The Renno, Salchert, & Holtan Financial Group

05/15/2025

HONOR EARNED. FUNDING DENIED. LET’S LIFT UP OUR KM STUDENTS!

Three incredible KM students won top honors at Wisconsin’s National History Day competition and earned the chance to present their work on the national stage—but due to cancelled federal grants, they now have to fundraise to get there.

Federal support for student enrichment has been pulled—affecting programs like National History Day, once funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

These funding cuts are part of a larger pattern of federal rollbacks to public education. Even strong districts like Kettle Moraine aren’t immune.

Let’s show what local support can do when federal funding fails our kids. We're tapping into our network to try and help cover their travel, lodging, and registration costs.

GOAL: $1,400 per student (every little bit can help us get these students funded)

Let’s rally behind:

⭐ Cecilia H. and Reagan H. – 6th graders exploring the history of Social Security
⭐ Emma M. – HS^2 junior spotlighting the restoration of the Menominee Nation

These students have done the hard work. Let’s make sure they can take the stage in D.C.

Donate here: https://tinyurl.com/2tmubts6

THANK YOU!

Three Kettle Moraine students were named state champions at Saturday’s National History Day (NHD) competition held at UW–Madison. They will now advance to the national contest in June, where they will present their research alongside students from across the U.S. and around the world. Recently, ...

03/08/2025

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07/26/2024

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07/12/2024

Our new WisRED School Board members are taking steps to drastically change the way our District selects curriculum, instructional materials, and instructional practices.

A proposed new policy, GP 9000 (link #1 below), drafted by board president, Carl Millard, would:

1. Take the power for all these decisions out of the hands of our highly-qualified staff and put them in the hands of our newly elected WisRED School Board members.

2. Reverse 17 years of operating under the Policy Governance Model (link #2 below) that has made our District forward-looking, adaptable, able to support all kinds of learners, and focused on outcomes (student learning and skills) instead of standardized inputs (specific materials and practices).

3. Require the District to be a follower instead of a leader in continuous improvement.

4. Allow the Board to change the curriculum at any time for any reason.

You can see the original draft of GP 9000 (link #3 below). Community members have already reached out to the board and this has made some positive changes (link #1 below). Unfortunately, the new draft has more authority going to the board.

For a full list of the issues we’ve identified, view link 4 below.

If this is something that also concerns you, as it impacts your child's education, please show up and speak at the next school board meeting on Tuesday July 16th and or email the full school board and Superintendent Plum. Ensure your voice is heard.

Reference Links:

Link 1

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63a398ddcd5ee80243873df9/t/6691a2c891a04e2bac228870/1720820424197/GP9000+Curriculum+and+Instruction+Adoption+Policy+Updated+240716+Suggested+edits+-+Redlined.pdf

Link 2

https://www.kettlemorainealliance.com/articles/what-is-the-policy-governance-model

Link 3

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63a398ddcd5ee80243873df9/t/6691a2a039712d01feade645/1720820384176/GP9000+Curriculum+and+Instruction+Adoption+Policy.pdf

Link 4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FLjhvj3kMWA47jF0EIBLIBhGZBBXYZmc/view?usp=sharing

05/19/2024

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05/19/2024

New rules for the federal Title IX law (linked here: https://tinyurl.com/2p9cfuh3) require schools to protect LGBTQ students from harassment and discrimination and allow students to participate in school activities (except for athletic teams) consistent with their gender identity. The new rules do not require schools to allow participation on athletic teams that match students’ gender identity, as some have claimed. Furthermore, the WI Interscholastic Athletic Association already has a policy (linked here: https://tinyurl.com/38tje2eu) for allowing transgender athletes to participate in WI WIAA sponsored athletics.

WisRED backed school board members are vowing not to comply with new rules for the federal Title IX law.

What does this mean for our students?

First, it will encourage even more bullying and harassment of our LGBTQ students, who already experience a hostile environment at times in our schools.

Second, our schools won’t receive federal funding that supports free and reduced price lunches for students and programming for special education and English Learner students, among other things. For the 2021-2022 school year, federal funding supported 4.55% of the KMSD budget (about $2.8 million).

