001All right. Well, good evening everyone. Thanks for being here. I call the March 9th, 2026 School Board Meeting to order. It is 6:02 p.m. We are in conference room C of the Fiser Administration Building at 12121 West North Avenue. Miss Summers, please call the RO. >> Rosinski, >> here. Mr. Bower >> here. >> Miss Bach >> here. >> Mr. Morris >> here. >> Miss Heimer Rand >> here. Dr. Willie >> here. >> Mr. Wier >> here. >> Okay. Thank you. We will move to um item number two on the agenda which is public comment at um at board meetings. And I will start by reading the board policy uh 0167.3. Members of the school board value the input of students, parents, staff members, and community members. The board's regularly scheduled meetings provide an opportunity for
002opinions and concerns to be expressed publicly. The board values all comments and will respectfully consider this input in decision-making. The board will take public comment at both on both non-aggenda items and agenda items at each regular school at each regular board meeting and may take public comment during special board meetings. The public comment period will occur near the beginning of the meeting and shall not exceed 30 minutes in length unless extended by a presiding officer or a vote of the board. Individuals must limit their comments to three minutes. Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and will be requested to preface their comments by an announcement of their name. Public comments submitted to the schoolboard email address by 10:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting of the board will be added to the
003online meeting documents to become part of public record. Emma public comments must include the name of the person or person submitting the comment. All public comments shall be directed to the presiding officer. No person may address or question board members individually or direct statements, comments, or questions to staff or other meeting participants. Board members are obligated to follow the Wisconsin open meeting law, which requires advanced notification to the community of the board's intent to discuss and/or take action on an item. If a public comment concerns an item that is not on the current meeting agenda or members may not respond other than to thank and acknowledge the speaker for their input. The presiding officer may a limit the number of times a speaker may comment on the same topic. B interrupt, warrant, or terminate a
004public comment when the statement is too lengthy, directed to anyone other than the board presiding officer, obscene or disorderly. C. requests any individual to leave the meeting when that person engages in conduct which is disorderly. D requests the assistance of law enforcement officers and or security officials in the removal of a disorderly person when that person's conduct interferes with the orderly progress of the meeting. E call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when disorderly conduct so interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting as to warrant such action. F wave these rules with the approval of the board when necessary for the protection of privacy or the administration of the board's business. Recording, filming, or photographing board meetings is permitted. The person operating the equipment should contact the superintendent prior to the
005board meeting to review possible placement of the equipment and must agree to abide by the following conditions. A no obstructions are created between the board and the audience. B. No interviews are conducted in the meeting room while the board is in session. C. No commentary, adjustment of equipment, or positioning of operators is made that would distract either the board or members of the audience or otherwise disrupt the meeting while the board is in session. The board encourages all residents to be well informed about school affairs. Therefore, regular board meetings are livereamed and the recorded schoolboard meetings are available for viewing online on the district's website. Executive sessions and inservices for board members are not recorded. Okay. Thank you. So we move to um public comment um starting in the room. If there's anyone who is
006here to do public comment, please approach the microphone. My name is Heather Burke. Uh last week our high school teachers started their week with some upsetting news. um an extra seven minutes per day was added uh to next year's schedule so that two additional professional development days could be um added to the calendar. I know they're all very excited about those. But more alarming for me and for them was the staffing cuts. Teachers are being cut at West due to declining enrollment which will limit students class choices even more than they already are. And in an effort to save money, our teachers are being told schedule changes need to be made. Families are being told block scheduling is being considered so our students have more time for deeper learning. But the message teachers received in
007addition to that was the ultimate goal in changing schedules was to save money. We're now asking teachers to consider only having one prep period instead of two in an effort to cut 25 teachers across both high schools. And the core team making the decisions is admin heavy with no representation for marginalized students. This could have been an opportunity to promote the benefits of black scheduling or to share the opportunities it could have created for our teachers or for our students. But instead, someone decided to tie it in with budgets and create animosity and upset amongst many of our staff. You are bankrupting our schools and passing the bill to our teachers. Are teachers getting paid more for losing a prep time? If they sub, are they getting paid more because the class period is longer?
