001Uh Molly, this is one that that you had asked for. Um I think as everybody remembers, we did have um public speaker come and raise some concerns about, you know, Facebook posts and and public comment and things. And then um there was just some further conversation and a few more emails. I don't know what other folks have received, but I certainly got some on similar topics. So, we wanted to just create the chance to have uh conversation at the board table. Um and you specifically had asked for for something. So, um, Shaya, I don't know if you had like prepped anything for us that you wanted to start with. in detail today, but I wanted to make sure to social media. And so what I do is share Uh Shane, if it's all right, maybe
002we could introduce ourselves real quick and just indicate maybe how many years we've been on the school board so you get a sense of kind of some experience at the board table. >> I guess I'll start. I'm Trevor Sprag. Uh I'm the newly seated board president and this is the start of my fourth year. Tim Albert start the start of my first year. >> Scott Newister the start of my fourth year. >> Start of my third year. >> Jeff Jackson started my third year. non consecutive do it twice. Uh we've got two members. Uh Dr. Meredith Garcia is not pres president present tonight. Um she's been on five or six now. >> Fifth year. Yeah. She'll be Oh, she was just reelected. Yeah. Anyway, um and uh Adam Ma is also in his in his
003third year now. Thank you for sharing. I am one of the attorneys who works with the school district on a regular basis. I work with the claims coming in are necessary issues. issues. I am often the person that is called to provide advice or to be a partner with the administration. I'm happy to get started by sharing my screen. I want to make sure to invite you to uh ask any questions. As we're going through this process, um I want to make sure that you know, however, that we are not in closed session. As a result, to the extent that that you are looking for legal advice um that is protected by the attorney and client privilege. Um we will not have that uh that covered tonight because we're in open session. So, I would
004suggest to you that if you have a specific question or concern that requires a legal opinion or legal advice that you write uh down a note, speak with your board president, speak with your um superintendent and we can uh facilitate a conversation that is specific to your particular issue and that provides you with the confidentiality that you're entitled to when you're seeking that legal opinion. Okay, let's get started. Make sure this is working. Okay. So, I want to just start very quickly with a little bit of a history lesson because I find it interesting and it it kind of grounds us in in where we are with the authority that school boards have to take action and to make decisions on behalf of of the school district. Prior to a uh prior to 1995, prior
005to the adoption of 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, School boards were what we call limited authority or enumerated powers entities. What that means is that school boards only had the power only had the authority to to engage in decision making that was specifically referenced explicitly provided for in the statutes. As a result of that limited authority, whenever a school board wished to take action, they would out legal opinion, legal advice in order to determine whether the legislature um or other entity has provided them with the authority to take such action. A good example would be prior to 1995 in the event that a school board wished to provide mental health services to its students, the school district would call its legal counsel and we'd go to the statutes and we'd look to see did the legislature
006explicitly state the school boards have the authority to provide mental health services to its students. If we couldn't find the authority in the statutes, we'd look to the regulations. Did DPI or another administrative agency interpret the statutes in order to to allow for the authority to provide mental health services to students? We couldn't find it in the statutes. Couldn't find it in the regulations. We looked to case law. Has a judge interpreted the statutes or the regulations to provide for that authority? We couldn't find it in any of those places. We'd go to the lobbyists and we'd ask the lobbyists if they could in fact um convince the legisl and the governor to amend the statutes in order to provide for that authority. Because of that limited authority um because of those enumerated powers, we
007ended up with statutes that looked like this. Schoolboard duties in Wisconsin statute 120.12 have this long list of of the responsibilities that a school board has relative to maintaining the operations of the district. Similarly, Wisconsin statute 1213 has this long list of powers that were created as a result of that the enumerated um authority or the limited power of the school board prior to to 1995. And we look to these statutes in order to find that authority. And again, we would ask the the legislature to amend the statutes in the event that the the the um authority was not present. Going back to 1995, the legislature um evidently um was not interested in hearing from the lobbyists on behalf of school boards any longer. And as part of some changes to school funding, the the
008legislature decided to flip the script and decided to reclassify school boards as expanded authority or broad powers entities. What that means is as of 1995, school boards have all the power to make decisions with regard to the the school district and to to uh with regard to the the the school district's responsibilities. They have all the power in order to make all decisions on behalf of the district as long as the decisions are reasonably calculated to promote education in the district in the the region in the state and beyond. And so now as a broad powers entity, school districts, school boards um are able to do anything that they wish to do provided it is not prohibited by statute or provided is it is not um there is not a precondition that must be um
009that must be met before the decision occurs. So now we look to Wisconsin statute 122 and Wisconsin statute 123. for the power that they provide to school boards but with regard to the limitations that they provide. So to the extent that there is a the the power that the school boards have for example to um to suspend or expel students. We're looking at 1213 sub one. And it's not that we look to 1213 sub one to give us the power to make those decisions, but to look to the the the the statute, specifically 1213 sub one subc to tell us what the procedures are that we need to follow in order to expel a student or 123 sub30. the the procedures and the preconditions that we need to meet in order to offer Hunter education
010programs or interestingly for tonight's subject 1213 sub32 the school board orientation that a school board is is authorized to offer to itself and to pay for that orientation. There are certain preconditions that need to be met. Um but you have the power to do so. And so because of that, when we're talking about school boards responsibilities and powers, we're no longer looking for that authority, but we're really looking for any kind of limitation. So in the event that you were to contact me now to ask, can we provide mental health services to our students, instead of looking for that authority within the statutes, we would look to any restrictions. And I can tell you that there are no restrictions associated with offering mental health services generally to students. You have the ability to do so
011and you're in you're in in many cases encouraged to do so as it relates to u special education students, students with disabilities and your regular education students who want to to take care of their their mental health through uh preventative care. Now it's important to understand that when we're talking about the school board's responsibilities. There are primary responsibilities of the school board as it relates to the primary responsibilities of the administration and they are very different. The primary responsibilities of the school board is governance. You're responsible as school as the school board for the mission. You're responsible for policym. You're responsible for student achievement not within the classroom but with establishing the um the high school graduation requirements and other requirements for promotion and um and and access to certain programs. You're responsible for budget
012approval. You are the employer of all of the employees in the district even though you are the supervisor of only one of the employees in the district, your superintendent. I mentioned that you are the employer of all employees in the district and that also includes the fact that the statutes require you to to be the entity to hire and fire all administrators and teachers in the district by law. That cannot be delegated to your administration. That is a primary responsibility of the school board. your support staff are not um treated the same way in the statutes, but you certainly have the uh have responsibilities related to your your support staff, especially as it relates to grievances concerning those decisions. You're responsible for public relations and political relations. You're responsible as as an ethical leader in
013the district. You're also responsible for being the impartial body to make due process decisions as it relates to terminations of teachers, administrators, and other staff, expulsions of um of of students. And to provide that due process, you need to be impartial. As a result, there are going to be times when your administration will not share all of the information relative to issues that are arising in the district. And that is to preserve and to protect your responsibility as that impartial body making decisions that are based on the information that's being presented to you relative to that recommendation to expel or to terminate. And so there may be times when your your superintendent, when your administrators explain to you that as much as they would like to share significant amounts of information that they need to
