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December June-July 2018 2016 | |Volume Volume72 71Number Number10 5 T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E W I S C O N S I N A S S O C I AT I O N O F S C H O O L B O A R D S, I N C.
John H. Ashley Executive Editor
Sheri Krause Director of Communications
Shelby Anderson Editor n REGIONAL OFFICES n 122 W. Washington Avenue Madison, WI 53703 Phone: 608-257-2622 Fax: 608-257-8386 132 W. Main Street Winneconne, WI 54986 Phone: 920-582-4443 Fax: 920-582-9951 n ADVERTISING n 608-556-9009 • tmccarthy@wasb.org
D.C. EVEREST’S MULTI-AGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOSTERS STUDENT GROWTH IN AN INNOVATIVE ENVIRONMENT, page 8
n WASB OFFICERS n
John H. Ashley Executive Director
Mary Stu Jo Rozmenoski Olson Black River Falls, Region Shell Lake, Region 1 6 President
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Muskego-Norway, Three Lakes, Region Region211 1st Vice President
Mary BillJoYingst, Rozmenoski Sr.
Capt. TerryWanda McCloskey, Owens USN Retired Three Barneveld, Lakes,Region Region92 Immediate Past President n WASB BOARD OF DIRECTORS n
Pat Greco
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A retiring school administrator reflects on her career in public education
Capt. Terry McCloskey, Brett Hyde USN Retired
BlackDurand, River Falls, Region Region 4 6 2nd Vice President
Passion, Purpose, Promise
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Empowering Curious, Creative Learners
School districts are increasing their mental health support systems through partnerships
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Pam Gresser D.C. Everest multi-age elementary school provides student-centered environment
Help Where it’s Needed Most
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Out of the Loop The unique needs of rural education are often obscured
Year in Review Highlights from the 2017-18 WASB Report to the Membership
Mike Stu Olson Blecha Shell GreenLake, Bay, Region 3 1
Andy BrettZellmer Hyde Muskego-Norway, Montello, Region Region 10 11
Bill Sue Yingst, TodeySr. Sevastopol, Durand, Region Region 43
Nancy TomThompson Weber Sun Waterloo, Prairie,Region Region12 12
Cheryl RickPloeckelman Eloranta Owen-Withee, Colby, Region Region 5 5
Rosanne Hahn Burlington, Region 13
Elizabeth Barbara Herzog Hayes Fond Oshkosh, du Lac,Region Region7 7
Terrence Tony Baez Falk Milwaukee, Region 14
2 News Briefs
Andrew Steve Klessig Maertz Reedsville, Brillion, Region Region8 8
Ron Frea Pewaukee, Region 15
3 Viewpoint — No Off-season for School Leaders
Andy Mike Zellmer Humke Dodgeville, Montello, Region Region10 9
D E P A R T M E N T S
&
C O L U M N S
22 WASB Insurance — Are You Prepared for Tornado Season? 24 Capitol Watch — Candidate Forums, Advocacy Workshops
Wisconsin School News (USPS 688-560) is published 10 issues per year by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards Inc., 122 W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53703. Contents © 2018 2016 Wisconsin Association of School Boards Inc. Subscriptions are available to nonmembers for $40 per year. Periodicals postage is paid at Madison, Wis. The views expressed in Wisconsin School News are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent WASB policies or positions. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wisconsin School News, 122 W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53703.
26 Association News — School Safety Seminar, Board Governance Workshops, Upcoming Webinars, Recognize Business Partners
28 Legal Comment — School Holiday Programs and the Establishment Clause 32 Service Associate Q&A — Dan Chovanec, CG Schmidt
NEWS BRIEFS
Five Educators Named Wisconsin Teachers of the Year
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his year, five educators have been chosen to represent Wisconsin’s teaching corps as Teachers of the Year. Each will receive $3,000 from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation.
b Elementary School Teacher of
the Year: Liz Gulden, a kindergarten teacher at Wilson Elementary School in Baraboo.
b Middle School Teacher of the Year: Maggie McHugh of Sparta, a sixth-grade teacher and adviser at the La Crosse Design Institute.
b High School Teachers of the Year: Sarahi Monterrey, an English Learner teacher at Waukesha North High School, and Benjamin Grignon, teacher of traditional Menominee crafts at Menominee Indian High School in Keshena.
b Special Services Teacher of
the Year: Michael Wilson, a school counselor at St. Croix Falls High School.
Each of the Teachers of the Year will be honored during the Sept. 20 State of Education address and awards program at the State Capitol in Madison. They will interview with a committee that will select one of the five Teachers of the Year to represent Wisconsin in the National Teacher of the Year program. That individual will receive an additional $6,000 from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation. N
Key Risk Behaviors Among Students Continue to Decrease
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esults from the 2017 Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicate a decrease among students in key risk behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol and drugs, and sexual behavior. However, students also reported more mental health issues such as depression and suicidal thoughts. In its analysis of the survey results, the Department of Public Instruction addressed students’ changing behaviors and impact on health, “Students report greater use of screens, less sleep, and poorer self-reported health. These may be related: young people appear to be spending less time out engaging in risks, and more time online and interacting virtually.” Among other key findings, 40 percent of students reported high levels of anxiety. Nearly half of female students indicated high levels of anxiety compared to 30 percent of male stu-
dents. The survey found that 16.4 percent of students considered suicide. Addressing school safety, four out of five students responded that they feel safe at school “most of the time” or “always.” A decreasing percentage of students reported being in a fight on school property (7.3 percent) and fewer students (17.1 percent) said that violence was a problem at their school. The 2017 survey was the first time students were asked about abuse of prescription painkillers. According to the results, 11.2 percent of students reported unauthorized use of such medications. It was also the first time students were asked about electronic vaping products: 11.6 percent of students reported such use. Only 7.8 percent of students indicated that they currently smoke cigarettes. The 2017 survey was completed by 2,067 students in 43 public, charter, and alternative high schools in Wisconsin during the spring of 2017. N
STAT OF THE MONTH
61% Percentage of 12th-grade students who reported they texted or emailed while driving a car on at least one day during the 30 days before taking the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Source: Department of Public Instruction
School Districts Honored in Salute to Local Government Awards
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hree Wisconsin school districts are being recognized this year by the Public Policy Forum’s Salute to Local Government. The awards recognize governments and school districts for innovative problem-solving, partnership, and cooperation, as well as individuals in the public sector for excellence and lifetime achievement. The Sheboygan Falls School District won the Public-Private Partnership category for their Innovation Design Center. The center includes commercial engineering and manufacturing equip-
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ment where students get hands-on learning. The center has been developed with support from the Bemis Manufacturing Company, which donated a 33-ton plastic injection molding machine to Innovation Design Center. The Hortonville Area School District received honorable mention in the Innovative Approach to Problem Solving category. The district is being recognized for its E3 school-based mental health wellness program. The Wauwatosa School District also received honorable mention. They are
being honored in the Innovative Use of Data or Technology category for their digital music classes where students produce their own music using professional software. The WASB nominated these districts along with several others based on recent articles in the Wisconsin School News. The Public Policy Forum is a Milwaukee-based nonpartisan public policy research organization. This is the 26th year of the awards. N
VIEWPOINT
Jo h n H . A s h l e y
No Off-season for School Leaders
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t is a rewarding time of the year to be a school leader as we watch our graduating students proudly walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. It’s especially meaningful for those who have the honor of actively participating in those ceremonies. It’s important for us to celebrate these students and take a moment to appreciate the effort and support of the many teachers, support staff, school leaders, family members, and community members who directly or indirectly contributed to their success. In many Wisconsin communities, high school graduation ceremonies are events celebrated by the entire community. Often, as school leaders, the work you do in the board room can seem disconnected from the learning taking place in our classrooms. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. We know from research that a school board’s behavior (positive or negative) has a corresponding impact on its students and staff. That is why it is so important to continue to develop and improve as a school leader. As the school year winds down, now is a good time to pursue those opportunities to grow as a school board member or administrator. I know there is no off-season for school leaders, but the summer gives us all a chance to take a step back and reflect on our roles in education. I encourage you to look to the WASB for professional development.
This year, the WASB Summer Leadership Institute in Green Bay in July has been paired with a special School Safety Seminar. The School Safety Seminar on Friday, July 13 will cover a variety of related topics including child development, mental health, school security audits, digital threats, and, among others, crisis communication. Glenn Rehberg, the acting director for the Office of School Safety at the Department of Justice, will be joining us at one of the morning breakout sessions to talk about the state’s new school safety grants and legal requirements. Attendees will have the opportunity ask him questions and get an update on the grant process. (Reminder to all districts: the initial applications for the school safety grants are due June 8.) The Summer Leadership Institute to be held the next day (Saturday, July 14) includes separate governance tracks for new and experienced school board members. The topics to be covered include financial forecasting, the basics of Wisconsin school board laws, strategic planning, and among others, using self-assessments to develop effective school board/superintendent teams. In addition to the July conferences, the WASB organizational consultants will be running a series of four evening workshops in August on effective board governance and team building. Planning is also underway for the WASB Fall Regional Meetings in September and October and several legislative
advocacy workshops in November. Watch for more information to be released. There is also a wide selection of recorded and scheduled webinars on a variety of school law and governance topics accessible at WASB.org. Some of the best board training though often happens with individual boards on topics customized to meet their needs. With the WASB’s cadre of experienced school attorneys and consultants, we’re able to provide a wide spectrum of board governance training. If needed, we can blend legal and governance topics into a single, tailored workshop with an attorney and a governance consultant participating. Call or email us today to explore how we can best meet your needs. The WASB is proud to serve Wisconsin school districts with school law, policy, advocacy, governance, and consulting services. Did you know that for 2017-18, the WASB is on pace to respond to more than 4,200 law-related inquiries from school districts? Or that we held more than 60 events last year with more than 4,000 school officials attending? Check out the highlights of our annual report to the membership on pages 20-21. I hope you get time with your families and loved ones this summer. Make sure you also take some time to continue to improve and grow your knowledge and experience as a school leader. Have a great summer! n
We know from research that a school board’s behavior (positive or negative) has a corresponding impact on its students and staff. Connect with the WASB!
