited a lack of time to review application materials and a desire to have the full board ask candidate questions earlier in the process.
In administrative business, the board voted to retain LGIP, Stevenson National and Associated Bank as the district’s designated financial institutions.
The board also voted 6-1 to retain the law firm of Renning, Lewis & Lacy as their legal counsel. Roman voted against the choice, requesting that the board hold additional discussions and consider alternative counsel options before committing.
Next, the school board held a discussion regarding proposed security camera upgrades.
District administration proposed replacing the elementary school’s older system and adding around 20 new cameras there, in addition to six new cameras at the high school.
The electrical wiring for this project is being handled by Mueller Electric as part of ongoing building renovations.
After reviewing bids with consulting engineer MSA, the administration favored the lowest bidder — Van Ert — whose proposal came in at $107,869.20. Van Ert’s bid included utilizing Open Eye software, which provides advanced search capabilities and allows the district to reuse existing functional cameras.
Ultimately, the board opted to table the camera system vote and sent it back to the buildings and grounds committee for a more thorough review due to concerns that the bids had not been reviewed by a committee prior to the board meeting.
Finally, the board unanimously approved the hiring of Colton Arky and Drake Hanson as summer maintenance helpers, working 20 hours and 40 hours per week, respectively.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here