La Crosse Schools superintendent Engel on federal funding cuts over “DEI,” the new school board, Logan Middle’s Final Four

La Crosse Schools superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss potential “DEI” federal funding cuts, the next steps for new La Crosse School Board members, his going to a state Budget Listening session, and the District Vision survey going out next week.

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We started the show, though, talking about Logan Middle School students holding their own version of March Madness, with four different brackets — cereal, movies, candy and restaurants. But, we need the student council there to take the four winners of each bracket and hold the Logan Middle Final Four.

After that, we discussed what happens next with the La Crosse School Board, before new members take over April 28. We also talked about why that happens on April 28, when the La Crosse mayor and city council are sworn in two weeks after the election.

Then we talked about potential federal funding cuts. The School District of La Crosse gets about $7.1 million in federal funding — $4.7 million from the Department of Education and $2.4 million from the Department of Agriculture.   

Schools are looking for more clarity over funding cuts that deal with a vague interpretation of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Other things we discussed included Engel partaking in the Wisconsin Budget Listening Session happening in Wausau on April 29, and what he’s going to tell the Joint Finance Committee, and we hit on the District Vision survey going out to school district residents soon.