ASHWAUBENON – At the Ashwaubenon School District’s most recent school board meeting, retiring Superintendent Kurt Weyers came prepared with more than a few “thank yous.”
Weyers began by thanking the superintendent and school board secretary, Jennifer Bower.
“People don’t realize the importance of having a high quality assistant secretary,” said Weyers.
He then thanked his family for their patience and never-ending support.
“There’s a lot of late nights, grumpy nights over the past 35 years, and certainly over the last seven years, and I’d be lost without your support.”
“I’d like to thank our administrative team,” Weyers continued.
“Everything we do is about the kids we serve, the teachers we serve and the amazing staff that we have. And hopefully that’s my legacy, that we took care of kids, teachers and staff. We took care of each other. So thank you as well. And finally, thank you to the board, and certainly Jenny, Michelle and Brian, who gave me the opportunity seven years ago.”
Next, board president Jennifer Vyskocil shared a few words for Weyers, describing him as “a calming force, a welcoming force, and someone who just made you feel like everything was going to be okay.”
“I had learned that this was Kurt, not only in that moment, but in every moment. Who would have thought that a few years later, I would have a small part in hiring Kurt as our superintendent,” concluded Vyskocil.
For his final superintendent’s report, Weyers first congratulated the dozens of decorated spring athletes.
He then made sure to give a special shoutout to the 18 retiring members of the district; between the 18 educators, there is a combined 406 years of service.
• Director of pupil services Tammy Nicholson introduced a “Highlights of Referendum” report, which began with an overview of what an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or other personalized curriculum can look like from behavior specialist Stuart Kwaterski. Next in the referendum report was a presentation from Parkview Middle School counselors Lori Bachman and Kari Breitenfeldt – who was able to be hired full time due to the success of the most recent referendum – and social worker Amy Dillenberg. The educators shared the work that has been done to improve attendance rates at Parkview Middle school.
• The next discussion item was a proposed rescinding of policy 9111 (telephone communication), which was presented by Weyers. This policy required district phones to be answered by a staff/volunteer in the district, but was implemented prior to the use of computer generated solicitation (robocalls). The district has been “bothered by 20 plus calls a day at the district office alone.” The new policy would include a menu option to help decrease the amount of computer generated calls coming into the buildings. If the policy passes as an action item, callers will be given an option to press 0 or 1 to go directly to the office of a secretary/receptionist.
The following action items were presented by assistant superintendent of schools, Keith Lucius:
• The board unanimously adopted both the budget hearing agenda and the annual meeting agenda.
• Ashwaubenon’s 2025-26 preliminary budget was unanimously accepted, and the completed report will be presented again at the district’s annual meeting.
• “Lamers has requested that we extend their rolling contract another year to cover 2029-30. In addition, they propose locking in the bussing rates for 2025-26 with a 5% rate increase,” said the district. The board accepted this budget increase (4-1, with Brian Van De Kreeke opposing and Matthew Rotter absent), as Lucius mentioned that many districts are expected to pay a 10% increase.
Lucius made sure to note that both budgets and the contract were team efforts made by all of those within the district.
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