[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6488442,"mediaKeyId","5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb","parentId",5576866,"title","Parent urges district to \"get priorities back in line,\" criticizes curriculum and reading outcomes","audioSeconds",308,"startMs",2336000,"endMs",2644000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb&start=2336&end=2644","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb/thumbnail_2336000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6488442/Oshkosh-City/Winnebago-County/Wisconsin/Parent-urges-district-to-get-priorities-back-in-line-criticizes-curriculum-and-reading-outcomes","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6488442-62b5ae18ec353431f90d430f5ff15c3e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771114099&Signature=Fp5v1EmBLB0vjShKqCujvNqqfqpZ0kJ7Qhm1d9tbXc1tp1nkngyXAEaCfOcjjn1E3aNS-AiA2FOhWWcu89b~2odydAlWKhl~PW50AWhtzLWI~bsyS7l3Ik-a2ecdk~27tHONFNyYlUTvTLjLrCUru2PnsT09cowxcyUGGCWmMyW-nS-qCT4HHgn~PjpFOmMJyblo~Q3-PgOyEque3Sc2FkTVqe3wCCFQtFvqb~NduZTU0ejk5q8ZFc3T4-aXTEWfwXcU88jARlEL-VJGBEbsywuLarHD9Xt0e4iwaS-XmM91betgqgRj-eww8BxaisP8-Qchs~vL6iyKInpZAWYmLQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Oshkosh, WI","date","2025-08-14T00:16:54Z","article","At the Aug. 13 meeting's non-agenda public forum, Matt Took of Oshkosh told the board he has had children in the district for more than two decades and urged the district to reconsider recent curriculum changes.

\"First one is the elimination of phonics, which has been a disaster for reading performance,\" Took said. He listed other concerns, including removal of cursive instruction, fewer spelling tests, and what he called difficulties parents face helping with \"new math.\" Took also criticized curriculum choices he described as containing \"vulgar material\" and criticized pandemic-era policies. \"Over half of the students are not meeting standards in reading or math,\" he said, and estimated that roughly 100 graduates in the class of 2025 lack basic reading or math skills, a figure he attributed to district academic trends.

Why this matters: public comment sessions give the board direct community feedback. Took called for the district to \"get our priorities back in line\" and asked leaders to slow and scrutinize curricular changes.

The board did not respond substantively in the public-forum segment beyond acknowledging the comment; staff and committee follow-ups on curriculum and student outcomes are addressed elsewhere in district meetings and reviews.

Ending: The comment was recorded as part of the public forum; the board continues routine review of curriculum, assessments and related policies in its committee work and listening sessions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Oshkosh Area Board of Education 78/13/25","oneSentenceSummary","During the non-agenda public forum, a long-time Oshkosh parent criticized district curriculum changes — citing phonics, cursive, new math, and pandemic-era policies — and said the district faces low reading and math performance among many students.","taxTitle","Oshkosh City, Winnebago County, Wisconsin","taxId",5129,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6488446,"District gives construction updates on Karl Traeger addition and Bell Phillips track project",520,884000,1404000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb&start=884&end=1404","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb/thumbnail_884000.jpg","/articles/6488446/Oshkosh-City/Winnebago-County/Wisconsin/District-gives-construction-updates-on-Karl-Traeger-addition-and-Bell-Phillips-track-project","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6488446-b868f52db6fee52623d7bc063e168b9f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771114099&Signature=WL~DGUCh6mkw7w6ExCFutf75gzVF1Bf94cSzGaPK1CnW1oWO8cOqfnqfBddrknoXuiT3bgey4TPO99LTASe3E1yTgqwkLzdViEG0-tIoFMSrmwJwkXkpX9a3DsjnqnZHvOhl7YA6w1Z6VdOU5zZeVdLpQULCqEm4xLHMewUq6R24vWBihdVcy-FsIdWjn3ntgLAAye641rSyUR41mTlNnXSW0c0gsPtJsb2POgtzHMiU0nUfyuMZAzUufLeP5uhmiWyS-KSc~igZdI1n1GRaAdHMqI~p4nzMAxFyDaU20slz168k6V4rk9evi~4BChYyUQaAhFHhQRq63jzel2TyOw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","District staff updated the board on two referendum-funded construction projects at the Aug. 13 meeting: the Karl Traeger school addition (phase 2) and the Bell Phillips Track and Field work.

Mr. Neehan summarized the Karl Traeger design intent, saying the new wing is intended to match the existing building and that playground hardscape will be reconstructed in approximately the same footprint. He said construction will disrupt some hardscape during the school year and that the district has been working with the City of Oshkosh to address long-standing traffic and drop-off issues on 20th Avenue. The district scheduled a community meeting for Aug. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Karl Traeger cafetorium to review architectural plans and traffic-flow proposals; staff said the plans will later proceed to the city planning process and then to the common council for approval.