014wait until certain timelines have lapsed or certain um statutes of limitations have heavy laps before they're able to share that information. You're responsible for the evaluation of the superintendent and that is one of your most important responsibilities as it relates to then um establishing goals and operational expectations that are then filtered down through the individuals that your superintendent supervises. Now these responsibilities are very different than the responsibilities of your administration. Your administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the district as I mentioned whereas you are responsible for the governance of of the um of the the the school district. Your administrators are your chief executive and administrative officers. They manage the professional work of the individual schools or programs. They supervise and evaluate all of the other staff. They are the ones who who
015manage the instructional programs, enforce, apply and interpret the policies that you adopt. They create additional policies in order to implement the more global policies that you are responsible for. They develop budget curriculum progress reports and facilities plans that they recommend to the the school board for approval. and they they recommend the hiring and firing of staff and the expulsion of of pupils and they're the relationship between administration and the board are governed by um the the policies that are adopted and are reviewed on a regular basis. Now, it's important to remember that um when we're talking about the division of responsibility between the administrators and the the school board that we're talking about the school board as an entity. Sometimes that can get confusing as it relates to the authority or the power um and
016the responsibilities of individual school board members. It is very important to remember that individual members of the school board only have power as it relates to their membership and their actions within the the um the confines of the the governmental body. So you only as a schoolboard member have power as a member of that body. In some cases, the governmental body itself, the school board will delegate certain responsibilities or powers to individual members. A good example of that is the the power that is delegated to your officers that is that is uh required by both statute and by policy. In other cases, there will be responsibilities that are delegated to an individual member as a chair of a committee or as a um as a leader or a participant in in a special project. The
017most important power that an individual school board member has is to attend board meetings and to vote to cast the the the vote and to participate in the discussion as well as the actions that come before the the school board. While there are very limited powers that an individual school board member has, there are some significant responsibilities that a school board member has. Schoolboard members have responsibilities related to the public records law, specifically related to being a records custodian for all of the records that a schoolboard member creates in his or her capacity as a schoolboard member. That includes creation of records not just using district technology or districts um email accounts or or other technology but to the extent that you as schoolboard members are using your personal or work technology in order to
018conduct district business. One of the things that is is very important to remember is that to the extent that you are using your personal communication devices in order to engage in district business, sending emails or text messages with school other schoolboard members, with administrators or with constituents in order to to conduct district business. So, um, receiving or exchanging information, um, uh, uh, engaging in discussion with regard to items that come before the board, receiving a complaint or or confirming the receipt of a complaint, any of those communications that happen on your personal communication devices or using technology that is issued by um, for for personal use or by your employer. Because of the fact that that it is for district business, you become the records custodian for those records that are not maintained on the
019district's technology and you have a responsibility to ensure that those records are retained and to the extent that they are requested, they are processed by the school district for purposes of the public records law. In addition, you have a responsibility to participate in meetings of the governmental body, including the school board and any committees on which you serve. To the extent that that you do in fact meet that those meetings have to comply with the open meetings law. There has to be notice provided. Closed session needs to be noticed as well. And to the extent that you are utilizing technology for purposes of meetings, it has to be compliant with the with the the the legal um with the the law and the regulations that apply to the the open meetings law. You have to
020comply with due process requirements. As I mentioned before, as a member of that uh impartial body, you have to only participate when you truly can do so in an in an impartial and unbiased manner. And you have responsibilities to meet your ethical obligations as well. We're going to go through a couple of these items very quickly. Um, we're not going to get into too much of the the issue of a conflict of interest, but um, it's important to remember that the code of ethics for local public officials, which is found in Wisconsin statute 1959, applies to school board members. 1959 prohibits schoolboard members from using their positions to on the board to obtain financial gain or anything of substantial value for the private benefit of the school board member, their immediate family or an organization
021with which they are associated. What that means is a schoolboard member may not take any official action that substantially affects the matter in which the school board member has that financial interest or unless uh or in a situation where the school board member's immediate family member or an organization has a substantial financial interest. It's important to note that the code of ethics for local public officials has a very low threshold when we're talking about the financial benefit. Anything of value means anything that is is not nominal. Anything that is more um valuable than a a coffee mug or a pen. When we're talking about the organizations that the schoolboard member is affiliated or associated with, we're talking about an organization, whether forprofit or nonprofit, where the school board member or their immediate family member is
022a director, an officer, where they own or control directly or indirectly um at least 10% of of the outstanding equity, or where the schoolboard member or their immediate family member is an authorized representative or agent. Many of our schoolboard members serve on boards of directors or in um or in uh um executive positions for nonprofit organizations or for companies that engage in partnerships or in contracts with the school board. This is where uh the the code of ethics may come into play and where the schoolboard member may need to recuse himself or herself from the discussions or actions regarding those relationships, those contracts between the school board and the organization with which they're associated. Similarly, immediate family is a term that is defined by the statute. Um it means your your legal spouse or it
023means someone who is a relative by marriage or other means for whom you are financially interdependent meaning that you are responsible for more for 50% or more of the individual's annual income or they're responsible for yours. So, in the event that you have a a sibling, for example, who is looking to engage in a contract with the school district, as long as that sibling is self-sufficient, lives on his or her own, is not financially dependent upon you, you have the legal authority to participate in the discussion or action regarding the the contract between your sibling and the school board. You may choose not to participate in discussions or actions because of the the perceived conflict, but there is no legal conflict of interest in that situation. That said, if you have a a child who
024still lives at home, an adult child who still lives at home, who is still insured by your um your health insurance, who still receives a significant amount of financial um support, and that child engages in a contract or seeks a job with the school district, you're going to want to recuse yourself from discussions and actions so as to avoid violating the code of ethics for local public officials. there are penalties associated with violating that statute. Um there are forfe forfeitures and the action itself may be voided. In addition to the code of ethics for local public officials as the the actions of school board members um get uh more expensive, more serious, um there are some criminal statutes that apply as well. We won't go into any detail here, but in the event that you