008If the answer is no, then you're using our teachers to plug holes in a budget that should have been right-sized years ago. Meanwhile, MPS is right down the street and they're cutting over 200 positions and none of them are teaching staff. They've been forthcoming and transparent with their communication. They even live streamed a meeting with their union. My ask is for you to give our teachers a real voice at the table and to go through the budget and find every penny you can to retain our studentf facing staff. Thank you. I'm Elizabeth Cover, a freshman at Tossa East. I'm here to talk about an issue I've encountered as a student in the English 9 curriculum. I've only just started high school, but I find it unfortunate that East doesn't offer any advanced English classes that
009I can take. I know many of my peers feel the same, that the single strict English path is not sufficient to support all of us as individuals. I understand that the curriculum is relatively new, but Commonlit is incredibly boring, and it's harder to focus on such mundane material when we're not even being challenged. I think that everyone would benefit from a program where instead of being fed bite-sized references and skirting on the edges of substantial learning, we could get exposed to whole works and really dive deep into a subject. Those are the kinds of learning experiences which have really stuck with me. So, starting course selection last month, I was so excited to finally be able to take the courses I was interested in. I noticed, however, that there was only one AP English option
010available to sophomores, but there are eight in science and math. While this may not be deliberate on your part, our academic paths of students are being directed towards STEM. Where is the honors English class for the students who don't want to be lawyers or physicians? the students like me who want to study philosophy or English literature. I sincerely hope that TOSA graduates that my class of 2029 will be able to um branch out into the world on our own paths rather than ones predetermined by the structure of our school. Since what I really want to do is read and discuss full novels, which is something rarely undertaken by Common Lit and definitely not done in AP Seminar, which is my option for next year, my dad and I decided to contact the district humanities coordinator,
011Miss Carrell. Um, in our email, we stated the curricular inequity that we saw and asked if I could be accelerated to an AP Lit class, a challenge I would be more than ready for next year. In fact, a challenge I've been begging for for years. Unfortunately, the response we received from Miss Carllo not only failed to present us with a direct response, but in fact, it almost seemed as though it was rushing us aside. What I expect from an involved school administration is honesty and at the very least acknowledgement. I'm here because I believe students should have a voice in their education. As a student myself, I see every day how the detracking of the humanities in our district is hurting more people than those who are benefiting from it and personally suffocating my true
012potential. I'm speaking for myself and for the little excuse me, the little kids who love to read and for us middle and high school students who are not feeling very inspired or encouraged by the current English program. Thank you. >> Thank you, Elizabeth. Especially appreciate your courage. I'm sure that wasn't easy. Um, any other public comment in the room? Okay, we will move to online. I see two hands are up. Jamie, if you could um determine which one is first, please. I can't see the order. >> Chris Murka, you have the microphone. >> Good evening. >> Everybody hear me? Okay, >> we can hear you fine. Thank you. >> My name is Chris Murker. I am a parent and a candidate for the Wawaossa school board running with the 2030 slate alongside my colleague Heather
013Burke whom we've already heard from this evening. At last week's PTA forum President Lyn Morley cited a teacher retention figure of roughly 90%. That may sound reassuring but it does not answer the real problem. Our analysis uses Wisconsin DPI staffing data and measures four-year uh four-year, sorry, I've gotten off my place here. Our analysis uses Wisconsin DPI staffing data and measures four-year cumulative teacher retention, a much more meaningful measure of workforce stability because it shows how many teachers actually remain in place over time. And the results are stark. At the elementary level, Watossa's four-year retention rate is 57%. Compared with 76% in Elbrook. At the middle and high school level, it's even worse. 51% in Wawaossa compared with 74% in Elbrook. That means this district has effectively lost half of its secondary teachers over the
014last four years. And that data matches what teachers have been telling this community for years. They are speaking out, leaving, retiring early, and describing an administration and board that do not hear them and do not seem to care. Now, both numbers can be true at once. A district can site about 90% retention in a single year and still be experiencing an aggressive multi-year decline in teacher continuity. That is why a one-year talking point does not rebut a four-year pattern. And here is the part no one wants to say out loud. Retention can improve for a time only after much of the decline of that decline has already happened. A better short-term number does not undo the damage already done to students, staff morale, and school culture. The public also cannot fully evaluate the district's claim
015because the district has not disclosed the full methodology behind it. Our analysis, by contrast, uses a consistent applesto apples method based on DPI data. So the bottom line is simple. Wawaossa is in a multi-year teacher stability crisis and our students are paying the price. You can spin a one-year number. It is much harder to explain away four years of decline. Thank you. >> Thank you. We'll go on to speaker number two, please. >> Rita Wisneski, you have the microphone. Hello. Um, my name is Rita Wasneski. I'm a Wotosa resident. I'm a parent of two graduates, one current sophomore and a middle school student. I'm also the Wisconsin PTA treasurer and president of the Wa Tossa Council of PTAs. I want to thank you to the Lao Tusa uh school district's legislative committee for bringing a
016draft resolution to the board tonight for a first reading and future vote in support of the lawsuit against the Wisconsin State Assembly for which the Wisconsin PTA is appointed. Within 3 hours of the lawsuit becoming public on Tuesday, February 24th, Chris Bower emailed Dr. means and copied me stating, quote, "Next time we chat, let's figure out how we as a district can help." Quote, "Uh, as a representative of the Wisconsin PTA, we got involved in this case because it aligns with our mission to make every child's potential a reality by engaging empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. One of the tenants of PTA advocacy is that an adequately funded, equitable, inclusive, and safe education experience is what our children deserve regardless of their zip code. And as such, PTA can advocate for
017investment in public school operations and building infrastructure to provide students with a well-rounded education, a safe and healthy learning environment, and access to the arts, technology, and vocational training. Children are our future. Well-educated children result in acknowledgeable in knowledgeable citizens resulting in strong communities. The Wisconsin legislature continues to defund our public schools causing inequities across communities which breaks the state's constitutional obligation. I encourage all public school supporters to tell your legislators to fully fund our public schools to support our children, our teachers, our families, and our communities. Because even if the case is is successful, we still need legislators to act. Litigation is not a substitute for legislative action, but rather serves as a necessary catalyst. It is a means to establish that the current system fails constitutional requirements and to compel a meaningful response
018from the legislature. Thank you. >> Thank you. Maybe I don't see any other hands online. Is that correct? >> Yeah, there are no more hands raised. >> Okay. Is there any other public comment in the room that we have missed? Okay, seeing none, we will conclude this time of public comment. Thank you to each one of you who added your voice today. We move on to item number three, consent agenda. This is the time when I ask board members, are there any items on the consent agenda which board members would like to remove for separate discussion and action? >> Yes, Mr. Wier. >> Uh, I would like to just briefly discuss E and F. They involve taxation and large amounts of money. Any others? And a very small question on D on D. Small question.
