By Kim McDarison
An approximately 10-minute special open-session meeting, followed by a closed-session meeting, was held by the School District of Fort Atkinson Board of Education Tuesday afternoon to decide the fate of employees who will likely receive preliminary notices of non-renewal from the district effective for the 2023-24 school year.
The notices of non-renewal were initially discussed by the board during a special meeting held Thursday, April 6, after the district learned that unofficial April 4 election results posted by clerks in counties in which the school district resides showed that the district’s voters did not approve the $8 million operational referendum question, which had been placed on the ballot.
The failure to pass the referendum has left the district with a $6.8 million spending gap which, district officials have said, needs to be closed over the next five years.
During the April 6 special meeting, board of education members chose one of three options presented during the meeting, each of which offered various financial configurations to close the operational funding gap, with two of the three necessitating the production of some preliminary slips of non-renewal. Another option leaned more heavily on the district’s fund balance to close the gap. The board chose Option 2, which depended less heavily on funds from the district’s fund balance, and would necessitate downsizing the district’s workforce by possibly as many as 20 certified teachers and staff members.
During the April 6 meeting, a timeline for producing preliminary and final notices of non-renewal for the identified staff members was shared as follows: preliminary notices of non-renewal would require board approval by April 20. Final notices of non-renewal would require board approval by early May. The board would need to take action on the first set of measures during a special meeting set for Tuesday, April 18, at 4:30 p.m. A second special meeting was scheduled for Monday, May 8 at 4:30 p.m.
An earlier story, outlining the three options presented to the board on April 6, board discussion, and its decision to chose “Option 2,” is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/fort-school-board-advises-staffing-reductions-in-response-to-failed-referendum/.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the board, during its open session, unanimously approved a resolution which will allow members of certified staff who were being considered for notices of non-renewal effective next school year, who meet the eligibility criteria for post employment benefits as outlined in section 17 of the certified staff employment handbook, to access such benefits, either through non-renewal or approval of resignation retirement in lieu of non-renewal.
Before the vote was taken, School District of Fort Atkinson Superintendent Rob Abbott said approval of the resolution would give those individuals, “if they have learned that they are going to be considered for a non-renewal due to downsizing, this would give them the opportunity to still get the district-approved post retirement benefits which they’ve been assured.”
Said Abbott: “I think all are aware, on Thursday evening, the board will consider preliminary notices of non-renewal for some certified staff members.”
Abbott said the option would apply to members of certified staff “who are laid off through that process and are deemed eligible by our full retirement, given the provisions within the employee handbook — we are asking that the board consider affording those employees all of their post retirement benefits that they have accrued in their tenure here in the School District of Fort Atkinson.”
Board of Education President Kory Knickrehm said: “So this is a slightly different position than we’ve taken in the past, but this is something that they have accrued and earned over their number of years.”
Abbott responded: “Yes, so this in not the incentive that we’ve talked about previously, and we have extended the retirement date in the past. What this is doing is giving people options if they want, if they have learned that they are going to be considered for a non-renewal due to downsizing.”
Board member Robynn Selle asked if the criteria for the incentive program was the same as the criteria for the retirements.
Abbott said it was, in that the provisions that are required for retirement are the same.
Abbott said the resolution would “provide for some options, so if someone learned that they were going to be considered for preliminary non-renewal, they would be able to consider retirement as opposed to a non-renewal. Of course that’s not performance-related. But nonetheless, we thought it would be nice if people had some options. They could make a resignation prior to that process being engaged on Thursday. They could retire prior to that process Thursday or they could also move through the preliminary notice non-renewal process as well. So we tried to give people as much flexibility that they needed coming into Thursday.
“This is coming from a staff request, which I think is a very valid request,” he said.
After approving the resolution, the board moved into closed session, not to reconvene in open session, to discuss “employment in relation to budgetary staff reductions and the issuance of preliminary notices of non-renewal of individual employees for the 2023-24 school year pursuant to state statute 118.22.”
The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, April 20.
Members of the School District of Fort Atkinson Board of Education meet Tuesday afternoon. The special meeting included a short open-session during which board members unanimously approved a resolution, allowing certified staff members who may have learned they will be receiving notices of non-renewal effective next school year to, if they are eligible, apply for retirement instead of undergoing the non-renewal process. The board next moved into closed session to discuss non-renewals. The board did not state plans to reconvene in open session Tuesday. Screen shot photo.
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