On the Bell Phillips Track and Field project, Mr. Fox told the board the project experienced early delays because of unsuitable fill and elevation issues but that contractors corrected the problem and brought the site to grade. \"You can see the gravel down for the track base,\" Fox said. He reported the football field turf and irrigation are nearly complete and that drains and underground infrastructure for the track are in place. Fox said the site remains behind schedule but that construction progress is accelerating: the district is \"targeting Aug. 30\" to complete a basketball-court area for day one of school and expects the broader project to be substantially complete in September, with a full opening targeted for spring for formal track use because newly seeded areas will need restoration and watering.

Fox said the district expects to fence newly seeded areas, limit community access in the fall while contractors finish punch-list items and watering occurs, and hold a dedication for a memorial tied to the project once masonry and restoration work are complete.

Ending: Staff asked neighbors to attend the Aug. 19 Karl Traeger meeting and said the district will continue site restoration and final inspections through September with a spring target for full community track access.","Board received plans for the Karl Traeger school addition and an update on the Bell Phillips Track and Field project, including a neighborhood meeting Aug. 19 and a projected late-September completion timeline for most track-area work.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6488452,"Oshkosh schools outline safety plan, SRO review and $1M Stop School Violence grant",987,2559000,3546000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb&start=2559&end=3546","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb/thumbnail_2559000.jpg","/articles/6488452/Oshkosh-City/Winnebago-County/Wisconsin/Oshkosh-schools-outline-safety-plan-SRO-review-and-1M-Stop-School-Violence-grant","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6488452-67896cb74c4975bc0aa43923f4dd1bfb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771114099&Signature=cKBe1D-f3FxyA2R2TTlXSGtHqxBsGtahVLLR0e4lJVSojPoQ2pF9yKeq4XvL33WrIH54uNkmCCdfFkHfTV8HOxL6EDb7T8Q6UfznSv1RnN8RAhFM5negXWWnma4J9IzgsqO8u3KNiP0d6eUU7BqQCFq~s8a6FRsjIXH4AARqlEzoKjrs~aSIaw14dYcjaNXSjHadRLyMr4CcMHfjRbpyniyvlYtMd6K2jCB0aMGa-t40uAmcucgmb06ayGiC-XsZYYRPzlr~Rh8q9jMt53XxtKA4D7QZ8bXoYV0DOgsMgfq9e~GpE6ckFCRA3dRQMQfdd5r6QH9QViA95vwkj0KX1g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Oshkosh Area School District presented its annual safety plan and a plan for continued review of school resource officer (SRO) agreements at the Aug. 13 board meeting.

District administrator Dr. Coleman told the board the safety plan meets state requirements under Wisconsin statute 118.07 and is reviewed annually by the board. \"The Oshkosh Area School District has a comprehensive safety plan that reflects state requirements,\" Coleman said, listing drills, safety audits and cross-agency training as components.

Coleman said the district's Emergency Preparedness Collaborative Operations Team (EPCOT) has become a statewide model for monthly safety trainings and law-enforcement coordination. He noted the district received nearly a $1,000,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance Stop School Violence grant to support universal social-emotional learning, mental-health and trauma-response work; the grant runs through 2027. \"The purpose of this grant is to support social emotional learning strategies, mental health and trauma response,\" Coleman said, and he credited Director Kammer for securing the award.

District leaders described steps to clarify SRO roles and align memoranda of understanding (MOU) with district policy 55.40 and related procedures. Coleman summarized multiagency tabletop exercises and a midyear review in February that included district administrators, deans, teacher leaders, SROs and the Oshkosh Police Department. \"Doctor Davis and Chief Smith provided a joint statement on their belief that school resource officers are valuable and will remain in schools,\" Coleman said, adding that policy-practice inconsistencies will be addressed and could lead to proposed policy changes.

The plan includes a schedule for completing required safety audits at the secondary level in 2025\u001326 and at elementary schools in 2026\u001327; upgrades to visitor check-in and check-out procedures; and training for administrators, deans and SROs. Coleman said the district uses the FEMA emergency-management framework (prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery) and implements ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate) training.

Board members asked whether the safety-plan review is primarily a compliance exercise. \"We are required by district policy to provide a school safety plan that the school board reviews and approves each year,\" Coleman said, but added that the district also sees it as fulfilling the core value of a safe learning environment.

Coleman pointed the board to an emergency-response video and the Speak Up Speak Out (SUSO) tip application, which allows anonymous reporting to the Wisconsin Department of Justice tip line. \"Students, parents, school staff, or any community member can anonymously submit a school safety concern or threat,\" Coleman said; he added the resource center works 24/7 to route tips to local administrators and law enforcement.

