Hurley hears report about State Report Card

By LARRY HOLCOMBE

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Hurley — The Hurley Board of Education heard from administrators about the district’s recently released State Report Card.

Elementary principal Steve Lombardo and middle/high school principal Melissa Oja said they were overall pleased with the scores.

Lombardo said the elementary scores were based on a statewide standardized test taken by all third through fifth graders last spring. He said Hurley’s elementary students scored 72.3%, which was up from 71% last year, putting the district in the “exceeds expectations” category. He said their achievement scores went up in math to 84.8%, well above the state average, and the scores for “On Track for Graduation” and “Absenteeism” were strong.

ELA, or English Language Arts, continues to be an “area of focus for the elementary staff ... as it has in the past,” said Lombardo. “Overall, we’re very pleased with the results.”

Oja said on the middle/high school side, Hurley was in the “meets expectations” category, and showed improvement in overall scores from 59.2% to 63.3%. She attributed some of this to “solid growth” in language arts scores, and improved math scores with at-risk students, as well as strong achievement scores.

Both Lombardo and Oja credited the teachers for their fine work with the students.

Oja told the board how middle school math teacher Nick Thull has his seventh grade students teaching fourth grade students math.

“It’s just awesome seeing what they’re doing together,” said Oja.

Superintendent Kevin Genisot cautioned putting too much weight on the State Report Card, adding the district is looking at a wholistic approach to education.

Genisot said they don’t look “to see what that score is, to see if we’re successful as a district. What we look and see are kids that leave as a senior, do they have meaningful employment, do they have a pathway, what is their plan? ... Do they have the skill set needed to do what they want to do, have the knowledge to know how to get there? That’s how we see success. ... We work to see that every kid who leaves here has the skill set, they have the knowledge, have the means to get what they want to do.”

In other matters, the board heard:

—Lombardo and Genisot talk about the idea of the district starting a cross country ski team -- either a club sport or a varsity sport. Genisot said they’re exploring the idea as an option for the students because there are so many trails in the area, it’s a life sport and “who has more snow than we do?” Lombardo said the district’s elementary cross country program fell by the wayside during COVID due to a lack of volunteers. He said a club team or varsity team could be associated with the Wisconsin Nordic Ski Alliance, which works with small and larger schools to help set schedules, adding “Where we are, it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

—Oja speak about some discussions a group of teachers and others have had about renovations to the high school library. She showed some preliminary drawings of movable sound barriers and seating options, and spoke about technologies that could be incorporated in the remodeled space. The district hopes to settle on a design and let bids out in early 2023 for work to be done next summer.

—Rich Huotari, head of maintenance, speak about the district’s 10-year Building and Grounds Plan. The list of 25 items included two things he and Genisot said needed priority attention — upgrading the HVAC system to digital from pneumatic and replacing the dust collector for the shop. The HVAC system is as old as the school, 32 years; and the dust collector was moved from the old school.