We believe that refusing to uphold the civil rights of some of our students and refusing funds needed to provide services to other students is a dereliction of the basic duties of our School Board and will harm our students and the success of our district as a whole.

It’s easy to exclude others who are different and stir up fear about them. It takes real leadership to bridge our differences and find ways to support and include all of our students.

We believe we can do better. Our students and families deserve better. Our taxpayers deserve better. We have smart, dedicated, and caring teachers and administrators who can keep all of our students safe and supported in their learning if they are allowed to do so. Instead of sacrificing our most vulnerable students, let's work together and do our best to support all of our students.

03/05/2024

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The Kettle Moraine Strategic Plan Summary has been completed and was shared with staff and recently presented to the public at a school board meeting. This report represents outcomes and findings from a nine month process facilitated by a private consultant and carried out by 22 KM stakeholders who....

12/01/2023

Do you care about strong public schools? Are you committed to focusing on issues that matter to all of us, like great learning opportunities for all students, attracting and retaining great teachers, sound school finances, and a safe school environment for all students? Are you willing to work with and listen to people with a variety of perspectives and find common ground?

If so, you could make a great nonpartisan school board member. No special expertise is required – just an interest in serving the community, being a good steward of our public schools, and advancing our students’ education, not a political agenda.

We’ve curated some essential resources to learn more about running for a school board seat in Wisconsin. Reach out if you’d like to learn more.

Included are some essential resources to learn more about running for a school board seat in Wisconsin.

11/18/2023

KMSD Community Survey Results, Part I:
First, the good news. The Fall Community Survey shows that our community has high confidence in Kettle Moraine educators and students’ preparedness for post high school education. The chart below shows the top five items that received the most favorable ratings from KMSD staff, parents, and other community members.

The full report has more detail about other areas that were highly rated by the community (and there were many)... Take a look for yourself and see how these perceptions in the fall survey line-up with what you experience and hear about the Kettle Moraine School District.

For some additional insights, we’ve also curated the results from this year's spring survey broken down by students, parents and staff. Here is a link to access all of the surveys mentioned: https://tinyurl.com/275ewrey

11/17/2023

KMSD Community Survey Results, Part I:
First, the good news. The Fall Community Survey shows that our community has high confidence in Kettle Moraine educators and students’ preparedness for post high school education. The chart below shows the top five items that received the most favorable ratings from KMSD staff, parents, and other community members.
The full report has more detail about other areas that were highly rated by the community (and there were many)... Take a look for yourself and see how these perceptions in the fall survey line-up with what you experience and hear about the Kettle Moraine School District:
https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/kmsd/Board.nsf/files/CX5SK272E9EA/$file/2023-24%20Kettle%20Moraine%20Community%20Survey.pdf

For some additional insights, here are the results from this years spring survey broken down by,

Students:https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/kmsd/Board.nsf/files/CTPKYE524C43/$file/2022-23%20KM%20School%20District%20Student%20Survey%20.pptx.pdf
Parents:https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/kmsd/Board.nsf/files/CTPKYA524C2A/$file/2022-23%20KM%20District%20Parent%20Survey-Final.pptx.pdf

Staff:https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/kmsd/Board.nsf/files/CTPKYC524C36/$file/2022-23%20KM%20School%20District%20Staff%20Survey%20-%20Overall%20Report.pptx.pdf

11/17/2023

KMSD Community Survey Results, Part I:
First, the good news. The Fall Community Survey shows that our community has high confidence in Kettle Moraine educators and students’ preparedness for post high school education. The chart below shows the top five items that received the most favorable ratings from KMSD staff, parents, and other community members.
The full report has more detail about other areas that were highly rated by the community (and there were many)... Take a look for yourself and see how these perceptions in the fall survey line-up with what you experience and hear about the Kettle Moraine School District: https://tinyurl.com/4mrcjw8k
For some additional insights, here are the results from this years spring survey broken down by,

Students: https://tinyurl.com/3wb5s4n4
Parents: https://tinyurl.com/2x8rnajd
Staff: https://tinyurl.com/yydhcs8c