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New Berlin School District work session, Jul 27, 2026

1 h 59 min · 0 public speakers

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 11:47Phones in school ▶ 29:02

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 1 h 59 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

New Berlin school board approves paying non-exempt staff for weather-canceled days 1:45:34

  • The board held a work session on its 2026⁠-⁠27 goals and guardrails, discussing a proposed student wellness goal and a goal on screen time on school-issued devices. 3:13
  • Janet Schulz said the goals would come back as a regular agenda item for a formal vote at the next meeting. 1:05:46
  • At the regular meeting, the board approved a 10-cent increase to student lunch prices for the 2026⁠-⁠27 school year. 1:40:37
  • The board also approved an employee handbook change so non-exempt employees are paid when a day is canceled for weather or a power outage. 1:45:53

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Item by item (14)
  1. Work session opening and overview 2:48
    • Janet Schulz called the work session to order at 5:45 PM and said a quorum of members was present. 2:48
    • Janet Schulz said the session would review the mission and vision, set 2026⁠-⁠27 goals and guardrails, and decide on board development. 4:21
  2. Overarching goals and student wellness 6:17
    • One board member said the four overarching goals of student, staff, fiscal and community were still correct, and another board member said the board would keep them. 10:51
    • One board member proposed a goal to prioritize student wellness by tracking attendance, reviewing behavior data and using student surveys. 11:47
    • A staff member said the district already does an annual student survey and suggested presenting that data to the board. 12:51
  3. Screen time goal 28:49
    • One board member said they were not in favor of cell phones in classrooms, and a staff member said phones are allowed only at lunch and passing times. 29:02
    • One board member proposed directing the administration through a superintendent goal to find a way to monitor and minimize unnecessary screen time on school-issued devices. 34:18
    • One board member agreed to keep only the goal of reducing passive screen time after a suggestion to drop the bullet on increasing purposeful technology use. 41:11
  4. Staff goals 48:12
    • Janet Schulz asked whether to change the goals of monitoring retention of top performers and addressing the 2 lowest survey responses. 48:12
    • A staff member said retention rates are about 98% of highly qualified staff. 49:29
  5. Fiscal and community goals 52:35
    • Matt Zielinski said the facilities lead would tour all schools with the director of facilities to see the top issues. 52:55
    • One board member suggested a goal to identify potential next facility projects. 55:45
    • Matt Zielinski said community feedback asked why PTOs are expected to fund school libraries. 56:46
  6. Guardrails and next steps 1:02:09
    • Janet Schulz reviewed the guardrails, including not considering school consolidation or referendum to cover expenditures, and said there was nothing new or revised. 1:02:36
    • One board member said they still wanted a goal prioritizing student mental health and wellness. 1:04:40
  7. Regular meeting opening and closed session 1:06:17
    • Janet Schulz called the regular meeting to order at 6:49 PM. 1:06:17
    • Ron Seidl moved to go into closed session on closed session minutes and staff employment performance and compensation matters. 1:06:59
  8. Open session reports and donations 1:24:01
    • The board returned to open session at 7:06 PM, and Janet Schulz said no one signed up for privilege of the floor. 1:24:01
    • Matt Arend read the donation report, which included donations to support co-curriculars, a bus for the 6th grade field trip and track supplies and equipment. 1:25:20
  9. Consent agenda 1:27:11
    • The consent agenda included approval of the June 22nd board meeting minutes and the financial reports. 1:27:11
    • Janet Schulz announced the motion passed. 1:27:36
  10. Employee experience survey and staffing 1:27:54
    • The director of employment services said 91% of certified staff and 78% of all staff took the survey, with 506 of 652 surveys returned. 1:28:25
    • The director said 97% of staff would recommend the district, and teacher retention rose to 97% from 96%. 1:28:25
    • The director said 2.6 FTE certified positions were vacant. 1:36:53
  11. Academic standards notice 1:40:08
    • The item was the annual declaration and parent notice of the district's student academic standards for the 26⁠-⁠27 school year. 1:40:18
    • Janet Schulz announced the motion passed. 1:40:37
  12. Student lunch price increase 1:40:37
    • A staff member requested a 10-cent increase, citing staff wages, insurance costs and equipment work such as a $120,000 generator at Eisenhower. 1:41:02
    • Ron Seidl asked whether free and reduced participation would increase and what the federal reimbursement rate was. 1:43:54
    • Amanda Peterson asked whether the increase would affect free and reduced approval, and a staff member said no. 1:44:32
    • Janet Schulz announced the motion passed. 1:45:12
  13. Employee handbook change 1:45:12
    • A staff member said non-exempt employees are not paid when a day is canceled for weather or power loss and recommended a handbook change. 1:45:53
    • Matt Arend asked how many employees would be affected, and a staff member estimated around 300-ish. 1:48:34
    • One board member said they were in favor, citing the staff survey. 1:56:34
    • Janet Schulz announced the motion passed. 1:57:10
  14. Closed session action and calendar 1:57:10
    • Ron Seidl moved to approve the staff employment performance and compensation matters as presented. 1:57:26
    • Janet Schulz said the next meeting is August 10th, the budget hearing and annual meeting is September 28th, and school starts September 1st. 1:57:36
    • Janet Schulz announced the motion passed, and the meeting later adjourned. 1:57:36

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

Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Board of Education Work Session & Meeting 7/27/2026”