019Well, your small question may be somebody else's question, too. So, we'll just handle each of those separately. >> All right. Thank you. >> Miss Bzinski has asked that item D be removed separate um consideration and Mr. Watier has requested that items E and F be removed for separate discussion and action. Does everyone on the board concur? Okay. So, um that means that we need a motion to go ahead and approve um AB and F through O and I'm sorry, G0. ABC >> ABC and G through O. >> Thanks for helping me figure that out. >> You want to go ahead? >> Recommended that the school board approve the remainder of the consent agenda items A, B, C, and G through O. And I so move. >> May I have a second? >> Thank you, Mr.
020Bower. Miss Summers, please call the RO. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> yes. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >> Miss Rolland, >> yes. >> Dr. Moody, >> yes. >> Mr. Wier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you. Let's just go in letter order if that's okay. We'll start with D. >> Miss Bzinski. Um so letter D is about the updated um purchase proposal for Chromebooks for students and and teachers students and staff. So it said that um the model that was originally planned to be purchased is discontinued. The new model is $74 more. So we're doing something. Can you just clarify Dr. Marble. >> Yeah. I'm actually going to have uh Miss Kimmel, our instructional technology coordinator, um explain. >> All right. Excellent. Thank you. >> When I
021originally came for purchase, we had had a quote from our supplier. In the time from that happening to board approval to submission, that supply of that Chromebook is gone and they have released a new model and that just happens in the natural kind of turnover, right? We are seeing um rare uh more COVID time price increases on devices now starting due to a RAM shortage um and other just things in our world right now that are creating price increases on technology. Um so the solution was instead of going directly to that that price increase is our supplier has a different model a noble model that they have sent us a demo. our technology team has run their normal tests and it's actually um performing just as good as as the current one the model that
022we were planning to purchase and potentially a little bit better. Uh and so it was just a little bit cheaper than that. The thought also being is I just about 10 minutes ago checked the stock and that there are 35,000 that they have and once those are gone, those are gone and we're we're looking at that um that other Acer model again at that price increase. So this was an opportunity to purchase Yeah. >> And then save a little bit of money on a price increase. >> Okay. So, that $28549 per Chromebook, how does that compare to what was the the original model's price? >> Um, the original model price was it's it was about a $50 difference. The Lenovo to this one is that the original one Acer to this Lenovo is about a
023$50 difference. >> $50 savings. Uh, it's like a total increase of $50 versus the Acer to Acer model would be like a $74 increase. So, okay. Yeah. >> All right. I'm glad I asked. Thank you so much. Y >> anyone else? >> Yeah. >> Thank you for gaining that clarity for us, Miss Bzinski, and and thank you for being here. >> Okay. So, um, Miss Rzinski, do you want to offer the motion then that DB be if you if you feel you want to approve it? >> I motion to approve letter D. >> Okay. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Himer Roland. Um, Miss Summers, please call the RO. >> Miss Bzinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> yes. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >>
024Miss Rolland, >> yes. >> Dr. Worley, >> yes. >> Mr. Wadier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you. So now we go. Let's do E next. Referendum bids and financial updates. Oops. >> Yeah. Okay, that's good. What do you want to say, Mr. W? Can you tee this up for us so we can discuss it? >> Sure. Um, I just would like to hear a reaffirmation that since these are all referendum related products or projects, um, that the referendum is proceeding on time and that ADA projects uh, where it is available are being prioritized and hopefully Mr. >> Mr. Fountain, would you like to come up and just give the confirmation and thank you for preparing all this information. We appreciate the details. >> Um, so I understand your question. We are proceeding
025with phase one and phase two after approval tonight. These two numbers in here have uh when you look at the uh budget breakdown on the second page, you'll see in the first column that subtotal phase 2 bid pack 2. What you're asked to approve tonight is the 8.9 million. That's the the difference from the previously approved I think 10 million and change on the early release bid packages that you already approved. So, all in all, there's 19.5 million in phase one. Uh, I'm sorry, 19.5 and 3.9 million in phase one and phase 2 work starting to occur as early as May and then last for the summer. Um, and to the I think you had a question about ADA work. >> Yes. I I know that is focus of mine that I've asked in the
026finance and resource committee meetings that making sure I understand sometimes it might make more sense to do some of those projects at different points in times but for the most part um that that has been prioritized that's what the district has had promised the voters when the referendum was passed and that that's just correct I want to hear that that's correct >> correct so those four schools, Washington, uh, Madison, Eisenhower, and, um, I'm forgetting the four. I always do this. >> Oh, >> Roosevelt. Thank you. >> Um, those four schools are being shut down for the course of the summer because all of the work in that scope of work matrix for each building, deferred maintenance, ADA, or a combination of both, is all occurring. And then to bring that home um on the website
027there is that project tracker which will be updated on a solutions tab and it'll identify how each particular item was either combined with another project or determined to not be necessary but predominantly those buildings are getting significant ADA uh remodeling occurring. >> Thank you. Any other board members questions or comments? Thank you, Mr. Le Fountain, for being here and for updating us. Jason, would you like to offer letter E? >> Uh, yes. I like to make a motion that uh we pass letter E 2024 referendum bids and financial update as it is in boards. >> Uh, could I have a second? >> Thank you, Miss Hol. Miss Summers, please call the RO. >> Mr. Bzinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> yes. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >> Miss Hammer
