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Board approves retaining longtime legal counsel after RFP review; administration reports steep drop in legal spending
Summary
After administration ran an RFP for legal services, the Waunakee board voted to retain longtime counsel Kurt Strain; administration reported legal expenditures fell from $153,916 last year to $28,614 year to date and proposed a counsel audit of investigation processes.
The Waunakee Community School District's administration recommended and the board approved retaining its long-standing legal counsel after a review of responses to a request for proposals.
Administration staff told the board that the district solicited responses from several firms and evaluated them using a published scoring rubric. Ally, who oversaw the RFP process, said every invited firm submitted proposals and that administrators who regularly work with legal services reviewed and scored the responses.
Dr. Brown presented the administration's recommendation to remain with Kurt Strain. "He understands our context. He has institutional knowledge for our school district," Dr. Brown said, citing the firm's experience with expulsion hearings and an ability to work with administration, parents and students. He told the board the district had reduced its legal spending substantially: "Last year at this time we spent $153,916 on legal counsel. This year, to date, we've spent $28,614." The board then moved, seconded and approved the recommendation by voice vote.
Administrators also noted that the district's policy is silent on how frequently RFPs must be issued for services such as legal counsel and that the policy committee plans to draft a cyclical procurement schedule for major contracts. As part of the approval, Dr. Brown said the retained counsel would, if the board approves, audit the district's investigation process.
The board's approval was procedural; no formal competitive contract terms were read into the record during the meeting. Minutes should be consulted for the full RFP scoring details, the identity of other respondent firms, and the written contract terms that follow this approval. The board did not discuss changing counsel fees at the meeting; the administration supplied the comparative spending figures and offered to continue monitoring costs.
Next steps recorded in the meeting: administration will proceed with the counsel engagement per standard procedures and the policy committee will work on a proposed schedule for RFP cycles for major district services.
