Teacher representatives tell board persistent busing problems and raise training relevance concerns

Two representatives of the Waunakee Teachers Association told the board that bus routing and communication issues this fall have left students dropped at incorrect locations and have caused confusion for staff and families, and they asked the district to keep reporting problems so buildings can respond more quickly. "Busing problems cons are consistently happening. There was a lack of communication between, leadership," said Kristi Nokowski, a kindergarten teacher at Prairie speaking for the WTA. Nut graf: WTA presenters said the issues — which they described as recurring drop‑offs at the wrong places and delayed route‑change communications to schools — are not entirely within building staff control but need ongoing district attention because they affect young learners and classroom supervision. Body: Kristi Nokowski and Connie Fry, both identified as kindergarten teachers at Prairie, opened their remarks with acknowledgements about the district’s kickoff schedule and the guest speaker. They then turned to concerns that emerged with the new school year. "I think that continues to be a problem from what we're hearing. We know that students get dropped off in wrong places at times," Nokowski said, asking the district to continue to document and report route changes and supervision gaps so principals and teachers can plan. WTA presenters also raised a question about the district’s trauma‑informed classroom management training (CISA training). "There was some concern from staff that the extensiveness of the, CISA, training, the trauma informed classroom management was, not necessarily relevant and fresh information, repeated," Nokowski said, adding that some staff felt they had already received similar content and that attendance had been inconsistent. Board members asked if there were specific corrective steps the association recommended; presenters said they wanted the district to maintain consistent reporting protocols and to examine whether the training content should be updated or targeted differently. Ending: District staff acknowledged the concerns during the meeting and said they would continue follow‑up; the WTA presentation did not ask the board for a specific vote but requested ongoing communications and a review of training relevance.