Saint Croix board reviews finances and enrollment; approves financial report, declines to set regular-education seat limits

The Saint Croix School District board on Jan. 15 approved a financial report and discussed enrollment pressures, particularly rising special-education caseloads that staff said are straining brick-and-mortar staffing.

Board action and votes: The board voted to approve the district's financial report. Derek made the motion to approve and a second was recorded; the chair called "motion carries." The financial summary presented showed a total account balance of $2,363,823.06 across accounts, with line-item balances reported as Citizens State Bank checking $1,581,288.94; money market $12,287.14; suicide prevention $5,245.55; and debt service balances reported separately in the presentation.

Why it matters: District finances and enrollment limits determine whether the district can accept open-enrolled students and how services for students with disabilities are staffed and funded.

Enrollment and budget context: In an enrollment update staff reported "86 students in seats," 277 students in the district's virtual charter program, 36 full-time resident students in the virtual school and 100 part-time resident virtual students. The presentation said the free- and reduced-price lunch rate remains about 25.22 percent. Staff also reported an "open-enrolled in" total (in seats and virtually) of 426 versus 131 out, for a net of 295 students (reported by staff during the presentation).

Special education capacity: District administrators recommended setting seat limits for special-education students for the open-enrollment period to avoid staffing shortfalls. Staff explained two methods used to limit enrollment: a caseload maximum (commonly used statewide) and a matrix score computed from students' individualized education plan (IEP) details.

Staff described typical caseload maximums presented to the board: elementary case managers at 12 students per caseload, an identified high-needs section at eight, and middle- and high-school case managers at 15. The district also described a matrix scoring system (scores 1'25) used to rate students' needs; higher matrix scores correspond to greater staff time and resources (staff said a comprehensive student uses roughly four times the staff resource of a minimal student under the matrix). The presentation said brick-and-mortar buildings have reached or exceeded both matrix and caseload thresholds in some grades.

Because of those capacity concerns, staff proposed closing some open-enrollment slots for brick-and-mortar schools while keeping available slots in the virtual program. Staff said the district would continue to accept students whose primary need is speech and language and left 17 slots in the virtual program and four additional elementary slots available (numbers provided by staff in the presentation). Staff noted that students who already open-enrolled and are being served would remain unless a significant IEP change requires a review with a home district; in cases where staffing cannot meet new needs staff said they would coordinate with the home district.

Regular-education seat limits: The board considered a separate item on determining seat numbers for regular-education open enrollment. Jeff moved that the board not set seat limits for regular education; Dave seconded. The chair called the vote and the motion carried.

Funding and move-ins: Board members discussed the financial implications of high-needs move-ins. Staff said the district can seek additional funding or adjustments when a high-needs student moves in midyear and noted staff had worked with other districts to recover costs in some cases. Staff also said hiring special-education staff midyear is difficult.

Closed session: The board voted to go into closed session to consider employment-related matters under Wisconsin Statute 19.85 (matters involving public employees). After a motion and a second, the board entered closed session at approximately 7:40 p.m.; the board indicated it would report any required actions in open session after the closed-session discussion.

No new district policy was adopted at the meeting; board members asked staff to continue monitoring special-education caseloads and to bring recommended adjustments back for future consideration.