Pines board ends year on high note

The Northland Pines Board of Education held its December regular monthly meeting last week to conclude a calendar year filled with many accomplishments for the district.

The most recent area of success occurred last month when the district received an Exceeds Expectations in a scoring process conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This was an improvement from the Meets Expectations score during the prior school year.

Report cards are produced annually for every publicly funded school district in the state and Northland Pines received a four-star rating. The report cards and scoring process are governed by state law and are designed to provide transparency to hold school districts accountable for how well they teach students.

The year also saw the passing of a $30.8 million budget, which included a mill rate of a record low $3.23 for each $1,000 of assessed property value. The total tax levy imposed on property owners in the district was $20.6 million. Several months later, the district was also able to get public support through a three-year referendum vote allowing for an additional $6 million each year to maintain operations.

Board members also spent several weeks working through a replacement process for the district administrator position. Long time administrator Scott Foster announced his retirement earlier this year and the board selected Tony Duffek, current principal at St. Germain Elementary School, as his replacement. Duffek will assume the district administrator position on July 1, 2026.

To close out the calendar year last Monday, board members unanimously approved a proposed 2026-2027 school calendar schedule; and in a separate but related motion, voted 5-1 to approve a resolution to start the school calendar on Aug. 31, 2026, versus the state-mandated September time frame. There is an exception process through the state and the board agreed to pursue the option in the weeks ahead.

Prior to the official business of the board meeting, Tim Lehman, technology education teacher, and a group of students, presented personal thoughts on their participation in the building trades program, a unique class arrangement at the school through a partnership with Cornerstone Custom Home Builders.

Hailey Szott, a current student in the program, was one of the presenters who shared her experience working on a new house construction project on school property as part of a building trades class. Szott is the only female enrolled in the class and has worked on many aspects of the building process including the installation of windows. The group is building a one-bedroom house which will then be sold when completed prior to the end of the school year.

Following a review of reports submitted by the school principals, and a review of inclement weather guidelines and other matters by district administrator Foster, the board went into a private session before formally adjourning.

The next regular monthly meeting is scheduled on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026 at 6 p.m. in the high school large group instruction room.