La Crosse’s mayor and council members meet with school superintendent to discuss a vision for the city’s school district

They called it a “visioning” meeting.

A gathering of La Crosse government leaders, including the mayor, a few city council members, and the La Crosse superintendent of schools, took place on Monday at the school district headquarters.

Superintendent Aaron Engel had a list of questions for the panel, such as identifying what the public schools do well, and what they hope the school district will be known for in 10 years.

Mayor Shaundel Washington Spivey said in order to thrive, students need to be confident and know themselves. The mayor also praised the idea of year-round school, which the district does offer. Engel noted that students can take classes throughout the calendar year, if they choose a schedule where class is available 240 days a year. City council president Tamra Dickinson said she likes that the school district Facebook page promotes positive things that schools and students are doing.

Engel says this meeting is part of a broader plan for listening sessions with groups from throughout the community, “kind of a shared goal to create a shared vision for the future, not just one that the school district holds or the city holds, but working together and continuing to collaborate to make the La Crosse community be the best it can be.” Engel says the public assumes the schools are going to teach reading, writing and arithmetic, but he argues the city group wants children “to be good citizens, to be good people, to work hard,” and “find satisfaction in life.”

The elected officials spoke about their concerns for families struggling with housing costs, and making sure that kids in the La Crosse schools are not left behind, compared with students in other communities.