Twitter @wasbwi
Facebook facebook.com/WISchoolBoards June-July 2018
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Passion, Purpose A retiring school administrator reflects on her career in public education
I
am retiring at the end of this year as superintendent for the School District of Menomonee Falls. I’ve considered my age to be just a number, until “that number” reached closer to retirement age. Now, I have the gift of reflecting on my career and our profession. I can also look ahead and think about the promise and potential of our field. As I leave the School District of Menomonee Falls, I couldn’t be more thrilled for our students, team
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and the Village of Menomonee Falls. Our board is strong, skilled and centered. Our new superintendent, Corey Golla, is principled, driven and focused on the continued growth of students, staff and leaders. The Menomonee Falls team is pushing the edges of improvement for our students and our field. I love being an educator and hold remarkable hope for our profession. | My Start in Education I remember driving to Kewaskum Middle School in my 1977 orange
| Pat Greco
Ford Pinto. Excited to start teaching at the middle school as a special education teacher, I had 16 boys in my first class who struggled with behavior and learning to read. A few had already been grade retained multiple times. My year-long contract was $6,800 — a teacher contract hadn’t been settled for the previous three years. I also agreed to be the assistant coach for boy’s track. My coaching role was tied to my teaching contract. The middle school had metal siding that was rusting. My classroom was
Access to technology, information and continued development has fundamentally changed the expectations of what is possible for students, teachers and leaders. shared with the custodian’s storage area with brown paneling dividing the space. Supplies and materials were limited. New teacher development was a key to the school and my classroom. That first year, I never felt more hope and more anxiety. My excitement turned to tears a few times that first month of school. Like now, the relationships with my colleagues pulled me through that first year. I’ve lost touch with many of my first colleagues, but I still appreciate the commitment of the experienced teachers who reached out to my younger self. I remember thinking in those early days, I too would be there to support new teachers in their future.
| Changing Field Our field, like all fields, has changed dramatically in 36 years. We know more now about how students learn, how to develop strong teachers and how to lead improving organizations. Technology has shifted how we think, teach, work and lead. Access to technology, information and continued development has fundamentally changed the expectations of what is possible for students, teachers and leaders. Education is no longer locked within a building or dependent upon one individual teacher. Content is accessible from anywhere at any time. Student outcomes continue to be stronger than they have ever been for a broader range of our students.
Our expectations for success have also changed. The expectations for each child to be successful continues to outpace the rate of our improvement. We can access more, do more, and expect more. So, like many fields, education and educators have changed with the impact and speed of technology, knowledge of how people continue to learn, and the skills of how organizations improve. Our passion for children and the promise of an education has remained unchanged. I marvel every day at educators who give their whole heart and skillset to the development of every child. Public education was designed to ensure our society is educated and access to success was not limited to elite white males.
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| Work to Do Sadly, the promise of public education still faces significant disparities among our children. Access to opportunities, resources and development of our children and educators is divided sharply among districts. We still sort and label schools and children based on attributes of wealth. We still pretend that success is somehow inherent within the communities with the greatest advantages. New teachers still enter our profession with differing levels of support to learn how to reach each child. Communities still view the promise of an education with a lens of haves and have nots. Some legislators still view education as a political chip to be played rather than the fundamental promise to healthy families, healthy communities and a healthy state. The tenants of Wisconsin Forward still hold as the promise for our state. The vision to get there is fractured. | Many Reasons for Hope So why am I hopeful? I have seen some of the strongest educators, leaders and practices of student learning in my career. School leaders and teachers, public and private, are digging in and owning their future, their skill development, and their accountability for improvement. Communities are committing to collective impact. The model for improvement is taking hold within education. We are learning deeply how to get better each day. In the School District of Menomonee Falls and others around the country, the Nine Principles of Organizational Excellence are touching the daily work of staff members within school systems learning to behave as improving organizations. Barriers are coming down in communities committing to work together, vision the promise for each child and dig in with all their might. Real improvement for the full range of children is really happening.
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| Why Am I Retiring Now? I have met thousands of individuals who are thinking deeply about how to make the real shift to improvement at scale for all teachers and schools. I want to commit my full energy in supporting this shift to improvement. The path to improve-
ment has never been clearer. My passion will follow that path joining those professionals who are all in. My promise to help the next generation of teachers, leaders, boards and community leaders has come to life in a way I never envisioned. My father Ed Fagan would
say when you do good work, with good people, good things happen. Once again, my dad was right. n Pat Greco is retiring as superintendent of the School District of Menomonee Falls. She was named the 2018 Superintendent of the Year by the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
Organizational Effectiveness The WASB Organizational Consulting Services provides member school districts with a wide range of services in analyzing and evaluating systems and programs, developing master and strategic plans, and resolving unique challenges. Contact the WASB today to learn more.
Organizational Consulting Services | 608-257-2622 | 877-705-4422 | Visit wasb.org
June-July 2018
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Empowering Curious, Creative Learners D.C. Everest multi-age elementary school provides student-centered environment
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n spring of 2017, a group of parents approached the D.C. Everest School District with a proposal for a K-5 multi-age elementary school. The district embraced the idea and Sarah Merz and I were hired to open a teacher-led, multi-age school that would personalize learning to meet the needs of each student. We worked through the summer to create what is now known as Odyssey Elementary. The school’s vision is to empower curious, creative learners to discover and connect in an innovative learning environment. The multi-age philosophy at Odyssey Elementary is that every child can learn and has the right to do so at his/her own pace, diversity is not only a reality but something to
be embraced, and that our school is a family of learners. By purposefully structuring this school to include a span of ages from 6-11, students naturally have become more accepting of one another’s differences. There is an atmosphere of nurturing rather than one of competition in which children pressure one another to fit an arbitrary norm. We support each individual child as to their own set of needs rather than trying to lead a group of students to complete an age-based step. This philosophy has met students’ social-emotional needs and their behaviors have drastically improved along with their academic success. | Building Partnership Before the school year began, we
| Pam Gresser held meet and greets, a family picnic, and the exciting “one room school” transformation reveal night. Throughout the year, we have had several family activities to bring everyone together like a Thanksgiving feast, Passion Project nights where students showcase their work, and of course student concerts. Consistent communication with our parents is important. We communicate through notes, mass email messages, and connecting with parents in person at arrival and pick-up times. We also work hard to “tell our story” on social media so parents see the amazing things their child/ren are doing. We made it a priority to engage parents early to let them know that they are welcome, respected and that we value them as a part of our school.
Our philosophy has met students’ social-emotional needs and their behaviors have drastically improved along with their academic success.
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| Relationships Matter Developing and maintaining a strong community is the foundation of Odyssey Elementary. Each day begins and ends together, as one family of learners. When we gather to begin our day, it gives us an opportunity to set a tone of community and engaged learning. We have a peaceful end to our day as we gather one last time before going home. Community time helps to build trust and cooperation as we celebrate, reflect and take risks which help children gain a sense of belonging. | Student Led Because we have watched many of today’s children lose their curiosity in our classrooms, teaching inquiry is a part of our mission statement. Our instruction is built out of children’s curiosity, rather than from a textbook or a purchased curriculum. Each day, our students are engaged in lessons with their hearts and minds by discovering, investigating and exploring during lessons that meet the same Common Core State Standards that purchased curriculums meet. These hands-on activities empower curious, creative learners to make choices and take responsibility for their learning in an exciting way which engages them in the learning process. In a student-centered environment, children are empowered to take a lead in their educational experience. For instance, we have various clubs that have been initiated and are led by students. These include, Knitting Club, Coding Club, Lego Club, Gaming Club and K’nex Club. I’m especially proud of these student-led clubs. Students submitted a proposal to me and then presented it during our morning community time. The leaders of the groups are responsible for organizing weekly activities. In October, a few students organized a drive to collect Halloween candy to send to
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To learn more, visit Odyssey Elementary at: dce.k12.wi.us/odysseyelementary or facebook.com/DC-Everest-Odyssey-Elementary-School
those serving in the military. In fact, the name of our school, Odyssey Elementary, came from our students. Four students represented our student body and went to a school board meeting in January with their proposal. The school board approved their proposal. | Inquiry-Based Learning To create a culture of questioning and investigation, I record topics that interest our students. Then students pursue these topics and keep track of their research along the way. Children come up with questions that are more profound and more original than I would ever dream of. When we turn the classroom over to student-driven inquiry, we turn on the “curiosity switch” of our students and empower them to
grapple, persevere, and learn about topics they are passionate about while mastering standards. | Individual Goals Students are empowered to set weekly academic and personal goals and then reflect on their learning and work habits. Because this is not an innate skill, I teach and review this constantly. Aristotle said, “Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” Having specific goals helps everyone be more productive. An important part of goal setting is reflecting on what we need to work on, improve or learn. Before students can set a goal, they think of something that is worth working towards, something that interests
DISCOVER Go365 There’s a wellness and rewards program endorsed by the WASB that inspires your school administrators and faculty to live healthier lives for themselves and their families. To learn more, call Jason Shanda at 920-343-1731 or email jshanda@humana.com Go365 is not an insurance product. Not available with all Humana health plans.
go365.com/for-business GCHJUJDEN 1017
them or a skill they need to improve upon. We teach our students how to set goals and achieve them, which teaches our children the important life skill of perseverance. | Moving Forward After the first semester this school year, more than 125 children were on a waiting list to attend Odyssey Elementary for next school year. Because of the interest, the district is hiring two more teachers for next year and will be doubling our enrollment. A lottery drawing was held to determine which children would be added to the current enrollment. In addition, all of our students stayed with us the entire school year. Given the non-traditional nature of our school, we wondered if we would find that the unstructured, student-led environment wasn’t right for some students. Instead, we saw our students flourish. Technically, we did have one student leave, but that
was only because his family moved to another state. Opening a teacher-led, multi-age school that is personalized to meet all students’ needs is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my career, but it’s also been one of the most amazing experiences. This
challenge has ignited a fire within me that burns brighter every day and I can’t wait to see where Odyssey Elementary and these children go. n Pam Gresser is a teacher at Odyssey Elementary in the D.C. Everest School District and was the 2017 Wisconsin Elementary Teacher of the Year.