028Rolland, >> yes. >> Dr. Worley, >> yes. >> Mr. Wier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. And Jason, thank you for bringing that up so we could dig a little deeper. Um, let's go to letter F, employee salary adjustments. uh also to me I think um I simply wanted to um get more of a layman's terms explanation um from Melzoski as as to how this model was applied since it was brought up in public comment that maybe something previous wasn't as transparent. I think it's fairly laid out here as to how you're applying this. Um but for anybody who would like just an audio recap. >> Uh good evening. Um so related to the recommended salary adjustments um there were um uh three foundational comparisons um that identified individuals uh to be eligible for
029salary adjustments. um that was individuals who according to our um information about their total uh years of teaching service um that that was different than the numerical value um or the numerical um number or uh so our salary system is in letters. So the equivalent numerical value of the letter of their salary level um that that there was a discrepancy uh between their years of service teaching and that number that's not the same as their years of of teaching in WASAsa. Um the second piece was to look at comparisons between uh their um years of teaching and their um compensation looking overall at quartiles for all educators in the Wawaossa school district. And then that same comparison of quartortiles for years of experience and salary uh based on specific departments. Um and then in order
030to go ahead and um fit within our budget um I had to develop thresholds for like the number of years different in terms of years of teaching and salary level. Uh and the same thing for the differences in the cortiles. >> Thank you. So would you say that this is your recommendation to I guess normalize the values where there may have been some inconsistencies. >> These are the most discrepant salaries um when you when you make those three comparisons uh to our salary schedule. >> Okay. And I think you mentioned it already, but uh this is coming from our existing budget and not from the the extra uh from the refer operational referendum. Correct. >> Correct. So so these are um so these are dollars that were budgeted for salaries when we were staffing for
031the 202526 school year. I did not need to use these sums uh in the salaries that I offered new staff members to come to the organization and so was able to capture that savings to reinvest um in salaries for existing staff members. >> Okay. So this is essentially a sum zero as far as our budget is concerned and it it takes care of the discrepancies um amongst these staff members. Um, so I don't I don't know if you'd say it takes care of the discrepancies. It makes our salary system much more consistent internally between years of service and salary levels. >> That's a fair way of describing. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Those were the things I wanted to confirm. >> Thank you. Any other board members have questions or comments? Thank you, Miss Alaski,
032for um giving us a little more detail and confirming. Jason, would you like to bring it forward? >> Sure. I would like to make a motion that the board approve item F consent agenda employee salary adjustments as it exists in board docks. >> You may have a second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bower. Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Miss Bzinski? >> Yes. >> Mr. Bower? >> Yes. >> Miss B? >> Yes. >> Mr. Morris? >> Yes. Miss Rolland? >> Yes. >> Dr. Wley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadier? >> Yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you. So we move on to our um policy committee's work. Uh first reading of policy starting with um 5111 eligibility of resident non-resident students. um for policy 5111 um legal council provided the updates for this
033policy and um I know this is our first reading so are there any questions or concerns >> um just a couple things I noticed for consistency uh first question would be about in C I think other policies um have we have we've been using the term unhoused or homeless Good question. >> Uh just to look into that and to make it consistent. And then also in G um for full or third full green line uh we have may complete his or her high school education and most other spots we use the student or some variation like that. >> Thank you Jason. Anyone else? I also um noticed that we didn't define parents >> and usually we reference the policy that defines all the definitions. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's just a little par parenthetical. >> So
034we need that parenthetical piece. Yeah. Thanks for that catch. >> Anyone else? I'm you know what? Um Mr. I'm seeing that the that language that gendered language is showing up in a couple places. So, thank you. >> H as well. >> It's a big policy. It's hard to >> anything else. Okay. So just a few um language details. I don't hear uh shifts in terms of actual content of the policy. So my recommendation would be unless the policy committee has something else come in or concern that actually needs more discussion that you make those technical changes and then bring it back as a consent agenda item. >> Okay. >> That okay with everyone. All right, we can move on to um the next item policy 5120 uh assignment within the district for resident students. Um,
035in this policy, changes were made um to adjust boundaries anticipating the sixth graders moving into the elementary schools in 2930 school year. Um just a couple of little minor changes. Instead of um saying that there were attached maps, it was changed to linked maps throughout the document. >> So this is to make sure people have a little heads up before they rent or purchase their housing. That's great. Thank you for working on that. Thank you, Mr. Zim. >> Also numbers, >> right? changing the identifying neighborhood numbers rather than streets that are going to act as the boundaries. >> Okay. So based on the map >> that can be seen in the map. Yes. >> That's why >> perfect. Okay. >> We can always keep just not seeing it or is the where is the link
036to the map the document? >> Yeah, that was what we don't have is the link. If you look at like each letter that describes it, it has the name of the elementary school and then it lists each neighborhood that will go to that school on the attached map. Just in the um >> Sure. >> But right now we don't have a live link to that map is what he's saying. >> Correct. And and in the case of somebody printing this out, we should probably print out a hard coded actual link to the map. >> Or can the map be Yeah, you want it to be fixable. So >> check see how we can talk. >> I think if you're going to reference it like the way we are, then it needs to be very clear
