WASD Board saves money by approving new administrative positions

Wautoma Area School District Incoming District Administrator Jewel Mucklin introduced two new administrative positions and the revised contracts for two administrators in an effort to save the District tens of thousands of dollars during the regular meeting of the Wautoma Area School Board on June 12 at Wautoma High School. According to Mucklin, after the Director of Curriculum & Instruction resigned earlier this school year the position was reconfigured within current roles and the positions of a full-time Elementary Assistant Principal/Data Assessment Coordinator and 25% District Mentor & Professional Learning Coordinator were created. By doing this, the District not only is saving money, it is also providing more opportunity for leadership roles. Mucklin added this plan wouldn’t have been possible without current and incoming members of the administrative team supporting the changes. Following the approval of the revised administrative contracts and two new administrative positions, the Board went on to approve Sarah Pietkauskis as the new Riverview Elementary Assistant Principal/Elementary Data Assessment Coordinator and Brittany Meier as a 75% Riverview Instructional Coach and 25% District Mentoring & Professional Learning Coordinator. Pietkauskis and Meier will begin their new roles on July 1st. Earlier in the meeting, Wautoma High School students Jonbenett Cervantes, Yessica Arreola, and Lupita Barcenas-Delgado provided a presentation on what their experiences in Belinda Peterman’s Translation/Interpretation Class over the course of the 2022-2023 school year. In the fall, the class offered help with translation throughout the community and heard back from a variety of organizations, presented at EL Family Night, and taught a lesson to the Spanish I students on a topic of their choosing. They also decorated a hallway display that showcased AP Spanish Themes in both English and Spanish as well as providing motivational sayings for students during finals week. Cervantes, Arreola, and Barcenas-Delgao explained how they provided translation assistance in social studies, math, and science classes to students who came to WHS and did not know any English. At the end of the school year, the new students shared insights on their experience with many expressing their appreciation for having Translation/Interpretation Class help them throughout the school year. During Administrative and Board Reports, members of the administrative team and the Board expressed their appreciation for this year’s retirees, including District Administrator Tom Rheinheimer, Chief Financial Officer Cindy Reilly, Lead Maintenance Director Wayne Craig, and Transportation Supervisor David Reilly. Mucklin provided an update to the Board regarding the Referendum Process, stating that the digital maps of the schools are being provided to Plunkett Raysich Architects, LLP (PRA) in order for them to issue a budget for the items requested by the Board heading into a second referendum question. She also said the District continues to meet with PRA and CG Schmidt, and on June 14, CG Schmidt will be on site for a walk through of Riverview. This walk through will help the District have a better understanding of what facility updates need to be completed at the elementary school since the referendum did not pass. Mucklin hopes to provide a budget of facility updates to the Board in July. The Board went on to approve the following agenda items: the resignation/retirement of Brittanie Mastricola, Wautoma High School Physical Education & Health Teacher, Kaitlyn Albrecht, Parkside School STEM Teacher, Alysson Bowden, Parkside School Middle School Interventionist/Title I Teacher, Shannon Johnson, Redgranite Elementary Physical Education/Wautoma High School Health Teacher, Natalie Rauchle, Parkside School Language Arts Teacher, Valerie Stahl, Wautoma High School Guidance Secretary, Michelle Siebert, Parkside School Secretary, Kendra Knutson, Wautoma Area School District A+ After School Coordinator, Crystal Koppen, Parkside School Cook III, Tammy Hansen, Redgranite Elementary Night Custodian II, Susan Davis, Riverview Elementary Kitchen Helper, Mackenzie Kasuboski, Parkside School Program Support Assistant, Eric Plaster, Wautoma High School Boys Soccer, Head Coach, and Gavino Morales, Wautoma High School Baseball, Assistant JV Coach; the employment of Jenna Wakeley, Wautoma Area School Transportation Director, Genna Knorr, Parkside School Grades 4/5 Counselor, Sarah Jensen, Wautoma High School Cheerleading/Spirit Squad Head Coach, A+ After School Program Hires, and Summer Food Staff. The Board also approved Policy 2431 Extracurricular Code Revisions, 2nd Consideration; 2023-2024 Wautoma High School WIAA Membership Renewal; SY2023-204 Riverview Elementary and Redgranite Elementary Student Handbooks; SY2023-2024 Revised Administrative Contracts; and the SY2023-2024 Individual Teaching Contract for Christopher Heitz, Parkside School Grade 8 Social Studies Teacher.