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Appleton Area School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet

3 h 04 min · 1 public speaker

Discussed vouchers and school choice

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 3 h 04 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Appleton staff present balanced preliminary 2026⁠-⁠2027 budget of $243,850,725 24:07

  • The staff member described a plan to cover a projected cash flow gap of at least $15 million with a City of Appleton line of credit of up to $20 million and $15 million in fixed notes, with resolutions to come at the next meeting. 1:19:58
  • Board members discussed the charter school contract renewal process, and a staff member said contracts can run from 1 to 5 years. 1:39:12
  • The board also discussed revisions to policies on rules of order, public input at committee meetings and attendance. 2:28:30

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda 0:08
    • The meeting opened with a roll call of board members and the Pledge of Allegiance. 0:08
    • No board member asked to remove a consent agenda item, and a motion to approve the agenda was made and seconded. 1:03
  2. Public input 1:43
    • Speakers at public comment introduced a new online local news outlet that planned to launch later this month and asked the public to suggest stories. 4:26
  3. Board development on Robert's Rules 9:11
    • A staff member said a board member had asked to review Robert's Rules of Order and that staff would collect procedural questions, research them and report back at a future meeting. 9:34
    • Speakers raised waiting to be recognized by the chair, addressing remarks to the chair and when motions are out of order. 12:10
    • Further discussion was moved to the agenda item on Policy 181. 18:04
  4. Business and personnel updates 18:20
    • A business services staff member presented the accounts payable check register for August as part of the superintendent's consent agenda. 18:22
    • A personnel services staff member listed 9 new educator hires, 51 professional educator contract changes and 3 educator resignations. 18:57
    • The personnel staff member said about 5.5 FTE in special education was not covered with regular hires. 20:04
  5. Board consent agenda minutes 22:16
    • A motion to approve one set of meeting minutes was made and seconded, and a roll call vote was taken. 22:16
  6. Superintendent's consent agenda 23:04
    • A staff member recommended approval of items 8A through D, and a motion to approve them was made and seconded before a roll call. 23:09
  7. Budget expense and preliminary budget report 24:07
    • A business services staff member said the preliminary budget still assumed a 10% increase in healthcare costs and that Fund 10 expenses were estimated at nearly $244 million. 26:27
    • The staff member said the preliminary budget was balanced at $243,850,725 and would be fine-tuned over the next 6 weeks. 1:01:36
    • The staff member listed health insurance, transportation, enrollment, special education numbers and grant funding as risks to the budget. 1:02:51
  8. Student research survey notice 1:09:48
    • A staff member said students at Madison Middle School and East High School would take an anonymous annual survey on screen use, facilitated by UW-Madison. 1:11:35
    • The staff member said parents would be notified, could view the survey and could opt their students out. 1:13:12
    • One board member said the district should make sure of the timing of the survey. 1:13:48
  9. Preliminary budget and tax levy 1:14:49
    • A staff member said approving a preliminary budget and tax levy allows tax notes to be issued before final budget approval, with the final levy to be set on October 26th, 2026. 1:15:59
    • A motion to approve the 2026⁠-⁠2027 preliminary budget and preliminary tax levy was made and seconded. 1:17:20
    • One speaker said the speaker planned to vote for the item and hoped the final budget would reflect a stable, predictable tax rate. 1:17:38
  10. Short-term borrowing for cash flow 1:19:10
    • A staff member said the district anticipated a gap of at least $15 million before the December state aid payment and proposed a City of Appleton line of credit of up to $20 million at the federal rate of 3.63% plus 2%. 1:19:58
    • The staff member described a second option of $15 million in fixed notes through PMA at 3.75%, with an estimated net cost of the combined strategy between $105,000 and $110,000. 1:22:33
    • The staff member said both resolutions would be brought to the next meeting. 1:36:54
  11. Charter school contract renewal process 1:38:54
    • One board member said the board should vote charter contracts up or down rather than making fine changes during meetings. 1:42:32
    • One board member said charter renewals are not a slam dunk and asked to see evidence of recruitment efforts and transportation development. 1:46:16
    • A staff member said contracts can run 1 to 5 years, and the schools up for renewal were identified as Renaissance, Wisconsin Connections Academy and Tesla. 2:18:07
  12. Rules of order policy 2:28:30
    • Nick Ross outlined proposals to direct comments to the chair and require recognition to speak, and noted a discrepancy with the board's GC2 governing commitments. 2:29:29
    • One board member proposed modifying the coherent governance language to remove the requirement to be recognized to speak. 2:39:33
    • The policy was sent back to the Policy Committee for more edits. 2:42:29
  13. Public input at committee meetings 2:42:29
    • One board member asked how board committee meetings should incorporate public participation and suggested language giving committees more leeway. 2:42:43
    • One board member said limiting comments to agenda topics is important at committee meetings but not necessary at Board of Education meetings. 2:48:49
  14. Attendance policy update 2:53:05
    • A staff member said the City of Appleton no longer has a truancy ordinance and recommended removing the policy section on it. 2:53:20
    • The staff member said an Attendance Improvement Workgroup would meet next week. 2:57:07
    • A speaker said the board would be asked to vote on the policy at the next meeting. 3:03:15
  15. Adjournment 3:03:31
    • The next meeting was announced as a board work session on Wednesday, September 23rd, and a motion to adjourn was made and seconded. 3:03:31

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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