News/Actions

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF LA CROSSE BOARD OF EDUCATION

The Board held one regular meeting in July, where they accepted Trane Technologies’ donation of their corporate property on Pammel Creek Road. This is the largest donation ever made to the District. The Board heard construction updates about the work at Hogan and State Road elementary; a few spaces at State Road may not be complete by the first day of school. 

The District’s Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment presented the Achievement Gap Reduction Report. The District employs Instructional Coaches in order to work on closing the achievement gap between white and non-white students, but this strategy has been difficult to assess because of newly mandated measurement tools for language arts and math. What is clear is that attending school 90% of the time doubles students' chances of achieving proficiency in these curricular areas. About 50-60 students per grade level are chronically absent, missing more than 10% of school days.

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CITY OF LA CROSSE COMMON COUNCIL

The Council met at the end of June to set parameters for discussions of the operating budget.
Three possible scenarios include: 1) spending up to the state’s mandated limit (ERP) on how much more the budget can grow or else lose state aid; 2) meeting the ERP
with a 3% mill rate levy; or 3) meeting the ERP with no increase. What cuts? What services will be impacted? Will the goal of 20% general fund for reserves be maintained? All police and fire positions should be included in the budget whether the positions are filled or not. The plan will be brought by the Finance Dept to the board of Estimates, then to Full discussion.

The Common Council met again in July and opened with compliments on how the city managed the July 4 celebrations, including disabilities accommodation for viewing the fireworks and police and fire management (reduction) of rogue neighborhood fireworks.
They also commented on the benefits of the new retail bakery in a mixed residential and retail neighborhood.

In discussion of bids and resolutions, three new developments were identified: the Copeland Park shelter will be renovated, the old Company Store site will have a new TIF for multi-use housing, and Bridgeview Plaza will have a housing and multiuse plan.

The approved five-year budget plan for Parks and Recreation revealed that they will no longer be subsidizing senior activities and will go to a fee-based model instead.

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VILLAGE OF FRENCH ISLAND TOWN BOARD

At the Village of French Island Board’s July meeting, the elected trustees for the newly formed Village of French Island were sworn in as a group. The board heard from Holmen’s village president about their village and committee operations and from a representative of Wisconsin Towns Association about WTA goals and priorities. The Board president led a discussion and update regarding incorporation and celebration plans. A Board trustee shared a report from the PFAS research group that soil samples have been collected from 8 residential properties located in PFAS plumes from the 1970, 1972, and 2001 plane crashes; test results should be available in August. The EPA held a PFAS hearing on July 7 for public comment, and written comments could be submitted until July 20.

EXECUTIVE BOARD

In their July meeting, the County Executive Committee heard public support for continued funding of the SMRT bus but voted to discontinue SMRT as of Dec. 31 because other counties have discontinued their share of the funding. The Committee also reviewed the West Salem School District’s inquiry about purchasing land from the County but decided to table the vote until October, after the deadline for other developers to express interest. They passed a resolution to accept funds for hiring Economic Support Specialist positions across the eight-county Food Share program which La Crosse County is the administrative lead for. In their consent agenda, they also approved a Health and Human Services request to use opioid damages settlement funds for the medical and mental health services in the jail.

The July 15 meeting of the CJMC featured an overview of La Crosse County’s Opioid
Response Plan, which targets those who use opioids for pain relief. La Crosse County is investing about $7.6 million in opioid settlement funds into a ten-year plan called RISE (Recovery, Intervention, Support, Empowerment) to reduce overdoses, strengthen families, and ease long-term strain on county systems. The funding comes from national class action lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors to compensate for the impact of opioids on county services.

In 2026, the county spent over $600,000 on Justice Support (jail-based medication treatment, screening, reentry planning, in-jail therapy, sober living support, and rental assistance for people
leaving custody), Family Strengthening (expanded home visiting, residential treatment access, supportive living for pregnant individuals and parents of young children, coordinated maternal care, and rent support), and Treatment Access (system coordination, county-wide harm reduction tools, a digital therapy pilot, and housing assistance). The impact of the increased spending of the RISE plan will include fewer jail admissions and reduced repeat involvement, fewer child protection cases and fewer out-of-home placements, faster access to treatment, and improved coordination across justice, health, and human services.

~Observed by Margaret Larson