Beloit staff and nurses urge board to keep director of school health amid open‑meetings concerns

At the School District of Beloit board meeting on Oct. 7, multiple nurses, the district’s director of school health and community members urged trustees to preserve the director of school health role, warning that removing it would jeopardize student safety, Medicaid billing and district compliance.

The most pointed public comments came during the meeting’s public‑comment period. “There is absolutely no way the director of school health position can be accomplished through any other means,” said Alyssa Rohrer, a district school nurse, arguing the role coordinates emergency care plans and other medical protocols staff rely on. Michelle Beguelas, who identified herself as the district’s director of school health, told trustees she oversees Medicaid billing, individualized health plans, monthly health reports and district‑wide emergency response drills.

“These are not optional duties,” Beguelas said. “Without it, workloads will increase, gaps in care will grow, and the quality of service our community depends on will be compromised.”

Why it matters: speakers said the position ties directly to federal and state compliance and to revenue the district bills through Medicaid. A community commenter, Tom Johnson, alleged that the Policy & HR committee met Oct. 6 under an agenda item described only as “compensation,” then held a presentation, motion and committee vote to recommend elimination of the position without adequate public notice. “Wisconsin’s open meetings law is clear,” Johnson said, and later asserted, “Eliminating this position is not fiscal responsibility in light of budget cuts, it is fiscal malpractice.” He also said the position has brought in “over $9,000,000 in Medicaid reimbursement” since 2019.

Several emailed public comments read at the meeting echoed those concerns and cited Wisconsin open‑meetings statutes, asking the board to withdraw any elimination action until it is properly noticed. One emailed commenter cited Wis. Stat. 19.84 and a 2007 state Supreme Court decision (Ariel Buswell v. Thomas School District) arguing that vague agenda language may be unlawful when it prevents the public from anticipating the subject of action.

Board action and context: the board had removed item 7c (human resources employment recommendations) from tonight’s agenda during the agenda approval at the start of the meeting; the removal was part of an approved motion to adopt the agenda with several items taken off the consent list. Trustees did not vote tonight to eliminate the director of school health. Administrators and commenters said some committee discussion had occurred the night before, but trustees did not finalize a district‑level staffing elimination at the Oct. 7 meeting.

What supporters of the position told the board: former and current nurses described clinical responsibilities they said require a licensed nurse with district‑wide oversight — interpreting medical orders, coordinating care for medically fragile students, maintaining immunization compliance and running CPR/AED training. Beguelas noted she is the district’s only bilingual nurse and said that bilingual clinical judgment, not only translation, matters when families present with complex medical needs.

What opponents/critics alleged: public commenters framed the committee action as a transparency failure and said the board’s process denied employees and the public fair notice. The meeting included multiple appeals that the district post any comparable‑district data used to justify staffing changes before committee meetings.

Next steps: Trustees did not take formal action to eliminate the position and left discussion for a later date; speakers asked the board to publicly post supporting documents and to consider community impact and Medicaid revenue implications before moving forward.

The board’s president and administration said the board will continue to discuss budget‑driven staffing decisions and will follow legal notice requirements; no final action on elimination was recorded in the Oct. 7 public meeting record.