037to it. We put a QR code in for them. >> That will still be stagnant. It's just another way of putting a link. >> Thank you for that. Anyone else? >> A random question for the community here. The how do we derive the numbers of the neighborhoods? Does that match with anything tied to the city or the actual communities? >> That's the map we're referencing. uh MD Rockers Norman that they >> is it is it of any value to match that to what what community already sees since we have 33 distinct neighborhoods in Wusa >> that have their those neighborhoods have defined boundaries in there because I think people when they move and look at and go to those resources at the city or the neighborhood association council and they see I'm in Wellour Heights
038or I'm in heights I hope that they match exactly We have more neighborhoods in our in our city. >> These may bisect those neighborhoods too or include part of one and not not fully based on the way I read it was that this is all this can is written to be subject to change as the district would need it for changing enrollment. Just thinking of the just community questions here when someone says I moved to this one. I assumed but my neighbors across the street are in a completely different one and we're in the same neighborhood on what that does to those community conversations. >> I mean that would be true now but it's based on street you can see online which streets they are whereas the you have to in this case you have
039to travel to an alternate doc document which goes back to the question of what if that link isn't like working for someone. Yeah. >> Um, first question is going back to the map that doesn't have a proper link in the document that I saw. It is the same map or the neighborhoods were defined as the same map as what was passed in October of 2024 by the well the previous board, right? Okay. >> The clarification >> The city board at that time. Thank you. Um, that's a better way of putting it. Uh, the second question that I had, um, in our, uh, in our long range facilities plan policy, it mandates that the board needs to at least look at it annually to review. Um we've heard public comment to the effect of we should
040do that regularly for this as well so that if we need to shift uh boundaries it is not a 10 15year thing that gets out of hand. It is something that is happen that happens regularly by the board. Now I don't say suggest that it happens every year but maybe every three years or every five years if we could put something like that into the policy. You definitely could. I'm I'm smiling because there's some former policy committee members who are now on the board that's not that are not on policy. I can say with confidence that policy 5120 has been reviewed numerous times by previous and previous boards and this board. Um so I think that the goal of being met without it being explicit, but I think that's a really good suggestion. I'm just
041looking at Mr. Morris and Dr. Worley. I think >> during your money multiple times, but I think we >> Is there an ideal time for the for the administration to have us review it on an annual basis? >> Actually, it would be with open enrollment in January. >> Yeah, I think that our calendar and our cycle. >> I'm just looking at gloom. She's kind of shaking her head. >> Yeah, >> potentially us. But I think that will be the appropriate time. So I current policy committee members we can work with Mr. Zimman to make sure that there's a language that says that this won't be reviewed annually. Um the primary goal of my comments is not to make more work that we dust it off and do >> last. >> Uh it is to take
042a look at the population that we currently have and make sure that the balance amongst the elementary schools and therefore the secondary schools maintains a balance. uh before 2024, when was the last time that our boundaries were shifted? >> Do you think? >> Well, I it would have been the the shift of the McKinley community going from east to west would have been the last time we've had significant boundary change. >> My argument is that it should be done more rapidly or more often than that. And if we need a policy that badgers future boards, future sitting boards uh to do this. >> I do appreciate asking when we should do an should be in in alignment with the board reviewing open enrollment numbers. Miss Zazoski and I have a we see where there are
043bubble glasses at that point. Um so there's a that allows us to be nimble um in regards to if we need to make changes. I I I the last thing I would just share with you is that having been in other districts putting in in policy that the language that this will be reviewed annually may help help the community understand that this is something that is evaluated uh on a on a routine basis because the board did a nice job in October of 24 and the fall of 24 saying we need to look at That was one of the results of the task force work but to your point about prior to October of 24 we hadn't done it in decades. Um, so just getting people used to that analysis will be all >> I
044would also say if we're going to do that, it might also help people. We should at least have a discussion or maybe the policy committee wants to have a discussion about um we have a clause in here that we had asked for, which is that that someone who's already in a school um elementary school can then finish in that elementary school. If we're going to go to an annual review, um we ought to have some sort of thinking about, you know, would we always I would guess because we don't like to disrupt student education that they would have the chance to um finish out, but we ought to make sure we figure what that that looks like and sounds like in policy, >> right? I mean >> I mean there's a clause in here now
045but we that just speaks to one year >> 28 20 it specifically says students enrolled in their home school for 28 29 may seek a grandfathering clause to remain at their current school and not shift with the change in boundary lines. So I think a question for discussion would be is that going to become the regular process and so we can outline that in policy >> with the sixth grade staying in the elementary school starting in 2930. Does it still is it still necessary to split the McKinley cohort into West, sorry, Whitman and Longfellow because then when they go to high school, the Whitman attendance zone goes to west and not east regardless of where they live in the McKinley area. So if the capacity is larger at both middle schools after we shift the
046sixth graders and keep the sixth graders, to me it makes sense to at least have the discussion of moving all saying McKinley students go to Whitman or or they go to uh or sorry that they just go to Whitman and then eat in the west. So, so if I may, >> we wouldn't be changing, we wouldn't be changing them going to West. What you're asking about is why split them at the split at the middle school. That's great. >> The one choice that they have right now is middle school. >> And if you're suggesting that once the sixth graders are distributed back to their elementary schools that there should be ample space at both middle schools. So, why continue to give that choice? I think is for the students who live east of 92nd Street.