025are looking at Wisconsin statute 94613 or 94610 bribery or having a public interest in a uh a private interest in a public contract, you're going to want to seek out some assistance from the um from your superintendent, from your board president, and seek out some assistance from legal counsel in order to ensure that you're being advised as to what you can do in order to avoid avoid running a foul of these statutes. Similarly, misconduct in public office 94612 is a statute that prohibits schoolboard members from engaging in activities in actions within their official capacity that exceeds their authority. In the event that you have questions about that statute, we can certainly talk about that in a more confidential way in order to provide you with that legal um advice and that uh that that uh
026attorney client privilege that I mentioned at the beginning of our meeting today. Um in addition to the code of ethics and the criminal statutes that apply, we have a um a doctrine called the incompatibility of offices at positions doctrine. This is the doctrine that prevents school board members from serving as employees in the school district where they serve on the board. Um there it's a common law uh doctrine that essentially prohibits the school board member from serving it as both the subordinate and the supervisor, the employee and the employer. Over the years, there there have been some attempts to uh to carve out some opportunities for schoolboard members in order to serve their districts in other means. So, Wisconsin statute 120.20 was adopted in 2015 in order to allow schoolboard members to serve as volunteer
027coaches or adviserss of extracurricular activities. Provided the school board member is not receiving compensation, they abstain from any vote um and discussion regarding the activity or or athletic um activity that they are supervising and they submit to a criminal background check. More recently, um a couple years ago, the statute was also amended in order to allow school board members to serve as volunteer school bus drivers. That was in direct response to our shortage of school bus drivers. And as I understand it, um most uh school board members are not taking um us up on the opportunity, but certainly school district administrators would love it if school board members wanted to get their CDLs and um and drive the school bus for uh purposes of addressing that shortage. It's important to note that the incompatibility of
028offices positions um doctrine does not prohibit a schoolboard member from serving as an employee in a neighboring school district or serving as an employee in a private school or other educational agency like a CISA. Um it simply prohibits the school board member from serving as an employee in the district where they serve. Before we move on to schoolboard members use of technology, I want to just make sure that there are no questions. I'm happy to answer any questions about the subjects that we've covered so far. >> Any questions? >> I have one quick one. Um, so say I'm a volunteer ultimate frisbee coach and uh we're we're making a decision that is affecting you know secondary athletics generally. I mean does it have does the action proposed have to be specific to my ultimate frisbee
029team or is a general action affecting all sports of the same category? So it is substantially and directly um that uh the the action has to substantially and directly affect the the the activity. So just a general um uh action with regard to for example your athletic code of conduct or funding for for sports generally at the the secondary level. That would not be sufficient in order to violate this statute. But to the extent that that there is a discussion about um funding for um for the ultimate frisbee or for um for certain activities where um where you're looking to uh to support a a a category of activities you're going to want to to make sure to avoid. The more specific that it gets, the the more troublesome that that decision could be. >>
030Cool. Thank you. >> I would also argue that um it it also applies the prohibition also applies to students who serve um or who participate in that activity to the extent that they are brought before you for disciplinary action or um or an athletic code violation. You're going to want to to recuse yourself from those discussions as well. Any other questions? All right, then let's move on to board members use of technology. And we we started this conversation, but I want to make sure that that we hit this one pretty um uh in pretty much uh det in pretty good detail um because this is one where it is often um misunderstood. Um, first and foremost, when a schoolboard member is utilizing technology, there is a chance that there is going to be a violation
031of the open meetings law specifically as it relates to a walking forum. When schoolboard members meet, they are meeting during meeting or meeting uh excuse me, they are meeting at times in which the the school board's meeting has been properly posted under the open meetings law. So, for example, there has been a a written notice that has been posted in a number of different areas. The meeting is accessible to the public. the public understands where the meeting occurs, what the subject matter of the meeting is going to be, as well as the time the meeting is going to to start. When schoolboard members communicate by email, text message, or social media, they run the risk of engaging in a walking quorum such that a meeting occurs without all of the the the notices and the
032the obligations that apply when the open meetings law applies. This could occur when a school board member sends an an email to all schoolboard members with regard to a subject that is coming uh before the board and then there is a reply all or a reply to a quorum of the school board members such that a conversation occurs between school board members through technology that should be occurring during the the the properly posted board meeting. a a single communication, a one-way communication where one board member sends a message to all board members does not create the the open meetings law violation. But the moment that there are replies, suddenly we are in a situation where that conversation that should be happening during the schoolboard meeting is happening through technology. And this happens periodically by accident
033inadvertently. But you're going to want to make sure that you are taking steps in order to avoid having the the um the the meetings um essentially robbed of their robust discussion because those meetings are occurring and those discussions are occurring through technology. Sometimes this is discovered as we are compiling records in response to public records requests because even if we have a situation where emails or text messages or um social media communications are occurring between schoolboard members, even if we discover that there is a violation, we cannot refuse to release the records simply because there is evidence of an open meetings law violation. we still have an obligation to release those records. It's also important to remember that email use by school board members inherently creates public record. So to the extent you are communicating
034with your fellow schoolboard members and you believe those communications to be confidential, the reality is is that that each and every communication between two school board members, three schoolboard members or a quorum of schoolboard members or the the entire group of school board members. All of those communications are public records. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are in fact subject to disclosure. It means that we have to review them if they are requested in order to determine whether there is any opportunity to refuse to to release those. There is a presumption of disclosure with public records and the only time we can refuse to disclose those records is if there is a public policy reason or a statute that provides for the the exemption of those records for from disclosure. So to the extent that
035you are communicating with one another in writing, it's important to remember that those records that write that written communication is in fact um creating public records. That is true with regard to email. That is true with regard to email using districts technology. But also that is true with regard to email that is sent using your personal email accounts, Hotmail, Gmail, um other accounts that that are created, an AOL account for example, but also accounts that are issued by your employer to the extent that they are are being used for district business. Similarly, some schoolboard members believe that sending a text message is a a record that is not a public record and that is not subject to the preservation requirements and um that is not subject to disclosure. That is simply not the case. There
036is no exclusion in the public records law for text messages. So to the extent that you are using your personal communication device to engage in district business, you are responsible for maintaining those records and you are responsible for disclosing those records to the district in order to be processed for public records uh requests in order to make sure that that we are fulfilling our obligations under the public records law. I would encourage you to if you can avoid using technology to communicate with one another. Use the telephone. Have conversations in person. If you are going to use technology in order to communicate with one another, try as much as you can to utilize the technology that is issued to you by the school district so that the district can in fact maintain those records without
037having that secondary responsibility of of obtaining those records from you from your personal communication device or from your personal um or work email accounts. Avoid at all costs communicating with all schoolboard members or a quorum of schoolboard members at a single time so as to avoid creating a walking forum and violating the open meetings law. I ask real quickly is there are there any questions regarding the board members use of technology before we move on to the first amendment? doesn't look like it. >> I'll just say that's why I send a lot of things BCC. So in the two line it'll say like hello schoolboard members and then you'll just see yourself as a recipient. U I do that to avoid a walking quorum or continued conversation. So it's going to everyone if it says
