May 26, 2020 at 5:30 PM - Additional Meeting - Budget

Description:  Public Comments should be submitted in writing prior to the meeting to district_administrator@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Description:  On Tuesday we will provide an update to the Board on the most recent guidance and plans for summer school.  As of this writing, the newest guidelines for the operational requirements for summer programs have not been received, but are anticipated in the very near future.  We will share those with the Board on Tuesday night so you are informed of the parameters that need to be followed this summer, and any further specifics that we are able to provide.

Additionally,  a survey was provided to parents for input on summer school. The survey results tell us that our parents are interested in:  
1.  as much hands-on learning as possible
2.  social connections for their children
3.  the ability to take some different classes

To this end, we are asking for the Board to consider for approval the attached list of additional courses for this summer.


Additionally, we have received a request from the Wisconsin Youth Company (the organization who rents space from us to operate the after-school program).  They would like to re-open their services for this summer in our schools.  Per Public Health, there are provisions for this to occur, if a district desires to move in this direction.  Steve Summers and I have both advised them that we are still exploring how to work with our staff and programs on site, and that we do not foresee opening the doors to their program until a point in time where we can offer similar options for our own instructional programs.  I would value your input on Tuesday on this issue and if you support our position or if you want us to review other options.


On Wednesday, May 27th the buildings will be sending a message to all parents about the specific instructions for how they will be closing out the school year.  


On Tuesday, I will also address at the meeting some of the questions that have been posed to me by parents.  I do not have answers to every question, but will provide as much information as I am able.  


Dave Boetcher and I have also discussed the need to maintain a standing COVID-19 agenda item for all future school board meetings, and we would like to discuss with the Board the idea of holding two board meetings per month to ensure that we have space to address the evolving issues around COVID-19 and its impact on our schools, programs, etc. 

Description:  Attached please find a presentation on the 2020-21 budget planning process. The focus of this presentation is the budget requests that were submitted by members of the administrative team. The Budget Committee requested a meeting to provide time for the members of the administrative team to share their budget requests. The budget requests have been organized by building/department and further by requests that are for the next two school years, and beyond two years. Attached in the Extras tab you will also find the detailed budget requests that have been submitted. 

Please note, the budget request process was different this year than in the past.  We asked each budget manager to submit requests that spanned immediate needs and also those that represent a long term vision.  The meeting on Tuesday was originally set as a true workshop setting with the Board.  Since we are conducting this process virtually, and there are other important agenda items we needed to add to this night's agenda, we are going to touch on the highlights of each managers requests and have added the detailed requests in the Extra section for your review.

I also fully realize that the current budget situation does not allow for a deep dive into filling the requests that are in front of you.  We do have some priority areas that we will begin outlining as we enter subsequent versions of the budget this summer, and will discuss creative funding options, at that time.

We are going to keep our comments on each budget request to a minimum to respect the time and volume of items that we will be touching upon, and foresee a time in the future when we can be together face-to-face to revisit these requests and the visioning aspect of this work.

Description:  The Goals Committee met on May 18th and reviewed the issue of district social media and communication.  Per this conversation, administration shared the place within the administrative restructuring framework for the communication specialist position (approved for 2019-2020), its relation to other parts of the framework, and options for how to address the management of social media for the school district.  The Committee was in consensus that the administration should move forward with filling the Communication Specialist position and that position should take-over the social media responsibilities as part of the role.  The Committee asked that this item be added to the meeting agenda for May 26th so that there was clarity as this process moves forward.

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