By Kim McDarison

Members of the Whitewater Unified School District Board of Education Monday voted against reviewing administrative contracts which are poised to automatically renew this month.

During the board’s regularly scheduled meeting, following a closed session, the board reconvened into open session at which time school board member Maryann Zimmerman called for a vote against supporting the auto-renew option for each of several administrative contracts, urging board members instead to consider and approve each contract separately.

The action failed by a 4-3 vote, with Zimmerman, and board members Christy Linse and Stephanie Hicks supporting the motion.

School board President Larry Kachel and board members Lisa Huempfner, Jennifer Kienbaum, and Miguel Aranda voted against the measure.

In advance of the vote, and citing the board’s regularly scheduled meeting held last month, Zimmerman said: “On December 18, I was made aware of a district employee who was awarded almost 10% more in pay raise without board approval, using a policy that should not have been used.

“For this reason, I am requesting a vote, if not tonight, on or before Jan. 29, 2024, on all district office administrative contracts.”

Among items discussed in closed session in December was “considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility; specifically, to discuss the mid-year superintendent evaluation and employment contract, and discuss and consider performance of specific administrators and compensation of a specific administrator.”

Following the closed session, the body reconvened in open session, at which time Kienbaum asked to amend the agenda, allowing the board to return to closed session after the open session, not to reconvene, to continue its closed session discussion.   

Her amendment, offered in the form of a motion, was approved by a vote of 6-1, with Zimmerman casting the ‘no’ vote.

According to published meeting minutes from the first closed session held during the December meeting, and included within Monday’s school board meeting packet, “the board discussed and considered the DLT (district’s leadership team’s) contract extensions,” further noting that “with a recommended ‘no action,’ the contracts will automatically extend through June 30, 2026.”

As stated in the minutes, “the board discussed and considered a specific administrator’s compensation. No action.”

According to the school district’s organizational chart, directors comprising the district’s leadership team include those of business services, buildings and grounds, athletics, pupil services, technology, and teaching and learning. The team additionally includes all five of the district’s building principals, two associate principals, and a multilingual services coordinator.

During the December meeting, in open session, Zimmerman asked, as a future agenda item, for the review of several of the district’s policies, saying: “I’d like to do a review of policy 672.1 and 672.2, that should be in policy review, that’s something that should be looked at, and then related to that, I also would like a full accounting how that policy was used — how it has been used and what it was used for.”

During the second closed session held during the December meeting, according to the minutes: “board members continued discussions regarding administrator evaluations.” The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9 p.m.

On Monday, in advance of the board’s meeting, the Policy Review Committee was scheduled to meet and review four policies, including Nos. 671.1, “payday schedules”; 222.1, “Administrative Contracts”; 672.1, “methods of purchasing,” and 672.2, “standards of conduct in purchasing and contracting,” along with the district’s organizational chart. The aforementioned materials were included within the committee’s meeting packet.

Members of the Policy Review Committee include Kachel, Kienbaum and Hicks.

Additionally, the district’s website stated: “Please note that a quorum of the full school board may be present at this meeting, in which case the meeting may constitute both a meeting of the committee as well as a meeting of the school board. However, no action will be taken by the school board at this meeting.”

A published record of the committee meeting, in video or written form, has not yet been released.

During Monday’s regularly scheduled school board meeting, addressing fellow board members, Zimmerman offered a motion asking for a vote regarding the leadership team’s contracts, saying: “I’m voting to not renew — automatically auto-renew contracts.”

Linse asked Zimmerman if she was requesting within her motion that instead of auto-renewing, she was seeking “separate votes.”

Zimmerman said Linse was correct.

“I would request that that be closed,” Kachel said.

Citing the approaching deadline, Zimmerman said she would be willing to change her motion to include voting on the contracts during a special meeting.

Kachel reiterated his desire for a closed session.

Said Zimmerman: “Closed session special meeting. Yes. On or before the 29th, because, as a board, we have known about this since December 18, and I no longer want to kick this issue down the road, or be complicit in it. So I make a motion for a special meeting for individually voting on district office administrative contracts on or before Jan. 29, 2024.”

Linse offered a second in support of Zimmerman’s motion. With no further discussion, the motion failed.

Following Monday’s meeting, WhitewaterWise received a letter to the editor from Zimmerman.

In her letter, Zimmerman expressed concern regarding pay raises discussed during the December 18 and Monday meetings, describing them as “unauthorized,” and “being granted to Whitewater Unified School District employees … without proper board approval.”

She wrote: “As the vice president of the Whitewater Unified School District school board, it is my duty to ensure transparency, accountability, and adherence to established procedures within our educational institution.”

