The 2018 WASB Delegate Assembly met on Wednesday, Jan. 17 and approved all 13 scheduled resolutions and one late resolution put forth by the Wauwatosa School District. Resolutions covered a variety of important education issues such as per pupil reimbursement for transporting voucher students, safe and welcoming school environments, school funding, hours of instruction, and referendum restrictions. Resolutions approved by the Delegate Assembly help guide the WASB legislative agenda.

RESOLUTIONS ADDRESS VOUCHER TRANSPARENCY AND REIMBURSEMENT

Delegates passed an amended resolution regarding per pupil reimbursement for transporting voucher students. The original resolution was supportive of legislation to fully fund the cost of transporting students who attend private schools through voucher programs. Under current law, school districts are required to transport students within their district who attend private schools.

“It’s not fair, I think in the eyes of the people who brought this resolution forward, that districts aren’t reimbursed for providing transportation for voucher pupils,” explained Dan Rossmiller, WASB director of government relations.

James Howard, delegate for the Madison Metropolitan School District, proposed amending the resolution so that it calls for per pupil reimbursement for school districts for all students who attend private schools and not just those who attend private schools through a voucher program. This amendment was adopted.

“If the state only fully reimburses those students who are transported to voucher schools and not the other private schools, this could make voucher schools more attractive,” Howard said.

The Delegate Assembly passed the resolution as amended; however, there was some discussion as to whether or not the resolution was more effective as amended.

Robert Morehouse, delegate for the Superior School District, noted that he has previously served on the WASB Policy and Resolutions Committee, which decides which resolutions go before the Delegate Assembly. Morehouse added that the goal of that committee is to put forth resolutions that positively impact school districts statewide. Considering that, Morehouse said the amended version was more beneficial for his school district.

“Superior doesn’t have any voucher schools in its district,” Morehouse said. “However, we do have two private schools that our district fully funds the transportation for. So I personally believe this resolution, as its written now [amended], has a greater impact on everybody.”

Delegates also passed a resolution that calls for greater voucher transparency, specifically the impact on property taxpayers. The resolution reads:

The WASB supports legislation to require property tax bills to include information from the school district in which the property is located regarding the dollar amount (and percentage change) of the net reduction in state aid, if any, to the school district between the current year and the previous year as a result of pupils enrolled in the statewide voucher program, the Racine voucher program, the Milwaukee voucher program, or the special needs voucher program…

LATE RESOLUTION PASSES REGARDING REFERENDUMS IN HIGH TERTIARY SCHOOL DISTRICTS

The Delegate Assembly approved a resolution submitted after Sept. 15 from the Wauwatosa School District that states:

The WASB supports legislation to require that the definition of shared cost shall exclude any building or building maintenance debt service costs which are approved by any future referendum, if excluding the debt service costs increased aid.

Rationale for the resolution explained that school districts impacted by negative tertiary aid lose state general aid as their shared costs increase. Therefore, when these districts go to referendum for a facilities project, they have to ask voters for more than the cost of the project; making it difficult to pass referendums in those districts.

Shawn Rolland, delegate for the Wauwatosa School District, told the story of his daughters’ school, which is more than 90 years old and in need of major repair. However, because the district is a negative tertiary district, it is very difficult for the district to pass a facilities referendum.

“We in Wauwatosa face more than $100 million in deferred maintenance expenses…,” Rolland said. “If we pursue and pass a $100 million referendum, Wauwatosa property taxpayers would be billed $145 million – a $45 million markup because of the penalty placed on negative tertiary school districts like us.”

Some delegates agreed this was a tough issue to take up because it pits those negative tertiary aid districts against everyone else. Carol Voss, delegate for Milwaukee Public Schools, cautioned against taking a position that benefits some districts at the expense of others, but at the same time said public school districts should do what they can to support one another.

“This is a tough issue because it is us versus them a little bit,” Voss said. “But I call to mind that we have to look out for public education and have to look out for each other.”

David Boetcher, delegate for the Waunakee School District, pointed out that the resolution addresses future referendums, and therefore wouldn’t harm other districts to the extent believed by some delegates.

“This isn’t taking money away from a district that isn’t in this situation,” Boetcher said. “It’s about making sure that a district that isn’t having a maintenance problem isn’t profiting off a district that is having a maintenance problem.”

DELEGATES SAY NO TO REFERENDUM RESTRICTIONS

Delegates voted yes for a resolution that amends WASB Resolution 1.25 Authority to Schedule Referenda, “The WASB opposes limits on scheduling referenda. Further, the WASB opposes any limitations on the duration, scope or effect of school referenda.”

