Committee recommends retaining two law firms and adopting Diligent board software

The Manitowoc School District finance and facilities committee on Aug. 5 voted to recommend that the full board continue retaining two law firms for district legal services and to adopt Diligent for board-management and packet distribution.

Staff presented an annual review recommending continued retention of two primary firms: Von Briesen and Roper for general legal counsel and a second firm used principally for special education and student-services legal work (referred to in the discussion as Belo and Vedder). The presenting staff member said the district has relied on those firms for labor, personnel and student-discipline matters and that the firms have served as liaisons to specialists when cases require it. "When you call your person — in our case Mary — they’ll either handle the issue or refer you to the person on their team best equipped to handle it," the staff member said.

One committee member questioned whether the district should consolidate to a single firm, noting an instance in which an insurance company would not work with one firm but would with the other. Staff responded that the existing recommendation preserves flexibility and that the district also has ongoing litigation where continuity of counsel is important.

A motion to accept the memo recommending continued retention of the two firms was made by Board member David, seconded, and approved by voice vote. The committee did not record individual roll-call tallies during the voice vote.

On a separate agenda item, Laurie, the board assistant, presented a proposal to replace the district's current BoardBook subscription with Diligent. She said she was impressed by an April demonstration of Diligent and that district staff (including IT staff Jessica Dupre) found it more user-friendly and cleaner for agendas and minutes. Laurie said the Diligent subscription is somewhat more expensive than BoardBook but that the district must retain historical board packets and that staff plan to migrate records as needed. During the discussion Laurie and others cited an estimated annual subscription figure in the low-thousands: "I think it was 1,800. Okay. $2,000 maybe more," she said when discussing cost estimates.

A committee member made a motion to accept the Diligent subscription recommendation; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Staff confirmed historical board packets and required hard-copy records would remain available.

No formal procurement contract text or final pricing was approved at the committee meeting; the committee forwarded the recommendations to the full board for final action and staff follow-up.