September 10, 2018 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:   

Description:  A motion will be necessary to approve the agenda as presented (or) with changes as recommended.

Description:  The Board of Education provides a public listening session for the public to
comment on non-agenda items related to the governance or management of the
Waunakee Community School District. Individuals may use this time to also
comment on any items listed as part of the meeting agenda. A copy of Board
Policy 187 – Public Participation at Board Meetings is enclosed for your
reference. Past practice has allowed 30 minutes for this section of the agenda.

Description:  Anaiah Kenas and Sophie Kutz will provide an update of what is happening at the high school.  Joan Ensign and I met with Anaiah and Sophie in August and discussed with them their role as student liaisons to the Board.  They will be working with other student groups at the high school to provide updates beyond just Student Council.  We also shared with them that we may invite them to some special meetings as a voice of the students.

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

Description:  I will provide a summary report on the start of school the school year at the Board Meeting on Monday.

Description:   

Description:  Attached please find a copy of the Strategic Planning End of Year Report.  This report is meant to serve as a high level overview of the strategic work that has taken place under the guidance of this framework.  The color coded areas reflect assessment of progress on each area with Green representing that the work progressed as intended, Yellow representing that the work progressed but not at the pace initially planned, and Red represents an area that did not move forward as planned.

Details on each of the Critical Action Plans are provided in the annual updates that are part of the strategic planning reports that you see at each Board Meeting.

Please note that some of the Critical Action Plans from the Strategic Planning Framework will continue into the next rendition of the Framework, while others will come off the chart, but their work is established and will continue.

Description:  Attached please find the revised Strategic Planning Framework and the Revised Vision and Visionary Aspirations.  I will review each of these documents with the Board on Monday night and seek your input, questions, and concerns.  I plan to present this revised framework to my Administrative Cabinet for their final review on September 12th, and then will bring it back to the full Board at the October Board Meeting for your adoption as our framework for the next year.  

The Goals Committee will review and provide feedback on this document on Thursday, September 6th.

Description:  Attached please find the Spanish Honor Society paid advisor request from Brian Kersten.  Spanish Honor Society began in 2014 and has been successful in its three year trial period.  After review by Connie Beth, the compensation recommendation begins at $950 (2.5% of the base of $38,000).

Description:   

Description:  The attached seclusion and restraint report is required to be shared with the board on an annual basis.  Kurt Eley will be available to answer any questions on Monday evening.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request School Board approval of the HVAC request for proposal process. I have attached a copy of the HVAC services RFP and the response that we received from North American Mechanical. The HVAC RFP was sent to ten HVAC vendors. Two vendors visited the district and requested a walkthrough of the facilities. The due date for the proposals was the 17th at 1:00 p.m. The district received a proposal from NAMI that keeps the cost of the agreement the same for the next two fiscal years, and then includes cost of living increases. The Facility committee voted 2-0 to recommend approval of the NAMI proposal. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 if you have any questions. Thanks for your time. 

Description:  These minutes will be provided at the 09/10/18 meeting.

Description:  Attached please find the current and the revised policy for Holidays.  You will notice that this policy is a complete rewrite after work by Tim Schell and multiple conversations with the Policy Committee.  Also, a broad review of policies by other school districts was considered as part of this process.  

The Policy Committee did not add language to the Policy with respect to specific religious observations, and the Board discussed the following language at the August Board Meeting:

"Teachers are encouraged to be aware of major religious holidays observed by their students and be sensitive to such in scheduling major class activities and exams."

Additionally, there was discussion by the Board regarding the option to be more specific, such as Middleton's policy, that states specific holidays to avoid for purposes of exams etc.

The Board asked the administration to seek legal advice on the issue of adding language that identifies specific holidays.

