August 12, 2019 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:   

Description:   

Description:  The results of the brainstorming “Focus on Four” session in priority order:

1.   Clarify committee vs. board work and setting agendas (6)
2.   Streamline the board meeting agenda (5)
3.   Deepen connection between Board of Education and staff (5)
4.   Focus on long-term sustainability (5)
5.    Goal set with administrative team and measurable goals (4)
6.    Student centered discussions (4)
7.    Lead discussions on current issues and challenges (3)
8.    Board relations with other governmental entities (3)
9.    Teacher input (2)
10.  Student input (1)
11.  More collaboration with administration 1)
12.  Greater collaboration with community resources (businesses, seniors etc.) (1)
13.  Narrative Budget (1)
14.  Communication with public (1)
15.  Increase visibility in schools and community (0)
16.  Collect more data on school and community demographics (0)

The following ideas were shared by Julie Waner as notes from the discussion on identifying strategies to foster deeper connection between Board and Staff.

*Meet and Greet with new staff
*Board member (someone from HR Committee?) represented on interview panels
*Refine/improve teacher input at our meetings (report from them on staff reaction to agenda items.  We should hear from them before we vote on items that effect them.)
*Visit the buildings more (Board member assigned to each building or schedule of rotation each month so we get to all of them).
*Continue Listening Sessions.  Improve follow through with items that come up.
*Seek staff input on policy, curriculum or budget items that directly effect them in a more intentional way (make this a guiding principal?)
*Develop a means to for the Board to regularly correspond with staff (Monthly email from Board President or Clerk?)

Description:  Included in your packet you will find the minutes from the July 8, 2019 regular meeting and for your review.

The minutes from the Special Meeting  - Board Retreat 08/06/19 will also be included for your review.

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

Description:  Be it resolved that the Board of Education for the Waunakee Community School District hereby authorizes the appointment of an independent hearing officer for the 2019-2020  school year to determine pupil expulsion from the school under State Statute 119.25 Expulsion of Pupils. Sub (2). This must be a roll call vote.

Description:  Administration would like the input of the school board on the process to select a hearing officer for expulsions for 2019-2020.  I recommend that in the interim that the school board continue to use Attorney John Anderson, as we have for the last part of the 2018-2019 school year.  Attorney Karl Marquart has expressed an interest in working in that capacity again, and there are other local and Madison based attorneys who do, or could do this work.  

Description:  We will need a motion to appoint Dr. Bill Ranum as the District's Medical Advisor for the 2019-2020 school year. This must be a roll call vote.

Description:  Please review your calendars to assess your availability on the first days of school to welcome students. See the attached schedule of times and locations.

Description:  At the request of Mike Brandt, there is a request that the Board shall adopt a policy to annually approve and appoint a non-voting student delegate to the Board of Education, in cooperation with a nominated member of the Waunakee High School student council. Said appointee shall directly provide the BoE with direct student representation on issues of interest to the students of the Waunakee Community School District, subject to current Board policy."

Description:  Attached please find a memo from Kurt Eley requesting the addition of three para-educator positions to meet the needs of students with disabilities who have moved into the school district this summer.

The paraeducator positions in this request will all be funded by special education entitlement
grant funds. No district dollars will be used to pay for these position for the 2019-20 school
year. Since these positions are the direct result of transfer students increasing the district’s
special education expenditures, they are eligible for Transfer of Service exemptions which I will
file at the conclusion of the 2019-20 school year. 

Description:  On an annual basis we bring to the Board the staff handbooks.  The handbooks are available for board review  in the "extras" tab of Boardbook.

These are different than than the employee guidelines that you approved last month as these address daily operations within our schools and district.

Description:  Attached please find the record documents related to the Waunakee Library that includes the language related to the parking area adjacent to the school parking lot. 

The Committee reviewed these documents at their last meeting.

This document states, "ln the event the premises described in Exhibit 1 should at any time hereafter cease to be used by Grantee for municipal purposes, then in such event, fee simply title to the premises shall revert to the named Grantor."

In this situation, the school district is the "grantor".

The Committee reviewed legal counsel’s opinion on the deed language which affirmed the administration’s assumption and stated:

The Quit Claim Deed contains the following language: “[i]n the event the premises described in Exhibit should at any time hereafter cease to be used by Grantee for municipal purposes, then in such event, fee (sic) simply title to the premises shall revert to the named Grantor.”

Under Wisconsin law, this type of language has been interpreted as a fee simple determinable, meaning that the property automatically reverts to the grantor upon the occurrence of the condition. 
Here, if the Village of Waunakee ceases using the property for “municipal purposes,” the property automatically reverts to the Waunakee Community School District.

There are a few additional points to consider.

First, there is no “Exhibit 1,” as referenced in the Quit Claim Deed.  Only one page was recorded.  This may simply be a scrivener’s error, as the
legal description itself is included in the Quit Claim Deed.  However, to the extent that Exhibit 1 exists,
it may refer to other property, such as the property containing the library. 

Second, the term “municipal purposes” is not defined.  For instance, if the Village continues to own the property but leases it to another entity, there could be an issue as to whether it is being used for “municipal purposes.” 

Third, even if it is clear that the property is no longer being used for municipal purposes, such that it reverts automatically to the Waunakee Community School District, the District will still need to record a document to correct/clear the title.  It may be possible to have the Village execute a Quit Claim Deed. 

Fourth, as shown in the attached image, the existing parking lot appears to be encroaching
on the property to the north.  This should also be addressed.  For instance, the Village could quit claim the additional area encompassing the parking lot to the District.  An easement agreement
would be another option.

