Sparta School Board votes to show teachers appreciation

In what was termed a show of appreciation, the Sparta School Board voted 5-1 Tuesday not to require teachers to report to work on Monday, Feb. 14.

Students already had the day off and it was originally scheduled as an in-service for teachers to engage in professional learning. According to Superintendent Dr. Amy Van Deuren, that could entail a number of things, from bringing in a speaker to having break-out sessions on professional development.

“It’s almost like an internal mini-conference day for learning,” she said.

 Van Deuren said it was a way to say thank you to teachers who have been overwhelmed by staffing shortages due to the COVID pandemic and have been covering more than their own classes.

She pointed out that the Black River Falls School District is giving its staff either a two- or three-hour early release every Friday in February as a show of appreciation, while Tomah is giving its staff a $500 stipend.

Board member James Rasmussen, who cast the lone no vote, said he objected because he felt teachers’ professional development was too important. He also said taxpayers would be footing the approximately $100,000 the district will be spending on teacher salaries that day.

“To me it would be a cost because there is no production,” he said. “I take a look at the budget and how tight things are and for us to go ahead and expense out $100,000 to the taxpayers,” he added, noting students and other staff who already had the day scheduled off are left out.

He suggested finding a different way to show teachers appreciation.

“I’ve had board members ask me how we show appreciation and I don’t know how else we do it without additional impact on the budget,” said Van Deuren, noting a professional development day would likely reap little return at this point.

“If you work people to a certain level of exhaustion, how much are they going to gain from a day where they’re supposed to be learning and engaged?”

She added that some teachers will actually come into the building anyway to catch up on what they need to. “It seems like something we can do to actually show some support for our staff.”

Board member Ed Lukasek said while he shares Rasmussen’s concerns, he understands that school districts everywhere are at the end of their ropes, pointing to staff shortages and burnout rates across the state, not only among teachers but janitors and other employees.

“It isn’t something that we owe them,” he said. “It’s something out of respect and out of courtesy for our staff to go ahead and do this.”

“I can’t think of a better way to provide a professional development day than to give our staff a chance to breathe,” said board member Anthony Scholze.

Responding to a concern from board member Heidi Prestwood, Van Deuren said she would come back to the board with ideas to show appreciation to the rest of the staff.

In other business, the board voted unanimously to secure a loan not to exceed $200,000 to fund the Sparta Gridiron Booster Club’s contribution to the Memorial Field renovation project. It also approved including a plaza in the project plan.

That will result in a  $3.25 million Memorial Field renovation project that will include a $200,000 plaza to be funded by the Gridiron Club.

The base plan consists of artificial turf, a 1,750-person capacity grandstand, a press box, all new lighting, asphalt walkways and handicap accessibility.

The plaza is an elevated concrete area connecting the existing Gridiron building to the grandstands. It will sit 4 feet above field level and would provide a standing viewing area where spectators can congregate.

The Gridiron Club has committed to funding $250,000 of the project. It has agreed to give the school district $50,000 upfront and will fundraise the rest. The City of Sparta voted to give the Gridiron Club $82,436 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to help fund the project, putting the club over halfway to its goal.

The district will have to secure a loan to cover the Gridiron Club’s remaining commitment. The club will then pay off the loan through fundraising activities over the coming years.

Leah Hauser, the school district’s director of business services, said the district has a couple of options for borrowing. It can secure a loan from the State Trust Fund, which currently has 2.5% and 3% interest rates on five- and 10-year terms, respectively.

Or, it can go through local lending institutions to see if they can offer attractive rates. It was suggested that the school district pick up the interest on the loan as a donation to the project.