038all schoolboard members. Uh but that's why I use BCC to avoid some of those very concerns. >> That is a great plan. So um one of the questions and I know this is this was kind of the the primary impetus for for um having this uh workshop but one of the questions that has come before this board on a number of occasions is how schoolboard members utilize social media and whether schoolboard members continue to have the protections of the first amendment. The the the truth is is that schoolboard members continue to have the right to utilize social media as individuals, as as citizens of the school district of Lacrosse, as well as citizens of your local municipalities, your county, the state, and the the the the United States as a as an entity. Continue to
039have the right to use social media, both for your personal and for your professional um use of social media. and you continue to have the protections of the First Amendment. Interestingly though, as a member of the the school board in the school district of Lacrosse, to the extent that you are using your social media accounts or a social media account as a means of of engaging with your constituents, you are then utilizing social media as a governmental actor. What that means is that you have to then respect and protect the rights of the individual constituents and others who interact with you using social media and protect their first amendment rights as it mean as it it is to engage in a communication with a governmental actor and where the social media is created as a
040public forum. What I mean by this is to the extent that you are using your social media sites in order to ask questions of your constituents. I have a a good friend who is a a school board member who often poses questions on her social media, on her Facebook account, on her Instagram. Um, what kinds of improvements would you like to see in our school district? When she does that, I've explained to her that you've now created a situation where you are offering your social media site as a public forum for constituents to engage with you. What that means is that you have to respect the first amendment rights of those individuals. You cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination. You cannot engage in um uh you cannot engage in uh denying access without certain objective criteria
041and you need to make sure that you are are maintaining those records in order to be responsive to requests under the public records law. So to the extent that you are using your school your social media site in order to engage with your constituents as a a member of the school board, you're going to want to make sure that you are not blocking individuals. You are not deleting their comments. You are not disabling their um individual comments. Um and you are not engaged in viewpoint discrimination. Basically removing those uh those viewpoints that you disagree with. That is not to say that you cannot have a personal social media site. That's not to say that you cannot have a campaign social media site. But to the extent that you are maintaining a personal or a campaign
042social media site, you are going to want to utilize disclaimers in order to ensure that anyone who is engaging with you on those particular social media sites understand that those are your personal views. that the that the engagement is in fact with you as a citizen, with you as an individual and not with you as a member of the school board. It's going to be important though that if you are utilizing those disclaimers and you are intending to use your social media sites as a personal social media site or a campaign social media site that you are not then violating the disclaimer that you are are utilizing by engaging or or in inviting individuals to engage with you as constituents. In the event that you do so, you've then robbed yourself of the the the
043protection that the disclaimer provides to you. We've had situations occur in your district and in other districts in the past where we have had schoolboard members utilize social media and speak on behalf of the district or speak without the authorization of the district on social media and attempt to claim that they were doing so in their capacity as a citizen or as an individual and seek the protections of the First Amendment only to look at the the the actual content of the message which does in fact reflect the fact that they were um speaking on behalf of the district or in their capacity as an individual member of the the the school board. You're going to want to be very careful with the content. I have attempted for many years to encourage schoolboard members and
044other members of the the school district staff to eliminate, delete, and not utilize social media when they become employees of the district or when they seek um or when they are elected to serve on the school board. I've not been very successful at convincing people not to use social media because it's such a a helpful way to connect and communicate with both um the the voters as well as with constituents. But to the extent that um that I can convince you to do so, that is the safest way to avoid violating um your constituents so uh first amendment rights in the the use of social media. But if you if you continue to wish to do so, you're going to want to make sure that you have very separate social media sites for your personal
045account for your campaign account. And to the extent that you are using social media in your capacity as a school board member, you're going to want to have a separate account as well. And you're going to want to make sure that you are utilizing those disclaimers appropriately. Any questions with regard to social media and the First Amendment? Okay. Then as um I mentioned earlier, social media and the public records law is uh similar to uh to the how the public records law applies to your use of text messages and your use of email. To the extent that you are maintaining social media accounts as it relates to your position on the school board, to the extent that it is a governmental bodies or a governmental actor's social media site, so you're using your social media
046site to engage with your constituents, you are going to need to make sure that you are maintaining the engagement with individuals. uals on social media as public records. Several years ago, the Wisconsin Attorney General issued an opinion regarding a making Salem better Google group with regard to a town chair who maintained a Google website where he provided um limited access to individuals to discuss or address governmental business. The attorney general concluded that there was a a a limited public forum available to individuals that created public records that that the town chair then had an obligation to maintain and then disclose in response to requests. This is the same u doctrine. This is the same uh legal theory that would then apply if you were to maintain a social media site in your capacity as a
047school board member. You would have an obligation to retain those records and to disclose them to the extent they were requested in accordance with the school district's policies governing the public records law and requests. There are some social media platforms such as Facebook that allow users to do download or archive their records. Um they're not uh failsafe. There are a number of companies that have tried to man uh to monetize some of these downloading and archive uh responsibilities and charge significant amounts of money. At this point, I would tell you that um utilizing the social media platforms um uh uh uh processes and and um opportunities to to maintain records is sufficient. Um but we have yet to have a case where um where a a member of a governmental body is held responsible for
048the failings of a social media site. It is possible that that will come in the future, but at least at this point um as long as you are not deleting um or disabling comments uh based on viewpoint discrimination um or view the viewpoint of those uh of those comments, you should be fine as it relates to the records retention. It just may be that if you are maintaining that social media site yourself and not running it through the district's technology that you will be the one who will have to work with the district in order to facilitate the the the disclosure and the review of those records. In addition, I will mention that um when we are processing public records requests, we have the opportunity to charge requesters for the location fees associated with locating
049certain records that are responsive to the requests. Recently, the the attorney general has issued an informal opinion indicating that the time spent by schoolboard members in compiling or locating records that are responsive to a public records request cannot include with it a fee associated with the school board member's time. Because schoolboard members are not paid based on their time, but are instead paid based on their attendance at meetings or generally an annual um or or per meeting um amount that they receive. Schoolboard members are not paid by the school district based on their time worked. As a result, the attorney general has suggested that we cannot charge requesters for the time in which they are locating records that are responsive to requests. Um, finally, I've I've gone over a lot of this already with regard