Ending: District staff said they will continue EPCOT exercises, complete the audit schedule, and present an annual SRO report to the finance and facilities committee in 2025. The board indicated it will consider policy and governance changes as staff refine MOUs and procedures.","District administrators presented the annual safety plan to the board, described ongoing work to align school resource officer (SRO) memoranda of understanding with district policy, and noted a nearly $1 million Stop School Violence Bureau of Justice Assistance grant supporting social-emotional learning through 2027.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6488457,"Oshkosh school finance chief reports widening budget deficit after large health-claims spike",1040,1298000,2338000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb&start=1298&end=2338","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5576866-1d3221257a2dc81cd5a31ee19fa39dfb/thumbnail_1298000.jpg","/articles/6488457/Oshkosh-City/Winnebago-County/Wisconsin/Oshkosh-school-finance-chief-reports-widening-budget-deficit-after-large-health-claims-spike","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6488457-18ff31fdab08f2da201aee45cb79717b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771114099&Signature=hlw~o96Kh-wvaLHWdz2-6Mex6re-ynSoJftU~CVZk-fh133qtvR1DbgnJpKJnAEZ~Tf0oTGanGZER~AeVXORaeqiGIvV1GqR11yTLv7hwVWLI3UFZ0KnQUz6R2LAAoETNa90mc8dvU6AX9hr2Zh7KdvCfioBsCI~S0L73dCqZF5XWgmMXWZpZcjchQeS5EngQB~0QdB10mlQddSNQKdBzOzrMN4eRnm-Q7QHrvnRXc1V3c9OhnuApLzpb9zBNRTiuOETh5YZpJSe4yBG70mZGyOx23PSolKxc9iSVl-VyCtaekYHeYM3cOMV2YRHASJ~S2yS2lFxaA0~VHyP6u~YTQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Oshkosh Area School District reported a larger-than-expected budget shortfall at its Aug. 13 board meeting after several late health-insurance claims and other end-of-year costs drove expenses higher.

District staff presented the budget-variance update during the meeting. \"The budget deficit is increased from where we had been projecting prior,\" said Mr. Neehan, who delivered the variance report. He told the board the increase has both structural and one-time components.

The district said recent large health-plan payments, including retiree (OPEB) claims, pushed the year's health expenses higher than earlier estimates. \"We ended the year with $22,900,000 in health plan expenses overall,\" Neehan said, adding that three years earlier the district recorded $26,500,000 in health claims. He told the board the most recent year included an unusual cluster of large weekly claims that arrived within a short window.

Why this matters: the district's revenue increases from the state are not keeping pace with CPI and salary step-and-lane costs, creating a structural gap even as some federal- and state-level reimbursements (special-education reimbursements) provide partial relief.

Board members pressed staff for detail on major drivers. Neehan said the district budgeted roughly $300,000 for homeless-student transportation this year but that the line can be volatile. \"You never really know how many homeless students you're going to have throughout the school year,\" he said, and noted the district must provide transportation under the McKinney-Vento federal law even when students temporarily live outside Oshkosh.

Staff described corrective budgeting steps for 2025\u001326: the district plans to budget $22,600,000 for health claims in the coming year and to adjust some plan design features in January to encourage different utilization. Purchase-services spending ended the year at about $25,400,000; the draft budget for 2025\u001326 shows $28,300,000 for that category.

Neehan acknowledged a timing issue: much of the additional health-claims liability was not fully visible until late in the fiscal year because of normal lag in claim submissions. He cited weeks in late spring that produced unusually large claim batches (for example, a week of approximately $1.8 million in claims, followed weeks later by $1.1 million). \"Those were things that just happened so quickly,\" he told the board.

The district also cautioned that its fund balance dipped below the board's 12% policy threshold. \"One thing we are going to have to do as we look at future budgets is be intentional about how do we build that balance back up,\" Neehan said, and proposed adding a monthly tracker to variance reports so the board can monitor progress toward restoring the policy target.

Board discussion focused on whether the deficit was largely structural or the result of one-time events. Neehan said there is a structural component tied to revenue growth that lags inflation and to ongoing cost pressures, but that some recent increases (notably the retiree claims) were unusual and expected to normalize. He said special-education reimbursement increases will help but that the board will continue detailed review in upcoming facilities and finance committee meetings.

The board and staff agreed to continue the discussion at committee meetings and to bring back more detailed proposals for restoring the fund balance and addressing structural revenue and cost issues.

Ending: The board scheduled further review in facilities and finance sessions; staff said they would circulate updated variance trackers and additional detail to members before those meetings.","District staff told the Oshkosh Area School District board the projected budget deficit grew after unexpected retiree and health-claims activity; leaders flagged a structural gap, one-time claim volatility, rising purchased services costs and a dip below the board's 12% fund-balance target.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Parent urges district to "get priorities back in line," criticizes curriculum and reading outcomes

District gives construction updates on Karl Traeger addition and Bell Phillips track project

Oshkosh schools outline safety plan, SRO review and $1M Stop School Violence grant

Oshkosh school finance chief reports widening budget deficit after large health-claims spike