[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6663160,"mediaKeyId","2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b","parentId",2391448,"title","Committee approves sending updated board electronic communications policy to full board as first reading","audioSeconds",44,"startMs",956000,"endMs",1000000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b&start=956&end=1000","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b/thumbnail_956000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6663160/Wisconsin/Committee-approves-sending-updated-board-electronic-communications-policy-to-full-board-as-first-reading","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6663160-b68047447f9de5cbbf57e41f4244a488/orig.mp4?Expires=1775108175&Signature=W7FoTknh8VljTQHSVKRe~IF4tz0IIP3zMeLQ8E-uB9pw5E2uqpMAzjH4sBMuESWJIMHXK5XAXy13ygr5beGoJ~qGnG3Sd4iRZP4ItIiLlhZCpJCeZyV4FoNk6IqVjgzBuVbhYfG-U8L5T5OBk~NJVPgMibuM3eSanihU0JVhb4ObcapFNRz8Bye0PUjlQ0g5oGp4BFlRh2rSz4xnx20AIRXhECm3hhRXyjN4e0UZTeMVBPUEfbrgJWtJlXsf0CwoVj-wyELyE17ALIgbvoS1c6RFtmJhVSMFK9cq9UJMq0cehAbfA~FMpYxlixibjfG1j54bS0O9XbxhxhcMf-FKog__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","School Board of Wisconsin ","date","2025-02-26T00:12:01.397Z","article","The policy committee voted informally to present changes to Policy 166 (Board Member Electronic Communications) to the full school board as a first reading, allowing the seven-member board and the public another opportunity to review revised language the committee had previously edited.

Superintendent Dr. Wimmer said the committee had already reviewed a redlined version and that the green text represented the proposed new language. \"There was no feedback from that,\" he said, and the committee agreed to formalize the item as a first reading at the full board so members and the public can provide additional comment.

No substantive changes were made in committee at this meeting; the action is procedural to advance the proposed revision to the board for consideration and possible adoption.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Policy Meeting - 02/25/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Policy 166 (Board Member Electronic Communications) was reviewed and committee agreed to forward the updated language to the full board as a first reading for additional input and potential adoption.","taxTitle","West Bend School District, School Districts, Wisconsin","taxId",76567,"location","Wisconsin","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6663166,"Policy committee asks staff to model impacts of shortening student walk-distance eligibility for district busing",985,3687000,4672000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b&start=3687&end=4672","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b/thumbnail_3687000.jpg","/articles/6663166/Wisconsin/Policy-committee-asks-staff-to-model-impacts-of-shortening-student-walk-distance-eligibility-for-district-busing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6663166-b82ca35d1bf6d43a4fa0bb24ed049c15/orig.mp4?Expires=1775108175&Signature=m~jhRFEu~WoCOPavRY8G7NnwChWA2DMj31rCRfgV86X3gsBAPl89MfeugXhBUsoeggUBHeheCcmEFnDwoXNuWVNiUAcOxjA7eHH0EM5BwGYGC~mOGpqrUoQnfg9iwnO0a1-qlwnKnrj6Ysobm-7VtKNBI2OoPHHTHhdUq4Lajys5~aHofkbf4FZjLKztmVjGUNBuIhujMjZ-iLvgJrNPCZkHOMoc04X5vFFB5bdAsyVjiDtLPYev3tMOncEBus8JM2W9B1MPqa4RYWPoINQhrXeZbXAkBRW3zfSiWGtC6xmItiGQFIvmYXpyEvZTa1N7crAmRKmQy2ukuggsv1yrZg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The West Bend Joint School District No. 1 policy committee directed staff on Feb. 25 to model the student and financial impacts of shortening the district’s walk-distance eligibility for bus transportation and to keep 4K eligibility at the current half-mile standard for the coming year.

Superintendent Dr. Wimmer summarized the options and said the district will ask the bus contractor to provide scenarios illustrating how many students would gain or lose eligibility and the associated cost implications. \"What we would set it at a 1 or a 1.25 ... how many students would be impacted and what the cost implications are,\" he said.

Committee members agreed 4K students should remain at the half-mile threshold for the immediate future. For kindergarten through fourth grade, the committee asked staff to compare maintaining the current practice (one mile) with a possible 1.25-mile eligibility radius and to report the number of affected households and the estimated budget change. The superintendent said he will also model a longer-range option to standardize 4K through fifth grade at either one mile or 1.25 miles once school reconfiguration places 4K in elementary school buildings.