047>> Yeah. >> Uh and just just define it as if you are a McKinley student, you go to Whitney. >> I'm assuming that split was made because of capacity at the middle school level at some point whenever that decision was made. But we know that there will be capacity and I'm assuming again like what this could shift depending on which way we go for secondary facilities. I would assume that we could make it so that all the McKinley students could follow one path capacity wise in the middle. >> So I don't think it's was just space. I think there's also distance to the school. >> So when no people who live the people who >> Yeah. Some people live very close to Long Bellow and are on the extremely close to Long Bellow. It goes
048all the way what to 80? 80th Street. 81st Street. >> No, no. All the way over >> um It goes from 76th to like 79th. >> 79th. Yeah. >> There's a block which is 80th and then 81st which is where used to live. >> That's great. And then you you would have gone >> I would have gone to Long Bellow. Well, my kids would have gone to Long Bellow and then >> West. Um and that would have been weird to me. Well, when we think about the student experience, does it is it better for them to be with >> meet kind of their new cohort in middle school and then move up to high school? >> I think it's been Yeah, I think it's been about also about transportation. And so, I think it's if
049we're going to if we're going to bring that up, which I think is fine, we ought to make sure we have a good public robust conversation and we collect the information that we need to collect from the people it most impacts. Um, that would just be my recommendation. >> Maybe we pass this as it's being presented so that it aligns with our plan to keep sixth graders in elementary schools and then reook at this before that transition actually happens to make sure that it makes sense for students, >> especially if we are now forcing ourselves to revisit this every year. We can bring this up every year. >> Yeah. And I think that we just also need to realize, at least when I was on policy, Mr. Morris, I think you remember the questions that
050we typically had were whether all of McKinley students could go to Longfellow, not the reverse. So, the the requests have typically come from people who would like So, I so I just want to make sure we're going to really listen to um I know we need to look at numbers, too, but listen to the rationale for why families um are requesting that. Yeah, >> I know one of our goals is to is to have as close to equal enrollment at the middle schools and high schools so that all students kind of have the same opportunities. So, um I think that to me >> I'm not disagreeing with you. I just want to talk about process >> point of the decision. >> Yeah. I just want to talk about process because it's had such a long
051history of um of discussion in the community. So, we want to hear all those voices and and figure out not just what the numbers questions are, but also what the families and those affected have to say about the other aspects of impact that that would have. >> Thank you. Anyone else? But for now, this recommendation, we're asking for that change now. We're just looking at um what is on here. For those who are in the public, that's not a conversation that will happen. um immediately you're you're right away with this next. We won't be voting on that particular shift that was just discussed. >> Okay. Right. So there's no no movement on if the boundaries actually but we're asking for a clause about >> language to review this >> annually. please. >> Um, and adjusting
052that clause about grandfathering to be a bit more broad and not so specific to those in the 2829 if you could leave that one specific because you want to make that clarity and then attached to that annual review could be >> so it's really up to you explore what makes more sense. Okay. Got it. >> I mean the rationale here for doing this now is we want people to fail the plan. >> Yes. >> And this is a is a much larger boundary shift than we would anticipate would happen on an annual basis. So, well, right. And I want to say that I I think it's important for us to be very um very clear that any boundary shifts would be they are not going to be quick decisions. They're going to be not a
053based on every little shift in our in our numbers, right? I mean, when a when families commit to living here, they com commit to a like their students their children growing up with a cohort of students. So right >> but I think what I'm hearing is that you know the flexibility like it wouldn't be intentional to do big changes but we might learn something from this set of changes. >> Yeah. >> Um so it's it's in our best interest to then you know continuously review it because we've made this shift and to not leave it for a couple of decades. um as we know that we are experiencing fluctuations um in terms of student numbers. >> Yeah. All right. Thank you. >> Thanks. Thanks the committee for the work. I do think this might be
054the policy that might be in first place for most number of times we >> discussed it in case anyone's keeping track or needs a needs an interesting uh um trivia question about board meetings. So, okay. So we move on to um is is next >> food services. Yep. So this food services policy is um is written to align with with legal and government um expectations. There isn't isn't much design on our on our end around this. >> Federal >> Yeah, federal. Thank you. Federal line. >> Dr. M. In the in the federal alignment here, let me talk about the uh requirements as determined by food service department, federal government there. Does that include the definitions of what what is food? had a couple of questions here with a lot of the new changes and things
055up there with large corporations here in Wisconsin that have closed that are large owners of lab processed food, lab processed meats. Is there any protections there that things we serve in our schools that are based on the federal government will actually be real foods, not lab processed or anything like that unless we have two. I know that there's some changes being discussed at the executive branch level of the federal government right now that seem to rate pattern with what we've done in the past. Those thing those conversations have not influenced what you see in 8500. This is more department of education through other departments within the federal government dictating what we can and cannot serve students and when we can serve them. That's what 8500 is really addressing in terms of what is how is
056food described and what type of dyes are in it and all that other conversation that is starting to emerge nationally that has not impacted this uh policy just yet. >> I think that's your question sir. >> Yes. >> Anyone else? >> Okay. I'm not hearing requests for changes. So unless you have anything else that significantly happens between now and the next time that we agendaize this, it should go on the consent agenda. >> Y and if something does change, we can always pull it off. Okay. So we move to um item number five tonight for governance and we start with letter A second reading and our action to approve updated legislative advocacy committee description. I'll turn this over to our legislative advocacy committee. >> Absolutely. I believe the correct uh process is for me to
057read the motion in first. Correct. It is recommended that school board approve the updated legislative advocacy committee description and I so move. >> May I have a second? >> Second. Thank you, Miss Hammer. >> Uh to open this up, um I received no feedback um from uh any community members and I don't believe I received any feedback from schoolboard members in order for changes for this one. So, this is just updating uh the description uh that dictates the existence of our committee um to represent the reality uh that we've been working at, Mr. Morris and I have been working on this year. So, said any other any discussion from board members? Seeing none, um, Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Miss Pzinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bowen, >> yes. >> Miss Bach, >> yes.