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Help Where it’s Needed Most School districts are increasing their mental health support systems through partnerships
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ccording to the American Psychological Association, less than half of children with mental health issues get treatment. However, mental health plays a key role in student achievement and research increasingly shows the connection between social-emotional development, mental health, and academic achievement. Schools in Wisconsin are working to address the challenges of mental health. Those challenges include identifying the students who need help and connecting them to mental health services. Districts are also working to provide training to students and staff and promote efforts to remove the stigma of mental health issues in their schools and community. Mental health is a tremendous challenge facing our entire society — not just our schools. However, the importance of providing support in our schools is very clear. Studies have found that students are more
One of the rooms of a new wellness clinic located in an Ashland elementary school.
likely to seek mental health services when they’re available in school. | Providing Service Through
Partnerships Ashland School District
One of the biggest challenges school districts face is connecting students
who are in need, to the appropriate mental health professionals. That was the challenge the School District of Ashland was facing in 2015. Based on data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the district knew that it had students who needed help. According to survey data, approximately
Schools in Wisconsin are working to address the challenges of mental health. Those challenges include identifying the students who need help and connecting them to mental health services.
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20 percent of students in grades 6-12 reported having “seriously considered suicide” in the past 12 months. However, getting students connected to providers was challenging. There was no clear process for teachers and staff to help students get the behavioral health services they needed. In 2014, the district was awarded an “Advancing Wellness and Resilience Education” (AWARE) grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), which allowed the district to begin to tackle the problem. Among other initiatives, the district created an online behavioral health “referral pathway” that teachers, staff and administrators could use to refer students who they
m
believed could benefit from behavioral health services. The initial work of creating the referral pathway helped the district develop and strengthen partnerships with community behavioral health providers. It also illuminated the need for these services to the community at large. In 2016, Ashland passed a referendum that allowed the district to build wellness clinics in each of its school buildings along with other significant construction projects around the district. The clinics within each building provide appropriate, comfortable, confidential space for behavioral health providers to meet with students inside the school, which removes one of the most significant barriers that many students face —
Youth Participating in Screening vs.
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transportation to and from their appointments. The clinic spaces have been completed in the district’s elementary schools, the others will be completed this summer. “Increasing access to our kids is so important,” Greta Blancarte, district wellness coordinator, said. “Access to mental health services in the school ensures that these students get the support they need.” In addition, the mental health services that the district provides is available to students year-round, including the summer months. However, Scott Griffiths, Project AWARE coordinator, said that it is still challenging to provide enough mental health professionals to students. “Our whole region has struggled to attract mental health providers,”
Youth Who Considered Suicide
Fond du Lac High School, 2006-07 thru 2016-17 school years 81% 80%
52% 50%
21% 20% 13%
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
As participation in the high school’s voluntary emotional health screening rose to 81%, the percentage of students reporting considering suicide has declined to 13%.
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Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework
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he Department of Public Instruction has developed the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework to help school districts strengthen mental health services. The framework intentionally integrates school mental health work with existing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Rather than creating something new, the framework helps schools uses existing supports to build upon their mental health support systems. The framework takes into account each district’s unique factors. It includes a needs assessment that helps school districts solve a particular problem or challenge. The framework also helps districts coordinate resources and assess their local needs to inform next steps and create sustainable school mental health practices. Below are the foundational principles of the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework. Eight of the 10 principles are fundamental PBIS components.
1. Strong Universal Implementation 2. Integrated Leadership Teams 3. Youth-Family-School-Community Collaboration at All Levels 4. Culturally Responsive Evidence-Based Practices 5. Data-Based Continuous Development 6. Positive School Culture and Climate 7. Staff Mental Health Attitudes, Competencies and Wellness 8. Systemic Professional Development and Implementation 9. Confidentiality and Mental Health Promotion Policies 10. Continuum of Support For more information about the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework, visit dpi.wi.gov/sspw/mental-health/framework.
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The wellness clinics in the Ashland School District’s buildings provide students with mental health services in school.
he said. “There have been regional recruitment efforts, but it continues to be a challenge.” One issue is location. The city is located near both Minnesota and Michigan. Both of those states offer higher Medicaid reimbursement rates, which means mental health professionals can earn more money by driving an hour in either direction. Because of these challenges, partnerships have really been important to the work in Ashland. This is especially evident when the district and the local hospital, Memorial Medical Center, collaborated to create a day treatment center for some of the district’s students. Before the center opened across the street from the high school, the nearest day treatment option was nearly four hours away, making access to day treatment impossible. “The percentage of our students who need help is pretty high,” Blancarte said. “But, overall, this work is helping. It is going well and we continue to improve and expand our services.” | A County-Wide Effort Fond du Lac School District In 2001, the Fond du Lac School District opened a large, new high school. Although the reasons were not known, pupil services noticed more students at risk. Data from the student Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drug and Health Experience and Attitudes Survey backed that up, showing an increased number of students reporting mental health issues. In response, district leaders met with local mental health providers to
determine some best practices in youth suicide prevention. It was determined that mental health screenings were the best first step. In 2002, district leaders implemented a pilot program in which the district offered screenings for all ninth-grade students. The voluntary screenings (with parental permission) covered mental and physical health. Although not all students participated, the results showed about 15 to 20 percent of students were being referred for mental health services. The district, in partnership with local mental health providers, connected these students to the proper services. Since 2002, the screening has evolved, and it is now known as YScreen. It has become a countywide tool and every student in high school in Fond du Lac County is offered its services. Marian Sheridan, coordinator of school health and safety programs, said the screening, since it is so widespread in the community, has helped decrease some of the stigma with mental illness. “It has gotten to the point where YScreen is viewed in the same way as a vision test or a physical,” she said. Last school year, 81 percent of high school students voluntarily took the screening. The screening consists of a fiveminute questionnaire about physical health, symptoms of depression and anxiety, suicidal thinking and behavior, and use of drugs and alcohol. All students then meet briefly with program staff to answer questions they may have about the program and to give them the opportunity to ask for help with any other concerns the screening did not cover.
Last school year, 81 percent of Fond du Lac high school students voluntarily took the [mental health] screening.
Students whose screen results reveal a possible concern and students who ask for help then meet with a trained mental health professional in private to determine if further evaluation would be needed. If a need for evaluation is identified, parents are contacted and given resources to follow through with accessing mental health services as recommended. On average, each family is followed by a registered nurse case manager for three to six months. In Fond du Lac County, screening is conducted at public and private school systems including alternative education sites, the major medical system in the county and the juvenile court. Nearly 12,000 youth have participated in screening, more than 2,000 have received a referral, and approximately 1,300 have been
connected with services. The district’s mental health work really took off when the YScreen advisory board, made up of mental health professionals, educators, health care workers and others, formed a new program — Comprehensive Service Integration of Fond du Lac County. This program expanded social services in the county and connected even more organizations like law enforcement to the county-wide mental health effort. It was so successful that when the grant funding the program ended, the board decided to continue the program and is in the process of turning it into a non-profit organization. In addition to the screenings and county-wide mental health initiatives, Sheridan said the district was focusing on professional develop-
ment for teachers, continuing to increase social services in its schools, and building upon initiatives aimed at youth suicide prevention and removing the stigma from mental illness. Sheridan said this work is making a difference. Between 2002 and 2016, the percentage of students reported considering suicide decreased from 21 to 13 percent. The success of this work, not only in the district, but across the county, is that students can get consistent care and support whether it takes place in the school or outside of the school. Sheridan said it doesn’t matter if their students get the mental health support in the school or elsewhere, all that matters is that they get help. “Mental health is everyone’s issue,” she said. n
Legislative Update Stay up-to-date on the latest state and national legislative news by following the WASB Legislative Update website. The mobile-friendly site is regularly updated by WASB staff and includes a “Follow” tool that allows you to receive email updates when a new item is posted. Visit the WASB Legislative Update website by visiting wasb.org. Select “Advocacy & Government Relations” and then “Legislative Update.”
Adocacy and Government Relations | 608-257-2622 | 877-705-4422 | Visit wasb.org
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Out of the Loop A The unique needs of rural education are often obscured | Megan Lavalley
This article is excerpted from a report from the Center for Public Education, an initiative of the National School Boards Association.
merican discourse is often accused of neglecting the interests and values of rural citizens, and this is particularly true when it comes to education. Rural students and the schools they attend receive little attention in either policy or academia. This is despite the fact that more than 46 million Americans live in nonmetropolitan areas. No one seeks to minimize the problems of rural schools. But, at least from a national perspective, the unique needs of rural education are often obscured by their urban and suburban counterparts. One possible reason is that the majority of American students are educated in urban and suburban schools, which may lead policymakers to focus their attention and efforts on improving education where it will have the largest impact. However, such a metropolitancentric attitude neglects a significant portion of the student population. According to federal data, approximately one-half of school districts,
one-third of schools, and one-fifth of students in the United States are located in rural areas. Another possible factor: rural students are not equally distributed across the country, and thus may not be at the front of the minds of policymakers and educators in all parts of the United States. According to data from 2014, the proportion of rural schools across the country varies widely — 80 percent of schools in South Dakota are in rural areas, for example, compared to only 6.5 percent of schools in Massachusetts. Even so, taken in aggregate, rural students nationally make up a considerable portion of the student population. At the national level, approximately 19 percent of all students are enrolled in rural schools, but in 13 states, this proportion rises to more than one in three students (18.9 percent of Wisconsin students attend a rural school). The needs and successes of these students should be no less relevant to our national conversation than those of the potentially more visible students in metropolitan areas.
