December 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  Attorney Kirk Strang will be joining the Board for closed session to discuss the results and potential action of the boundary survey at Prairie and Arboretum.

Description:  Included in your packet you will find the minutes from the November 13, 2017 regular meeting for your review and approval.

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

Description:  The Board of Education provides a public listening session for the public to comment on non-agenda items related to the governance or management of the Waunakee Community School District. Individuals may use this time to also 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:  Anaiah Kenas and Alyssa Kuhn are the high school student representatives who will provide an update of events from the high school.

Description:  Cindy Lindquist and Lynn Stenroos will give a teaching update

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

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Description:  Attached please find a document for the School Board on the topic of tax incremental districts. The goal of this document is to provide direction to the School Board Liaison to the Joint Review Board (JRB), while providing the Liaison with the flexibility to review the facts of the specific tax incremental district being proposed, and empower the Liaison to act on the tax incremental district without the requirement for a School Board review/vote on each tax incremental district that is being proposed.

The next Joint Review Board will be organized on January 8th for consideration of the proposed downtown Hovde Project.

Description:  Kurt Eley will provide the Board with an update on what is occurring with regard to student mental health services in the school district.  The strategic planning objective in this area was originally stated to bring and spread awareness, however, we have moved beyond awareness strategies with changing staff roles, additional staff positions, and the partnership with Building Bridges.  Kurt will also touch on some potential options for the future, and how we are currently needing to use outside agencies to provide support for our most severe student mental health cases.

Kurt's presentation is attached for your review.

Description:  Mark Roffers will be with us on Monday night to present an updated report on our Long-Range Facility Plan.  This plan is heavily predicated on enrollment projections, and he has met with our local developers and municipalities to re-calibrate what is occurring for development and growth in our school district.  We will use this updated report to work with the Board on our space needs for the short and long term, and to identify where we need to place our immediate, mid-term, and long range focus.

Mark's report and presentation are attached for your review.  Mark's report is saved under the Extras tab to view.

Description:  Attached please find a staffing request from Kurt Eley for three special education para-educators and a sign language interpreter. 

The para educator positions at Heritage and Prairie were anticipated as we have had temporary staffing in place since the first week of school at both of these sites to address the needs of two young students who came to us this year without IEPs and who had significant needs that required time to sort through and evaluate.  The para-educator requests for Prairie and Heritage are the result of this evaluation being complete and programs for the students being determined.

The student as Arboretum who is transitioning back to a full time schedule and will require additional support beyond what can be offered with the current staff at Arboretum.

Finally, we have a new student moving into our district who has an IEP that calls for a full-time sign language interpreter.

Our budgetary recommendation is for the para-educator positions to be funded from the Contingency Fund so we can capture categorical aid on the expenditures for these positions.  The total cost for the remainder of the school year for these three positions is $51,000.  We have a balance of $70,000 in the Contingency Fund.   We are still working on a final projected cost for the sign language interpreter which will be funded from the Federal Flow Through Grant.

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Description:  Attached please find the Budget Committee meeting minutes from December 6th,
2016. Please contact Steve Summers at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Attached please find the minutes from the December 4th, 2017 Budget Committee meeting for your review. Please contact Steve Summers at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review a draft 2018-2019 budget timeline. Please see the attached draft timeline. Please note that the 2018-19 fiscal year is in the second year of the 2017-2019 state budget process. As a result, our budget process will not have the uncertainty that existed during the 2017-18 budget development process. The major school finance impact for 2018-19 is the $204/student categorical aid increase, compared to $200/student in 2017-18. Please also note the planned Special Board meeting during the month of February 2017. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of the transportation contract, with the addition of a performance standards/incentive clause. Attached please find the proposed transportation contract document, along with the proposed monthly data reporting process from Lamers. 

Please note that all School Board members have already seen the contract document information earlier in 2017 when the transportation bid specifications were approved by the School Board. The only adjustments to the contract document were not approving the alternate for a bus terminal outside of the district, and approving the alternate for increasing the average age of the busses from 7 to 10 years. I would suggest reviewing the last page of the document, which is the addition of the performance standards/incentives clause, and the proposed reporting process from Lamers. Lamers has embraced this performance standards/incentives discussion, and has shown improvement this fall in areas such as customer service. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  Attached please find new Club and Organization Requests for 2017-2018.  Traditionally these requests have come to the Committee and Board in October/November, but with me being out of the district much of the month of October and our focus in November being the budget and salary decisions, this item has been delayed until now.  

Please see the written requests and recommendations from Brian Kersten and Marcy Peter-Felice that associate with each club request.  

Our objective has been to offer opportunities for students to follow their interests and connect with clubs, organizations, and co-curriculars at school.  The proposed new clubs are student originated and they have found an adviser to assist them in their establishing themselves at the school.  In the past, we have approved clubs and they have either been successful and thrived, or after a year or two, have not materialized.  The purpose for the three-year waiting period for adviser pay is to ensure that a club is sustainable.  