I spoke with Kirk Strang, attorney from Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis, and Lacy, regarding options related to listing holidays in the policy.  A summary of my discussion with Kirk is as follows:

• Broad language that does not identify specific holidays and puts the onus on the student/parent to share with the teacher about conflicts based on their religious beliefs, can cause issues related to if / how/ and when a student/parent communicates this information to a teacher.  The logistics to manage this type of policy language can be a challenge and can be difficult for a teacher to plan around.
• Surveying parents about specific beliefs is not something Kirk would recommend.
• Listing the main holidays is the strongest position from a clarity and planning perspective, as long as additional language is added to account for other belief systems that are not listed in policy.

Recommendation:

1.  Add a list of holidays to the policy with additional language to be written by Kirk Strang to address other belief systems that are not listed in the policy.  We will vet out which observance days to include, and add language that address what is to be worked around such as major exams etc.  We will also share the impact of this policy on items such as high school finals and State Exam windows.
2.  Bring back this revised language at the October Board meeting for your review and consideration.  
3.  Provide the administration with the latitude to begin working with our staff on the meaning of the remaining policy language from an implementation perspective.

I will present this policy review and Kirk's feedback in detail on Monday night.

Description:  Attached in the "extras" section of Boardbook, please find a list of the accounts payable payments issued during the month of August 2018. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2491 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Attached you will find the final 2017-18 Budget Status report as of June 30th, 2018, and the Cash Reconciliation report for July 2018. Please note on the 2017-18 budget status report that all of the 2017-18 financial transactions have been completed. The
school district auditors, Wegner CPA's, completed auditing the 17-18 financial records during the week of August 6th. The district general fund, Fund 10, had a negative ending balance of $715,265.43. The approved 2017-18 Fund 10 budget had a negative balance of $973,525. The final 17-18
Fund 10 fund balance is $7,461,285.36 or 15.3% of the 18-19 Fund 10 expenditure budget approved in July by the School Board. The 15.3% compares to a number of 17.4% in 17-18. The Board policy on fund balance has a statement of working towards maintaining a 15% balance. 

In addition, please note that the wellness clinic report for July has also been attached. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of student activity accounts. I have attached a report from the district financial system listing the student activity accounts by building, along with the ending account balance on June 30th, 2018. The School Board policy on student activity accounts requires an annual School Board review and approval of student activity accounts. Student activity accounts by School Board policy are managed by Building Principals/Administrators.
These accounts are typically used by student organizations for fundraising for activities above and beyond what the district budget is able to support. Student activity account balances carry over from one fiscal year to another. I would like to point out that student activity accounts with a positive balance are reflected with a negative sign, as student activity accounts are
balance sheet accounts on the district financial system. A positive balance actually indicates a negative account balance. Negative account balances are allowed by policy under certain circumstances. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2012  if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of fund balance allocations. As reviewed earlier in the finance reports, the 2017-18 end of the fiscal year balance was -$715,265.43. The Fund 10 budget for 2017-18 was approved with a projected balance of -$973,525. Please recall that during the month of June, the School Board approved fund balance classifications to comply with national accounting standards. The administration is
recommending that the -$715,265.43 be allocated as follows:
Description  Account Number  Amount               Balance
Unassigned     939900                -$590,897.62    $5,816,133.22
Self-insurance 936110                  $17,134.96      $19,821.43
Committed       937900                 $11,875.00       $87,109.68
Assigned          938900                -$156,961.60    $1,534,637.20
Library 936130       $3,583.83        $3,583.83
Total                                             -$715,265.43    $7,461285.36
The unassigned fund balance is the standard fund balance account that is not meant to be spent. The reserved for self-insurance balance is the balance in the districts self-insured dental program. The committed fund balance is meant for future parking lot expenses and high school band uniforms. The
assigned fund balance is meant to carry over building/department budgets from one fiscal year to the next. The library fund balance is meant to identify the amount of common school fund grant funds not spent in the prior fiscal year. Attached please find a detailed accounting of the 937900 and 938900 fund balance accounts. Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  Curriculum Presentation Meetings. 
Last week in November (11/26 - 11/29)
Last week in February (2/26-3/3)