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Thursday, June 6, 2019 • Vol. 137, No. 46 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
SASD
SASD
Simulated weapon use will change for drills, board told ALICE training included ‘activethreat’ drill last month SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Tami Currie
Stoughton High School senior David Tessier, right, does a flip with the help of classmate Drew Pasold during the school's commencement ceremony Sunday, June 2.
Flipping into the future The Stoughton High School Class of 2019 walked across the stage at Collins Field Sunday, June 2, in front of family and friends at the school’s commencement ceremony. The 242 students listened to speeches about the history, “state of the class” and their future from classmates, as
well as from school district officials. After receiving their diplomas, students walked to the open part of the field to toss their caps in the air before reuniting with their friends and family in the middle of the field to take photos.
Inside More graduation photos Page 8 Senior Awards Night Pages 12-13
– Scott Girard
Retiring staff say farewell Staff look back on time at SASD; ahead to new chapter
Inside
Read questionnaires The 2018-19 school year is winding down for the Stoughton Area completed by some of the School District, but for a handful of retirees staff, so are their careers in the district. Page 4 The official end of the school year June 30 will see retirements for teachers Heidi Hubing (27 years in the district), Mary Scott (24) and of service to the district and “wish Colleen Reilly (29), as well as long- them well as they embark upon a time educational assistant Barb Lowe new chapter in their lives.” (31) and bus driver Milt Sperle (21). D i s t r i c t s u p e r i n t e n d e n t Ti m Onsager thanked them for their years – Scott De Laruelle
Making safety drills as realistic as possible without causing additional stress to staff and students was a topic of discussion Monday as district officials reviewed the latest security training exercises at schools. As part of an update on the Stoughton Area School District’s ongoing ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) training, buildings and grounds supervisor Luke Butz called ALICE “one of the most important pieces of our overall safety program.” Butz, who recently completed certification to be
Area agencies support power restoration efforts Unified Newspaper Group
Heidi Hubing: third grade teacher, Fox Prairie Elementary School, 27 years in SASD Mary Scott: fourth-grade teacher, Fox Prairie Elementary School, 24 years Colleen Reilly: seventh grade social studies teacher, River Bluff Middle School, 29 years Barbara Lowe: educational assistant-media, Stoughton High School, 31 years Milton Sperle: bus driver, 21 years
Turn to ALICE/Page 14
Teamwork alleviates early morning storm damage AMBER LEVENHAGEN
Stoughton Area School District retiring staff
an ALICE trainer, helped coordinate the “active threat drills” at each of the schools late last month and another at the beginning of the year. “The whole premise is empowering all of our students and teachers to make their own decisions to be able to deal with a violent intruder, or any type of intruder within our buildings,” he said. Feedback on both drills has inspired some changes, including the type of simulated weapons used. Board member Jon Coughlin said he’s heard reservations from some staff about the use of the simulated weapons. Butz said past drills have included realistic-looking airsoft guns that shoot pellets and that those have changed since the first training.
It was around 2 a.m. on May 25 when Stoughton Utilities director Jill Weiss got the phone call. She was awakened by utilities support staff who were alerted to power outages by the Stoughton Police Department dispatch. More than a quarter of Stoughton Utilities customers were without power during the ordeal, and Public Works and Stoughton Fire Department staff were out from the early morning hours into the afternoon assisting with
the storm clean up. In addition to the work of dozens of city staff, four surrounding communities offered utilities assistance to help with the power outages. The restoration efforts were so severe that Weiss made the call around 7 a.m. to request emergency assistance from Municipal Electric Utilities of Wi s c o n s i n ( M E U W ) , which organized help from Brodhead Water and Light, Waunakee Utilities, Jefferson Utilities and Evansville Water and Light. “We were concerned about the damage but were also concerned about pulling the trigger too quickly,” Weiss said. She explained that her team waited until daylight
Turn to Storm/Page 7
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