Reading by Grade 4 by race
2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress
m Rural
240
m Suburban
Clearly, the nation cannot afford to overlook the needs and circumstances of its rural schools. The days of the idyllic one-room schoolhouse are long gone. Or are they? Little is understood about rural schools and the unique challenges they face outside of the communities in which they operate. As an added complication, broad regional variations make it difficult to categorize all rural schools into a singular story, which spells trouble when cohesive messaging means attention. We will attempt to shed badly needed light on these challenges, and point to policies and practices that can effectively address the distinctive needs of rural schools.
| Deep and Persistent Poverty Poverty is often associated with urban areas, but poverty in rural America actually exists at higher rates, is felt at deeper levels, and is more persistent than in metropolitan areas. Approximately 64 percent of rural counties have high rates of child poverty, as compared to
m City
220 200 180
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BLACK
HISPANIC
Percentage of students in rural districts 47 percent of urban counties. More children in rural communities come from conditions of poverty than in the past. Today, more than half of the rural student population comes from a low-income family in 23 states — up from 16 states just two years ago. | Lower Literacy Academic performance in rural schools has improved in recent years, with rural students now beginning to outscore their urban peers. Yet achievement gaps based on race are as present in rural schools as they are in other locales. Although narrower, a stark gap also exists between rural and suburban students. Limited access to advanced courses shapes the curricular path of many rural students at the secondary level, and low rates of college attendance inhibit adult levels of educational attainment. Some of these phenomena may be influenced by the high levels of poverty present in rural areas while others may be driven by specific barriers inherent to a rural school, such as a small and dispersed student population. Reading scores may reflect rural poverty due to the influence of home and family life on literacy. Rural students begin school with lower reading achievement than their suburban peers, and about the same as urban kindergartners. This gap continues through elementary and middle school in both mathematics
m 60%+
m 50-60%
m 40-50%
and reading and is widest between rural and suburban white students. Interestingly, rural Hispanic students outperform their Hispanic peers in urban and suburban schools. As in these other locales, however, the most significant achievement gaps in rural schools are by race with white rural students outscoring their black and Hispanic classmates. The effects of deep, persistent rural poverty must be considered as a possible factor in perpetuating these gaps. In fact, when socioeconomic status is held constant, the rural-suburban achievement gap is no longer distinguishable in reading
m 30-40%
m –30%
m No Data
scores, suggesting that high levels of poverty in rural areas have a considerable impact on students’ literacy. | Barriers Facing the Rural
Teacher While a variety of tools attempt to measure teacher quality, the most complete picture comes from examining a number of indicators together. Collectively, a teacher’s selectivity of college attended, performance on standardized tests, level of degree and experience, and credentialing status can lend insight to teacher quality. Across the United States, rural teachers graduate from less selective colleges than those in all other
What is ‘Rural?’ Though there are a number of definitions, this report uses the National Center for Education Statistics locale codes. These definitions below categorize the nation’s schools based upon a combination of population size and distance from the nearest metropolitan area.
Fringe = Census-defined rural territory that is less than or equal to 5 miles from an urbanized area, as well as rural territory that is less than or equal to 2.5 miles from an urban cluster. Distant = Census-defined rural territory that is more than 5 miles but less than or equal to 25 miles from an urbanized area, as well as rural territory that is more than 2.5 miles but less than or equal to 10 miles from an urban cluster. Remote = Census-defined rural territory that is more than 25 miles from an urbanized area and is also more than 10 miles from an urban cluster.
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Source: Showalter, Klein, Johnson & Hartman 2017. Data reflect NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe Survey 2013-13.
eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch
locales. In addition, the better qualified teachers tend not to return to their rural schools. Research from Kentucky, for example, shows that both metropolitan teachers and rural teachers with superior academic qualifications were less likely to be employed in rural Appalachian schools. It should be noted that, on average, teachers in rural areas have more years of experience and are less likely to have obtained their credentials through alternative certification
methods than teachers in urban areas. Despite these advantages when compared against the urban setting, rural schools employ slightly more novice teachers. Additionally, teachers from rural areas are less likely to have a master’s degree than teachers from a metropolitan area. There is a 10-percentage point gap in master’s degree attainment between suburban and rural teachers, and the likelihood of teacher postgraduate education decreases as a community’s isolation increases.
On the whole, several indicators suggest that rural teachers may come to the classroom with a less selective educational background than their urban and suburban peers, which may negatively impact the learning of the students that they teach. | Balancing the Books Consolidation is often promoted as an effort to share costs and resources across a region with a very disperse student population. In these areas, it may be impractical and expensive
“Gaining and Maintaining Young People in Wisconsin Communities”
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esearchers at the Applied Population Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison released a report, “Gaining and Maintaining Young People in Wisconsin Communities,” in December 2017. Between the fall of 2015 to the summer of 2016, the researchers did demographic work that studied all Wisconsin municipalities (cities, villages, and towns) to identify communities gaining and maintaining young adult populations. They measured communities that are gaining by looking at the absolute number of people aged 20-39, in five-year cohorts, for census years 1990, 2000, and 2010. They measured communities that are maintaining by looking at the proportional size of the young adult population, on average, across those census years. From the fall of 2016 to the summer of 2017, they conducted interviews in 12 case study communities that were gaining and maintaining young adults, representing all regions of the state, to learn why people thought young adult populations were stronger in those places. Here are some of their findings. DE MOGRAPHIC RES EARC H
The demographic research yielded three important findings:
b Only about 15 percent of Wisconsin communities are gaining and maintaining young adults.
b Communities in Wisconsin’s most urban area —
CASE ST UDY R ESEAR CH
The case study research yielded five important qualities of communities that are important for attracting young adults:
b Perceived quality of schools. b Perceived appropriate affordability of housing — young adults at different life stages may define affordability differently.
b Outdoor amenities such as parks and trails, with
appreciation for both motorized and silent (skiing, hiking, etc.) outdoor recreation.
b A small-town sense of community and civic engagement. b Proximity to cities that offered employment, entertainment, and shopping.
CONCLUSIONS
b Maintaining high-quality schools is essential for
attracting and maintaining young adult populations.
b Different communities need to provide different mixes of
housing for different families at different life cycle stages.
b Public outdoor amenities for a diversity of recreation activities will be valued by young adults.
b Rural and small-town development may be tied together with urban development.
b Communities need to address the tensions created by
Milwaukee county — fare as bad or worse than many rural areas in losing young adults.
the need for volunteerism to maintain the small-town feel, while people spend large amounts of time in cities for jobs, entertainment, and shopping.
b Communities that are gaining and maintaining young
b Universities and colleges may influence not just their home
adults are much more likely to be near cities and freeways.
city, but also the region as a place for graduates to settle. For more information and to access the full report, visit apl.wisc.edu/shared/youngadults
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Among the most significant barriers rural schools face is inadequate funding. to maintain redundant services, teachers and facilities. Consolidating, in theory, saves money for districts by minimizing duplication of high-cost items like administration and food service in each small community. For rural areas facing budgetary constraints, this may be an appealing method to relieve some financial burden without sacrifices to instruction. For these reasons, consolidation was a favored organizational strategy in the mid-20th century. However, more recent research does not quite support its use. With the possible exception of the very smallest schools, modern consolidation efforts actually save little money for districts. An analysis shows that expenses are likely to remain stable or, in some cases, even rise after consolidation due to increased expenses in the areas of transportation and mid-level administration. Transportation is a large line item for consolidated rural schools, which often require students to be bused across long distances from a large attendance area, often spanning an entire county. Though consolidated schools may pool resources at a county or regional level, they are faced with hefty transportation budgets due to the cost of busing students to the regional school. More than half of West Virginia’s schools are considered rural, for example, but are consolidated along county lines which often span hundreds of square miles. Consequently, West Virginia’s schools must rely heavily on busing students long distances and thus contend with the lowest ratio of instructional to transportation dollars in the U.S. This unbalanced ratio is common to consolidated rural schools, and may be detrimental to students aca-
demically. Because an increased portion of a consolidated school’s budget is dedicated to transportation, less money can be directed toward instruction. Additionally, larger school size may disadvantage students academically, decrease extracurricular participation, and lower graduation rates This all may mean that an attempt to balance the budget could have significant negative consequences for student learning. | Less Funding Among the most significant barriers rural schools face is inadequate funding. On average, rural districts receive just 17 percent of state education funding. Considering that one in two districts is rural and serve one in five students — and that many face challenges of high poverty rates, a growing ELL population, and hard-to-fill-staff positions — this distribution is severely lacking. Competitive grant opportunities, which could supplement state and local dollars, are impractical for many rural schools. The grant application process requires a substantial amount of work from specially trained staff. Due to the small administrative staff common in rural districts, however, there is often no one experienced or available to complete a lengthy grant application. Even funding based upon formulas may create inequalities for rural schools. Rural districts, which tend to have small student populations, have been found to be disadvantaged by the Title I funding formula, which emphasizes the number of students in poverty over the portion of a school’s students that are in poverty. Even among student populations with a higher poverty rate, a small district receives less money. Rural schools not only receive
smaller awards than their metropolitan equivalents, but they also receive funding less frequently. Before the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a majority (58 percent) of School Improvement Grants were given to urban schools, while just 18 percent were given to rural schools. These awardees in sum represent approximately 2 percent of all urban schools and just 0.5 percent of all rural schools, suggesting a great disparity in SIG award distribution. The pattern of past awardees reflects a perspective and funding prioritization clearly weighted toward metropolitan issues. | Question for School
District Leaders Do you have a plan for dealing with staff shortages? Are you able to provide incentives to attract well-qualified teachers and principals? Are they effective? Have you sought partnerships with local colleges and universities? Do you collaborate on providing professional development for your staff as well as “grow your own teachers” strategies? Do you have the infrastructure and bandwidth to support virtual learning? Are you set up with sufficient computers and staff to effectively blend online and face-to-face instruction? Are there local, regional or state consortiums you can join or launch to address specific issues related to your community (food scarcity, healthcare access, lack of transportation)? Do you work with your state and local representatives, as well as your professional associations, to advocate for your community’s needs? n Megan Lavalley is a former research analyst for the Center for Public Education. This article was excerpted from the report “Out of the Loop.” Copyright 2018 by the Center for Public Education.
