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Mount Horeb board approves new course, adopts safety and device policy updates
Summary
The board unanimously approved an American government course for later consideration as a graduation requirement, adopted several policy updates including emergency nursing services and student-device language, and approved the district education-for-employment plan with workforce partnerships.
The Mount Horeb Area School District board unanimously approved a slate of governance and instructional items during its regular meeting, moving forward on course offerings, safety protocols and device-use rules.
Education committee members presented a proposed American government legislative-semester course and the board voted to approve the course for inclusion in the catalog; the board noted the separate graduation-requirement change would be addressed later through policy review and a September committee follow-up. "This course would be a social-studies credit and would fit within the three required credits of social studies," a committee representative said while describing an implementation timeline that begins with planning this year and first classroom offerings in 2025–26 for the current freshman cohort.
On policy, the board approved Policy 43.1 (emergency nursing services) on second reading and Policy 724 (threat/response language) after edits that replaced a strict "must" with clearer steps (staff should consider contacting law enforcement and must notify school administration to determine next steps and possibly enact threat-assessment protocol). Trustees also approved revisions to Policy 43.5 clarifying acceptable use of personal devices and stating the district will support district-provided devices for instructional purposes; the redlined language addresses conditions for acceptable use and reduces ambiguity about district support.
The board also unanimously adopted the district education-for-employment plan. That plan includes an action table for 2024–25, quarterly career planning meetings, renewed partnerships with Madison College (to bring courses such as fire academy and EMR back into local delivery) and efforts to bolster youth apprenticeship pathways.
All formal motions were approved unanimously by the voting members present; votes were recorded as "all in favor" without a roll-call tally in the transcript. Next steps noted by trustees include a September education committee review of the graduation-requirement implications for the American government course and subsequent policy adjustments to the graduation policy if approved.
