Contract, Employment and School Law Services & Human Resources Services

Legal and Human Resource Services

Member service benefits

Your board’s WASB membership opens the door to a variety of benefits offered by the Legal and Human Resources Department. District officials can discuss their school and employment law questions with WASB attorneys and gain access to salary and benefit data that schools share with us. Furthermore, districts receive numerous publications, including the Wisconsin School Employment & Labor Law Review, the Guide for Candidates, The Annual School District Meeting, and the School District Election Schedule. Your district also has access to a variety of employment law and human resources materials, including handbooks from Wisconsin school districts, legal comments published in the Wisconsin School News, legal notes, a school law index, and compliance materials for the FMLA, FLSA and WFEA. Moreover, members are encouraged to register for seminars at which WASB attorneys present.

FEE-BASED SERVICES

In addition to the benefits districts receive as a part of their membership, WASB attorneys are available to provide fee-based assistance with the following:

• Employee Handbooks	To fill the void created by expiring collective bargaining agreements, most Wisconsin school districts are adopting employee handbooks. WASB staff counsels can assist with the process of drafting or revising a handbook in your district.
• Policy Review	A board’s policies form the basis for all aspects of the district’s operations, and ensuring that those policies align with relevant law is essential. The Legal and Human Resources Department can review the board’s current policies or assist district officials in drafting new ones.
• Individual Contracts	Wisconsin law requires that teachers and administrators have an individual contract with the board, and we can review your current contracts or draft new ones.
• Dismissal & Nonrenewal Proceedings	WASB staff counsels can guide your board through dismissal and nonrenewal proceedings to ensure that appropriate due process rights are provided to employees subject to termination or nonrenewal.
• Investigations	When the district suspects employee wrongdoing, the WASB can serve as an impartial investigator, thereby shielding the administration and board from claims of bias. Alternatively, we can guide school officials as they conduct an internal investigation.
• Vendor Agreements	When entering into agreements with outside parties, districts need to protect themselves from onerous contract provisions. The Legal and Human Resources staff is available to review such contracts and negotiate more favorable terms with vendors.
• Public Records Requests	Districts sometimes need assistance in determining which documents—or parts of documents—need to be released to a public records requestor, and the WASB is available to guide district officials through that process.
• Job Descriptions	Having appropriate job descriptions helps the district avoid a host of legal entanglements, and WASB attorneys can ensure that your job descriptions do not run afoul of, for instance, anti-discrimination laws or wage and hour regulations.
• In-Service Training	Staff counsels can provide training on a variety of issues, such as discrimination law, open meetings law, family and medical leave, employee evaluations, discipline, and contract drafting and review.
• Cooperative Agreements	In order to improve health insurance purchasing power, school districts may band together and purchase insurance as a cooperative. The Legal and Human Resources Department is available to help establish such cooperatives.
• Intergovernmental Agreements	School districts sometimes enter into shared services agreements with, for example, a city government, and staff counsels can ensure that such agreements comply with applicable law.
• Annual Meetings	Common and union high school districts must have annual meetings of the electors and present the proposed budget for the upcoming school year. WASB attorneys can guide boards through their budget hearing and annual meeting.
• Discrimination Proceedings	If an employee brings a charge of illegal discrimination against the district, the Legal and Human Resources Department can provide representation before relevant state agencies.
• Grievance Hearings	State law requires districts to have an employee grievance procedure that includes a hearing before an impartial hearing officer. With some exceptions, a WASB attorney can serve as your district’s impartial hearing officer.
• Student Expulsion Hearings	WASB attorneys can impartially direct expulsion hearing proceedings or be named as a district’s designated hearing officer under section 120.13(1)(e)1.b of the Wisconsin Statutes.
• Unemployment Proceedings	If there is a dispute over an individual’s right to receive unemployment insurance compensation, WASB attorneys can represent the district before the Department of Workforce Development and the Labor and Industry Review Commission.