The full content of Zimmerman’s letter is here: https://whitewaterwise.com/choosing-the-right-even-when-its-hard-a-commitment-to-transparency-in-wusd/.

Policies, samples as shared with the Policy Review Committee

According to documents included with the Policy Review Committee meeting agenda, policy 671.1 addresses payday schedules, noting that employees will be paid in compliance with all provisions of the Employee Handbook.

The schedule provides dates on which employees will be paid, and offers a method of payment. The district’s director of business services is responsible for following the schedule and making payments available to the district’s employees.

Also provided to committee members was a document titled “Recruitment and Hiring of Administrative Staff, Sample Policy 1, Policy 221.1.

According to the document, it establishes “minimum expectations for the recruitment and hiring of administrators other than the district administrator,” and, among other stipulations, delegates responsibility to the district administrator for defining specific recruitment and selection procedures for other administrative positions.

Additionally the policy states: “The board, at its discretion and without being bound by any administrative recommendations, shall make the decision to employ an individual in any position covered by this policy. If required by applicable law, such a decision must be supported by a majority vote of the full membership of the board. Accordingly, no binding offer of employment may be made and no contract of employment shall be executed until properly approved by formal board action.”

The document carries a 2016 copyright from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The full document is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UzDV7RhuudddaY4GLSz6fh1oYH8C2vEB/view . 

Additionally, within their packet, committee members were supplied with a document titled: “Procurement Methods for Services, Supplies, Equipment, and Other Property, Sample Policy 1, Policy 672.1.”

The document outlines “the federal government’s uniform guidance for receiving and using federal grants and awards” for school districts, which, the document states, are required to meet specific procurement requirements when making purchases supported by federal funds and to otherwise make use of the district’s own documented procurement procedures.

The document established methods of procurement based on whether the purchase is supported by federal funds and certain cost thresholds.

The document carries a 2022 copyright from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The full document is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UoR6WcSG9vkut_5VXTmTwm-ULRZFGHJI/view.

A third document, titled: “Standards of Conduct in Purchasing and Contracting, Sample Policy 1, Policy 672.2,” offers uniform guidance for receiving and using federal grants and awards for non-federal entities that are subject to the uniform guidance to maintain written standards of conduct covering conflicts of interest and otherwise governing the actions of its employees in the selection, award, and administration of contracts.

The document carries a 2015 copyright from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The full document is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uv28GWWRU8kdbztpeFrjtsjX5G-Ztjh9/view.

The agenda further links to the district’s 222.1, 672.1, and 672.2 policies. A brief description of each follows. 

Policy 222.1

The policy adopted by the school district in 2015, and last revised in 2021, applies, according to its content, to the following director positions: business services, building and grounds, technology, curriculum and instruction, and pupil services, along with principals, associate principals and the district’s athletic director.

The policy reads: “The school board and the administrators will enter into written contracts establishing salary, benefits, and other conditions of employment. Such contracts will be on file in the district office.

“The board will determine administrator compensation in consultation with the superintendent.

“Renewal and/or nonrenewal of administrator contracts will be according to statutory provisions.”

A link to the full policy is here: https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/wwusd/Board.nsf/files/CZMTKA778418/$file/222.1%2C%20Administrator%20Contracts.pdf.

Policy 672.1

The policy was adopted by the school board in 1984 and last revised in 2023.

As stated in the document, “This policy sets forth requirements and expectations related to methods of procurement. The superintendent and director of business services have primary administrative responsibility for directing and overseeing the implementation of this policy as a component of the district’s overall purchasing procedures, and within a system of internal controls that supports the district’s processes for budgeting, purchase management, accounting and financial management, and property disposition.

“Employee must not disaggregate a purchase into multiple transactions with the intent and purpose of avoiding a cost threshold that requires a more demanding purchasing method.”

Cost thresholds are set within the policy to determine whether purchases must be sent out to bid. Purchases of $10,000 or more, with some exceptions, require advance board approval, according to the policy.

A link to the full policy is here: https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/wwusd/Board.nsf/files/CZMTKC778728/$file/672.1%2C%20Methods%20of%20Purchasing.pdf.

Policy 672.2

The policy was adopted by the school board in 2019. No revision dates are listed.

The policy sets standards of conduct in purchasing and contracting, noting that the board is committed to processes that promote “responsible stewardship and expenditure of district funds.”

In addition, the policy has language which specifically addresses a standard of conduct “imposed by the board and by related state and federal laws, including as examples, the state’s Code of Ethics for Local Government Officials.”

A link to the full policy is here: https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/wwusd/Board.nsf/files/CZMTKL778BFF/$file/672.2%2C%20Standards%20of%20Conduct%20in%20Purchasing%20and%20Contracting.pdf.