Board Responsibilities
The Wauwatosa School District is a public school district that represents the interests of a diverse and highly engaged community. The Board of Education values the perspectives, input and insight of its stakeholders and believes that effective engagement strengthens the Board’s role as an active, informed and engaged governing body.
The role of the Board is to advance public education, to develop informed policy and to make prudent financial decisions for the Wauwatosa School District. Its role is also to ensure that effective and visionary leadership is provided by the superintendent through proper selection and evaluation.
As the elected governing body of the Wauwatosa School District, the Board of Education is responsible for:
Establishing policy. District administrators implement policy and oversee school operations.
Employing and evaluating the superintendent, the chief executive who oversees all operations of the Wauwatosa School District.
Advocating for students with lawmakers.
Reviewing, prioritizing and approving the annual budget.
Setting the annual local school levy.
Collaboratively working with district and school leaders to direct the Wauwatosa School District’s educational goals.
Engaging, listening and interpreting the needs of the community regarding the educational program.
Engaging, listening and effectively communicating with stakeholders.
Reviewing and ratifying employee contract recommendations.
Consistently and strategically planning for short-term and long-term financial and facility needs of the District
Maintaining a strategic plan.
The Board of Education as a Governing Body
The Wauwatosa School Board may only act at a legally convened board meeting. Board members do not have the authority to act individually in the name of the Board of Education.
Board Governance
The Wauwatosa Board of Education provides oversight that enables the public education system to successfully achieve the ideals and goals set out in the strategic plan. The Board uses a governance model to achieve the strategic goals of the organization. Governance is the process of providing strategic leadership to a school district by executing the following functions:
Setting a strategic vision
Revising, reviewing and developing policy
Reviewing and approving a budget that is aligned with the strategic plan
Overseeing and monitoring organizational performance, recruiting, hiring and evaluating the superintendent
Ensuring overall accountability within the school district
The board ensures that all members have the knowledge, skills, and support necessary to carry out excellence in governance by training new members and candidates, as well as maintaining and increasing the skills and knowledge of its current members. The board engages in external monitoring in order to exercise confident control over organizational performance.
Board Accountability
An essential aspect to governing the Wauwatosa School District is to ensure that the District’s strategic plan is being properly implemented. To that end, the Board of Education receives updates on critical data points that informs the health and direction of the school district.
Overall, the Board of Education closely monitors the outcomes and impact that the system is having on the performance of our students through the following:
Annual Report
Strategic Plan
District Milestones
School Growth Plan Tracker
Governance Dashboard
Community Engagement
The Wauwatosa Board of Education welcomes opportunities to engage with citizens and the community. Stakeholders are encouraged to reach out to the Board of Education collectively or to individual members. There are several channels by which members of the public can communicate with board members directly, including via email (using individual email addresses) or emailing the board collectively via publiccomment@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us. Citizens are also welcomed to use the public comment portion of school board meetings to comment on topics in front of the Board of Education.
The Board often holds engagement sessions with the community. Feedback received at previous engagement sessions can be found below.