Colby seniors seek changes to graduation ceremonies
With graduation one month away, seniors at Colby High School are petitioning administrators for a loosening of COVID precautions that will allow them to invite more guests and sit together as classmates during the ceremony.
Senior Brooklyn Filtzkowski, the student representative on Colby’s school board, told board members about students’ objections to the current graduation rules at Monday’s meeting.
As of now, each senior will be limited to six in-person guests at the May 28 outdoor ceremony, and they must sit with their family members in the bleachers overlooking the athletic field. A similar arrangement was put in place last year, except that students were limited to four guests at that time.
Filtzkowski said the limit on guests is making seniors feel like they have “to pick and choose” which family members to invite to their graduation ceremony. Seniors are suggesting that more people be allowed to attend in-person by standing along the sides of the field.
Students would also like to be able to sit together as a class “one last time” instead of with their families, Filtzkowski said. She noted that students sit together every day in class, so it should be OK for them to sit next to each other on the field during the ceremony.
The seniors hope to discuss their recommendations with superintendent Steve Kolden and high school principal Marcia Diedrich.
Kolden said Tuesday that Monday’s meeting was the first time he had heard about the students’ concerns, but he thinks some compromises can be worked out.
“We’ll definitely sit down and meet with them,” he said.
In normal years, Kolden noted that seniors have always been limited to having four guests in the reserved section of the gymnasium where commencement normally takes place. Other guests must find seats in the bleachers.
When it comes to students sitting together, Kolden said he thinks that should be doable as long each senior helps get their guests seated properly to maintain social distancing in the bleachers.
The ceremony will be live-streamed so that people not in attendance will be able to watch the ceremony as it happens.
Also, because the graduation will be outdoors again this year, three rain date options have also been put in place. The first would be to have the ceremony on Sunday, May 30, at 1 p.m. and the second would be to have it on Monday, May 31, at 5 p.m.
The final option would be to move it indoors to the high school theater, with just two guests per student, also on Monday, May 31, at 5 p.m.
Other business
_ The board accepted the resignation of special education teacher assistant Celeste Kaufman and approved the hiring of Logan Rosemeyer as an assistant football coach.
_ Kolden told the board that the district is expected to receive as much as $3 million in funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund, which was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three rounds of ESSER funding have been approved at the federal level, allowing districts to use the money for any costs that could be considered COVIDrelated.
The district is planning to use the extra money to offset the cost of certain capital improvement projects, which may initially be paid for with district funds and reimbursed later.
_ The board approved the purchase of a new maintenance van for the district’s janitorial staff, at a cost of $31,484 from Abby Ford. The new van will replace one that is about 18 years old and rusting out.
_ The board voted to waive all athletic fees for the 2021-2022 school year, allowing students to participate in sports without paying anything. The fees were waived this year due to the uncertainty caused by COVID, and board members decided to continue that for another year.
The board will revisit the idea of permanently eliminating athletic fees in the spring of 2022 as part of a larger discussion about the district’s strategic plan.
_ The board approved an increase in the pay rate for longterm substitute teachers, from $172.87 to $203.95 per day. The pay rate is linked to the base wage of full-time teachers, which was recently increased.
_ The board approved the purchase of new science curriculum materials, as recommended by staff members who did a comprehensive review of the existing curriculum. The district will pay $995 per year for Generation Genius in kindergarten through fifth-grade, $31,899 for eight years of the Amplify curriculum in sixth through eighth, and $200 per year for online resources at the high school.
_ The board approved the replacement of all 443 seats in the high school theatre, at a cost of $76,600. The board’s facilities committee also considered an alternative option that would have included fold-out desks on some of the new chairs, but that would have mean giving up 60 seats.
Kolden said installing fold-out desks would mean the theatre could be used for study hall and other classroom activities during the day, but he and board members did not want to sacrifice seating for concerts that are already crowded.
“I don’t think we can lose 60 seats,” he said.
_ The board approved the purchase of new lunch room tables at the middle and elementary schools, at a total of $105,611 from Marshfield Book and Stationary.
_ The board approved the purchase and installation of five new exterior doors for the elementary school, at a cost of $72,999 from Quality Door and Hardware in Wisconsin Rapids.
_ The board met in closed session to discuss the athletic director’s position for the 2021-22 school year and an offer to purchase a district-owned house on Adams Street. No motions were made.
The Colby and Abbotsford districts shared an athletic director for this school year, but that agreement was not renewed for 2021-2022, so each district is still deciding how to fill the position for the future.