050to social media and the open meetings law, but just like text messages, just like email accounts, to the extent that you are engaging with one another, and to the extent that you are engaging with a quorum of schoolboard members through a social media account. So if all of you, for example, are commenting on another individual's account or are replying to each other's comments on another individual or entity's account, we may find ourselves in that same walking quorum situation such that we could find ourselves um in a violation of the open meetings law. So to the extent that you are engaging with each other on social media, avoid discussing, debating and deliberating school district business via social media. Avoid posting comments or other information which suggests that the schoolboard members have already made up their minds
051on social media or that they are convincing one another on social media. Avoid posting information or comments that reflect or reveal confidential information that you are are only um that you only have access to in your capacity as a schoolboard member. And make sure to retain a record of all the posts and comments that you that you engage in on social media that relate to district business. Any questions? Not seeing any questions. Shaina, thank you. >> You are welcome. That is a lot of information in a short period of time. I'm happy to um answer any other questions. Um and uh if not, I am happy to let you go on to the next part of your workshop. >> Thanks Shaina. Um, so Molly, I'm kind of putting you on the spot because you had
052asked for this, but um, do you want Shaya to hang out and as we engage each other in a conversation or >> um, I don't know if that's necessary. >> I'm sure she has fun things to do tonight. >> All right. Thank you very much, Shane. I appreciate it. >> Thank you so much for being here. >> You're welcome. Byebye. >> Do you want to offer any thoughts or >> um I also think that there is a le like a what we can do and maybe what we should do behind what I wanted to talk about as well. Like >> I I think that there's a certain amount of decency and respect that we should put out there as schoolboard members whether or not we're using a personal account or not. Um and you know
053you can't do anything legal about that. But come on and also unfortunately we're not all here today. So >> I I agree with you. I think that's it's worth considering what responsibilities we take on in public office. I mean, that are different than what we might usually hold ourselves to. And I think that that's a fair conversation. I from my perspective, what what just sort of surprised me was when we have a public speaker come and share something difficult, something challenging, and then we as a board have different kinds of opportunities to to talk about that. We can decide whether or not to to put it on the the agenda for a regular meeting. We can decide to have a workshop about it. We could decide to have a closed session about it if we
054wanted to. In this case, we had our staff, educators, one in particular came as a public speaker and I don't know what anybody else received, but I got a couple of additional emails regarding the specific comments that were made by Mr. on Facebook and pretty specifically asking us to address it. And I thought in the interest of being responsive to that part of our constituency, we should have a conversation. I don't know if other people felt different or if anybody wants to weigh in at that point. >> I'll respond. >> Sure. So whether we agree with his comments or not, he didn't do anything illegal. Um so you know to even bring out his name right now I don't think is very fair. But I yes hopefully he he he learned a lesson there and
055I think uh was it a good choice? No, wasn't a good choice. It wasn't, you know, and I would hope he wish he could take it back and, you know, we we could go back and forth and that all we want, but I I and I do agree we should probably try using some common sense when we're uh doing this. But social media is a beast. It really is. And and whether he believes in what he believes in and we believe in what we believe in, that's our right. That's our right to believe in what we do because this is America. Um, so it's a difficult position and and uh I I I would again I would hope that everybody learns something from this, but I hope we can just move forward at this point.
056>> I I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying and I I would just point out that it was all public record what what was happening to begin with. So I don't think there's any issue with saying what the comment was or or who said it in this case. I also don't think anybody was talking about saying it was illegal or nobody brought it as an agenda item. Nobody asked for a specific action to be taken. So I I don't disagree with you. I the the the night that we received the first comment uh I spoke with Mr. Jamaica and President Supla at the time and said, "I don't know what this is all about, but I'm going to look at it." And we had a a community member, a staff member, a
057teacher telling us specifically with policy reference what they thought it was violating. After I saw everything for myself, I didn't agree necessarily that it rose to that level. So, I didn't ask for it to come onto the agenda for exactly that reason. But that doesn't mean that a harm wasn't done. And I appreciate you saying like I hope that he he might understand that he maybe stepped in a hole and we all do from time to time and and that there may be some lost trust with that important part of his constituency and as we just learned his employees. So that's what I will say. I am happy to continue holding space for this deeply uncomfortable conversation that we're having right now. Um because I do think it's important. I agree that we have responsibilities
058that maybe you know we things would be better left unsaid than we usually would in the course of our days. And I think we all have the the ability to, you know, monitor ourselves, be careful, and hopefully to take ownership and responsibility if we if we do. >> We could get one of those signs. Is it kind? Is it helpful? And put it up. >> I >> like they have in my >> I agree. Is it kind? Is it I I would point out also on the other kind of on the other side of things just tonight, we all got a little bit of a chuckle out of Mr. Dr. Begneski's comment which I don't believe was ill intentioned at all. Right. It's absolutely the kind of thing that a young person >> we have
059we have joked about. But I I think that's a good example of exactly the kind of thing we maybe just need to watch ourselves on. Just because Adam is young, right? Just because I am bald, not quite as bald as Scott, right? We >> That's by choice. >> Oh, there you go. So I I come by it naturally, right? Yeah. Um but that's I just think that's a good example of the kind of thing that we we ought to be mindful of. >> Anything else for the good of the order before we bring up Patty? >> I would like to thank you for making space to have this awkward and uncomfortable conversation. >> All right. Okay. Thanks everybody. >> I think it's good. I I think we have a relationship a a a good board
060where we can have that conversation whether we agree or disagree. Um that has nothing to do with it. I think it's important. I agree that and I'm I'm I'm thankful that you brought this up and we talked about it. Um but and hopefully we can respect each other's opinions and I think we do a good job at that. So, um, yes, I hope hopefully everybody learned a little something about all that because I found out CC is a powerful tool >> and reply all. I'm not sure there's anybody there's a few people that don't know how not to use reply all. And if you're >> they need to really learn that >> if your particular email service defaults to that and if you have to change that setting actively, it's yeah, it's it's it is
061a brave new world in many ways. So, okay, thanks everybody. So, part two, Miss Spring. >> This is a annual treat for all of us. Miss Spring uh gives us a uh update on how the budget works and a little bit of forecasting. Uh and so, uh is Dan helping you? >> Lacrosse is really growing. >> Look at that skyline. That's not downtown LA. That's uh downtown Lacrosse. >> Look at the sprawl of it. >> Such a beast of a city. >> God just goes and goes and goes. >> Right. I'm just like 10 minutes. >> Still going. There we go. >> Would you turn on your mic real quick, Patty? Thank you. >> So, more heavy stuff after legal stuff, but it's school finance puzzle is what it's always referred to because it is
062kind of a puzzle for most of you. This is a refresher um for Loretta. Feel welcome to ask any questions. Anybody else can ask questions too, but so when we >> when we look at uh budgeting and setting a levy, this is what the board is is juggling between um making sure we have the educational opportunities for kids. our budget supports that and that uh we are understanding what kind of impact it might have on our taxpayers. So Wisconsin Constitution, here we go some more with the legal. Uh the legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of four and 20. A child should not be unfairly
063disadvantaged merely by where they live. And then the state provides financial assistance in the form of equalization, sometimes referred to as general aid, to school districts in order to reduce the reliance on the local property tax. >> Just because I'm going to miss the daylights out of you in 30 days, but can you put the mic a little closer? Okay. >> Can you hear? Okay. Now, better. Okay. Um so it reduces the reliance on our local property tax um as a sole source of revenue for educational programs and it guarantees that a basic educational opportunity is available to all pupils regardless of the local fiscal capacity of the district in which they reside. So the revenue limit history, it was established in 1993 and the goal was to create levy controls for Wisconsin school districts.
