Coleman School Enrollment Is Highest In Many Years

Coleman School Superintendent Doug Polomis reported happily to the school board at its meeting on Monday, Sept. 19 that the official third Friday count shows they have more students enrolled than they have had in a long, long time. He added that it appears the trend will continue, and this is good, because state aids are based on the number of students enrolled.
There are 368 students enrolled in the Coleman elementary school, 142 in Middle School and 235 in High School.“People are trusting us to give their students a good education,” Polomis declared.
He said the Freshman Class had ballooned, with 66 students enrolled. He commended High School Counselor Katrina Mayer for her efforts in registering all the new students and getting them into the proper classes, and for making all the new families welcome to Coleman High School.
The referendum-funded remodeling projects are completed, and the meeting was the first one for the board in its new board room in the elementary school portion of the building. The meetings had been held in the High School Library while the remodeling/renovation project was underway.
Polomis said overall the construction project that was done this summer is complete. They are still waiting for some office furniture and signs for the district office, but the Pre-K classroom and music room are done.
Polomis told the board that on Wednesday, Sept. 12 he had attended the conference principal’s meeting, where they discussed plans for the Kick-Off banquet to be held in Coleman on Wednesday, Sept. 28. He said the meeting of all conference coaches and advisors would be held at Coleman High School, followed by dinner at Romy’s.
The Coleman Homecoming scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7 will also be the annual “Tackle For Cancer” event organized by Tricia Zeitler. He suggested that any board members wanting to contribute should contact her.
There is to be a blood drive at the school from noon to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
At the start of the meeting Board President Jermy Hoida had commented that lots of people are using the new tennis court and basketball area. He said his kids and others really enjoy it, and thanked the Building Committee for getting it done.
Elementary/Middle School Principal Pam Berg reported that new and returning families had been welcomed with an open house on Tuesday, Aug. 30, for which there was an excellent turnout. She said they are also considering offering some evening hours to accommodate working families, on the first day of school elementary and middle school both had meetings.
The first day of school for students was a fun one, with meetings and activities for all, Berg said. The 5K through Fifth Grade students met as a grade level in the lecture hall where they began to roll out the “Zones of Regulation SEL” (social emotional learning) concept, as well as covering a few easy behavioral expectations. She had read the students a book called “Decibella and Her 6-Inch voice” to discuss expectations regarding voice levels in different situations.
Middle School met as a collective group at the end of the day to discuss the gender neutral dress code for grades 6 through 8. “The gender neutral dress code is simple because the same rules apply to everyone,” she said, adding that they are not enforcing the three to four inch length at Coleman, just encouraging modesty and appropriateness. She said it is difficult to even find shorts that fit that requirement, “...but the visual is clear and the kids seem to understand.”
She had introduced Coleman Police Chief Ida Soletske because she feels it is good for the students to get to know her.
Berg said
Paula Gruszynski of M&M Community Foundation had come to the school to talk about the Future Fund, and reminded the board that all students receive a $50 savings account as kindergarteners, and then they get an additional $5 as first and then second graders. Gruszynski spoke with the staff about this opportunity for the children to start a savings account and learn about the value of saving rather than the immediate gratification of spending.
Berg also talked about the Literacy project, which was to kick off the following day. All students will be eligible for prizes even if they do not sell any books, she said, “and our kids will go home with a lot of cool books.”
Polomis told the board the Wisconsin Education Association  (WEA) has decided to go out of the insurance business, and said they had gotten three bids from other insurance providers, including Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA), which was willing to match the WEA policy with a 5 percent increase. He said Health Partners had offered coverage at 13 percent lower cost, but they would not cover treatment from Prevea Health, which is the number one provider for Coleman employees, and a change right now, with short notice, “would cause a lot of problems for a lot of people.” He said 63 of the district’s 69 employees take health insurance through the school. He had been able to negotiate a 3 percent cost reduction with WCA, so starting Oct. 3 coverage will be through WCA.
However, in March they will go out for bids, and then make the best decisions for the district and the employees. he said this is a very large financial decision for the board, and added, “If we do need to make a change it is good to know a few months in advance.”
The board accepted the resignation of  Samantha Graves as a Special Education Paraprofessional and approved hiring Amy Bieber and Nicole Nowak as Special Education Paraprofessionals, Kristin Lahners as Homecoming Advisor and Kareena Gilbertson as Sophomore Class Advisor.
They also accepted a $1,000 donation for FFA from the Marinette County Dairy Promotions Committee in thanks for the work done by Coleman FFA members at the breakfast, and also approved a $200.12 donation for FFA from Zoetis.
Board Member Corey Kuchta said FFA had more  members helping out at the Dairy Breakfast than any other organization there, and when a large volunteer organization left a great group of older kids stepped up to work on parking. Others helped in the animal and games areas. He noted Coleman is the only school in Marinette County with a Future Farmers of America (FFA) group, so they get a donation from Zoetis every year.