I recommend approval for the the Aviation Club (HS), Creative Coders (MS), Computer Science Club (HS), and Badminton Club (HS).  These proposals were approved on a 2-0 vote at the committee level and are recommended to the full Board for approval.

Additionally, The Above the Influence Club (ATI) has been a strong club at the high school and has been active in our Linkage Meetings, the Waunakee Care's Coalition, and many outreach opportunities at the high school and other schools in the district.  Ellen Grunder has done a phenomenal job leading this group and the club has surpassed the three year trial period and is eligible to request pay for the adviser.  

The time and commitment associated with leading the ATI Club is similar to the time for the Justice League and Pay It Forward Clubs -- 2.5% of the base ($900)

I recommend approval of the pay request for the ATI Club adviser at 2.5% ($900).   This proposal was approved on a 2-0 vote at the committee level and is recommended to the full Board for approval.

Description:  Tim Schell will review for the Board the State Accountability Report Cards.  The Report Card documents for the district and each school can be found in the Extras Tab of Board Book.

Description:  Attached in the "extras" section of Boardbook, please find a list of the accounts
payable payments issued during the month of November 2017. Please contact Steve Summers at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 if you have any questions. Thanks. 

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Description:  Attached you will find the 2017-18 Budget Status report as of November 30th, 2017,
and the Cash Reconciliation report for October 2017. Please note that the district has received the first repayment of donated funds for the Warrior Stadium project. Please also note the wellness clinic expenses have been separated out as its own line item on the monthly financial report. The budgeted amount is $0, because the School Board has previously approved funding the wellness clinic as a trial out of the district fund balance account. 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 review the district census report.
The 2017-18 district census process has been completed. The census
was completed by utilizing existing student data from the Infinite Campus database, and an online data collection process that was advertised in multiple venues, including social media. We did not conduct the district wide postcard process this year, as this process has proven over time to be confusing to the community, and quite expensive with the printing and postage. The online data collection process information is then entered into the student records database by attendance area to create a census report by elementary building. Please see the attachment that includes the census numbers by attendance area and changes of census numbers between years. The
following are some observations about the information that is attached:
1. The census report indicates 5 sections of kindergarten at Prairie, which is compared to 5 sections this year. 
2. The census report indicates 4 sections of kindergarten at Arboretum, which is compared to 4 sections this year. Also, the numbers are lower this year which will result in likely no forced transfers and a lower class size. 
3. The census report indicates 4 sections of kindergarten at Heritage, compared to 4 sections this year. However, Heritage needs to monitored for the potential addition of a 5th section, based on a comparison of the data at this time last year to the number of K students who actually enrolled. 
The Heritage attendance area has the highest rate of student growth now.
4. The new elementary attendance boundaries are holding to capacity in each attendance area. 
Please contact Steve Summers if you have any questions on the attached information. You can call me at 849-2000 or email at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request School Board approval of the
2016-17 financial audit. The district’s audit firm, Wegner CPA's, has
completed the 2016-2017 financial audit reports. I have attached the
following documents for your review:
· The auditor communications letter to the School Board
· The financial statements with independent auditor’s report, You may find this document in the Extras tab of Boardbook.
Please keep in mind that the “financial statements with independent
auditor’s report” is presented according to accounting standards issued by
the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The accounting
standards differ from what is required to be reported according to the
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. As an example, GASB
accounting standards require depreciation of assets, while depreciation is not reported in the state’s accounting system. As another example, fund classifications differ between the GASB accounting standards and the state’s accounting system. Please let me know if you have any questions while reviewing the financial statements.
The auditor letter is a communication from the auditor to the School Board over 
such matters as “difficulties encountered in performing the audit”,“disagreements with management”,
and recommended improvements in operational practices. 

Administration is pleased to report that no "significant findings" were identified during the 2016-17 audit process. A significant finding is an accounting issue that must be reported to the state of Wisconsin within the financial statements. As you remember, we did have a "significant finding" during the 2015-16 audit process regarding a special education para educator licensing issue. The licensing issue identified during the 2015-16 audit has been considered resolved by our current audit firm. After conducting a thorough review of all of our internal control practices, our audit firm did identify suggested improvements to internal controls/procedures/policies. I would like to review these suggested improvements in detail with the Budget Committee at a future meeting. You are welcome to read these entire documents before the meeting, but I will highlight the areas of discussion at the meeting.

Please let me know if you have any questions on the attached documents. I can be reached
at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000. Thanks for your time.

Description:  Please make sure you have notified Rebecca by the end of the 12/11/17 meeting if you plan to attend the convention and if there are any special pre conference workshops or meals you wish to attend.

Thank you.