064So it created a calculation to determine the amount of revenue that a district could re generate through two sources and that is through the state general aid and the local taxpayers. And it also provided an option for operational referendums if the calculation provided insufficient funds. And so just for comparison's sake for business accounting you have your assets minus your liabilities on a balance sheet and that is your equity and then you have profit and loss. So your income minus your expenses is your net income. So school districts have to operate differently. So we operate by fund accounting. general fund is fund 10. And then that is your um your balance sheet is going to determine your fund balance which we often refer to and your net equity from your uh revenues minus your expenditures. uh
065for lacrosse each year about $10 million uh goes from the general fund to the special ed fund to cover um unfunded mandates for special education food service fund 50 we've been talking about that a lot is a separate fund and it is a standalone fund meaning that the revenues have to support the expenditure ES otherwise you have to transfer educational funds from fund 10 to fund 50 to cover the deficit. So WOFR stands for Wisconsin Uniform Financial Accounting Requirements. Every school district in the state of Wisconsin has to abide by this uh fund accounting. They are all separate buckets. So the general fund is gen uh fund 10, special education fund 27. Then you have your debt service uh fund 38 for debt that was incurred not through a referendum. And then fund 39 would
066be your debt from a capital referendum. Then you have your capital projects. Uh that would be fund 41 which uh Mr. Lvina came and talked about the capital improvements and maintenance. Fund 49 would be our referendum projects such as State Road and our new Hogan School. Fund uh 50 is your food service and then your fund 80 is your community service fund. So, we've touched on a lot of these funds in the last few meetings. Can >> I ask a question? Sure. on these special um education funds, the 10 million that you probably can't, but maybe it would be nice for us to know for four u communities our size, are we about equal to everyone else on what we spend in special education or are we spending more? Are we spending less? I think
067it would just be nice to know that. And $10 million is a lot of money that we're we're picking up our the taxpayers >> are kicking that out ourselves and that isn't something that's we're helped with. >> Correct. Um, I believe that every district is having um >> substantial special ed uh costs that are increasing every year and yet the state aid has not increased to keep up with it. But um as far as compared to other school districts, I'm sure we're comparable, but I can see Erin is uh packing away. So, he'll probably find something that can help us uh answer your question. >> That's a great question. I can get back to you. >> That's a great question. We'll get back to you on that on the specifics. I'm curious about that, too.
068I don't think it'll be easy to find. Getting all the state data is a challenge sometimes and so, but we'll be able to find that out. Absolutely. Yeah. >> So, the budget overview, it's much like forecasting the weather. the closer we get to October, the closer we get to the budget that the board will approve. And it's kind of a shame because our fiscal year starts July 1st, our school year starts in August. And we still don't know the numbers from the state that is going to um help the board uh finalize the budget and know how much their uh levy is going to be. So much of that information um and the actual revenue limit authority is not known until October 15th. And then but why do we start so early in the budget
069process? Well, we have to know how many students we need to serve, how many staff we need to serve them, the space needed for those students, um the salary increase, affordability, uh program needs and budget cuts or increases are they needed? So, how we budget? So, each fund has its own budget. Expenses are budgeted by fund and function. For example, um uh function means regular curriculum. So then it's broken down into curriculum for science or curriculum for math. Um then the revenues are budgeted by fund and source like where are those dollars coming from? For example, a 210 source would be property tax money. So funds 10 and 27 are the bulk of our district's budget and the main driver is the district's revenue limit. So the basic funding equation is the revenue limit minus
070state aid and that's going to be the part of the revenue limit that falls on our property taxpayers. So we always like to think of the pi as the revenue u limit and then versus the filling. So we consider the revenue limit as the pi and then what makes up the aid from the state and what makes up the remainder it goes to the taxpayers. So the pie is filling is made up of those two increases. So um if our equalization aid increases, it doesn't really necessarily increase that pie. What it's doing is is it's um giving us more revenue from the state. So we have to uh set a lower levy for our taxpayers. So, it's really um state aid is really uh more of a a tax uh relief for our taxpayers. So
071in different uh districts, uh if you have a wealthy property district, so think about like Dor County where they have all of that um very wealthy uh property uh because it's a lot of uh vacation property. Uh they don't get maybe even any dollars from the state. all of their support for their school districts uh comes from their property owners. Uh for a very poor district uh that gets very little from their property um owners, they get more state aid. The PI is just about the same, but it's the funding sources that will differ. So the critical factors in the revenue limit is the base revenue which is the prior year revenue limit and then of course the membership. So, the full-time equivalent resident students uh not doesn't mean that all the students that are
072attending lacrosse. It means all of the students that reside in lacrosse going to public schools. Um the allowable annual change per member is determined by the bianual budget and for many years it was zero. So um in the last two bianial budgets it is at and it's important that number because it adds to that base revenue for the following year. So if you have zero your base is not increasing in the following year. Um and then of course there are allowable exemptions to the limit um such as an operating referendum. So again, the membership does not equal the students in the seat. It's based on a three-year rolling average and it's um based upon our residents. So even those students that live here in Lacrosse and maybe open a role to an Alaska, those are
073included in our membership. An Alaska students that attend Lacrosse are included in an Alaska's membership. So impact of the per member adjustment. So this allowable per member adjustment that $325 is um is going to impact how little the revenue limit increases or how much it increases. but a drop in the revenue limit membership. So the our enrollment or even our residents eligible to go to school here um it's it can be uh generated by that per member amount. So that's when we talk about declining enrollment and that's how it affects our revenue limit. So less students less revenue. So here here's a per member adjustment history. So the revenue limit per pupil increase. Um as you can see there were uh going back to 20112 they took away from uh school districts. So uh it
