March 14, 2022 at 5:30 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  If time is available, the Board may use this agenda time to discuss Board operations, process, or planning future meetings.

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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 topic. A copy of Board Policy 187 —Public Participation at Board Meetings is enclosed for your reference. Each speaker will be allowed 3 minutes to speak for a total of  30 minutes.  .  Emailed comments will be shared and reviewed by all the board members but will not be read out loud.
 

Description:  Members of the WTA will provide an update to the Board from the teachers.

Description:  Marissa Loether and Isabelle Hahn are the student representatives from the high school and will be present to report to the Board on what is occurring at the high school.

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

Description:  Evaluation of the Superintendent and the Board's Self-Evaluation will take place at a Special Board Meeting scheduled for a date yet to be determined, and prior to the Board reorganization.  A reminder will be sent out to each board member individually regarding any evaluation tools not turned in.  Thank you

Description:  Board President Joan Ensign would like to discuss with the Board if they want to conduct listening sessions with staff this spring.
 

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The next Community Engagement Meeting is scheduled to be on the topic of School Safety and Student Behavioral Support.  The meeting is scheduled for March 28, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. in the High School PAC.

The administration would like feedback from the Board on your preferred approach and the most important topics you want addressed.  Attached is a DRAFT agenda/list of topics that we can address at the meeting.

There are two options:

1.  Conduct a meeting that is a survey of all of these topics for School Safety and Student Behavioral Supports to show how they are connected together, without getting into depth into any one topic.

2. Conduct a meeting that is focused on either School Safety or Student Behavioral Support and be more focused on specific topics of interest to the Board etc.

I want to discuss this agenda with the Board on Monday night and solicit your feedback so we can prepare for this meeting, and communicate appropriately to the community about the topics we will be discussing on March 28th.

 

Description:  On Monday evening I will provide a short snapshot of the data related to Covid in the schools over the last two weeks.  

Description:  The Curriculum Committee reviewed a proposal to eliminate the Introduction to Industrial Tech class beginning this upcoming 2022-2023 school year. We usually run two sections of this course, enrolling 25-35 students.  As we look at growing enrollments in other Tech Ed courses, the view in the department is that updates to our 8th grade Tech Ed electives have made Introduction to Industrial Tech redundant. We believe students would be better served by enrolling in other Tech Ed courses and by more staffing flexibility for other Tech Ed courses.  The Committee approved this recommendation for consideration by the full Board on a 3-0 vote.

Description:  Amy Johnson presented to the Curriculum Committee the extremely low participation in the K-6 online virtual learning option we offered to families this school year.  These numbers included thirteen students K-6, most of which plan to return to in-person instruction in the fall of 2022.  The administration is recommending elimination of this program for the fall of 2022 as a result of these low numbers, and to be able to communicate with families who may want to seek other remote options, if they choose.  The Curriculum Committee is recommending to the full Board the elimination of the K-6 remote program for the fall of 2022 on a 3-0 vote.

Description:  The high school administration has informed me that the attached form is no longer used by the high school for Junior/Senior Release.  We have begun a process of removing forms from our policies to simplify updates. The Policy Committee is recommending to the Board on a 3-0 vote to remove Policy 434.1 Exhibit Form for Junior/Senior Release.

Description:  Per the full Board's request, the Policy Committee has worked to develop a policy for the flying of flags on school grounds.  Attached please find the DRAFT Flag Policy that was written, based off language from several sample policies, feedback from the Policy Committee, and per a language review by the school district's attorney.

The Committee does not have a recommendation to the Board on this item as they felt it was important for the Board as a whole to discuss the policy, and specifically whether to include in the policy the section on "commemorative flags."

Description:  Attached please find the minutes from the February 28th Facility Committee meeting. 

Description:  The administration is in the process of drafting a community survey regarding the November 2022 referendum planning process. The draft was presented to the school board at the regular February board meeting and the facility committee on February 28th. We have also attached a revised version of the survey for your consideration (Draft#21). We have also attached a document that includes two versions of an additional question regarding the operational referendum. The facility committee voted 2-1 to request this language. The first question was written by Bill Foster at School Perceptions and the second question was written by district administration. The administration requests consideration of inserting the second question into the Community Survey. Please note that the final survey will be reviewed for any spelling/grammatical issues prior to publication.

The goal is to have community feedback ready for school board review in May.

Also attached, please find a draft of a community-wide postcard designed to create awareness of the upcoming community survey. Anne is working with the construction team to add graphics to the postcard. The administration is seeking feedback from the board.

Description:  Administration is requesting approval of the 2022-2023 capital maintenance projects list. The facility committee is recommending approval on a 3-0 motion. Attached is the first draft of the project list for review.

As a reminder, the school board has approved a change in funding for capital maintenance projects. We will be utilizing Fund 41 for capital maintenance projects during 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 until the funds are exhausted in Fund 41. Future capital maintenance project funds will be reserved within Fund 10, which accomplishes the goal of increasing our Fund 10 fund balance.

Please keep in mind that we are prioritizing projects that are unrelated to potential November 2022 referendum projects. 

Description:  The Human Resources Committee met on March 2, 2022. There are no action items that are being brought forward to the March Board Meeting. The committee meeting was primarily focused on discussing strategies related to 2022-2023 compensation increases.

