Menomonie School District Meeting 10/8/2018 - Sports Complex funding passes 5-4

Agendas and supporting documents for tonight's school board meeting are attached. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the meeting will be the vote on funding Phase 2 of the Sports Complex.

Again the expansion of the sports complex has been a difficult discussion. Several community members spoke in favor of funding Phase II, which other members spoke in opposition, questioning whether there are other prioirities in the district, maintenance of existing sports facilities, and whether this is not partly a competition with other districts that are more financially well-off than Menomonie. It was also discussed that this money might be better spent for teachers, counseling, etc.

Board member Jim Swanson made a motion to send this out as a $2 million referendum that would cover all of the final expansion of the project. Board member Styer spoke in opposition to this and recommended that the board simply fund the proposal in the board packet. Styer called for a vote to end discussion, which passed. The board then voted 5-4 to defeat calling for the referendum.

More spirited discussion followed revolving around the question of whether funding this request would lower the general funding below recommended levels of surplus. Questions were also raised about how the original request came about - mostly from coaches and parents, but not a formal committee. There were strong suggestions from several members to postpone a decision on this until after the ongoing strategic planning sessions are completed.

Discussion continued on about this. Discussion ended at 7:20

The motion to fund phase 2 of the sports project passed 5-4. 

Several staffing plans were discussed for the 2018-2019 school year. 

Discussion and policy review happened for the balance of the agenda items - Please see the upcoming video.

Further notes and video available on Tuesday.