September 13, 2021 at 5:30 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  Nathan Chow from Foundry will lead the School Board through a focus group exercise as part of the district branding process.  

Attached please find a document from Anne Blackburn that outlines the core team membership and the planned focus group events for various stakeholder groups to meet regarding the branding process.

Description:  Consider the August 9, 2021 regular meeting minutes.

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 any item related to the governance or management of the WCSD.  A copy of Board Policy 187 - Public Participation at Board Meetings is attached for your reference. Each commenter will be allowed 3 minutes.  An hour will be allowed for this item

Description:  Anne Dahlie and Lara Ostrander will provide an update from the teaching staff.

Description:  Student Council Representatives to the WCSD Board of Education, Isabelle Hahn and Marissa Loether will give an update.

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

Description:  Dave Boetcher will present information to the School Board from the Wisconsin Public Education Network.

Description:  Please see the attached memo and DRAFT agenda for the September 27th Community Engagement Meeting on Equity of Access to Opportunities / Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Description:  Randy Guttenberg will provide the Board with an update on the start of the 2021-2022 school year.  The presentation will be brought to the meeting on Monday night to ensure the most accurate data and information is presented.

The subsequent agenda items will be included in the report:

• Welcome Back and First Week of School
• Transportation -- Bus Routes and Drivers
• Crossing Guards
• Enrollment
• COVID Update and Dashboard Data

Description:  Review and Consider the minutes form the 8/16/21 & the 8/23/21 meetings.

Description:  Attached please find the report from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ad Hoc Committee.  This report will be presented to the Board by Committee Members Joel Lewis and Gina Pagel.

I recommend that the Board refrain from taking action on this report or any recommendations on Monday night, and that action regarding items within this report be considered by the Board at a future school board meeting.  I think it is pertinent that considerations by the Board take place at a point after the Community Engagement Meeting on September 27th which is focused on the topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Description:  Review and Consider the minutes from the 8/24/21 meeting.

Description:  The HR Committee voted 3-0 to advance consideration to the full board for consistent vesting language across all employee groups.  The current Administrative/Administrative Support vesting language would work in conjunction with each group's current HRA retirement benefit.   

Description:  The HR Committee made and passed two motions 3-0 to advance to the whole board a request to adjust specific hourly wage scales. The first pertained to the Classified Staff level 1 - crossing guards and copy clerks.  The second pertained to the whole custodial and maintenance group.  Please see the attachments for the proposed changes.

Description:  Current handbook language allows for an initial wage placement that takes into consideration an employee's prior wage within the district.  The HR Committee advanced 3-0 a proposal to the full board a revision of handbook language to allow re-consideration of wage placement for an employee whose prior wage scale was increased within a 12-month timeframe of a job change. 

Description:  The HR Committee advanced a proposal 3-0 to the full board for a $500 referral bonus for any current employee that refers a candidate who is hired for an hourly position and remains employed by WCSD for three months. 

Description:  Review and Consider the minutes from the 8/30/21 meeting.

Description:  Attached please find the Co-Curricular and Booster Club Financial Reports for the 2020-2021 school year.  These reports are shared with the school board on an annual basis, and the Co-Curricular Committee reviewed them at their August 30th meeting.  The Committee asked for the reports to be attached to the agenda for Board members to be able to review, but there will not be a formal presentation of the reports at Monday's meeting. Administration will be available to answer any questions.

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. Due to the timing of the borrowing, this resolution is required at the September School Board meeting instead of the October meeting. PMA is the financial adviser hired to manage the cash flow borrowing process.

Here are the highlights of the cash flow borrowing process:

• A loan of $8,000,000 is taken out in October (compared to $7,900,000 last year). 
• The loan is bank qualified, which decreases interest costs
• PMA seeks competitive pricing 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 adviser fees, the legal fees, and the rating fees
• Multiple school districts are participating in this borrowing, which divides the costs among all school districts
• The interest rate of the loan should be lower than non-rated, non bank qualified loans
• The resolution is a parameters resolution, and the final terms will need to be approved by the Financial Officer (Superintendent, Executive Director of Operations) or District Officer (Board President or Clerk)

As a reminder, the cash flow borrowing for 21-22 is bank qualified because the district did not issue debt in the 2021 calendar year. This item requires a roll call vote.