The Committee discussed their perspective on the issue if the library building were to be used for non-municipal purposes.  The Committee felt that the full Board should discuss this deed language and the Board’s position on this issue so the administration can communicate the District’s intent with the Village of Waunakee.

Description:  The Facility Committee debriefed on the library building site tour from earlier this summer.  The administration requested that the Committee discuss what is needed to determine if we are, or are not interested in the library property, and to set a time line for this decision so we can begin to articulate the variables we are working with as part of a possible 2020 referendum.  The administration would also like to communicate with the Village on our position with regards to the library site.
 
The Committee forwarded this discussion to the full Board. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the Soccer Stadium Field Design. As a reminder, the School Board approved the Master Planning portion of the attached Rettler proposal. The School Board has not approved the design or construction components of the attached proposal. The Facility Committee is recommending School Board approval of the Soccer Stadium Field Design, on a 3-0 vote.

The Soccer Stadium Field Assessment identified a field in need of complete replacement. Administration is recommending moving forward with the design portion of this work. The design would be based on a grass field replacement, with an alternate for a turf field replacement, which follows the process utilized for Warrior Stadium. The Facility Committee will then later determine when to release any bidding documents or to begin the construction process. Administration intends to review the range of financial options for this project with the Budget Committee at its next available meeting. 

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of the Soccer Stadium Team Building Design. As a reminder, the School Board approved fundraising for the Team Building. Attached please find an email from the community soccer fundraising group requesting permission to move forward with the design phase of the Soccer Stadium Team Building. The Facility Committee is recommending approval of the Team Building Design, on a 3-0 vote. The cost for the Team Building Design will be covered by the fundraising group. The Facility Committee will later be reviewing/approving the final design and any bidding/construction timeline. 

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Attached please find the Minutes from the August 6th Budget Committee meeting.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of the fourth draft of the budget for the 19-20 school year. I have attached the fourth draft of the budget for your review. The Budget Committee is recommending approval of the fourth draft of the budget, on a 2-0 motion. The Budget Committee would like to discuss the topic of the Communications Director position at the meeting. 

The changes between the third  and fourth draft of the budget include:
1. An update to State Equalization Aid, property taxes, school mental health grant, state special education categorical aid, and the per pupil categorical aid per the final 2019-21 State Budget.
2. An update to Fund 80 based on the Communications Director position changing from .5 to 1.0.
3. Federal grant allocations for Title 1 and Title 2
4. Additions to the expenditure budget for a 1.0 social worker, increase in the Communication Director from .5 to 1.0, increase in the middle school guidance admin assistant by 1 hour/day, increase to the summer school admin assistant by 3 hours/day, increase to the mentor program due to the changes in State requirements, increases to the Capital Projects budget for the Field House scoreboard,  adding a budget for a payment to the Village of Waunakee for Ripp Park, and removing all personnel costs from the CEIS grant due to the finding of racial dis-proportionality. 
5. The remaining funds ($233,604) were added to the salary line for future discussion later in the budget process. 

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Attached please find policies 342.12 and 342.12 Rule related to Independent Educational Evaluations.  These policies are coming to the Board for the second reading.  Action on this item is requested.

Description:   Attached in the "extras" section of Boardbook, please find a list of the accounts payable payments issued during the month of July 2019. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Attached you will find the 2018-19 Budget Status report as of June 30th, 2019, and the Cash Reconciliation report for June 2019. Please note that the 2018-19 audit process entries will impact the numbers presented on the June 30th report, and the 2018-19 final numbers will not be available until the completion of the audit during the week of August 12th. 

Also attached please find the Dean/SSM wellness clinic report for June and a district financial report for the wellness clinic for your review. This report tracks expenditures over time beginning with the first month of the clinic. 

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Attached please find a draft of the 2019 Annual Meeting Agenda. The administration is requesting approval of this agenda in order to begin the planning process for the 2019 Annual Meeting. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request School Board approval for a cash flow borrowing process. Because the district did not issue debt in 2019, we are allowed to issue our annual cash flow borrowing as a bank qualified bond issue. As a result, the borrowing is considered non taxable, which decreases interest costs. The administration is recommending hiring the financial advisor PMA to conduct the annual cash flow borrowing process. Last year, we participated in a PMA cash flow borrowing pool that included other school districts in the same borrowing situation as Waunakee.

Here is the process for cash flow borrowing with PMA:
· An approximate $5 to $7 Million Dollar loan is taken out in October
· The loan is bank qualified, which decreases interest costs
· The financial professional seeks bids on the borrowing
· The legal opinion is provided by Quarles and Brady
· The borrowing is rated and substantial information is provided to the bidders
· The issuance cost of the borrowing is higher due to the financial advisor fees, the legal fees, and the rating fees.  However, all of the districts in the pool share the issuance costs, which reduces the cost for any single district.
· Other school districts in the same borrowing situation as Waunakee can participate in the process which helps to lower the overall costs of the borrowing

In addition to the cost of issuance, the district will see interest rate savings from two sources. These two sources are a lower overall interest rate due to the rated borrowing, and the loan will be paid back in installments rather than annually. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:   

Description:  You should have received an email from WASB outlining the upcoming seminars and events. 

October 10, 2019 Fall Regional meeting for Region 12* --Sun Prairie - Meadow View Elementary School 200 N. Grand Ave.

Please contact Rebecca if you plan on attending.  A link to this page on the WASB site is in the extras section.