The Waunakee Community School District board held a special meeting to review how changes in the 2025–27 state budget could affect locally provided 4K and to outline a tight timeline for decisions affecting the 2026–27 school year.

Steve, a district administrator leading the presentation, told the board that a central feature of the state program called Get Kids Ready is that “Providers may not participate in Get Kids Ready if they also contract with the public school district to provide 4 k in the same year.” That constraint puts the district’s community-based 4K partners in the position of choosing between the state program and existing district partnerships.

The administration proposed a calendar of next steps intended to give partners clarity: the budget committee will meet Dec. 1 for detailed grade-by-grade and school-by-school budget analysis; the board could put a contract offer on the table at its Dec. 8 meeting; an in-person partner review is scheduled for Dec. 15; the district asked partners to make a decision for the state by Dec. 19; and the district hopes to open 2026–27 enrollment Jan. 5.

District leaders recommended a near-term increase in the per-student reimbursement offered to community partners to try to preserve local partnerships. Doctor Brown described the administration’s working scenarios and said the “proposal on the table for the board to think about is increasing the dollar amount to $5,500,” and noted a $5,000-per-student scenario was also modeled.

Board members pressed for specifics about the fiscal trade-offs. One board member summarized prior scenario work as showing that a $5,000 payment “put us at over a quarter of $1,000,000 deficit,” and another noted that moving to $5,500 would increase that projected deficit further. Steve told the board the Dec. 1 budget committee session will present a fuller accounting that includes district-paid costs associated with partner students (transportation, special education supports and other services), and run variations such as partial partner acceptance of any contract offer.

The administration emphasized the larger revenue mechanics at stake: Steve warned that if the district loses 4K student counts to the state program, the district could face reduced state equalization aid and that local property taxpayers would ultimately make up much of the difference under Wisconsin’s revenue-limit financing system.

Board members and staff also discussed how open-enrollment slot setting interacts with 4K planning. The board’s open-enrollment policy ties available slots to class-size limits, desired student–teacher ratios and enrollment projections; staff told the board the number of kindergarten sections they choose to staff (examples discussed included 12, 14 or up to a building’s maximum such as 16 sections) will affect how many open-enrollment spots are available and therefore the district’s projected enrollment and revenue.

District staff proposed creating a community 4K task force (parents, 4K partners, business partners, special education and district staff) to evaluate longer-term models — for example, full-day 4K, district-hired licensed teachers placed with partners, or housing 4K in district buildings. Staff said such work would take more time than the few weeks available for partners making immediate state decisions.

Several partner representatives and a provider joining by Zoom urged the board to prioritize community partnerships and thanked staff for outreach. Miranda, the staff member who handles the 4K program census and partner relationships, said the district already tracks the community’s 4-year-old population and retention into kindergarten and can provide historical retention numbers at the Dec. 1 meeting.

No formal vote on contracts, reimbursement levels or policy changes was taken at the special meeting. The board approved the meeting agenda at the start and moved to adjourn at the end. The budget committee’s Dec. 1 meeting will be the first opportunity for the board to review detailed financial scenarios and potentially refine a contract offer before any vote by the full board.