Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Marinette School Board discusses public opinion on Garfield Elementary and Title IX

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MARINETTE – The Marinette School Board held their most recent meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The meeting began by approving the consent resolution agenda, which included two new hires.

Matt Marotz was hired as the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department chair at the Marinette High School. Connor Nelson will take over the position of math department chair at the high school as part of his fourth year in the district.

Next, student representative Kyle Vergara shared student updates. This included an overview of recent fall sporting events as well as students coming together to prepare for homecoming.

The board then heard comments from the public. A local community member, Dan, came forward to share his concerns over the usage of Garfield

Elementary School property and questioned what the exact fate will be.
Current Marinette parent and former student Nick voiced concern over student graduation progression success, compliance with Title IX and the usage of Garfield Elementary School property.

The final public comment came from Amy, who spoke on Title IX and asked what the bathrooms will look like in the schools. She voiced similar concerns over the former school property and what it will be used for in the future.

The board shared further information regarding Garfield Elementary School with the property. They shared that the developer is Alliance Construction from Wrightstown and that preliminary housing development plans are being shared with the city. The sale will not be complete until zoning approval is achieved.

In Title IX news, the Marinette administrators and staff members underwent training where they watched a webinar and held discussions. Since the beginning of the school year, the Marinette School District has received no calls with questions.

On Sept. 11, Marinette was added to the Mom’s for Liberty Injunction, which is a federal lawsuit against the Department of Education for Title IX regulations. Regarding this, the district shared that students who wish to use a bathroom not aligning with their sex assigned at birth must work with student services to validate the change. Less than one percent of the student body has discussed this with student services. This change applies only to students, not to adults in the building. Any questions should be referred to building principals.

Next, the board approved the Marinette High School band performance and trip to Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich. from Oct. 18-20.

Finally, the meeting closed out with the Superintendent’s Report. Superintendent Lambie recognized the hard work of three members of the district. This included School Social Worker Marissa Nault who was nominated for School Social Worker of the Year, math educator Rebecca Brink was recognized by Wisconsin Mathematics Council for serving as a member and former high school track and field coach John Sitek had the track named after him during the summer break.

The Marinette School Board will meet next on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. in the District Office Community Room at 2139 Pierce Ave.

Marinette School Board, Marinette School District, Garfield Elementary School, Title IX