058>> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >> Miss Hammer Rwand, >> yes. >> Dr. Relief, >> yes. >> Mr. Wadier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you for putting that together and bringing it to us. >> Excellent. We will move on to letter V, second reading and or action to approve Wisconsin retirement system annuitant rehiring resolution. Um and yes, unless you have anticipation of significant discussion that or things people have asked you. Um let's go ahead and put it on as a motion. Mr. Morris, you have it listed. It is recommended that the school board approve the Wisconsin retirement system and new attendary hiring resolution and I so move. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bower. >> Um, yes. So, there was uh a couple of requests here from
059the school board. I received no uh comment coming in from our community. Uh, so if you open up the uh redline version, uh that first paragraph was moved down past the second paragraph. Um and it was kind of tweaked up so it doesn't represent that KOSA is in a a staffing shortage crisis or anything. Uh but it is the pipeline generally that the district is that the state itself is dealing with um that is the concern um that the annuitant rehiring solution could be um part of the ongoing solution here or at least a short-term solution. >> Thank you for reflecting that discussion we had last time. Any other comments or questions? Okay. Hearing none, Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Rosinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> yes. >> Miss Bach, >> yes.
060>> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >> Miss Rolland, >> yes. >> Dr. Rleaf, >> yes. >> Mr. Wier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. >> Okay. So, we need move on to first reading and discussion of the fund Wisconsin public schools resolution. >> Excellent. So this requires no motion to begin talking about. Um this comes directly from uh the LAC uh as it was approved um in our last meeting here. Um, for those who are unaware, um, several years ago, a couple years ago, uh, there was a suit against the Wisconsin Assembly that went directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, uh, saying or alleging that the Wisconsin Assembly did is not funding our schools, uh, according to the Constitution of Wisconsin. Um, that suit failed because it was found that the group making that complaint
061did not have standing. Um, so what uh that group did is they found a group withstanding the Wisconsin PTA. Um, as well as I believe five different school districts. Um, as was mentioned in public comment, uh, when the news broke, um, I immediately went to my computer and started uh, figuring out how to get involved in this and in order to support it. Um, in conversations with the LACE, uh, we decided it would make the most sense for the board itself to pass a resolution indicating our support of it and then to instruct the LAC, uh, Dr. Means and likely uh, Mr. Eert. Uh, but there might be other resources uh, created to support uh, not created but um, used to support the Wisconsin PTA at all. Um we don't know exactly what that looks
062like at this point uh because we haven't connected with um any of the groups actually working on this case. Um but as we continue to find out new things we'll come to you. This particular resolution um I think would benefit from two changes. Um, one, uh, it was pointed out to me that the second and third to last be resolved. So, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom, is duplicative. Um, where it's authorizing the WTO superintendent, the LACE to communicate uh, this resolution. Um I would like to suggest that we strike that uh third from the last. So be it further resolve that the WOs school board authorizes the superintendent school board and legislative committee of the WOs school board to communicate this resolution to our elected officials fund the the fund
063Wisconsin public schools coalition law forward and the public. The second to last is more specific. Um it authorizes us uh Dr. means uh his design and the lac to work with uh work on this project to figure. Um so I would like to suggest that change uh for us to consider. The second change that I would like to put in there is in the final be it further resolved that the W school board authorizes the legislative advocacy committee, the superintendent and the design to utilize district resources not to exceed X in support of this case. Obviously, we would need to have an X in there. Um, the reason why the X is in there is because five days ago when the LACE had this conversation, um, administration wasn't entirely sure what that X should be,
064that it doesn't break the bank, that it is reasonable. Um, but we're looking at, you know, 10,000, 50,000, something like that. something that would cover any legal fees, uh, covered Packard's time, cover, um, meets his time. Um, so we can make sure that we're supporting, but we're not breaking the payment. >> So, you're anticipating having that before the final before an action vote? >> I would think so. Yes. Um, >> I think that would be important to have the number >> a thousand%. >> And I I knew you. >> I absolutely agree. Um >> and it could be that this what we think we can do and then their time fits within that. Right. >> Right. Uh this is designed to be or that be it resolved is designed to be a not to exceed
065number. >> Yeah. >> Um such that once we get close to that uh it would be incumbent on superintendent Mer to um come back to us and say hey like we're spending more time than we thought. there was more more of a need than we thought and if we wanted to continue to support it uh they would need to uh ask for it. >> So I've done a little bit of poking around and reading but there are there potential resources that maybe the board should have to review um about the kids. I'm just asking if there's if people want a little bit more information or >> direction. >> I don't want to make it take a lot of time. I just keep pointing to make sure that everyone feels comfortable that >> something that gives
066just a little bit more information about about it would be helpful. >> Absolutely. Uh I know that the um what was the name of it? The fund Wisconsin public schools coalition has website that has the purpose of the case, the name of the case. They have resources assigned >> even just a link to where we could educate ourselves a little bit since the board would be helpful. >> Absolutely. Uh we can dig some information up. Do we want to just add a piece of language at the very end to very specifically say that act one whatever you figure out X is X is for this case in this case alone and it's not like an annual number I don't want anyone inferring that that it's it would become part of the budget. >> Sure. >>