Strategies that were reviewed:
1.  Allow staff to advance within the hourly system based on hiring date and teachers to advance within their new system based on experience and professional development prior to the first 22/23 paycheck; no change in systems based on CPI or inflation.  Revisit the inflationary increase in the fall 2022. Engage in negotiations if requested by the WTA. 
2.  Increase both systems by an inflationary measure and permit staff advancement prior to the first paycheck of 22/23. Seek to reach agreement with the WTA prior to the first paycheck.
3.  Hold all wages at the 21/22 level.  Revisit both inflationary advancement and wage system advancement in the fall 2022. Engage in negotiations if requested by the WTA. 

Initial costing estimates for WCSD employee groups - Hourly Staff, Administration and Administrative Support, for different scenarios were provided to the Human Resources Committee at the meeting. Administration shared budget strategies that connect to compensation scenarios. The preference of the Human Resources Committee was to move forward with strategy #2. The budget options connected to Strategy 2 will be reviewed during the budget portion of this meeting.

Description:  Attached please find the minutes from the March 3 budget committee meeting.

Description:  The Aquatic Center fees were reviewed at a February 7 budget committee meeting and the February 14 school board meeting. The board requested that we align the fee increases for residents and non-residents and then bring the fees back for consideration at the March board meeting. Attached please find a revised Aquatic Center fee document. Administration is recommending approval.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review a potential budget option for the 2022-2023 school year. This budget option aligns with compensation strategy #2 (see HR Committee meeting). This document was reviewed with both the Human Resources and Budget Committees of the School Board.

The 21-22 column identifies fiscal strategies for saving funds this Spring, the 22-23 July 1st column identifies a strategy for the start of our fiscal year, and the 22-23 November 8th column identifies a strategy for connecting our budget planning process to a November operational referendum question.

Administration will review this budget option at the meeting and will seek any additional feedback from school board members.

Description:  The previous agenda item identified a potential budget strategy for 2022-23. The July 1st column identified several additional positions. These positions include: First Grade Teacher, Sixth Grade Teacher, Fifth-Eigth Grade Guidance Counselor, and Arboretum Assistant Principal/4K Coordinator. The 1st & 6th grade teacher requests are related to class size goals. We have attached the current enrollment numbers for the 2022-23 school year. Grades 1 & 6 have the potential to meet or exceed the class size maximum as defined in school board policy. Administration is recommending hiring these positions now as opposed to waiting toward the end of the hiring cycle. The 5th-8th grade guidance counselor is a high priority for the principals in those buildings. Attached please find supporting information for this request. We have attached the historical counselor to student ratios in our district as well as the Dane County district averages. The Arboretum Assistant Principal/4K Coordinator will result in all K-6 buildings having a similar ratio of around 300 students to 1 administrator. The 4K Coordinator role will improve administrative support throughout the organization as the curriculum department will have additional capacity to provide support to the school buildings.  Attached please find supporting information for this request. We have attached the historical principal/assistant principal to student ratios in our district as well as the Dane County district averages. Administration is requesting approval of these positions.

In addition, please see a request to add two bilingual English learner teachers. The budget committee recommended approval of these positions on a 3:0 motion. Typically, Special Education and English Language Learner staffing requests can be connected to students who are moving into our district with existing educational plans for these services.

Districts are able to request transfer of service funds for these students which pay for a large majority of the increase in the staffing requests. The portion of the staffing request connected to state categorical aid is subtracted from the transfer of service funds. State categorical aid is provided the year after an expenditure is made. This request is a result of student enrollment increases in the English Learner program and administration will be requesting transfer of service funds for staffing increases in both the Special Education and English Language Learner departments. Administration is seeking approval of this request for the March school board meeting.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request school board approval of a resolution to redeem existing debt. The resolution has been attached for your consideration. The budget committee is recommending approval on a 3:0 motion.

Erik Kass from PMA Financial may be joining us at the meeting to discuss the topic of the district's debt service schedule and the goal of tax rate consistency across time. Erik presented a new option for paying down debt this spring to the budget committee and this new option provides increased tax payer savings compared to the options reviewed previously. You can view Erik's presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WORhkDwC19A  Erik has multiple school board commitments on Monday night, but may be able to join us depending on the timing.

We have attached a document that provides the analysis of the debt being paid off this Spring and we have also attached a document that shares how this debt repayment factors into our November 2022 referendum planning process. Administration is recommending approval of the resolution.

Description:  Brian Borowski, HS Principal would like to share that Lincoln Ogren and Thomas Troester have qualified to be National Merit Finalists.

The selection of some 7,500 Merit Scholarship winners from the group of more than 15,000 Finalists is now in progress.


Congratulations and good luck to Lincoln and Thomas as this process continues.

Description:  Attached in the "extras" section of BoardBook, please find a list of the accounts payable payments issued during the month of February 2022.

Description:  Attached you will find the 2021-22 Budget Status report as of February 28, 2022, and the Cash Reconciliation report for January 2022.

Please contact Allie Dye at alexandradye@waunakee.k12.wi.us if you have questions on any of these reports.
 

Description:  The applications and student summary provided by Michelle McGlynn, School to Career & CTE coordinator can be found under the Extras tab for this agenda item.  These attachments will be blocked from public view due to pupil privacy

Description:  Attached please find the safety drill report for the past month.  This report is required by the DOJ for board of education review.

Description:  Tiffany Lokin has reviewed and agreed with  the contract as presented.  

Description:  Please find Policies related to field trips attached. 

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Description:  Evaluations Meeting - Early April (Must be before 4/25)
ReOrg Meeting  - Must be held from 4/25-5/25 -  Before Reg May Mtg 5/9
Budget Wkshp  - .
Budget Planning -