LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Six months ago, a capacity crowd watched two Central-Denison Elementary School teachers step down in front of the Lake Geneva Schools board. Those teachers came back to Cen-Den Tuesday night to speak at another board meeting.
Demetra Condos and Stacy Smith both approached the podium and told the board of their continued desire for improvement within the school district.
"I am requesting a district-wide review of teacher salaries," Condos said. "Why do administrators receive cost of living adjustments and salary schedule adjustments while teachers don't receive those same considerations?"
"It's time for a change and this community is begging for it," Smith said. "I only miss Cen-Den when I'm out in the community and hear a squeal from a former student who embraces me in a hug or when a parent stops me to advocate for what's right."
Smith and Condos both announced their resignations during May's board meeting at Lake Geneva Schools' headquarters. To date, it is the last board meeting to take place inside of their administration building.
The district is holding board meetings at its schools this academic year in commemoration of next year's school restructuring plan, in which Eastview Elementary will close and fifth-graders will instead attend Lake Geneva Middle School.
Administrators spent much of the non-public comment part of the meeting talking about next year's transition.
"Obviously we're not going to put a fifth-grader with an eighth-grader in an athletic setting, but we might have a fifth-grader with an eighth-grader where there's an opportunity for leadership or mentoring," said Lake Geneva Middle School activities director David Jooss.
While administrators could not acknowledge Smith and Condos' comments while they were speaking, board member Carrie Spiegelhoff appeared to make a motion directly addressing Condos' main concern.
"We've talked about teacher pay range and salary compared to surrounding districts," Spiegelhoff said to Lake Geneva Schools superintendent Peter Wilson. "Is there a way we can get a report on that potentially?"
Lake Geneva Schools' next Joint 1 board meeting is set for December 8. The board has not announced which school will host the meeting.
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