074was a substantial amount for Lacrosse. It was like $516 per pupil was lost and we've never really made that up in the coming years. And uh for the last bianial budget and this bianial budget it's 325 per member. The other is per pupil categorical aid. This can be very confusing to the public and to anybody who's looking at per pupil funding. Um the per pupil categorical aid was put into place um back in about 201213 but it's outside of the revenue limit. And this is also based on a three-year rolling average and the amount is $742. So it will never increase your revenue limit base because it's outside of the calculation. It's helpful. will take any kind of helpful money. Um, revenue limit calculation. So, membership times the um maximum revenue per member is going
075to equal your revenue limit um with no exemptions. So, if the membership or the maximum revenue per member increase, the whole pie could increase. But because um we have declining enrollment the whole pie might decrease. So revenue limit versus state aid. So what you can spend that's the pie and how much you receive in the general school aids um are two different things. So, lots of times you'll see um when the aid is calculated, you'll see headlines in the newspaper like this school district is getting $100,000 more in aid. It doesn't mean they have get more money to spend. It just means they have less uh money that they have to tax their taxpayers. So, the main general school aid is the equalization aid. So the final points on equal Yep. >> When you So
076when you say general aids, excuse me, when you say the general aids are on that last slide are purposeful tax relief, you mean they were set up by the legislature for that purpose, right? >> Correct. Um so the special adjustment or the hold harmless keeps our aid from falling um more than 15% per year. And then more aid means less to tax, not more to spend and has to be combined with a revenue limit increase to make resources available. So the aid formula assumes a value per member. It's the best measure of the ability to pay. So this is a calculation that's done for every school district and um the redistribution is the intent. So for one district to get more, another district is going to get less because just like our pie, the equalization
077aid at the state level is one big dollar amount and it has to go to all of our school districts in the state. So then remember back to that first slide where or second slide where it said if it's insufficient then a school district can go to referendum for operating expenditures. School district of Lacrosse has done so since 2004. We have a very supportive uh community that has voted yes every year since 2004 uh for operating referendums. Um it has a tax impact but it doesn't raise the taxes by a specific amount. An oper operating referendum is going to increase that revenue limit authority. Um then the impact is how the funds are used and where we live in the aid formula. So I know that sounds kind of confusing but um it what happens
078in this district will impact another district. So when you go to referendum, you're either voting for one, an operating referendum to increase your revenue limit, or you're going for a um to issue debt, meaning you're going for capital projects. So right now we have both. We have operating referendum in effect till and we have of course our capital referendum where we're building um a new school and the addition to state road. So to issue the debt we are borrowing a specific amount of money for a specific purpose. And those of you that were on the board when we had the resolution to go to referenda, we had to be very careful how we worded that referenda. We had to be very specific because once the voters vote on that, those dollars um cannot be used
079for anything else but those projects as they were presented. So that was 53.5 million. Um, the revenue authority is what you need to make the debt payments. So, um, and they we usually pay back our debt over 20-year period. Um, we won't know until we actually issue the debt what the um impact is on our revenue. But we have financial adviserss who have come to the board and told you and said well we estimate this will have this impact so that you as a board knew um before you even approve that resolution. So operating is to exceed the revenue limit and increase your allowed revenue your um your equalization aid plus property taxes in one or more years. um that is a nonrecurring referendum and that's what we have. There are districts who go out
080for recurring um and then that's an ongoing increase. You never have to go back out to the um public for that and that increases your base. So an operating to exceed the revenue limit increases your allowed revenue in one or more years and a recurring is ongoing. Um if you increase your allowed revenue in one or more years it's a nonrecurring and that's what we have. So um ours runs right now from 2023 through the end of 2029. So then you will think about in the next couple of years uh what's the best timing to go out for operating referendum to continue. Um and then the 2017 uh 2019 bianial budget uh kind of made some restrictions for districts. So it limits our two questions per calendar year and then the um they can only
081go to the vote um on a regular elections that are scheduled in the even years or the odd years as shown. And then um so careful referendum planning and wording is even more important than before because if it doesn't pass, you want to make sure you have some opportunity to maybe reward it and go out again before you absolutely need those dollars. So there are other revenues that the district receives from state and federal grants. A lot of them we've talked about as far as um title one and um AGR and special education categorical aid. For a lot of these, the district has to spend the dollars first and then be reimbursed by the state or federal grant. So in summary, most of the district's operational revenue is determined by the state or federal calculations
082and other revenue is just a small amount of our our um revenue budget. And then long-term budgeting, we we have we think about um a balanced budget beginning with the revenue estimates and then we consider the the revenue longevity. So, um, we when we get one-time revenue, so let's say like a few years ago, we when we, um, closed Lincoln, we had a surplus sale of, uh, furniture or things that we no longer needed. And those dollars should never be included as far as the operating uh, revenue for that year. It should only be spent on one-time things because um we know we're not going to have that revenue on a continuous basis. It's the same as when we sell a property. Got to be very considerate about where you spend those dollars because they
083um are not going to come again only one time. So this here is some 2026 27 factors from the state budget level um and local level that's affecting our planning. So the state bianial budget we're in the second year. So a lot of the things we already know for planning the budget for the next year. However, no new budget and no new money was put into the equalization state aid allocation. So that big pie of money at the state level, they didn't put any more money in that. So what happens then? That means that the taxpayers are picking up any increases in revenue limits. Um the per pupil revenue limit increases of 325 for both 25 and 26. So that's good. Um the per pupil categorical aid is not increasing. It's staying at um $742.
