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Beloit School District special meeting, date not confirmed yet

3 h 57 min · 3 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 3 h 57 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Beloit board votes 4⁠-⁠3 to move Beloit Learning Academy to high school 3:08:37

  • The board worked through options to reduce the preliminary budget, starting by unanimously approving a base reduction plan that a staff member said came to about $4,073,616 in reductions. 24:34
  • The board also unanimously approved a motion to move forward with the plan to sell Colac and move Colac staff and programs to other appropriate spaces. 3:28:21

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and public comment rules 0:45
    • Tia Johnson called the meeting to order at 5:02 and reminded members of procedural expectations and staff conduct policies. 0:45
    • A staff member reported that all members were present. ~4:16
    • One board member asked the board to waive Policy 187 to allow up to 30 minutes of public comment, and another board member moved an amendment to remove the limit on yielding time. 4:40
    • The agenda, the amendment and the amended public comment motion each carried unanimously. 4:40
  2. Public comment 7:14
    • Several speakers at public comment asked the board to weigh effects on Beloit Learning Academy students alongside cost savings and facility use. 8:16
    • Speakers said moving the program into the high school was not an appropriate response. 12:11
  3. Preliminary budget presentation 15:09
    • A presenter said the goal was a budget proposal that reduces the annual budget by $5+ million with little or no support from OPEB or fund balance. 17:08
    • The presenter said the base summary reductions came to about $4,073,616, and a staff member explained that a $100,000 virtual school reduction would limit high school students taking it in place of regular courses. 24:34
    • A staff member said that even with the whole base plan, $1,626,384 would still need to be eliminated. 34:11
  4. Base reduction plan summary 34:42
    • Tom Hankins asked why nursing changes and a $175,000 legal savings were not in the base plan, and a staff member said the legal figure discussed was $100,000. 37:40
    • A motion was made to approve the base reduction final option plan for 26⁠-⁠27 school year dated 6/17/26, and one board member asked to call it the preliminary base reduction plan. 41:08
    • Tia Johnson asked for a motion to add a provision that a policy be drafted and approved by the start of the '26-'27 school year addressing teams and clubs requesting field trip funds from the Board of Education. 46:44
    • The amendment carried, the base reduction plan carried unanimously and the field trip policy provision carried unanimously. 46:44
  5. Grant funding and staff raises 50:33
    • A staff member explained that AGR funding covers grades K through 3 at 18 students to 1 teacher or 30 students to 2 teachers. 54:14
    • A staff member said the raises were already built into the budget as it stood. 1:05:07
    • One board member said they were not opposed to changing administrative pay but preferred to wait for updated numbers. 1:05:35
  6. Elementary dean positions 1:07:50
    • A staff member said eliminating the elementary deans would save $588,000 and splitting them would save about $196,000. 1:07:50
    • One board member said the dean at Merrill could be cut, while another board member said they supported maintaining deans. 1:11:36
    • A staff member said 54 employees were listed at Colac in the 2017-'18 school year, compared with about 30 in '25-'26. 1:16:55
  7. Health services staffing 1:20:12
    • A staff member presented an option to reduce 2 FTE nurses, add a health room assistant and reduce the director position, for savings of $273,700. 1:20:12
    • Carol Fox moved to eliminate the director, reduce nurses to 3 positions and add a health room assistant so all buildings have one. 1:34:36
    • An amendment by Megan Miller to drop the nurse reduction failed 5 to 2, and an amendment by Dan Schooff to reduce 1 FTE nurse instead of 2 carried 4 to 3. 1:42:06
  8. District office positions 1:49:07
    • A staff member presented eliminating the director of CTE position at $140,000 and the superintendent administrative assistant position at $78,000, for total savings of $218,000. 1:49:07
    • One board member said the assistant was needed for open records requests, and a staff member said the Perkins grant is managed through CESA. 1:50:29
    • A speaker said it sounded like the will of the board was to keep both positions and that no motion seemed needed, with the positions brought back with new job descriptions, and a staff member said that was correct. 1:59:44
    • A motion to extend the meeting by half an hour carried. 2:00:24
  9. Moving Merrill students 2:00:46
    • A staff member said moving Merrill students would bring proposed reductions of $910,644. 2:00:46
    • A staff member said the move could add 3 bus routes at $210,000, with utility savings of only about $30,000. 2:02:57
    • Two board members each said they were not in favor of closing Merrill at this time. 2:04:37
  10. Item 2:08:31
    • A staff member presented reductions of $382,200 to move the academy to the high school, $1,232,600 to eliminate it and $299,200 to move it to Merrill. 2:08:31
    • The presenting staff member recommended against eliminating the program and said relocating it to Merrill would be the easiest move. 2:14:39
    • Dan Schooff moved that the district undertake a comprehensive space utilization study and report back no later than December 1st, 2026. 2:24:08
    • A motion carried unanimously, as did a motion to extend the meeting by another 30 minutes. 2:33:25
  11. Beloit Learning Academy relocation vote 2:34:01
    • One board member said they could not support the move for this school year, and another board member said they would not vote for it. 2:38:51
    • One board member said they supported the move with the understanding that behaviors would be addressed under board policies. 2:54:05
  12. Selling the Colac building 3:14:35
    • A staff member outlined considerations for moving staff out of Colac, including the technology department, the phone hub and board meeting space. 3:16:27
    • Dan Schooff said the building was built for $5.5 million and said reductions so far totaled $4,636,816. 3:18:25
    • Carol Fox moved to direct moving forward with the plan to sell Colac and move Colac staff and programs to other appropriate spaces. 3:28:21
    • The motion carried unanimously. 3:32:47
  13. Sale of vacant land 3:33:06
    • A staff member said the district has 8 smaller lots valued at about $13,500 per lot. 3:33:06
    • A motion to move forward with the sale carried unanimously. 3:35:09
  14. OPEB funds 3:35:27
    • A staff member said the total available OPEB balance as of February 28th, 2026, was $4,603,418. 3:36:22
    • A staff member said the district would budget OPEB money but not touch the cash unless needed at year-end. 3:37:25
    • One board member said they preferred not to decide on using OPEB at this meeting. 3:39:23
  15. Cunningham programs and Merrill dean 3:44:19
    • Carol Fox moved that the other programs at Cunningham be moved to appropriate spaces and that Cunningham School be shuttered for the '26-'27 school year. 3:44:19
    • One board member moved approval of 5 elementary dean positions for the '26-'27 school year with Merrill Elementary not receiving one, and another board member raised concerns about civil rights issues. 3:49:23
    • The meeting adjourned at 8:55. 3:56:35
    • A staff member first announced the Cunningham motion failed, then said it carried, and the dean motion was withdrawn. 3:47:33

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Special Board Meeting - 6/23/2026 (5:00 p.m.)”