CRIVITZ – As the next school year is about to begin, the Crivitz School District Board of Education prepared by closing out August with their regular meeting and annual meeting.
During the Aug. 19 regular meeting, two teachers from the district spoke during the public comment portion.
Computer science teacher Bryan Anderson spoke about the various roles he has had in the district over the past 10 years and financial compensation. He told the board about his experience with salary and stipend agreements that were not upheld when he was hired, received additional certifications or developed his own curriculums.
Art teacher Carrie Klitzke also brought up compensation in comparison to nearby local districts, spoke about financial proposals regarding interim compensation, board members and expansion plans that were discarded.
Board members are not able to respond to public comments.
In other communication, superintendent Kelly Robinson said during the committee and administrative reports portion that three school forest properties are due for timber harvesting management under a plan with the Department of Natural Resources. Robinson met with the Town of Lake about the process because they hold a property deed, but the school district manages the timber harvest.
Buildings, grounds and transportation director Tom White thanked the custodial and maintenance staff for managing summer cleaning alongside school renovations. He highlighted upgrades completed on the football concession area, including repairing rotting windows, updating the electrical system and repainting.
The school board then moved on to action items, beginning with the phone system upgrade bid from Marco Technologies for $57,867.88. Technology coordinator Nick Schramm explained that upgrading the system will save more money than completely replacing the entire system that was installed in 2015.
The board reviewed requested updates to the 2026-27 Coaches Handbook. These updates included the removal of “locker room” supervision requirements, correcting typos and the addition of an “Administrative Oversight and Conflict of Interest” statement.
According to the statement, “In situations where the athletic administrator also serves in a coaching capacity, or where a head coach or other member of the coaching staff also holds an administrative position within the district, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure impartial oversight and avoid any actual or perceived conflict of interest.”
In this situation, the district administrator — or another appointed administrator — would handle any and all “complaints, concerns, personnel matters or disciplinary issues” to “ensure fairness, consistency, confidentiality and compliance with district policies and procedures.”
A board member proposed having a human resources (HR) professional in place to handle evaluations or conflicts, but superintendent Kelly Robin said that the district does not have HR personnel on staff and hiring an outside firm would be a financial impact.
The board approved the handbook with all updates and to continue conversations about HR personnel in the future.
Next, the following personnel updates were approved:
Finally, the board entered into closed session. No action was taken on the superintendent/interim principal stipend.
Just ahead of the annual meeting, the board held a special meeting to approve personnel matters.
Bryan Anderson resigned as the computer science teacher and cross country coach. David Place was appointed as the head cross country coach and Mark Allard is helping at the middle school and was approved for a coaching position if he accepts it.
Additionally, Nicholas Chapman was approved as the head boys wrestling coach and Douglas Nowak was approved as the middle school coach.
The board then moved on to the annual meeting and elected a chairperson to preside.
Board member Amy Grandaw nominated board president Cory Siebert for the position and a resident nominated Justin Pusick.
An initial show of hands vote was counted by Robinson as 10-10. A recount of 11-10 followed this, but attendees requested to submit paper ballots to ensure accuracy. This resulted in another tie of 11-11.
To solve the tie, board vice president Kim Hanson was nominated. Another show of hands vote came out as 10-10-1, but Pusick was ultimately selected in a fifth and final round of paper ballot voting of 10-11-1.
Finance manager Sarah Jones then explained the financial report and the proposed budget.
The ending unaudited fund balance for all funds during the 2025 - 2026 school year was $28,689,543. The estimated ending fund balance for this school year is $12,724,349.
Jones explained that this $16,047,036 decrease is because the district is spending down its capital projects fund to pay for the ongoing referendum project. However, the general fund is estimated to receive a positive net change of $172,513. The community education fund is also set to increase from $30,000 to $65,000.
In other budget updates, Jones said $15,000 is set aside to be transferred from the general fund to the special education fund. Further transfers will most likely be needed as a $100,000 transfer was necessary last year, she explained.
The financial report and budget presentation were both approved by the electors with no final comments made.
In other financial items, electors voted to approve a total levy of $10,189,012, maintaining school board member salaries at $2,000 per year reimbursing their actual expenses.
All other agenda items were also approved by the electors. This included: Providing textbooks for students; allowing the district to retain legal counsel; providing school breakfasts and lunches; and maintaining student accident insurance.
The Crivitz School District Board of Education will hold their next annual meeting on Monday, Aug. 23, 2027.
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