October 12, 2015 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  You will find the packet of materials used at the hearing for each student included in the Extra Tab of Board Book for your review.  Attached in the body of the agenda are the hearing officers rulings per each student.  These issues and facts were not contested by the parents.

Description:  Included in your packet you will find the minutes from the September 14, 2015 regular meeting and September 28, 2015 special meeting for your review and approval.

Description:  A motion will be necessary to approve the agenda as presented (or) with changes as recommended.

Description:  Individuals may use this time to comment on any items listed as part of the meeting agenda. A copy of Board Policy 187 —Public Participation at Board Meetings is enclosed for your reference. Past practice has allowed 30 minutes for this section of the agenda.

Description:  Jordan Ripp and Matt Luhring are the high school student representatives this year.

Description:  This section is reserved for any comments from members of the board on meetings they attended or other informational items.

Description:  Greg Benz and Sandra Meinholz will be present at Monday's Board Meeting to provide an update on the work and direction of the Business and Marketing Program.  

Description:  Tim Schell will be present at Monday's meeting to provide the board with an update from the curriculum department.

Description:  Brian Kersten, Marcy Peters-Felice, and Dean Kaminski will be present at Monday's Board Meeting to update you on their goals, discuss with you the direction they are heading this year, and to answer your questions.  Their goals documents are attached for your review.

Description:  Attached please find the Youth Options requests that are being requested by our students for the Spring Semester 2016.  Youth Options is a program we are required to participate in per state statutes and provides the opportunity for students to enroll in courses at a post-secondary schools that are not substantively the same as the courses offered at the student's high school.  The school district pays for these courses.  The related policies are provided for your review.

Description:  This agenda item is a carry-over from the previous board meeting.  As of Thursday, we do not have the paperwork from Sun Prairie to move forward with this agreement.  Kurt Eley has reached out to the Sun Prairie School District to secure this documentation, but has not been successful, yet.  Should we receive the paperwork by the meeting time on Monday, we will share it with you and ask for your consideration.  If we do not have the paperwork, we will again defer this agenda item to a future meeting.

Description:  Attached please find two requests for early graduation.  Brian Kersten and the guidance staff have worked with these students and are recommending approval of their early graduation requests.

Description:  On Monday night I want to discuss with you my thoughts on the next steps in our district planning process.  We have many pieces moving independently, and I need to work with my administrative team and you to pull these items together to formulate a direction for us as a school district.  I am excited about the next steps, and need to bring you into the conversation as we have related work taking place in the coming months:

1.  Vision

We have collected a great deal of feedback over the last year on what we, staff, and community view as the type of school district we aspire to be.  I propose that I bring this draft work forward to the Goals Committee for review with an effort to encapsulate the spirit of our data/input.

2.  District Direction -- Greatest Areas of Emphasis, Measurement of progress, and Action Planning

Attached please find a template I asked each of my administrative team to complete this week as part of our Cabinet Meeting.  I want my team to begin thinking about the primary areas that we need to focus on over the next three years. We are also discussing the measurement options and metrics to track progress for the areas suggested.  I will be compiling their input and working with the team to come to consensus on the main areas of focus, tracking mechanisms, and also the primary dashboard type data we should collect on an annual basis for our schools and the district.

3.  Linkage Meeting Follow-up

The data from the linkage meetings is being applied to the work in areas 1 and 2 above.


4.  Board Retreat -- Key Works of School Boards

The Board Retreat on November 2nd will be focused on the Key Works of School Boards.  I see the areas of Vision and Accountability that are part of this framework as playing a key place in our work related to District Planning and Direction.


5.  December Special Board Meeting -- Administrative Involvement

I think we should begin thinking about a special school board meeting in December or January that is held on collaboration with my administrative team to discuss the main areas of emphasis, our needs as we enter the next budget cycle, and where we want to head as a school organization.

I will present these ideas and look forward to your feedback and direction through our dialog and as we move forward in the coming weeks/months.

Description:  Attached you will find the 2015-16 Budget Status report as of September 30th, 2015, the Cash Reconciliation report for August 2015, and the 2014 referendum budget report as of September 30th, 2015. Please note that the new purchase orders over $5,000 report has been included in the "extras" section of BoardBook. Please contact Steve Summers at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request School Board approval of the resolution authorizing temporary borrowing. Attached please find the resolution as prepared by Quarles and Brady, the district’s bond counsel. PMA is the financial advisor hired to manage the cash flow borrowing
process. Here are the highlights of the cash flow borrowing process:
· A maximum loan of $4,000,000 is taken out in October (compared to $5,000,000 last year)
· The loan is bank qualified, which lowers interest costs
· PMA seeks bids on the borrowing
· The legal opinion is provided by Quarles and Brady
· The borrowing is rated by Moody’s and an official statement is provided to the bidders
· The issuance cost of the loan is higher due to the financial advisor fees, the legal fees, and the rating fees
- Six other school districts are participating in this borrowing, which divides the costs among all six districts
· The interest rate of the loan should be lower than non-rated, bank qualified loans
· The resolution is a parameters resolution, and the final terms will need to be approved by the Business Manager/District Administrator and the Board President, Clerk, or Treasurer
As a reminder, the cash flow borrowing for 15-16 is bank qualified because the referendum approved borrowing was non bank qualified as the dollar amount exceeded $10,000,000. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments on this agenda item. You can contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2491. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the 3rd Friday in September Count. The 3rd Friday in September Count is a student enrollment count (taken on September 18th) that has a significant impact on budget planning for both the current fiscal year and the next two fiscal years. Attached please find the 3rd Friday Count grade by grade numbers.   The 3rd Friday Count in September is incorporated into the current year revenue cap formula that determines the maximum revenues available from the two major sources of funding (property taxes and state aid). The 3rd Friday Count in September is also a significant factor in the state equalization aid formula for the following fiscal year.   In preparing the 2015-16 budget, an estimate of the 3rd Friday count is necessary. The estimate for 15-16 included 3,939 PK-12 resident students and 178 PK-12 non-resident students. The actual count resulted in 3,951 PK-12 resident students and 172 PK-12 non-resident students.  

The Budget Committee will review the financial changes as a result of the 3rd Friday Count, and the information will be included in the 15-16 Budget and Tax Levy Approval on October 26th.    Please let me know if you need any additional information or have any questions. You can contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2491. Thanks.

Description:  C

Description:  The meeting minutes from October 7th will be forthcoming at a future meeting.  The committee did not take any action on the 7th.  They toured the Heritage School complex to reacquaint themselves with the project and to provide feedback to administration on a few key areas and process.  We will update the board on Monday night on the next steps.

Description:  This is the second reading of policy 421 Entrance Age.  The only change is the deadline dates to bring it into compliance with other policies we reviewed and modified this summer.

Description:  Attached in the "extras" section of Boardbook, please find a list of the accounts payable payments issued during the month of September 2014. Please contact Steve Summers at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The Waunakee Area Education Foundation funded two projects for our staff.  The Heart Rate Monitors for Jason Cole and the physical education department, as you saw demonstrated last year during the physical education report to the BOE.  Also, Amy Frank received funding for Sphero -- a computer coding device to teach coding and programming.  She received a classroom set to be shared with other classrooms at the Intermediate School.

Description:  Attached please find the Board Salaries report that was requested in preparation for the Annual Meeting.  Last year it was stated at the meeting that we would bring this information and discussion back for consideration.

Description:  Dates for the Staff Listening Sessions have not been set.  We will touch base with the board on Monday to be sure we are in line with the timeline for when you want to conduct these meetings, and then Mari will get them set up and communicated to your in the coming week.