SPRING VALLEY – The School Board of the School District of Spring Valley (SDSV) had a variety of discussion points during a May 31 meeting including an internal hiring policy, a switch to a committee structure for the board in the future and a staffing update.

Many of the board members were involved in the conversation of potentially adding priority to internal hires over external hires during the hiring process.

Board member Dan Stasiek was critical of what putting this into policy could mean for potential applicants.

“That’s hard to do at a small school. It’s hard to do at any school,” Stasiek said. “Maybe they don’t have the education to be an actual teacher, but they want to help, they are going to be, by policy, immediately taken out of this.”

Other members of the board felt Stasiek’s statements would be accurate, but believe the policy would only be a tiebreaker between candidates.

District Administrator John Groh said this was already a part of their decision making process and if it is part of how they operate, it should be in policy.

“I believe we already do exactly what [Stasiek] said,” Groh said, “If all things are equal, you would want a teacher to do it.”

The board agreed to look into how other schools put this into policy and compare it to what the district currently has in place to make any further decisions.

Meeting changes

The board agreed to switch the structure of their meetings. The previous structure involved a board meeting two Mondays every month.

Now, the board will meet every third Wednesday of the month, establishing committees that will meet as needed. The committees the board decided to try out are the Building and Grounds Committee, the Policy Committee and the Personnel/Finance Committee.

Board members agreed if the new structure is not working out, they will revisit and debate returning to the previous format.

Due to the district’s new meeting schedule, the next school board meeting will take place June 21.

Teacher retirements

The school district honored six retirees from across the district, giving them thanks for everything they have done.

High school teacher Greg Dieckman retired after 33 years with the SDSV.

Food service staff member Susie Doffing retired after 21 years with SDSV.

High school special education teacher Sharon Fox retired after 31 years with SDSV.

Bus driver Jack Hannack retired after 23 years with SDSV.

District accountant Sandy Langer-Wood retired after 25 years with SDSV.

Substitute aide Denise Witucki retired after 18 years with SDSV.

Open positions

The school district is still looking to fill open spots for the coming school year.

Spring Valley High School is looking for a math teacher, but there is belief as a last resort they could shift around current teachers to make things work.

The elementary school is in need of two special education professionals and a second-grade teacher. In addition, the school is in need of a long-term substitute teacher for fourth grade but has some applicants.

The district is looking to find applicants for these positions soon, in order to have a locked-in plan for the coming school year.

District Facilities Study

The board will determine a date and time to meet and establish priorities for updating district facilities. The district has approximately $1.9 million set aside for capital improvements. The money can only be used for these projects. The Wisconsin Department of Public Intstruction allowed for the creation of these types of “savings” accounts in 2015. Since then, the board has deposited surplus funds into the account at the end of each fiscal year. These funds have allowed the district to complete the middle/high school library, weight room remodel and many other smaller projects.