The resolution is in response to recent legislative activity aimed at restricting school referenda.

SUPPORT FOR NCSL “NO TIME TO LOSE” RECOMMENDATIONS

A resolution expressing the WASB’s support for and involvement in implementing the recommendations of the bipartisan “No Time to Lose” report issued by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) was passed.

Specifically, the resolution petitions the Legislature and the Department of Public Instruction to jointly act to implement the recommendations of the report. These recommendations include that our state: study and learn from top performing national and state educational systems; create a statewide vision for reform; benchmark Wisconsin education policies against those of high performing countries and states; and begin by focusing on one priority area of reform.

DELEGATES SUPPORT WIAA AUTONOMY

The Delegate Assembly approved a resolution that states the WASB’s support of the autonomy of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) to continue to govern itself and determine regulations and standards for athletics and student eligibility while taking into account the input of its member schools.

This resolution is in response to legislative attempts to meddle in the affairs/policies of the WIAA, which have included attempts to impose mandates on the WIAA by legislation to limit or prohibit public schools from participating in its activities, from being members of the WIAA or from paying dues to the WIAA, unless it takes or refrains from certain actions.

RESOLUTION ADDRESSES TEACHER CERTIFICATION/LICENSURE

Delegates passed a resolution aimed at updating the WASB policy statement regarding teacher licensure. The resolution reads, “The WASB supports teacher licensure initiatives that foster a highly educated, highly trained, effective, adequately compensated, professional teaching force to meet the needs of our members.”

The resolution addresses some of the recent legislative changes to teacher licensure requirements and the concern that those changes threaten the quality of the state’s teaching force.

SAFE AND WELCOMING SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS

Delegates were unified in their support of a resolution calling for safe learning environments that support equal opportunity for all students and district employees. However, some delegates questioned whether the resolution should be more specific.

Linda Uselmann, delegate for the Fond du Lac School District, pointed out that the original resolution, as submitted by the Shorewood School District, called for creating safe and welcoming learning environments for immigrant students. She added that the resolution as written by the WASB Policy and Resolutions Committee needed to be more specific, “This strikes me as being so vague that it is ineffective.”

Mike Van Eperen, delegate for the Wrightstown School District, and a member of the WASB Policy and Resolutions Committee said that the resolution was intentionally written without naming specific student groups in an effort to give the WASB the most flexibility in advocating for safe learning environments for all students.

“It allows the WASB to advocate in a very positive way for anything that might come up, whether it’s a current issue or something that comes up in five years,” Van Eperen said.

DELEGATES ADDRESS SCHOOL FUNDING ISSUES

Several resolutions addressing various school funding issues were passed.

Delegates addressed high-poverty aid and approved a resolution that repeals and recreates Resolution 2.35(a) to read: “The WASB supports legislation allowing each local school district eligible to receive high poverty aid to receive such aid as a categorical aid outside the revenue limits.”

Delegates also passed a resolution that calls for legislation to change the revenue limit FTE membership calculation. Specifically, the resolution supports changing the revenue limit calculation to allow a district to use either a 5-year rolling average, 3-year rolling average or the current year membership. This would enable growing enrollment districts to access revenue commensurate with their current enrollment.

Another resolution strengthened the WASB’s support of local fiscal control. Delegates voted yes on this resolution, which amends an existing resolution by strengthening the WASB’s position on local control by removing certain qualifying language from the existing resolution.

OTHER APPROVED RESOLUTIONS

Many of the resolutions required no debate from the Delegate Assembly. These included resolutions on hours of instruction and recovery school districts.

The resolution addressing recovery school districts amends an existing resolution so that it reads, “The WASB opposes the creation in Wisconsin of a recovery school district or a similar state-level authority designed to take over public schools or school buildings.” By removing the words “state-level,” the resolution addresses the current Opportunity School Partnership Program (OSPP) law and the questions of whether a school district takeover mechanism the OSPP law creates would qualify as a “state-level” authority.

Delegates passed a resolution addressing hours of instruction. The resolution repealed and recreated Resolution 1.24 and allows the WASB to take a position on recent bills that would create a pilot program under which certain districts would not be required to provide the minimum number of hours of direct pupil instruction. This resolution allows the WASB to support these bills and to explore ways for local school districts to maximize local control over how they meet the hours of instruction requirements.

January 18, 2018