City Times Staff

The Stevens Point School Board will hold its last meeting on the month on Monday, Jan. 26. Topics for discussion include the new Point of Discovery Charter School, which is expected to open this fall with about 50 incoming 6th and 7th grade students.

Open enrollment for the new school is from February 2 through April 30. Applications can be found here.

The Board will also hear information on a technology grant of up to $50,000 from Wisconsin Technology Initiative (WTI). The grant will be used to equip classrooms at Jefferson, McDill and Plover-Whiting elementary schools with interactive white boards. According to Superintendent Attila Weninger the new technology will help “boost achievement” and better engage students.

Members will also discuss rules of a recall election. A group called Save Our Schools has initiated a recall attempt against Board Members Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek for inappropriate behavior during public board meetings.

A previously-planned closed session meeting to decide disciplinary action against three members of the School Board on Monday has been rescheduled for later this week. Totten, Shirek and fellow Board Member Alex Kochanowski face possible censure, or some other form of official discipline, for as-of-yet undisclosed reasons.

Kochanowski had taken a leave of absence from his job with the city’s transportation department to focus on his campaign for mayor, but has since been terminated. The reasons behind his termination have not yet been released. An open records request is pending with City Attorney Andrew Beveridge.

The School Board meets at 6:30 PM at the Bliss Educational Services Center, 1900 Polk Street. The public is welcome.