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Year in Review
W A S B
R E P O R T
T O
T H E
M E M B E R S H I P
The WASB works for our members through events, advocacy efforts, policy services, board governance, legal services, and publications. The WASB is here to serve school boards and the students they educate. Built on a tradition of providing high-quality service to member districts, WASB membership provides school boards with a statewide voice in public education and valuable member services. Below are highlights of the 2017-18 Report to the Membership outlining the many services and benefits that membership provides for your district. For more information about WASB services, publications, and events, visit wasb.org or contact us toll-free at 877-705-4422.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2017-18 REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP
Advocacy for Public Education. Over the past year, Government Relations staff added almost 240 new posts to the WASB Legislative Update blog that drew more than 60,000 views. Government Relation staff used VoterVoice to issue six action alerts that generated more than 1,100 emails to elected officials in the past year. VoterVoice is an advocacy software that makes it easier for members to contact their state and federal elected officials. Legal and Human Resources Services. In 2017-18, the WASB staff responded to 4,239 law-related
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inquiries from members in 363 districts and provided direct employment, human resources, labor and/or school law services to 104 districts. In addition to other work, the WASB attorneys made numerous updates and revisions to the WASB Employee Handbook, which provides school leaders with a comprehensive, customizable tool to manage all school district staff. Policy Services. In 2017-18, more than 80 percent of the districts in the state (341 districts) took specific advantage of the WASB Policy Library and/or utilized other special WASB policy services. In addition,
the WASB Policy staff responded to more than 500 individual requests from member districts for sample policy information. The WASB added district subscribers and content to the premier online policy development and implementation tool — the WASB Policy Resource Guide (PRG). PRG subscribers were the first to have access to new and updated policy language addressing the Early College Credit Program, the “Start College Now” Program, part-time open enrollment, employee health examinations, student nondiscrimination complaints, and student records, among others, and the first
to have access to model updated notices related to student assessments and educational options. Customized Leadership Services. In 2017-18, the WASB, in partnership with School Perceptions, continued to provide districts free access to the Annual Board Development Tool. The survey tool is aligned with the National School Boards Association’s research-based Key Work of School Boards material. This research focuses on continuous improvement in school districts to elevate student achievement. School districts have utilized WASB consultants to facilitate workshops based on the survey tool results to keep them on a continuous improvement pathway in the areas of governance and organizational effectiveness. Over the past year, WASB Orga-
nizational Consultants directly served 24 school districts in formal projects (i.e., leadership and organizational effectiveness, leadership development, strategic planning and superintendent evaluation), and assisted numerous others through informal consultations. Search Services. In 2017-18, the WASB Search Services completed 10 successful superintendent searches, and aided numerous other districts through presentations and advice on various questions related to the selection of a superintendent. Other Highlights:
b Events. In 2017-18, the WASB
WASB Stand Up blog has nearly 100 views per month.
b Service Associates. In 2017-18,
the WASB welcomed two additional companies to the program.
b WASB Insurance Plan.
In 2017-18, the WASB Insurance Plan provided timely electronic alerts and expanded its online library of resources for members on an array of topics.
The WASB is working for you! If you have any questions or would like to learn more about a service, please contact the WASB at info@wasb.org, call toll free at 877-705-4422, or visit WASB.org. n
hosted more than 60 conferences, seminars, gatherings, workshops, webinars and the annual Joint State Education Convention. Collectively, nearly 4,000 attendees participated in the numerous WASB events and programs. Topics included legal, board development, policy, legislative, finance, and much more.
b Publications and Website.
In 2017-18, the WASB transitioned to a new website and database with updated features. The WASB website (WASB.org) has an average of 3,600 users per month. The WASB Legislative Update blog has nearly 5,000 views per month. The
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WASB INSURANCE
Are You Prepared for Tornado Season? Know the warning signs and have a plan
A
ccording to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an average of 1,253 tornadoes occur each year in the U.S. As of December 20, 2017, there have been 1,359 reports of tornadoes in the U.S., and a total of 38 tornadorelated deaths. Historically, most tornadoes happen in the spring and early summer, but in recent years the U.S. has experienced tornadoes during all times of the year. They can occur anywhere and have been reported in all 50 states. For most tornadoes, warnings are issued 15 to 20 minutes in advance of the weather event. While technology has improved to help alert us to danger, there is still a gap between receiving a warning and responding to that warning. Often that gap has to do with preparedness. Therefore, advanced planning is crucial to making sure you stay safe when a tornado touches down.
| Know the Signs Tornadoes are particularly dangerous, because, unlike hurricanes, tornadoes can develop suddenly and without time for a warning. The science of weather forecasting is not perfect and some tornadoes do occur without a tornado warning ever being issued. There is no substitute for staying abreast of the weather. Weather conditions that could indicate a tornado may form include:
b Dark, greenish sky;
b Hail or heavy rain followed by either dead calm or a fast, intense wind shift;
b Strong, persistent rotation in the cloud base;
b Whirling dust or debris on the
ground under a low-lying cloud — tornadoes sometimes have no funnel;
b Loud, continuous roar, like a
freight train, which doesn’t fade in a few seconds like thunder;
b Frequent, intense lightning; and b Strong winds greater than 60 mph.
| Seek Safety in a
Storm Shelter If your school district is under a tornado warning, your staff and students must seek shelter immediately. If a school doesn’t have a storm shelter, students and staff should go to the lowest interior level of the school, the basement or a room with no windows or exterior doors, such as an interior bathroom. The goal is to put as many walls as possible between your students and staff and the outside. If possible, advise students to get under a sturdy table and use their arms to protect their head and neck. Do not use areas with large roof spans such as gymnasiums, auditoriums, cafeterias, etc. Do not use temporary or portable classrooms or hallways that have glass doors at each end that open to the outdoors.
If you are using a hallway, use interior hallways at a 90-degree angle to through-hallways that exit to the outside to help reduce windtunnel effects. If you have time, hide in hallway shelter areas to reduce exposure to flying debris and other hazards. | Tornado Preparedness
Checklists Preseason do-do Checklist: M Form a safety committee to develop or review plans and coordinate emergency response protocols. M Develop an emergency plan and train people on the plan. M Designate safety leaders — determine roles and responsibilities. M Develop decision-making protocols regarding temporary classrooms, special needs students, assembly areas, outdoor activities, etc. M Establish protocols for delayed release times. M Identify means of communication for buses, coaches, etc. M Conduct a preseason survey of all shelter spaces. M Prepare emergency equipment and supplies. M Make provisions for quick shutoff of utilities. M Identify potential post-event assembly areas.
While technology has improved to help alert us to danger, there is still a gap between receiving a warning and responding to that warning.
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M Communicate/coordinate plans with local emergency response personnel. M Train employees, staff and students. M Conduct practice drills. | Prestorm Checklist What to do before the storm: M Keep a weather alert radio in the main office and monitor conditions for current information. M Communicate with safety leaders as you are tracking weather conditions. M When school is in session, suspend or postpone outdoor physical education, recess, field trips and any activities located away from the school. The same applies to after-school sporting events and practices, clubs and field trips. M Assemblies, events and other activities scheduled to take place in areas with large roof spans should be suspended or postponed. Large roof spans can be
susceptible to collapse and are not recommended as tornado shelters. M Anticipate the evacuation to shelters of students and staff in temporary or portable classrooms, special needs students, and younger children as severe weather approaches. M Should severe weather be approaching at release time, implement your delayed release plan/protocol and communicate this information to staff, students and parents. | Post-Event Checklist —
After a Tornado Strike What to do after a storm hits: M Provide immediate directions to those in shelter areas. If shelter areas appear undamaged and safe, remain in the space until further directions are given. M If necessary, send a preassigned staff member to shut off building gas, electric and water as needed. M Check the identified post-event
assembly areas for hazards. Outdoor areas should be checked for downed power lines and hazardous debris. Indoor areas should be checked for damage, debris and other hazards. Choose the best available area. M Direct staff and shelter supervisors to assemble all persons in the designated assembly area for a head count, first-aid assistance, etc. M Implement post-event staff assignments, including building security, student supervision, traffic control and first aid. M Do not allow anyone to enter a damaged building. Secure the building as needed to keep persons away from weak structures and wreckage until professionals arrive to assess the structure and clear away debris. M Follow your child/parent reunification procedures. Gallagher is an endorsed agency through the WASB Insurance Plan. For more information, visit wasb.org.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N … visit these websites. ● Ready: ready.gov
● Federal Emergency Management Agency – fema.gov
● U.S. Department of Homeland Security: dhs.gov
● The Society for Human Resource Management – shrm.com
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C A P I T O L W AT C H
Dan Rossmiller & Chris Kulow
This is a Great Time to Organize Candidate Forums, Here’s How …
T
he 2017-18 Legislative Session is over and campaign/election season has begun. Half of the state Senate and all state Assembly seats are up for reelection this fall. Your school district can play an active role in the election (and provide an important community service!) by hosting a candidate forum. A forum is a great way to engage your community around an upcoming election, to build support for the issues that matter to your school district, and to learn more about the candidates running to represent you. | Plan Ahead Pick a time and date to host your forum. Avoid religious or government holidays, dates when other community functions are scheduled, and business hours. For the site, a school building is ideal, but make sure you have adequate seating. | Invite Candidates Legislative district boundaries typically determine which candidates to invite and whether it makes sense to partner with neighboring school districts. Send an invitation to the candidates well before the planned event and follow up with a phone call. Candidate contact information is available on the Wisconsin Elections Commission website at
elections.wi.gov. Since this would be a campaign-related event, send invites to incumbents’ campaign or home addresses rather than their capitol offices. The earlier you schedule your candidate forum, the better. Candidate’s schedules typically get more crowded the closer you get to the date of the primary or election. | Choose a Format There are numerous ways to structure a candidate forum including:
b Candidates give prepared
remarks, and attendees ask follow-up questions from microphones in the audience.
b Candidates are asked prepared
questions on themes important to public education and your community. See below for ideas from WASB on questions.
b Candidates are asked questions
that the audience submits on index cards. At the end, candidates provide closing statements, with an equal amount of time given to each candidate.
