By SARAH PARKER | County Line Editor
After meeting in a closed session Monday, the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton Board of Education agreed to hire TSP Engineers of Rochester, Minn., to create schematic design for a new track and field.
N-O-W will pay $9,000 to TSP for the design. Though the district will have a $24.9 million facilities referendum on the ballot on April 4, it will proceed with the track and field project regardless of whether the referendum passes, using $2.2 million it had received through the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund.
Besides a new track and field, the project also calls for a reconfigured football field and new physical education space.
Other business
• The homecoming parade is set for Friday, Sept. 29, in Ontario, with the dance at Brookwood High School on Saturday, Sept. 30.
• The board approved summer school dates for Monday, June 5, through Thursday, June 22.
• Brookwood will begin offering a half-credit math course focusing on the trades.
• The board approved an overnight trip to Wisconsin Dells for the school’s Safety Patrol.
• Speaking during the public comments section, school board candidate Anna Allison of Ontario said she was running for the board because she “cared about the parents and she cared about the children.”
She added that she had received “reports from children and parents about different incidents that go on. In fact, I’m kind of disappointed that they don’t come (to school board meetings). I tell them they should talk to you guys first.”
She said some of those incidents included “bullying. Some things are ignored; some things are overreactions to certain things. And there’s hiding of agenda in certain things. I know teachers have different ways of teaching, but some ways influence the kids, and some things to do with like their self-esteem and competition, but I believe we don’t have to lower our standards to be inclusive. There’s things you have to make exceptions for, like the special ed. You have to do different things for special ed.”
She did not provide specific examples of the aforementioned incidents.
She continued, “I do a lot of research, and I’ve seen the rankings in the school within the state of how many schools there are, where Brookwood is, and it’s not very good. There’s improvements, but I’d like to see it better. Brookwood has a lot to be proud of, but I want to see it to be the best one in the state.”
Allison did not cite a specific school ranking system.