067I I think that would be fair. Uh it does say in support of this case specifically. Sure. >> Um I have no intention of letting this kind of run rampant. Um but I also don't want to monopolize anyone's time in support of this such that um they're not doing other duties which is kind of the purpose of the not to exceed. Is that would you like it better? Would you like me to replace in this case uh to say something to the effect of Wisconsin PTA at all? It might be a good idea to actually name the case. >> Yeah. Yeah, you bet. >> Just very specific if it evolves to you know an appeal or something like that then it would come back to the board. >> Yeah. >> Because ultimately this resolution we
068are supporting it because ultimately if it's successful it would benefit the district. So resources we would commit to it are could be viewed as an investment in our future. >> Absolutely right. >> For the betterment of the system as a whole. We've also talked about how important it is for all of us to be actively um trying to change the system in the state and this is one actual item action item that we can be part of >> like um just whenever you figure out whenever you do solve for X um whatever the equation was if you could include that with it so that that way there's there's no argument amongst anybody that like this is to covered this this this and this >> like how many hours and >> right just yeah you know
069I I don't I don't again with with everyone being cognizant of a budget and whatnot I don't want it to look like we are just pulling money out of somewhere like like specifics >> we all know there will be some choices of what we don't um what we don't fund Yeah, >> it is. >> And it's difficult to predict at this point what it would look like um what our support would look like. It might be as simple as us writing an amicus brief through the legal team. Um it could be us joining um as a plaintiff in the case. Um but there's uh I mean law forward which is the lawyer the group of lawyers ex uh working on this uh is my understanding is doing it on a proono basis. Um so legal
070fees are less our legal fees still exist but the legal fees paid to a lawyer to prosecute this case should not be figured into this. Maybe just make a general list of what is included in that so people know what they're voting for. Sure. So if there end up being more of a balance of this many hours as superintendent, this many hours as a attorney or something, we're not needing to reassess, but you know, generally who's going to be involved and you know this mostly Mr. Ecker's work or however you're thinking of obviously you don't particularly know yet. don't 100% know yet, but >> well, I would assume we're going to have our own legal expense at at some point if we're signing off on >> on this that we would want legal to take
071a look at and make sure we're not >> overcommitting ourselves to something. >> So, as I say, it's like this CFO, superintendent, legal, administrative, you know, the broad categories. Okay. >> Anyone else? Minski, I >> have a question on that second last Viet be it further resolved that the Wawaossa school board authorizes authorizes these people to do what? Authorizes the our legislative maybe authorizing our it's not maybe >> I see this is missing a verb. It is authorizing us to do what? It is authorizing us to support, right? >> Thank you. Oh, yeah. It's missing. >> Yeah, it's missing over. Absolutely. I can certainly add that. Thank you. >> And that actually ties in with, you know, giving categories of support as well. >> No. >> Okay. Thank you to the legislative advocacy committee for
072bringing this forward and and jumping on that opportunity to learn more as soon as you had had heard about it. Um we'll go to letter D, first reading of the fund for of Wisconsin public schools letter. >> Uh the very first question as we started talking about this as an LAC um from Mr. Morris was well great let's say that good news happens and uh the case is successfully prosecuted. What does that actually mean? Uh and the answer is um my understanding at least is certainly certainly similar to uh the tariff question that was recently answered at the W at the US Supreme Court and that's well we don't know. Um so the first reading of the letter uh is designed to start addressing that on a um on the uh legislative side which is
073where the actual solution is going to have to come from. uh because it's all well and good that uh this Supreme Court says that um we're not funding it well enough, but there's only one group in town in Madison uh that would be able to do that. Uh so the three items that uh this letter would indicate would be um here's the three things that the uh state legislature can do in order to fund schools appropriately. changing special education reimbursement from some sufficient or some certain to some sufficient uh which is a nerdy way of saying actually hold up to your promises um index the revenue limit >> actually provide enough money to cover the the actual costs. Yeah, >> I see no difference in what um index revenue limits to inflation adjusted 2010 base.
074uh as we all know part of the problem that the entire state is in this problem is because we stop we started losing powering uh p purchasing power uh since 2010 when the inflation was cut from revenue limits um and then to increase general state aid. So um it is property taxes plus general state aid adds up to the revenue limits. So, if we increase general state aid, um, we drive down the amount of property taxes that all of us have to pay as constituents or land owners. Um, well, I guess renter units also have to pay. So, as people who live in Wisconsin, so I would like to send that out as well to our electeds. >> Comments or questions? Thank you for writing a very clear letter with a good summary. >> The
075purpose is not to actually drive any significant change but to start pointing away. >> Right. Exactly. But it's a good summary of you know for others who are to understand what some of the roots of the challenges. >> Okay. So thank you. Um so this brings us to item number six on our agenda um to adjourn before we move into our um um training for tonight. So uh the time is 7:11 p.m. May I have a motion to adjurnn? >> I move to adjurnn. >> Thank you Mr. Bower. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you Mr. volunteers. Um, Miss Summers, please call the RO. >> Mr. Zinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> yes. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >> Miss Rolland, >> yes. >> Dr. Walt,
076>> yes. >> Mr. Wyth, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. So now we move to our in service as was posted. Um, inservice is open.