Menomonie School Board Meeting for 7/24/2023

DISTRICT OF THE MENOMONIE AREA
NOTICE OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE CENTER 215 PINE AVENUE E., MENOMONIE, WISCONSIN
MONDAY, JULY 24, 2023, 5:45 P.M.

This meeting will be live-streamed at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCq2Z68-Z717wExwN1mChOQ/streams

AGENDA

I. OPENING ITEMS

A. Call to Order

B. Roll Call and Quorum

C. Pledge of Allegiance and Reading of Mission Statement

D. Agenda Order and Approval/Revision

E. Community Communications

II. PERSONNEL CONSENT AGENDA

A. Action to Approve Personnel Consent Agenda

1. Resignations/Retirements

2. Requests to Hire

III. DISCUSSION ITEMS/POLICY REVIEW

A. Annual Student Services Report

B. Annual Review of SDMA Bullying & Harassment Policies

C. Review 2023-2024 Work Plan

D. Discuss Information and Timelines for a Referendum

Over the past several weeks, district officials have continued work on the 2023-2024 district budget in preparation for the annual meeting scheduled for Monday, August 21.

 

Governor Evers signed the state budget on July 5, and although the biennial budget provides some new revenue for school districts over the next two years, it does not provide public schools with enough resources to account for high inflation and replace the federal pandemic funding on which the district needed to operate over the past two years.

 

The SDMA has a long history of balancing the district budget, but it is a near certainty that programming will need to be cut and important technology and facility maintenance needs will have to be deferred unless the district can raise more revenue. In Wisconsin, the amount of revenue that school districts are allowed to raise is capped by a state imposed revenue limit. This article from the Association for Equity in Funding (AEF) details the history of school finance in Wisconsin, and this article shares what AEF considers to be wrong with Wisconsin's School Financing. 

 

As can be seen in the attached graphic from Baird, a large majority of school districts in Wisconsin have already passed an operating referendum in which district electors have given the school district permission to exceed the revenue limit. Not only does passing a referendum allow school districts to generate more revenue, but it can also help school districts obtain more state aid, which is partially dependent on how much a district spends in the prior year.

 

Knowing that this fiscal cliff was coming, school officials in the SDMA have taken steps to minimize budget shortfalls during the 2023-2024 school year, but it will not be sustainable to continue with current programming levels beyond this school year without additional revenue. If the Board would like to continue and/or add programming, the Board may want to begin discussing what steps would be needed for an operating referendum in 2024 to provide additional revenue for the 2024-2025 school year. 

E. Discuss Legislative Advocacy

F. Review Extracurricular Staff Contract Requests

G. Items Related to Next Meeting Dates, Board Committees, and Reports

IV. CLOSED SESSION

A. Action to move into closed session, for the purpose of considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility, pursuant to Section 19.85(1)(c), Wisconsin Statutes

B. Approve Minutes from Closed Session Meeting on July 10, 2023

C. Discuss District Administrator Evaluation

V. ADJOURNMENT

A. Action to Adjourn

The agenda as noted above was posted more than twenty-four hours prior to the meeting date. The most up-to-date agenda information is available on the district website. This agenda is posted at the Menomonie Area School District Administrative Services Center, and on the district website at www.sdmanonline.com under the School Board link.