Wauzeka-Steuben initiates closed campus discussion
By Steve Van Kooten
After three months, the Wauzeka-Steuben Board of Education has managed to fill the opening on its roster. Brandon Millin took his oath at the beginning of the board’s July 15 meeting.
Millin fills the spot left vacant when Mara Hird, the former board treasurer, declined to run for office in April. Spence Bunders originally succeeded Hird; however, he tendered his resignation to the board before his first meeting.
Along with Millin, President Nikki Asleson, Vice President Jessica Bird and Treasurer Ken Buck were in attendance. Also present were interim district administrator Dr. Gary Albrecht, principal Tiffany Dums, Jeff Mara, Kevin Kilburg and athletic director Austin Bunders. Board Clerk Thomas Martin was absent.
The board approved a handful of policies during the meeting, but the main issue was an open discussion about the school’s status as an open campus and community accessibility for the fitness center, gym and weight room.
Accessibility
Asleson said the district was “looking into the potential for a closed campus and limiting public use hours.” The meeting held an open forum where staff and community members could provide input to the board on both topics.
Aselson said both issues were brought to the board’s attention “several times” in the past. She cited damage to facilities, tampering with items for public events and a lack of oversight in the gym and weight room facilities during early and late hours.
She clarified that the fitness center was donated to the district to be a publicly accessible facility.
“We just want to hear thoughts, concerns and ideas,” Aselson said.
Albrecht addressed both issues at the same time: “All of these items have importance regarding safety, security, maintenance of our building and also liability. Who is responsible for people in the school building when the staff are not there?”
He also said the requirements for risk insurance have become more stringent over the past few years, and facility accessibility contributes to that problem as well.
“My intent is not to close down the building or keep them locked unnecessarily,” Albrecht continued. “We want people to be using [sic] the buildings. We just want to make sure we’re being responsible.”
Bunders spoke in favor of keeping the facilities open to athletic teams and students, citing mental health benefits from exercise, giving the entire community the most opportunity to access the facilities and preventing alienating student athletes by restricting their access to the gym and weight room.
“I would really hate to see these things taken away from our kids,” said Bunders.
Bunders also addressed the two incidents of vandalism in the past and said they happened “a few years ago,” but there had not been any further incidents since then. Albrecht later confirmed there were “minor incidents” of vandalism.
Other public comments favored keeping the facilities open to the public and student population.
Albrecht suggested the district should start doing its research on how many people use the publicly accessible facilities during overnight hours and early mornings and how many access keys are unaccounted for.
“We have to look at these issues as not just problems but also as opportunities to improve the way we operate,” said Albrecht.
Closed campus
Dums said she wanted to spearhead the school’s status as an open campus. When asked why the school wanted to change to a closed campus, she answered, “Mainly for security purposes. We’ve got to be the only school district on this side of the state that still has an open campus.”
Albrecht said the district wanted to see “consistent access and egress procedures” to maintain the safety of students and staff when they were in the school building.
According to Dums, the school remained an open campus to allow students to go home and eat during the lunch hour; however, she said the district “really isn’t seeing the need for it anymore.”
The closed campus discussion has been raised in multiple public meetings over the past several months, and Dums said the district has not received substantial pushback.
Both issues will be explored in the future, with Dums planning to address the closed campus status in CSIC meetings. The board continues to welcome public input on both issues. The board did not take any action during the meeting.
Other business
• approved hiring Jaci Williams for the JV volleyball program. Coaching hires for the fall sports season were moved to a closed session.
• approved school handbook for the 2024–25 school year. Only change was the high school eligibility bulletin for the new year and “moving some names around” for the board and staff members.
• approved athletic code for the 2024–25 school year.
• the board voted to keep student fees the same next year. Albrecht said, “We didn’t see the need to increase the student fees at this time.” Mara said the fees are $10 per sport with no cap.
• approved a 10 cent raise for student lunch prices. Breakfast will remain the same price next year. According to Albrecht, the state’s Department of Public Instruction limits the increments that districts can raise lunch prices in a given year, and the raise was to prevent the district’s food services department from falling behind in the future. Mara said food services finished the 2023–24 school year with $2,800 “in the black.” He projected food services may see a shortfall next year between $3,000 and $4,000. The district distributes approximately 12,000 lunches per year, which means the raise will accrue approximately an additional $1,200 next year.
