Several community members spoke during the board’s public forum, urging the Eau Claire Area School District to protect centralized early learning services at Prairie Ridge, slow or pilot standards-based grading changes, and retain inclusive children’s literature in early-grade curricula.

Kate French, a speech-language pathologist at Prairie Ridge, said the closure of Prevea Sacred Heart created "a profound Medicaid therapy desert for our youngest children" and described Prairie Ridge as a centralized hub that reaches families who rely on Medicaid and community partners. She told the board Prairie Ridge served 236 students on-site and supports additional community partner sites, and warned that dispersing those services would "dismantle 12 years of progress."

Jill Italiano, the district’s family and community partnership coordinator for early learning, walked the board through program options for 4K (Prairie Ridge plus 16 community partner sites), explained busing is only provided to Prairie Ridge, and described the Head Start partnership with Western Dairyland that places some Head Start classrooms at Prairie Ridge.

A parent recorded in the transcript as both "Bill Kramer" and "Bill Clark" urged caution about a districtwide roll-out of standards-based grading. He said district staff have not yet provided a clear conversion plan from a 1–4 standards scale to traditional letter grades, cited software compatibility concerns, and recommended piloting the system (for example at middle school) rather than immediate districtwide implementation.

Emily Freeman, a parent, read from the picture book The Rainbow Flag, Bright, Bold and Beautiful and argued that removing books that include LGBTQ+ characters will harm students’ mental health and reduce representation. She cited the 2023 Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey statistics on anxiety and depression among LGBT students to support her point.

The board’s legislative liaison later urged community members to attend a city hearing about itemizing school-district levy components on property tax bills, specifically a proposed line for state-mandated private school vouchers.

No board action on these specific public requests was taken at the meeting; the public comments were recorded for the board’s consideration as it proceeds with curricular, scheduling and program decisions.