Members discussed practical issues such as sibling splits (where one child would remain eligible while a younger sibling would not) and the district’s current pay-to-ride options when seats are available. They also noted statutory guidance and hazardous-route rules can create exceptions. \"If you live 0.25 miles from the school, but I have to cross a hazardous area, I get busing? Correct,\" a member asked; staff confirmed hazardous-route determinations affect eligibility regardless of measured distance.

The committee asked the administration to return with (1) the counts of students and households affected by alternatives (one mile vs. 1.25 miles for K–4 in the coming year), (2) the fiscal cost estimate for changing eligibility, and (3) modeling for future configurations (4K embedded in elementary schools and standardized tiers) so the full board can weigh equity and operational impacts before any policy change.

No immediate change to transportation policy was adopted; staff will present the modeling and recommended options to the board.","Committee asked administration to keep 4K at a half-mile walk standard for next year, and to model how changing K–4 (or K–5 in future) eligibility to one mile or 1.25 miles would affect ridership and costs; committee also reiterated 2-mile statutory eligibility for older grades and hazardous-route provisions.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6663169,"Policy committee seeks simpler facility rental rules, clearer priority scheduling and cost recoupment for Silver Lining Arts Center",1775,1040000,2815000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b&start=1040&end=2815","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b/thumbnail_1040000.jpg","/articles/6663169/Wisconsin/Policy-committee-seeks-simpler-facility-rental-rules-clearer-priority-scheduling-and-cost-recoupment-for-Silver-Lining-Arts-Center","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6663169-d90df7caf773d612200e72b8f9827451/orig.mp4?Expires=1775108175&Signature=cUPW2iX2KVf-Gac59SVnBfX5CKY8bK6Z8BuD4nR2FIAnI0DxySBHIg8UT~JfKCL5iYTeRNnIFiBS~2V0NJgeLcwCRZQuQfQV0tc3TQjBGQtdToI8A5plW0jSf29c6JO79Ek~hQbo-do9MW8GaVWXUcsR~8Cyyj8M2vRiDKKNw6m3pPSnR7dckGSXUJl9LGEMCgHlx5dszswwM582plbl62tNq6zTNG0nhJ6B5XQnCxvu12ZoDY9zANd7VH1RFR6k~UEK5cFubkX0YmDTkY9QPJX5lhtVHj5G~SZVNuImb0pN5fzEoRAcXxC0uGRonVGSn8yaY8QEJCX91AFrdzyg9Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","West Bend Joint School District No. 1’s policy committee reviewed Policy 830 on Feb. 25 and asked administration to return with a simplified, more transparent ruleset for facility rentals, including clearer prioritization, standardized pricing tiers and a proposal to separate custodial/staff charges from base rental fees.

Steve Harder, director of facilities, told the committee Policy 830 has eight user categories and three pricing tiers and that the district’s mix of discounts and ad-hoc practices has created confusion. \"We have too many of them and they're very confusing because people know the names that they know,\" Harder said, and he outlined examples — such as longstanding informal first-rights to repeat annual bookings at the Silver Lining Arts Center and small add-on charges for equipment that complicate recordkeeping.

Harder said current hourly rates include a top-end for-profit rate used to cover costs: $80 an hour for the field house (which provides four courts), $130 an hour for auditorium rentals that currently includes an auditorium staff person, and $30 per two-hour block for baseball/softball fields. He said the district is the only one he surveyed that charges some outdoor fields in two-hour blocks and that some other districts separate custodial fees from facility fees and impose flat technician or pit-cover charges for auditorium operations.

Committee members generally supported reducing the number of user categories (several suggested three tiers: district groups, community/nonprofit and for-profit/nonresident) and prioritizing internal, district-sponsored activities when booking the calendar. \"I like the idea of the prioritization ... tier 1 is the high school drama class ... group at the tail end ... West Bend Insurance Company ... should have last dibs,\" one committee member said.

Members asked staff to produce clearer cost breakdowns to justify fees (for example, the cost to run auditorium lighting, the labor hours to remove a pit cover and the custodial time to service classrooms after a weekend event) and to recommend how to handle recurring bookings (first-rights for returning annual users) and a phased booking schedule (internal groups first, then successive tiers). Harder said the district could calculate energy and custodial costs and fold those figures into straightforward package prices rather than billing many small add-ons.

The committee directed staff to: (1) reduce the number of user categories and recommend tier definitions; (2) propose a calendar priority and recurring-booking policy for the Silver Lining Arts Center (including a reasonable legacy window for repeat users); (3) separate custodial/staff charges from base rental fees and provide standard package pricing with the cost components shown; and (4) return in a few months with a simplified administrative rule and fee schedule for board first reading.