084The special ed aid. So this percentage of prior so this is dollars you get based on a percentage of special ed expenses from the prior year and the state budget is some certain meaning that they allocated a pot of money but it's not going to cover the special ed um expenses to the point that they might be needed. because they estimated reimbursements of 42% in this 2526 year and 46% in the 2627 year. Right now the actual reimbursement rate estimated uh for 2526 is 35% and for next year we'll be only budgeting 38%. So, um, the state allocation is not some sufficient to cover the special ed expenditures statewide. It >> Patty, is that because the the state was was reckoning that our expenditures were going to be significantly lower than they actually are? So,
085in other words, would their reimbursement rate have met the 42% if the number had been correct? Right. Like >> correct. >> Okay. They underestimated probably um declining enrollment. Uh we're estimating 97 FTE, but the um a loss of districtwide of students. Um however, the exact number isn't known until the third Friday in September count date. So there's another number that we don't know until September. Um then the CPI base salary increase is 2.63%. But um we have to weigh that uh because if we add steps and lane increases that is going to maybe be more than we can afford for a salary increase. And then of course we always have to look at our staffing needs. The problem with losing maybe 97 students statewide in the seats that they're not all coming from one classroom
086or one school in the district. They come from all of our uh schools in the district and could be at any grade level. So it's hard to if you lose one or two students in a grade level in one school, it's not enough to uh take away a teacher. So, questions on the state budget impact. >> Have we maybe it's coming along, but have we um determined how much we paid in this year with a voucher program? >> Um, yep. That's in our revenue limit and that was over $3 million for the school district for the 2526. And that's just so everyone realizes that's to pay for private school. >> Correct. >> So then this is our projections just very basic. We brought this to the board back in in March. We don't really know
087much more at this point. Um but our base revenue uh before exemptions we estimate that it will increase um by $720,000. Um but our per pupil categorical aid will with that loss of 97 FTE estimated that reduces it by 71,000 almost 72,000. So, our net revenue change is $648,567. Not a whole lot of money added to our revenue limit. Um, so that is, you know, even just with if you think about a 3% increase to salaries, you think about regular increases for um our software. I think I have Yep. I do. So, you know, like we estimated costs. There's some of those things of course that are out of our hands like um you know, property insurance going up, transportation contracts, software licenses, utilities, just like a regular home budget. You know, those are things
088that sometimes um the price of gasoline in our home budgets, right? Right now, um we are lucky that most of our buses at Rightway are propane buses. So that is going to be helpful for that um budget. And then um are there any estimate decrease costs um or estimated savings? We did uh have a bit of a decrease in our health insurance premiums, but we are also increasing the contribution to our employee HSA accounts. So it's kind of a wash there. Um and then we annually build our school and instructional budgets um from the zerobased project of zerobased budgeting. So you've heard that many times people wonder how do we come up with these budgets. It is um it is not just created by administrators um principles. We send the we start this process back
089in March. we send it out to the schools, the departments. They uh h have a process within their schools where they send it out to their teachers requesting their budgets for next year. Um and we align those with um our our needs, you know, it's it's the needsbased first and then the nice to haves and then the pie in the sky. But um so the zerobased budgets are aligned with our resources and um it is a collaborative process. Um this is this kind of describes the steps that we take and um we start pretty early. So all once they're all submitted um we take a look at them on our level and then we make sure that we send those back out. So right now they're in the process of putting those into our accounting
090system and that is what I will use when I present a very preliminary budget um at the next board meeting. Um, so here from so from May until October when the board adopts the 2627 original budget, the district will continue to focus on the impact um and the assumptions. Uh we'll make adjustments and then we will bring you a a budget in October that'll be finalized. But in September, we start with the budget book. So you guys always remember this. And then um we bring it to you. A lot of the information in here you've already received. And it's just the way that um this is all the information regarding the district and what our budget is supporting as far as uh student education. And then before November 1st, the board will approve the original
091budget that is updated based on the third Friday enrollment, staffing changes, private school vouchers, and the property value aid revenue limit certification and then we'll know what the impact is on the tax levy. So, any questions? I went through that pretty fast. Yep. >> Yes. And I apologize. I don't want to take up too much of everybody's time. Um, and granted my questions may be very elementary, but please bear with me. >> No. >> Um, thank you, Scott, for asking that question. So, that 25 million puts a lot into perspective for me. How many private schools are those vouchers going to here in Lacrosse? How many private schools do we have in Lacrosse that are taking advantage of those vouchers? >> Well, it's not only private schools in Lacrosse. It's our residents who are attending
092private schools that are in the program. So besides maybe students who are going to Acquaintus or some other private schools, if they live in Lacrosse, they're a resident of our lacrosse school district and they're attending a private school in an Alaska, we are responsible for that voucher. Okay. attending a minimum Aquinus, Luther, the Lutheran elementaryaries in Lacrosse, >> Aquinus, the Lutheran schools in our area, Providence Academy, Kulie Christian, but then we have kids that enroll in a private charter in Milwaukee. >> Okay. So, and they apply to go to that school with us. So, we have the power to approve or deny that. >> We do not. they it's on their if they are eligible for a voucher they go through the voucher application process at Aquinus say and Aquinus determines if they are enrolled
093they have a limited ability to deny uh themselves uh but they're not held to the same standards that we are once they attend that private school. So accessibility concerns, disability issues, they don't have to comply with those things like we do as a public school. Um, I have a quick question on the vouchers. Um, are there any voucher schools that are virtual? Like I heard that there's some schools out there like in Milwaukee that are private voucher virtual schools. Do we are we also contending with those? >> I I don't know off hand where they're going a lot of times. Um we do get uh we we get very limited information regarding voucher schools. We don't know who the exact students are. Um we just know they're our residents. So that's when we get that
094money that we get that dollar amount from the state. So >> we get a dollar and an FTE we can find if we dig hard enough. But they won't tell us who is enrolling out. They won't tell us where. >> Okay. And and when we And again, I apologize. Very elementary. When we say they, who is the they? The state. >> The DPI. Yes. We've I've asked for that information. I yet to receive a reply in my email. It's about time to send a follow-up and maybe an open records request. I don't like to do that because we don't like to receive those. But at the same time, like we should be able to verify that the kids we're paying for do live in our community. And if that's state law, so be it. But
095we should be able to verify that those kids are living in our community and not using us as an address for some reason. >> We see that in higher education for financial aid stuff all the time. People trying to claim Wisconsin residency for a certain tuition. So it does happen. could live in Lac Crescent and claim a lacrosse address and get access to Luther for free. You know, that would be uh at expense of our taxpayers and so it' be nice to be able to verify that. >> Well, thank you because that was very helpful for me um and very easy to understand. So, >> I think uh Laura has this if if it you know if you want to keep it for reference because like I said this is a refresher for all of
096you but I think it's a good reminder every year of things that we're you know we're asked to start a school year on July 1st or a fiscal year and we really don't know what um the outcome is going to be come October >> and Even though this is something many of us on the board have seen, this isn't solely for for uh your your benefit, I think it's really helpful for us as we're thinking about what are the ways that we grow the pie, right? Because that's that's what we need. And so when we're talking about engaging with a marketing firm to try to pick up eight students, right? If we're thinking about the possibility of engaging extracurriculars in a way that becomes maybe eight more students comes from there, that starts to become,
097you know, an offset in our declining enrollment that is significant for our budgeting process. So may seem like drops in the bucket here and there, but um that's how we think creatively about where to capture and recapture some of those students. I think >> stop the leak in the pale. >> Yeah. Yeah. Right. Uh, other questions for Patty from board members? I know we we are at 9:16 and we do have what I think will be a brief uh close session conversation just to start. Um, okay. Thank you very much, Patty. Um, do we need a a vote to move into close session then? So, um, the Lacrosse Board of Education will consider a motion to move into close session on Monday, June 1st, 2026, immediately following the Board of Education workshop, Central High School,
098Room 2 232, pursuant to Wisconsin statute 19.85 sub1 sub for the purpose of deliberating or negotiating the purchase of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. to wit employee negotiations. Is there a motion? >> So moved >> and a second. >> Second. >> Okay. With a motion by Miss Fuks and a second by Mr. Alberts. All in favor? >> Oh, sorry. Wait. I'm sorry. We need a roll call for for this one. Sorry. >> Mr. Alberts. >> Hi. >> Mr. Beeski. >> Hi. >> Miss Fuks. >> I. >> Miss H. >> I. >> Mr. Jackson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Newmeister. >> Hi. >> Dr. Sprag. >> Hi. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you everybody. Um, we'll give a
099moment. I'm just Well,