Waunakee board raises 4K stipend to $5,000, approves extra open-enrollment seats and forms task force

The Waunakee Community School District Board of Education voted Tuesday to raise its per-student 4K stipend to $5,000, authorize additional open-enrollment seats for 4K in January 2026 and form a community task force to plan longer-term options for the program.

The decisions followed a lengthy budget-committee review and public comment from local early-childhood providers. The committee had recommended increasing the stipend from $3,600 to $5,000, endorsing additional open-enrollment seats and forming a task force to develop a 1-, 3- and 5-year plan for 4K programming.

"Our first choice is still to continue to work with the district," an early-childhood provider told the board during the public comment period, urging the district to keep community partners engaged and to raise per-student funding to cover direct costs and staff wages. "For us to receive less than half the funds from [the] district while providing the building, staff and materials does not feel equitable."

Budget chair Steve (presenting the committee's work) summarized attachments that accompanied the recommendation: a proposed contract and letter to 4K partners, a Google Sheet detailing direct district investments above the per-student reimbursement, fall census numbers and multiple financial scenarios. "The recommendation of the budget committee is to increase the stipend amount from 3,600 to 5,000," he said.

Board members debated short-term benefits versus long-term fiscal risk. One member warned that higher reimbursements without full provider participation could create multi-year deficits; another noted administration had earlier proposed $5,500 but that $5,000 fit within the adopted budget for this year. The board ultimately approved the motion to increase the stipend and recorded a roll-call vote: Carly voted no; the chair (recorded as "Myself" in the roll call) and board members Ted, John, Mark, Heather and Chris voted yes.

The board also approved a budget-committee recommendation to explore additional open-enrollment seats (the committee had endorsed opening 85 seats) and discussed outreach to ensure families and providers know about available seats. Members emphasized marketing coordination between the district and community providers and noted contract language would require district approval for partner marketing tied to district programs.

Finally, the board approved creating a 4K task force to include parents, providers, special education representation and a board member, with the goal of convening in early spring to address long-term reimbursement methodology, enrollment impacts and operational options.

The decisions are procedural budget actions; no immediate district takeover of community 4K sites was authorized. The board directed administration to send the approved contract offer to community partners and to return to the budget committee after winter break with partner responses and finalized open-enrollment numbers.

Next steps: administration will distribute the contract offer to 4K partners before winter break; the budget committee will reconvene after winter break to review partners' responses and projected open-enrollment impact; the task force is scheduled to start work in early spring.