In any format, you’ll need a moderator to introduce the candidates, start the dialogue, keep the discussion moving, and screen the questions submitted by audience members if that is the method you select. Ask a well-known, nonpar-
tisan member of your community to serve in this role — a school administrator, school board president or a local media person are common examples. | Generate Interest Consider partnering with neighboring school districts. Working together with other districts allows you to reach more people and gain more exposure. Inform the local media about the forum as well as any parent, teacher or other civic groups that may be interested in attending. Spread the word utilizing newsletters, social media, local newspapers and/or local television or radio outlets. The WASB can also help promote your event. Send a media advisory three to five days in advance. Consider allocating central, unobstructed space close to electrical outlets for camera crews and reporters to cover your event. | Keep it Fair and Nonpartisan As a trusted, nonpartisan voice in the community, your school board and school district is uniquely suited to host a candidate forum. Make sure all major-party candidates in that election are invited. Make a thorough and good faith effort to ensure the participation of at least two candidates for a specific office
Get Updates on Legislative Activities at WASB Summer Conferences On Friday, July 13, the WASB will be hosting a special School Safety Seminar in Green Bay. One of the featured sessions will be provided by Glenn Rehberg, the acting director for the Office of School Safety at the Department of Justice. He’ll be joining us talk about the state’s new school safety grants and legal requirements. Attendees will have the opportunity ask him questions and get an update on the grant process. The next day, on Saturday, July 14,
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the WASB will be hosting the traditional Summer Leadership Institute which will include a legislative update. You’ll have the chance to get a report on the Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding and where its work is headed as well as the most current information on all things affecting K-12 public education. The Leadership Institute features tracks for both new and experienced school board members so there’s something for everyone. N
but you may proceed with a forum if only one candidate accepts. If only one candidate attends, make clear to attendees and in your advertising that other candidates or parties were invited to participate, naming names and giving reasons for nonparticipation, quoting invitees. If no reason is given for nonparticipation, then state that. This avoids the impression that you are taking a partisan stance by omission. | Take Notes During the forum, make note of the candidates’ positions and any commitments they provide. This will be useful in future communications and allow you to better hold them accountable for their votes. | Follow Up Send thank you letters to the participating candidates, any school district staff who assisted in making the arrangements, the moderator, timer, and any other volunteers. These are sample candidate forum questions: 1. What do you see as the greatest challenges facing our public schools? 2. What is your view of public schools
overall? What is your view of public schools in your community (or legislative district)?
3. In your view, does the current school funding formula adequately support the state’s public schools? If not, what changes might you propose? 4. Do you support allowing school districts to receive annual increases in funding that enable them to keep pace with inflation (CPI)? If yes, why? If no, why not? 5. Should increases in funding for school districts come from increasing state per-pupil categorical aid, increasing per-pupil revenue limits, increasing state general equalization aid, or a combination of these sources? 6. Will you support eliminating state-imposed revenue limits on public school districts or at least allowing annual per-pupil adjustments to revenue limits that are aligned with inflation (CPI)? 7. Do you support local school board control of K-12 education? Are there exceptions where you feel a state or federal role is appropriate? 8. Do you support restrictions on when school district referendums may be held?
9. What do you see as some of the local issues and challenges for your school district? If elected, how would you help us to improve the situation? 10. What can be done to better provide appropriate mental health treatment for Wisconsin’s school-age youth? Will you support funding or other support for schoolbased mental health services? 11. Do you support continued expansion of the voucher program that provides taxpayer-funded vouchers to students who attend private and religious schools? Do you support requiring eligibility for voucher programs to be based on family income or do you support eliminating income eligibility limits? 12. Should the state provide taxpayerfunded vouchers for students in special education to attend religious and private schools, regardless of family income? 13. Will you support requiring property tax bills to include the dollar amount of state aid deducted from that district to fund vouchers for pupils who attend private schools? 14. What will be your top three priorities as a legislator next year? N
NEW THIS FALL: Advocacy Workshops to replace Legislative Advocacy Conference
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e’re revamping our advocacy outreach and training for school board members based on membership feedback solicited at 2017 WASB Fall Regional Meetings. A strong majority of those responding indicated they would prefer to attend a regional workshop in addition to or in place of the annual November Legislative Advocacy Conference held in recent years in Stevens Point. As a result, on a trial basis this fall, the GR staff will hold four, twohour, regional advocacy workshops in November.
| Save a date!
b Nov. 8 at CESA 10
b Nov. 13 at CESA 4 b Nov. 14 at CESA 6 b Nov. 15 at CESA 8 These workshops will be held in the evening at various CESA offices around the state. They will start with a brief meal followed by an interactive presentation. Among the likely topics will be how the fall election will shape K-12 education policy and the WASB’s legislative agenda, and how school board members can help advance a pro-K-12 legislative agenda. The sessions will also feature legislative advocacy training, with tips on how to build relationships with legislators, how to communi-
cate effectively with legislators and how to advocate on the state budget. Our goal is to help school board members become better advocates for the districts and children as well as more effective participants in both the WASB Day at the Capitol in midMarch and public hearings on the state budget that will follow shortly thereafter in April of next year. In the fall of 2019, the GR staff will return to holding a one-day, fall Legislative Advocacy Conference in a centralized location as in the past. The plan is to hold workshops in the even-numbered years and a conference in odd-numbered years. N
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A S S O C I AT I O N N E W S
School Safety Seminar and Summer Leadership Institute N
ew this year, the WASB will be hosting a special School Safety Seminar in conjunction with the Summer Leadership Institute, July 13-14 in Green Bay. The first day will focus on important and timely school safety and student wellbeing topics. The event will include a special keynote address by Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, an associate professor of pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Navsaria will discuss the importance of the first thousands days of life and the key role human relationships play during that time. Other topics include: b School Mental Health b School Security Audits b Dealing with Digital Threats, Internet Safety, and Smart Phone Apps b Crisis Communications
b School Safety Grants The second day will be the tradi-
tional WASB Summer Leadership Institute with two tracks of programming for new and experienced members. Sessions include:
b Key Work of School Boards b Financial Forecasting b The Basics of Wisconsin School Board Laws
b Evaluating the Superintendent b School Board Governance through Policymaking
b Basic Strategic Planning and
Strategies for Plan Deployment and Monitoring
b Fundamentals of Wisconsin School Finance
b All In? Using Self-Assessment as a Process for Developing Effective School Board/ Superintendent Teams
b WASB Legislative Update In addition, on Friday evening (July 13), the WASB will be hosting a dinner featuring a keynote by Jim Draeger of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Draeger, the State Historic Preservation Officer, will join us for an entertaining look at his national award-winning book “Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin’s Historic Bars and Breweries.” n For more information, visit wasb.org. Event details will be released soon.
WASB | Webinars | Upcoming
WASB Webinars
The WASB hosts a series of webinars throughout the year. Here is a look at the upcoming webinars from the WASB:
n Annual and Special Meetings
n School District Referenda — Legal & Policy Considerations August 8 | noon – 1 pm
June 13 | noon – 1 pm Barry Forbes, Associate Executive Director and Staff Counsel
Barry Forbes, Associate Executive Director and Staff Counsel
This presentation will review the notice requirements for annual and special meetings, cover meeting agendas and procedures and discuss the division of powers between the annual meeting and the school board in common school districts.
More and more school districts are going to referenda for funding and facilities. This interactive webinar will cover the legal and policy considerations that you should consider before going to referenda. The webinar will provide detailed analysis of the different types of referenda, the
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WASB Governance Workshops In August, the WASB is hosting a series of WASB Governance Workshops. The workshops will take place at CESA offices at locations across the state. The events begin with dinner at 6 pm and the workshop program 6:30-9 pm.
FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE BOARDS August 7 — CESA 11, Turtle Lake August 15 — CESA 3, Fennimore Al Brown / Rachel Schultz, WASB Consultants School boards and administrators are most effective when there is a culture of active communication, collegial relationships and trust. How does this translate into board operations and interactions? In this workshop, school board members will learn from each other and from the research on how to turn the philosophy of “effective school board” into actual leadership actions. School boards that are effective contribute to strengthening and improving teaching and learning outcomes.
THE POWER OF THE PACT August 8 — CESA 2, Whitewater August 14 — CESA 9, Tomahawk George Steffen / Louise Blankenheim, WASB Consultants Effective school board members and superintendents
must work together as a team to make the difficult decisions and establish standards of leadership performance. Practicing teamwork, establishing team protocols, and developing an accountability process are key to supporting a strong partnership between the school board and superintendent. Designed for school board members and superintendents, this workshop will engage participants in developing their individual team “power pact” by learning about one another, setting vision, establishing common goals, and committing to adhering to by-laws and operating principles identified by the team. n
Recognize Your Business Partners The WASB is accepting nominations for the WASB Business Honor Roll. Recognize businesses or organizations that have supported your schools in the past year. Member school boards can nominate up to five local businesses, including newspapers or other media that have been helpful to your school district over the past year. Nominated businesses will be posted on the WASB website, districts will be provided a press release and certificate to present to your partner businesses. To nominate a business, visit WASB.org. Select “Services & Resources” “Communication Services” and then “Business Honor Roll.” Nominations close August 17, 2018.
procedure and timing of referenda, the use of district funds and resources during a referendum, the roles of the board, individual board members and staff during a referendum, and how districts, staff, and boards may interact with third party groups, e.g. “vote yes,” “vote no,” etc.
n Pupil Expulsion September 12 | 1:30 – 2:30 pm Bob Butler, Associate Executive Director and Staff Counsel
This webinar presentation covers state and federal laws relating to the pupil expulsions. The presentation will provide a roadmap for considering the expulsion of pupils and to help avoid common pitfalls when doing so.
