Summer 2025 Superintendent Letter

 

Dear South Milwaukee Parents and Guardians,

It has been a great year for our School District of South Milwaukee community!  We have many positive accomplishments to celebrate and have a clear focus on the things we need to prioritize for the next school year.  As our students head off for the summer break, I want to share some updates.    

 

Board News:

We welcomed Steve Hansen to our school board this spring. He replaced the seat vacated by David Maass, whom we want to thank for his 20 years of service on our board.  Sophia Williams was reelected for another three-year term and will continue to serve as our School Board President.  In addition, we recently received the resignation of Augie Vega from our board.  The board will interview candidates to replace Augie for the remainder of his term on July 9.  Here is the information for how to apply if you are interested or you know someone who may be interested: The School Board will accept letters of interest for the position from eligible candidates until 4pm on Monday, June 30th. Any resident of South Milwaukee who is over the age of 18 is eligible to be a candidate. Letters can be submitted by mail or dropped off at the District Office at 901 15th Avenue, Door 7, South Milwaukee. 

 

Strategic Planning:

We have worked hard this year to begin meeting the goals of our Strategic Plan.  Our students are engaging in many new things, including presentations of learning at multiple schools, having a team participate in the NASA TechRise challenge, welcoming the Governor for a visit, all 5th grade students participating in Junior Achievement BizTown, and increasing participation in Youth Apprenticeships.  

 

We’ve also continued to expand on the great experiences our students have had for years by increasing the numbers of students participating including HS Government and AP Government classes visiting Madison to see the State Supreme Court in action, 4th graders across the district participating in Arbor Day by planting a tree at Blakewood and taking home their own seedlings to plant, HS Environmental Science classes studying our waterways to demonstrate the impact of microplastics, over 500 students and their families participating in our annual STEAM night event, HS Tech Ed students designing and building a greenhouse for the NARI Trade Show competition, and the list goes on! 

 

We are proud to share that 426 of our 483 employees (88%) completed our annual spring employee engagement survey, with a 77% positive engagement rate. Over 90% of our entire staff agree that their work gives them a sense of purpose, that their job is challenging and interesting, and that they are motivated to contribute to the success of the students and SDSM.

 

As part of our goal for community engagement, we have a Parent Advisory Council that meets with me monthly to discuss district updates and parent concerns.  The group has provided some invaluable feedback to our district from the parent/caregiver perspective.  We are looking to expand membership to have at least two representatives per school for next year.  If you are interested in joining the group for next year, please email me at droemer@sdsm.k12.wi.us.

 

Community Center Update:

The board began considering the concept of a stand alone community center in October 2021. Members of our strategic planning committee believed it was an important aspect to include in our strategic plan, so in October we created a formal group to explore this option more fully.  A committee of 19 people has been meeting twice a month since October to review potential options and was able to host a community workshop in April, which was attended by more than 120 community members. The committee will continue its work and look to host another community workshop in September to receive further feedback. More information on the committee and last April’s workshop can be found here.  

 

Facilities Updates:

We have a lot of exciting work going on this summer with our facilities team!  The largest project will be the tearing out and repaving of the high school student parking lot, which will begin on June 16th.  The Middle School Pool will also be completely emptied, re-grouted, and cleaned at the end of July. Both projects will be completed before students return for the 2025-26 school year. 

 

In addition, we will be using referendum funds to help address traffic safety in front of Rawson Elementary.  We are fortunate to have such a collaborative relationship with the city to engage in projects like this to ensure our students are safe.  An additional crosswalk with a flashing beacon and concrete bump-outs will be added along Rawson Ave. this summer for students to begin using in the upcoming school year.  

 

We also heard from employees and parents that our cleaning practices need to be improved.  Our facilities team has been working very hard to propose some solutions to ensure our buildings are clean and will be presenting those to the board this summer.  

 

High School Associate Principal:

We are excited to share that Jason Termaat will be moving into the role of Safety and Attendance Manager.  We are grateful for Jason’s work as an Associate Principal for the last 16 years, and are looking forward to seeing the great things he will accomplish in his new role!  He will oversee school safety, student attendance, and assist with staff absence management.  We have been fortunate to have Bill Wesley in the role of Safety Manager for the last several years and wish him the best of luck as he retires.  Interviews for a new high school associate principal are on June 16th.   

 

We are grateful to each of you for your support this year and wish you a safe and healthy summer!

 

Deidre Roemer