Description:  Attached please find the annually required report on the use of seclusion and restraint in each school.  Tiffany Lokan compiled this report and will be in attendance at Monday's meeting to present this information and answer any questions.   With the varying instructional models last year, we did not have any incidents of seclusion or restraint.

Description:  Attached please find a request from Tiffany Loken, Director of Special Education, for additional special education para-educators at the Intermediate School, Heritage, and Arboretum.  We have experienced significant growth in our special education program with families moving to the district with students who have specific IEP needs.  The district will continue to maximize the application of Transfer of Service Funds to support these students' needs/

Description:  Attached please find a request from Steve Summers and Tiffany Loken to purchase two vans and hire drivers to transport special education students.  This request is precipitated by the shortage of bus drivers for regular bus routes and to support other transportation needs in the district, including our special education students who require special transportation.  Mr. Summers and Ms. Loken will present this item to the Board on Monday night.

Description:   

Description:  Attached in the "extras" section of BoardBook, please find a list of the accounts payable payments issued during the month of August 2021.

Description:  Attached you will find the 2020-21 Budget Status report as of June 30th, 2021, and the Cash Reconciliation report for July 2021. Please note that the 2020-21 audit process has been completed and these are the final numbers. 

Also attached please find the Dean/SSM wellness clinic report for July 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. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of Fund 21 student activity accounts. I have attached a report from the district financial system listing the student activity accounts by building, along with the ending account balance on June 30th, 2021. The School Board policy on student activity accounts requires an annual School Board review and approval of student activity accounts. Student activity accounts by School Board policy are managed by Building Principals/Administrators.

NOTE: The School Board policy on this topic is a Fund 60 Student Activity Account policy. Fund 60 accounts were closed in the 19-20 fiscal year and moved to Fund 21 per new national accounting requirements. We are continuing the practice of bringing these accounts forward to the School Board even though it is not required by policy for Fund 21.

These accounts are typically used by student organizations for fundraising for activities above and beyond what the district budget is able to support. Student activity account equity balances carry over from one fiscal year to another. I would like to point out that student activity equity accounts with a positive balance are reflected with a negative sign (in red), as student activity equity accounts are balance sheet accounts on the district financial system. A positive balance actually indicates a negative account balance. Negative account balances are allowed by policy under certain circumstances. 

NOTE: Class of 2021 account was brought to $0 in August 2021. 

 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request School Board approval of the fund balance allocations. Please recall that during the month of July, the School Board approved fund balance classifications to comply with national accounting standards. Attached please find the Annual Meeting Treasurer's Report, an all Funds fund balance report and a fund balance report detailing the accounting of the Fund 10 937900 and 938900 fund balance accounts.

The final 20-21 Fund 10 fund balance is $7,614,873.48 or 13.7% of the 21-22 Fund 10 expenditure budget approved in July by the School Board. The 13.7% compares to a number of 11.6% in 20-21. The Board policy on fund balance has a statement of working towards maintaining a 15% balance. Please note that the Fund 41 fund balance has decreased to $1,173,399.37 as a result of the School Board's contribution to the Waunakee Pitch Turf Project. Added together, these amounts represent 15.8% of the 21-22 Fund 10 expenditure budget approved in July by the School Board.

The 20-21 fiscal year was the third year when funds were set aside for the replacement of the turf field for Warrior Stadium, and the first year when funds were set aside for the replacement of the turf field for Warrior Pitch. You can see the balance in the 937900 fund balance account. Please recall that School Board policy allows buildings/departments to carry over funds from one fiscal year to the next. You can see the balances in the 938900 fund balance account.