The presentation will focus on procedures for administrators and for boards that conduct their own expulsion hearings.
n Administrator Contracts October 10 | noon – 1 pm Ben Richter, Staff Counsel
This presentation covers all aspects of administrator contracts, including the drafting of contracts, contract term, application of section 118.24 Wis. Stat. to administrator nonrenewals and more. State and federal court decisions on administrator contracts, including the Klaus v. Eau Claire School District case will be covered. n
Please note: These and all previous webinars are recorded and available on demand. WASB members can purchase any webinar and watch when their schedule allows. Upcoming live and pre-recorded webinars are listed on the WASB Webinars page at WASB.org. In addition, links to past webinars are available in the Policy Resources Guide.
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LEGAL COMMENT
B oard m a n & C l ark LL P
School Holiday Programs and the Establishment Clause
T
he performance of religious material at school-sponsored performances has been the subject of litigation over the years with respect to the application of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits districts from engaging in any conduct which constitutes the “establishment of religion.”1 The continued litigation in this area derives from the fact that many school performances occur in conjunction with Christian holidays, in particular, Christmas, and that a significant amount of available performance material related to those holidays is religious in nature. In addition, the boundary between performances which are constitutionally permissible and those that are not does not lend itself to a clear demarcation, resulting in cases which have to be decided based upon the specific characteristics of each performance. The constitutionality of a school-sponsored performance was recently the subject of a case in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over Wisconsin school districts.2 This case provides insight into the court’s analysis of the use of religious material in district performances. The case involved the Concord Community Schools (“Concord”) in Indiana which for 45 years has put on an elaborate “Christmas Spectacular” featuring
choral, instrumental, and dance performances complete with costumes, sets and props. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (“FFRF”) sued Concord alleging that the performance violated the Establishment Clause because of the performance’s religious content. A lower federal court concluded that the 2014 version of the performance violated the Establishment Clause, but the modified 2015 version did not. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the 2015 version did not violate the Establishment Clause. This Legal Comment will review the analysis that federal courts apply in Establishment Clause cases, the application of that analysis by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals with respect to the Concord performances, and the practical implications of the Concord case for Wisconsin districts when planning school performances. | The First Amendment’s
Establishment Clause The United States Supreme Court has utilized at least three tests when analyzing whether a particular governmental practice violates the Establishment Clause.
b The endorsement test looks at the totality of the circumstances of a district’s conduct to see if that conduct has the purpose or effect of communicating the district’s
endorsement of religion, or a particular religious belief, to the community. In particular, this test assesses whether a “reasonable observer” would perceive the performance as a whole as a religious endorsement.
b The coercion test assesses whether a performance coerces audience members and participants to support or participate in religion. Coercion is present when a performance requires forced participation in a religious activity or tacit approval of a religious belief. Concerns regarding coercion are heightened in settings involving elementary and secondary public school students and in situations involving captive audiences.
b The Establishment Clause man-
dates that a religious purpose cannot be the primary purpose of the activity. A court applying the primary purpose test looks at whether the primary purpose of the activity is a religious purpose. If the activity lacks a secular purpose, the court will determine that the primary purpose of the activity is religious. In making this determination, the court will generally defer to a district’s statements as to the activity’s purpose, in particular the activity’s curricular or pedagogical purpose.
The court’s ruling recognizes that the performance of religious music or material in and of itself does not violate the Constitution.
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| Facts of the Case For 45 years, through 2014, Concord’s “Christmas Spectacular” opened with a one-hour first act consisting of non-religious pieces tied to a varying annual theme. However, the second act of the show featured the same 30-minute program. Twenty minutes of that program consisted of “The Story of Christmas,” containing religious songs, passages from the New Testament of the Bible, and a live nativity scene featuring student actors performing the story of Jesus’s birth. FFRF sued arguing that this program (“2014 program”) violated the Establishment Clause. In response to the suit, Concord proposed changing the program by removing the New Testament reading from the nativity scene and adding two songs to the second act — a Jewish folk song and a Kwanzaa song. The federal district court for the Northern District of Indiana held that both the 2014 program and the
court concluded that the changes made to the second act of the show tipped the scales in favor of Concord and that, in its overall form, the 2015 program would not cause a reasonable observer to believe that the district was endorsing religion. The court emphasized that no one factor was determinative in reaching this conclusion and that, in the context of the entire 90-minute program, audience members would not understand the program to ratify a religious message. In particular, whereas previously the second half of the “Christmas Spectacular” was exclusively devoted to the birth of Jesus, the court noted that the second half of the program “can now be seen as a collection of music from multiple traditions.”3 In reaching this conclusion based upon the program as a whole, the court reviewed the specific changes to the program that were factors in its decision. With respect to the nativity
proposed changes to that program violated the Establishment Clause. In response to this ruling, Concord revised its show for 2015 (“2015 program”). The opening nine minutes of the second act of the 2015 program were a Jewish folk song, an explanation of Hanukkah, a Kwanzaa song, and an explanation of Kwanzaa. Images were projected onto large screens to accompany both songs. For the next 20 minutes, students performed religious Christmas songs. During one of the songs, a nativity scene, depicted with mannequins, appeared on stage for two minutes. There were no New Testament readings. The district court held that the 2015 program did not violate the Establishment Clause. FFRF appealed this decision. | The Court of Appeals’
Analysis The Endorsement Test. In reviewing the totality of the 2015 program, the
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June-July 2018
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LEGAL COMMENT scene, which was the most inherently religious aspect of the “Christmas Spectacular”, the court noted that a nativity scene in a school performance does not automatically constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. However, because the nativity story is a core part of Christianity, nativity scenes run the risk of giving a reasonable viewer the impression of the endorsement of religion. The court found significant the fact that the nativity scene in the 2015 program was not the centerpiece of the second half of the show as it had been previously, but rather was a visual complement for a single song. The nativity scene itself was only two minutes of a 90-minute program, and the scene no longer included students. The court’s analysis in this regard is similar to the analysis in a previous Supreme Court case, which held that the display of a crèche as part of a larger secular display did not violate the Establishment Clause.4 With respect to the music in the program, the court noted that religious Christmas music only made up a fraction of the 2015 program. The first act of the program focused on the secular aspects of the holiday season, and the second act contained Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa songs and narrative descriptions of each holiday. While religious Christmas songs constituted the largest segment of songs in the second act, the court accepted Concord’s assertion that there were a greater number of appropriate Christmas arrangements available for performance. The court expressed some concern that the songs in the second act aligned with the story of Jesus’s birth. However, absent the New Testament readings and the live nativity scene, the performance of religious Christmas music alone did not inevitably convey a religious message. The court also noted that, given the regular public playing of Christmas music during the holiday season, this music has achieved a cultural significance such that it should not be uniformly prohibited in public schools. The Coercion Test. In reviewing the
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[continued] 2015 program with respect to the coercion test, the court noted that the program had a captive audience comprised of the students in the program and their friends and family in the audience. The court stated that Concord’s policy of allowing students to opt out of participating in the “Christmas Spectacular” was irrelevant “because a choice to participate or miss out on a significant portion of the curriculum is an unconstitutional one.”5 However, in the 2015 program, there was no religious activity in which the performers or audience members were required to participate given the removal of the scripture reading and modification of the nativity scene. Another factor in the court’s decision was that the show took place in a school auditorium and not a church. FFRF alleged that the students and audience members would feel pressure to support the religious aspects of the 2015 “Christmas Spectacular” when they saw others reflecting on a religious hymn. The court rejected this argument because the performers and audience were not likely to be able to observe the behaviors of others or to attribute any audience behavior to any religious aspect of the performance. The court acknowledged some potential concern that the audience’s powerful ovation to the 2015 nativity scene might be coercive to non-religious audience members. However, the court suggested that the ovation was likely the result of the pending lawsuit and opposition to it, rather than support for a religious belief. The court speculated that future reactions to the nativity scene would be “less fervent.”6 While acknowledging that the case was “not openand-shut,” the court ultimately concluded that the 2015 program did not pressure individuals to support or participate in religion.7 | The Primary Purpose Test The court determined that the primary purpose of the 2015 program was entertainment and pedagogy rather than religion and,
thus, did not violate the primary purpose test. The court noted that the program had valid secular purposes. Over 600 district students learned challenging music and choreography, auditioned for solo and small group performances, and designed costumes, props, sets, and lighting. FFRF tried to argue that these purposes did not justify the religious elements of the show. The court noted that the Establishment Clause does not require districts to narrowly tailor the program to avoid religious elements. It only requires that a religious purpose not be the primary purpose for the program. | The Practical Implications
for Districts This case is illustrative of the fact that analyzing school programs with religious content under the Establishment Clause is dependent on the particular characteristics of the program, and that modifying even a small number of elements in such programs may make a significant difference in the analysis. In this case, the district court found the 2014 program to be unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause. Even though the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found the 2015 program to be constitutional, it noted that Concord did not document its decision to make the 2015 program changes permanent and did not adopt an official policy to that effect. As a result, the court explained that it was “easy to envision the school bringing back the nativity scene of Spectaculars past given the Concord community sentiment.”8 Therefore, the district court’s award of nominal damages to FFRF regarding the 2014 program was upheld, which will likely result in a petition for an award of attorney’s fees to FFRF. This case provides helpful guidance for districts that perform religious music or put on holiday programs. The court’s ruling recognizes that the performance of religious music or material in and of itself does not violate the Constitution. Religious music represents a significant portion of the history of
western music, ranging from the “Hallelujah Chorus” of Handel’s Messiah to the “Sabbath Prayer” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. There can be a clear secular purpose in performing religious music in public schools depending on the overall context in which the performance occurs. Factors that play into this as seen from this case include:
b An articulable secular purpose
for the inclusion of the religious material, such as a link to curricular or pedagogical objectives;
b The inclusion of diverse cultures and religious traditions;
b The context in which the reli-
gious material occurs, including the amount of such material in relation to other aspects of the program;
b Whether students and/or audience
members are required to participate in or tacitly approve of the religious material; and
b The location of the performance. | Conclusion The performance of religious material in school programs brings into play not only the application of the Establishment Clause, but also community sentiment. The FFRF lawsuit stirred significant community reaction. With respect to the former, districts should understand the interplay of the Establishment Clause (and the three tests which have been utilized in such analysis) with district programs that include religious material. With respect to the latter, boards should adopt policies which provide guidance as to the factors which must be considered before utilizing religious material in district programs. n
| End Notes 1. U.S. Const. amend. I, cl. 1. 2. Freedom From Religion Found., Inc. v. Concord Cmty. Sch., 885 F.3d 1038 (7th Cir. 2018). 3. Id. 4. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 685 (1984). 5. Freedom From Religion Found., Inc., 885 F.3d. at 1049. 6. Id. 7. Id. 8. Id. at 1052. This Legal Comment was written by Michael J. Julka, Steven C. Zach, Frank C. Sutherland, and Brian P. Goodman of Boardman & Clark LLP, WASB Legal Counsel. For additional information on this topic, see WASB School News, “Religious Displays and the Establishment Clause” (October 2005) and WASB Legal Note, “Public Schools, Religion, and the Establishment Clause” (Winter 2010).