No fee increases or formal policy changes were adopted at the committee meeting; staff will return with a draft policy and cost model for board consideration.","The committee reviewed Policy 830 (use of facilities), discussed reducing eight rental categories to fewer tiers, clearer booking priority (internal groups first), standardized custodial and staff fees, and requested staff to return with a simplified fee schedule and cost breakdowns.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6663170,"West Bend policy committee opens formal review of high-school consolidation, asks for legal guidance on nonbinding referendum",302,169000,471000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b&start=169&end=471","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2391448-d86b32cb4f8d19b9f22145bab204050b/thumbnail_169000.jpg","/articles/6663170/Wisconsin/West-Bend-policy-committee-opens-formal-review-of-high-school-consolidation-asks-for-legal-guidance-on-nonbinding-referendum","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6663170-ea1f16519ebdb4b3227525979c626d84/orig.mp4?Expires=1775108175&Signature=QvIJyhxO8Or99aOk8Ld30m3jYR8G9JZECCqi4APKaQocUQm6-EzZGyFw3D3cRzXgpND1Jhaymh95g071YWBbQ9ah2fXIUaTRh8SLUipYFme0mbjbrMcoHQHyvz9EBL4nKd58vhFyiuDauMeE35Qthf4uamX~0c8yszFwnQw729k8BA4j~5kiVS7ykTbCttyoh5bPqEzKy5jihPeN~1eGCLVWFvfyqrb94PyTIeUehclqM2O-ZdnRo8gUGrMtMKOYNyYYeLfAO0394J2Tt~4bpyxA2nrfgJckcRyN~UYb612gWMyDFIqwaEcQUtQTlgeJTHnoCT~x6mlNUm1jg-GnEg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The West Bend Joint School District No. 1 policy committee on Feb. 25 opened a formal review of its high-school configuration policy and asked staff to seek legal guidance about adding a nonbinding referendum that would not be limited to gubernatorial or presidential election cycles.

Superintendent Dr. Wimmer told the committee the district has long retained the question of whether to operate two high schools or a single high school outside facility-referendum discussions and that the topic resurfaced during recent facilities planning and co-op athletic discussions. \"They're saying there's nothing really specific in school parts of the statutes,\" Wimmer said of preliminary counsel the district has received about referenda authority, and he asked the committee for direction to pursue a more definitive legal opinion.

The committee agreed to advance the issue as a discussion item before the full school board, build a representative task force and pursue more robust community engagement similar to the facilities referendum process. \"I would look for a really intense engagement, just like we had with facilities where we're really asking for not just representation with a task force, but then we're going into community meetings,\" Dr. Wimmer said.

Members stressed that the district should prepare administrative analyses before convening a public task force, including athletic and conference implications, program impacts and projected operational changes. \"What I would want to know is if we're gonna do something like this ... what would that look like for us athletically? ... Does it change funding for us?\" said a committee member, asking for the data the board would need to inform public conversation.

Committee members also discussed timing for any referendum question. Several said the original policy tied a nonbinding referendum to gubernatorial or presidential elections to maximize turnout, but they heard community interest in starting the process sooner. The superintendent said he had asked the Wisconsin Association of School Boards' legal counsel about the district's authority and received ambiguous guidance and recommended the committee obtain a specific legal opinion before removing the time-frame restriction.

The committee did not take a final vote but gave staff direction to draft a formal discussion item for the full board that: (1) requests a legal review of whether the district may place a nonbinding referendum question on ballots outside of gubernatorial or presidential elections; (2) outlines the scope and composition of a representative task force (including students, parents and community stakeholders); and (3) compiles administrative analyses of athletic conference placement, programmatic implications and fiscal consequences to inform that public process.

The superintendent said he will return to the board with legal findings and a proposed matrix of information so the full seven-member board can decide whether to convene the task force and whether to pursue a referendum question.","The West Bend Joint School District No. 1 policy committee discussed whether to keep two high schools or consolidate to one, recommended forming a representative task force and requested legal guidance on placing a nonbinding referendum on ballots outside gubernatorial/presidential cycles.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee approves sending updated board electronic communications policy to full board as first reading

Policy committee asks staff to model impacts of shortening student walk-distance eligibility for district busing

Policy committee seeks simpler facility rental rules, clearer priority scheduling and cost recoupment for Silver Lining Arts Center

West Bend policy committee opens formal review of high-school consolidation, asks for legal guidance on nonbinding referendum