PESHTIGO – During the Peshtigo School District Board of Education meeting on Sept. 9, board members took action on new staff policies and planned for the beginning of the school year and beyond. Before moving into the agenda items, the floor was opened for public comments.
District parent Cassie Motkowski shared her desire for the school district to hire a school resource officer (SRO), encouraging board members to reach out to other local districts with SROs to learn how they fund them and contact the City of Marinette Police Department about SRO positions.
Additionally, Motkowski also said that the district should stop holding events open to the public during school hours, provide an update on controlled entry for events and determine whether an SRO can be hired ahead of the strategic planning process.
Next, director of curriculum Kami Harvey provided an update on the district goals and strategic priorities.
The student academic growth goals are that by the end of the school year, the amount of students performing at a “meeting/advanced level” in English Language Arts (ELA) and math will increase by 5%.
Superintendent Patrick Rau then spoke about Act 89, a new piece of school legislation that mandates the completion of annual training on preventing, recognising and reporting grooming and/or sexual misconduct. The training will be completed by all school employees, coaches, volunteers, support staff and board members.
School board member Tony O’Neill asked if there was any similar training for students to recognize grooming and unhealthy boundaries. Rau said that the topic is covered in middle school health class, but noted he will look into it.
Director of student services Julie Williams shared the seclusion and restraint annual report from the 2025 - 2026 school year.
Williams explained that seclusion and restraint are used “as a last resort by [Crisis Prevention Institute] trained staff in de-escalation and restrainment techniques… When a student’s behavior presents a clear, present and imminent risk to the physical safety of themselves, other students and staff and is the least restrictive form of intervention.”
She added that it is “used no longer than necessary to resolve the risk to the physical safety of the student or others.”
When these situations occur, the district requires that parents be notified before the end of the school day, a copy of the report sent to parents within three business days and a meeting is held to discuss the incident.
At the elementary school, there were three incidents of physical restraint used — two of which were students with disabilities and one student without disabilities. There were also two incidents of seclusion used among students — one with disabilities and one without. There were no incidents at the middle/high school.
Williams added that Peshtigo School District is a level one district out of three levels, meaning that it has a very low rate of seclusion and restrain usage.
In financial updates, the board approved the following donations:
A motion was made to approve changing the high school graduation date to May 21, 2027. This was done to accommodate a scheduling change for the state track and field competition, which will be held over multiple days instead of one day.
The meeting closed with Rau’s administrator report, where he shared the positive feedback received following the ribbon cutting ceremony in August. He also advised parents to exercise caution during busy drop-off and pick-up times as the West Park Drive construction project nears completion.
The Peshtigo School District Board of Education will meet next on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 6 p.m. in the PELC. The annual meeting will be held on Oct. 26.
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