Legal Comment is designed to provide authoritative general information, with commentary, as a service to WASB members. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. If required, legal advice regarding this topic should be obtained from district legal counsel.
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Q&A
S E R V I C E A S S O C I AT E
School Security, Construction Trends and More SE RV I C E
A S S O C I AT E
Q.
What advice would you give to a school board that is about to begin the process of building or renovating a school facility?
A.
Partner with a construction manager or design-build firm as early as possible. There are so many things we can do to mitigate risk to the district, identify cost-saving measures, and shorten the schedule, but the later in the process a firm is brought on board, the more those opportunities are lost. Additionally, if you’re planning to potentially pursue a referendum, a construction manager with that experience who can act as a guide and help carry the load is invaluable. There are a lot of potential pitfalls along the way, many exclusive to K-12 projects, that can easily trip up an inexperienced contractor. Unfortunately, in those cases, it’s the district that suffers for it.
Q. What are some important factors for school board members when selecting a construction firm?
A. It almost goes without saying but you need a partner you can trust. The taxpayers in the district are going to expect transparency for the board. How can you give that to them if your contractor isn’t transparent and open with you? If you have questions about the budget or how money is being spent, will your contractor be able to quickly furnish that information in a way that’s easy to understand and relay? Along those same lines, is your
Q & A
construction partner going to go the extra mile to keep local tradespeople and subcontractors involved in the project? We’ve always been a firm believer that school projects are an investment in the community through better educational opportunities for the students, but also for the local workforce. We always recommend that districts talk to their construction manager about how certain portions of the work might be broken down into smaller chunks so local subcontractors who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to participate, can be included in the work.
Q. Are you seeing any trends in new school facilities projects?
A. The big hot-button issue is security. A lot of our schools were not built at a time when people were thinking about the possibility of an armed intruder. We’ve been getting so many requests for small security upgrades — bullet-proof glass, new locks on the doors — that we formed a small projects group to handle them. With the state announcing $100 million in grants earmarked for school security improvements, I’m sure we’ll continue to be very busy on that front. Even for larger-scale projects — new construction, significant remodels — security is always a big consideration for the design. Lots of schools are reconfiguring their arrangements to make sure no one can walk into the school without going past the administrative office.
Dan Chovanec is a 30-year veteran of the construction industry. He serves as the Director of Pre-Construction at CG Schmidt’s Madison office.
Q. Is there anything new or exciting in school construction/design? A. One thing we’ve been seeing a lot of, especially in rural districts, is a heavy investment in tech ed, agricultural ed and STEM spaces. Many schools are beginning to question the current line of thinking that sees college readiness as the endgame to primary education. A glutted post-college market, skyrocketing student loan debt, and a dearth of well-trained tradespeople have created some significant hurdles for our state’s economic future. Having true tech ed, agricultural ed and STEM spaces versus the old-school shop class is one way that schools are moving to address the changing labor needs in our communities. n The WASB Service Associates Program includes businesses and organizations that have been recognized by the WASB Board of Directors as reputable businesses and partners of public education in Wisconsin. For more information, visit wasb.org and select “Service Associates.”
One thing we’ve been seeing a lot of, especially in rural districts, is a heavy investment in tech ed, agricultural ed and STEM spaces.
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Bray Associates Architects Inc. 920-459-4200 mwolfert@brayarch.com brayarch.com Architecture, interior design, planning, referendum support.
Eppstein Uhen Architects 414.271.5350 ericd@eua.com eua.com Architectural design and service leader known for inspired design.
Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc. 800-236-2370 spigeon@hoffman.net hoffman.net Planners, architects and construction managers.
Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP 414 359-3060 skramer@prarch.com prarch.com Architectural and interior design services.
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Computer Hardware, Software, Consulting
Skyward, Inc. 800-236-7274 ben@skyward.com skyward.com Developer of student, budgetary and human resource administrative software exclusively for K-12 school districts.
Management, |Construction Contracting, Consulting CG Schmidt 608-255-1177 sarah.dunn@cgschmidt.com cgschmidt.com Construction management, general contracting, design-build.
J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. 608-257-5321 cmlsna@findorff.com findorff.com
With offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Findorff is one of Wisconsin’s leading builders. JP Cullen 608.754.6601 kevin.hickman@jpcullen.com jpcullen.com JP Cullen is a family-owned, fullservice construction management firm that specializes in budgeting, planning and constructing the tough jobs.
Scherrer Construction Company, Inc. 262-539-3100 customsolutions@scherrerconstruction.com scherrerconstruction.com Scherrer Construction has been partnering with school districts for over 88 years to deliver successful, quality projects that positively impact students and communities today and for years to come.
VJS Construction Services
262-542-9000 cbathke@vjscs.com vjscs.com A top-10 construction company in southeastern Wisconsin with 65 years of experience.
Benefits, |Employee Risk Management Associated Benefits and Risk Consulting
608-259-3666 Al.Jaeger@associatedbrc.com associatedbrc.com Our focus is financial security options that protect and assist growth. We go beyond simply protecting against the loss of assets and property.
Gallagher
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Key Benefit Concepts LLC
262-522-6415 info@keybenefits.com keybenefits.com Actuarial and employee benefit consulting services.
M3 Insurance
800-272-2443 marty.malloy@m3ins.com M3ins.com The dedicated education specialists at M3 Insurance provide over 50% of Wisconsin school districts with the very best in risk management, employee benefits, and insurance services. National Insurance Services of Wisconsin, Inc.
800-627-3660 slaudon@nisbenefits.com NISBenefits.com We’ve been a specialist in public sector benefits since 1969. Our insured products include: health, dental, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Our financial solution products include: health reimbursement accounts, OPEB trusts (fixed or variable), special pay plan and flexible spending accounts.
| Energy Services Midwest Energy Procurement (MEP) Solutions, LLC
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Banking, |Financing, Consulting Baird Public Finance 800-792-2473 BBrewer@rwbaird.com rwbaird.com/publicfinance Baird’s Public Finance team provides school financing solutions including: long range capital planning, services related to debt issuance, investment advisory services and referendum assistance.
Springsted Incorporated 414-220-4250 jdudzik@springsted.com springsted.com Advisors to the public sector in finance, human resources and management consulting services.
| Insurance Community Insurance Corporation 800-236-6885 khurtz@aegis-wi.com communityinsurancecorporation.com Dedicated to providing school districts with the tools they need to economically and efficiently address today’s changing insurance and risk management environment.
EMC Insurance Companies 262-717-3900 philip.lucca@emcins.com emcins.com Property and casualty insurance
R&R Insurance 262-574-7000 bill.hattendorf@rrins.com myknowledgebroker.com Our School Practice Group has more than 25 years of educational institution experience and a dedicated resource center designed with school district’s risk and claims management needs in mind.
TRICOR Insurance 877-468-7426 john@tricorinsurance.com tricorinsurance.com We now insure over 150 public schools. Our School Practice Team is made up of a diverse group of experienced individuals who are extensively trained and specialized in school insurance products, risk management, support services, loss control, human resources and claims advocacy.
UnitedHealthcare 414-443-4094 cecelia_hopkins@uhc.com uhc.com Our mission is to help people live healthier lives by providing access to high quality, affordable healthcare. We are committed to improving the healthcare experience of K-12 teachers, staff, retirees and their families in the state of Wisconsin by providing better information, to drive better decisions, to help improve health.
| Leadership Consulting Studer Education 850-898-3949 info@studereducation.com studereducation.com We support the critical work of school district leaders through coaching around an Evidence-Based Leadership framework to increase student achievement, employee engagement, parent satisfaction, district support services, and financial efficiency.
| Legal Services Buelow Vetter Buikema Olson & Vliet LLC 262-364-0300 cbuelow@buelowvetter.com buelowvetter.com We have decades of experience in representing school boards across Wisconsin. We advise school boards and administrators on a variety of issues from labor and employment to student discipline and expulsion.
Strang, Patteson, Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. 844-626-0901 kstrang@strangpatteson.com strangpatteson.com We provide legal counsel on a full range of issues that school and higher education institution clients confront on a regular basis.
von Briesen & Roper, s.c. 414-287-1122 aphillips@vonbriesen.com vonbriesen.com We’re dedicated to ingenuity and creativity in helping schools solve their most complex legal and organizational problems. Challenge us to help you challenge the status quo.
|School/Community Research School Perceptions, LLC 262-299-0329 info@schoolperceptions.com schoolperceptions.com An independent research firm specializing in conducting surveys for public and private schools, educational service agencies, communities and other state-level organizations.
| Transportation Dairyland Buses, Inc. 262-544-8181 mjordan@ridesta.com ridesta.com School bus contracting provider, managed contracts, training, maintenance.
SUPPORTING, PROMOTING AND ADVANCING PUBLIC EDUCATION
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July 13 and 14, 2018 KI Center, Green Bay Register for one day or both days at a discounted rate.
Saturday, July 14 Summer Leadership Institute Governance tracks for new and experienced school board members. • School finance, • School law and policymaking, • Effective governance, • Strategic planning, • Superintendent evaluations, and more including a • Legislative Update.
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