January 30, 2018 at 8:00 AM - Budget Committee Meeting

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the 2017-2018 budget. At this time, there have been several requests approved by the School Board to utilize contingency funds. These requests include the ELL para-educator at an estimated cost of $30,000, and three elementary school special education para-educators at an estimated cost of $51,000, leaving an estimated balance of $19,000 in the contingency account. 

Please be reminded that the 17-18 budget has a planned deficit of $973,525 primarily due to the completion of the Warrior Stadium project and the capital projects. The capital projects expenditures are related to the plan to increase the Fund 41 fund balance over the next 3 fiscal years and to decrease the Fund 10 fund balance related to the 2014 operational referendum question. In addition, the Board has agreed to fund the trial Wellness Clinic through June 30th, 2018, which will further increase the deficit by approximately $240,000, which will also decrease the fund balance. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the funding plan for the July 2018 PLC conference that is located in Madison. As a reminder, here is the motion that was approved by the Budget Committee at the last meeting, which was then approved by the School Board:

Motion by Waner, seconded by Epping to approve the PLC conference payment
to Solution Tree, with administration bringing back a plan to fund the conference
with a combination of building and district budgets.

At this point, I am comfortable committing $40,000 in savings from the district budget towards this conference. This amount would leave $23,336 to be covered by building/department budget, or about 38 of the 104 spots that we reserved. The $40,000 amount could increase higher as we become closer to the end of the fiscal year. I am looking for feedback on the committee regarding this topic. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the high school co-curricular budget. Attached please find a document prepared by Aaron May. This document provides information on the costs associated with the success of our athletic programs, and the use of tournament proceeds to pay for these costs. At this time, there is a disconnect between the cost of the success of our athletic programs, and our ability to fund these costs through hosting tournament events. Randy and I asked Aaron to provide this information so we could seek feedback from the Budget Committee on this topic. One option to discuss could be the use of the remaining contingency fund dollars to pay for all, or a portion, of the costs associated with the success of our athletic programs. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the final version of the 2018-2019 budget timeline. Please see the attached budget timeline. Please note that the 2018-19 fiscal year is in the second year of the 2017-2019 state budget process. As a result, our budget process will not have the uncertainty that existed during the 2017-18 budget development process. The major school finance impact for 2018-19 is the $204/student categorical aid increase, compared to $200/student in 2017-18.

Please note the Strategic Planning presentation scheduled for February 12th and the Special Board meeting scheduled for February 27th. I also would like to request a first week of March Budget Committee meeting to review the draft of the 2018-19 budget planning process. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the alignment of resources with strategic plan survey . The survey was distributed in January to our Dane County district peers, as well as selected district peers across the state. This survey is designed to "dig deeper" into the topic of resource allocation and building/department budgets. Forecast 5 financial data indicates that our district is the highest spending district in Dane County in this area. The survey response deadline is January 29th. The next meeting agenda for the Budget Committee will include a review of the results of this survey. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:   There are no proposals to review this month. 

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Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the 2016-17 audit. The audit was due to the WI Department of Public Instruction on Friday, December 1st. The financial statements and School Board communication letter were provided to the School Board members in the December 11th School Board packet. The School Board tabled approval of the audit until the January meeting. Attached please find a copy of the financial statements, the School Board communication letter, and the business office response to the School Board communications letter. 

Administration is pleased to report that no "significant findings" were identified during the 2016-17 audit process. A significant finding is an accounting issue that must be reported to the state of Wisconsin within the financial statements. As you may remember, we did have a "significant finding"
during the 2015-16 audit process regarding a special education para educator licensing issue. The licensing issue identified during the 2015-16 audit has been considered resolved by our current audit firm. After conducting a thorough review of all of our internal control practices, our audit firm did
identify suggested improvements to internal controls/procedures/policies. The business office has prepared a response to the audit communication letter that we would like feedback on. 
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the banking request for proposal process. The last banking request for proposal process took place during the spring of the 2015-16 fiscal year, for a 5 year agreement that started on July 1st, 2016 to June 30th, 2021. The next banking request for proposal process will take place during the 2020-21 fiscal year, effective July 1st, 2021. Administration is seeking feedback from the committee on providing a response to the Waunakee Community Bank, based on the information that they have previously shared with the committee.   
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review a lease request from the Wisconsin Association of School Councils. The Wisconsin Association of School Councils is currently located in Madison, and they are requesting to relocate to the Heritage Elementary School complex for a lease arrangement. In addition, they are requesting payroll services for 3 employees. The Executive Director, Michelle McGrath, is a former Waunakee administrator and current Waunakee resident. We have a similar relationship with the New Teacher Center for $300/month. Our district is part of the 66:30 agreement for the New Teacher Center, so charging them a higher rent would ultimately increase our cost to participate in this agreement. I would recommend a higher rent cost for the Wisconsin Association of School Council , more like $500/month. We are seeking feedback from the committee on this topic. 
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ssummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000.  Thanks for your time. 

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