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Ripon Area School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet

1 h 26 min · 0 public speakers

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Ripon Area school board approves health care proposal 34:51

  • The board approved a health care proposal after a presenter outlined a recommended plan, Alternate 2, with a base plan and an HSA buy-down option. 20:37
  • A presenter said keeping the current plan would have meant a $394,000 district uptick in cost, compared with an additional $185,000 under the Alternate 2 base plan. 20:37
  • A district staff member reported the mill rate would drop by about 11 cents per $1,000 in property value to $6.25 under the 2026⁠-⁠27 tax levy. 38:32
  • The board passed first readings of several Neola policy updates and the consent agenda unanimously. 51:50
Item by item (14)
  1. Opening and board mission 0:03
    • The board read a Board of Education mission developed at a board retreat in place of the district vision. 0:41
  2. School and student reports 1:32
    • Staff from Barlow described monthly all-school meetings and school agreements students created with each class. 1:32
    • A presenter described a Giraffe Award for which staff nominate staff members each month, and a speaker said any adult in the building can nominate students each week who follow the school's agreements. 4:46
    • A student council representative reported on high school playoff games, a club food drive for the Ripon Pantry and efforts to recruit blood donors. 13:22
  3. Donations to the district 18:38
    • The board reported no public comments for the evening. ~18:38
    • Donations included $10,000 from Hy-Vee to high school athletics and $3,285 from the East Central Benefit Tractor Cruise to the Student Needs Fund. 19:05
  4. Employee health care plan 19:49
    • A presenter said the group removed Alternate 1 because maximum out-of-pocket costs were as high as $7,500 and $15,000, and chose the Alternate 2 plan as its suggestion. 20:37
    • A staff member said the employee premium share for the base plan stays at 12%, while on the HSA plan the district would pay 93% and the employee 7%. 27:55
    • A speaker said the meetings are scheduled for the first week of November, during the open enrollment period. 37:55
    • The motion to approve the health care proposal as presented passed. 34:51
  5. Tax levy and budget changes 38:32
    • A staff member said the mill rate would drop by about 11 cents per $1,000 in property value to $6.25, which the staff member called an all-time low. 39:47
    • The staff member said the total tax increase is 2.15%, almost $157,000, and that the district lost more than $300,000 of general equalization aid. 40:10
    • The staff member said property reassessments in the City of Ripon are shifting the levy from other properties to homeowners. 41:09
  6. Policy first readings 50:25
    • A speaker for the Policy Committee said the Act 89 policies are mandated by the state. 50:49
  7. Staffing report and consent agenda 58:20
    • The board received the staffing changes report without questions. 58:20
    • The consent agenda passed unanimously. 59:09
  8. Strategic planning recommendations 58:46
    • A staff member said 51 people met on September 23rd and 24th to revisit the mission, vision and core values and set strategic objectives. 59:48
    • The staff member said there are 6 five-year strategic objectives. 1:04:20
    • A speaker said there is a plan for measuring progress on the objectives. 1:05:30
  9. High school course proposals 1:06:02
    • A staff member presented 6 courses proposed for the '27-'28 school year, including 3 new AP courses. 1:06:11
    • The staff member said board approval would be sought next month. 1:09:06
  10. 4K program review 1:12:11
    • A staff member said a team is reviewing the 4K program with the intention of bringing a recommendation to the board in December. 1:12:59
    • The staff member said the graduating class was 119 students, while the incoming 4K class was 69. 1:13:28
    • A speaker asked whether describing the program as play-based might lead some parents to think it is not academic enough. 1:14:13
  11. Staff survey update 1:16:57
    • A staff member said a staff feedback survey closed with 67 responses and that options would come to the board as a discussion item in November. 1:17:16
  12. Pledge of Allegiance at meetings 1:18:09
    • A speaker asked the board to consider saying the Pledge of Allegiance at meetings. 1:18:35
    • A speaker said other government bodies in the area do it. 1:19:44
  13. Curriculum and budget reports 1:20:20
    • A speaker asked what the Spring Math screening covers in middle school, and a staff member said the information would be provided. 1:20:45
    • A staff member said net revenue through September was a loss of $954,000, consistent with previous years, and food service had net income of $8,327. 1:21:57
  14. Meeting reflection and closed session 1:23:49
    • Board members were asked to share what went well and what they would change about board meetings. 1:24:08
    • The board was asked for a motion to convene into closed session. 1:25:13

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

Who spoke

Who spoke

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Video: posted by the district as “Ripon Area School District Board Meeting 10/19/26”