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Board approves 2025–26 eighth-grade overnight trip to OWLS at Lake Geneva
Summary
The board approved an overnight trip for eighth graders to the Outdoor Wisconsin Leadership School (OWLS) in Lake Geneva, scheduled Sept. 2–5, with an estimated cost of about $200 per student; district staff said a grant writer is seeking funds to reduce costs.
The La Grange SD 102 Board of Education approved an overnight eighth-grade trip for the 2025–26 school year to the Outdoor Wisconsin Leadership School (OWLS) near Lake Geneva, with district staff describing ropes courses, a climbing tower, team-building activities and other outdoor experiences.
Christy Schwartz, identified in the meeting as activities director for Park Junior High and the district’s eighth-grade trip overseer, told the board the program would send approximately 300 eighth-grade students in three cohort groups (about 100 students per day) from Sept. 2 through Sept. 5. She said OWLS operates similar programs year-round and that the proposed per-student cost was currently about $200, though transportation and final logistics could raise the final figure. The district’s grant writer is actively seeking funds to reduce the per-student cost.
Board members asked practical questions about lodging and supervision. When a board member asked "Where do they sleep?" Schwartz answered: "In cabins," and described cabins with larger bunk beds. On chaperone ratios she said the effective adult presence was about 8–10 adults per 100 students (staff described the overall adult-to-student supervision as exceeding 5:1 in practice when counting all adults on the trip).
The motion to approve the school-year 25–26 eighth-grade overnight trip was moved and seconded during the meeting and passed on a roll call. The roll-call tally recorded in the transcript was: Miss Mandrell — Aye; Mister Melendez — Aye; Miss Nunn — Aye; Miss Lambert — Aye; Miss McQuiston — Aye; Doctor Campbell — Aye. (No nay votes recorded; no abstentions.)
The district cited board policy 6:240 at the outset of the discussion, noting the policy requires board notification and approval for overnight trips more than 200 miles away or those that require overnight stays.
No other conditions or additional funding approvals were recorded at the time of the vote; staff said more precise cost and transportation details will be available in the coming months and that fundraising/grant opportunities may reduce individual student costs.
