School board meeting preview

The Wauwatosa School Board will meet for its first meeting of the month on Monday, September 11, 2023. The meeting will be held at the Fisher Administration Building (12121 West North Ave.) in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. A link to the meeting livestream can be found here

Please note that the Wauwatosa School District will now be utilizing WebEx for its livestreaming services. Virtual attendees will not be required to download WebEx software, and can simply join the meeting virtually from an internet browser. 

Following review of the Consent Agenda and associated public comment, MD Roffers Consulting will present its Community Change + Enrollment Projections Report

The Wauwatosa School District is in the early stages of a long-range facilities planning effort via a committee called the Tosa 2075 Task Force. The Community Change + Projections Report has been presented to members of the Tosa 21075 Task Force and will assist them in understanding the impact of the anticipated residential and demographic forecast as it relates to future student enrollment. Task force members will use this report to gain an understanding of where enrollment changes may occur and how the enrollment projections compare with our schools’ current capacities. 

In the development of this report, MD Roffers has reviewed enrollment trends for various grade levels and geographic areas within the District boundaries; reviewed recent, pending, planned, and potential residential development proposals; analyzed City of Wauwatosa development plans and road/utility system capabilities; engaged with municipal planning staff and residential real estate professionals in Wauwatosa; assessed demographic, housing market and economic trends affecting community growth and enrollment; reviewed student-per-housing unit data for various types of housing within District boundaries; and compared projected enrollment values to the capacity of each existing school. 

The methodology used by MD Roffers is based upon a professional analysis of local and regional plans, the plans of private housing developers, and emerging housing growth and market conditions. The methodology focuses on housing and demographic dynamics within older, emerging, and changing neighborhoods within the Wauwatosa School District, illustrating that neighborhoods generate students at different rates and at different times in their evolution. The methodology relies on computations of expected ratios of students per housing unit in each neighborhood over time, and accounts for the Wauwatosa School District’s school assignment policies. The methodology is described in detail within Appendix A. 

The report indicates that the Wauwatosa School District resident enrollment projections are predicted to remain relatively flat, or to increase slightly.

Because this is not an action item, no public comment will be heard regarding this report.  

Following this report, the Board will conduct an initial reading of the following policies: 

  • 5120 - Assignment With District

  • 0144.5 - Board Member Behavior and Code of Conduct

  • 0145 - Board Member Anti-Harassment

  • 0152 - Officers

  • 0155 - Committees

  • 0162 - Quorum

  • 0165.4 - Virtual Meetings

  • 0166 - Agenda

  • 0166.1 - Consent Agenda 

  • 0167.5 - Use of Electronic Mail

  • 0168.1 - Meeting Minutes

  • 0175 - Association Memberships

  • 0175.1 - School Board Conferences, Conventions, and Workshops

No public comment will be heard on these items, as the Board will not be asked to take action at this meeting. 

Please note that although policy 5120 appeared on the agenda for the August 28, 2023 meeting, the Board tabled discussion related to that policy. Therefore, it has been placed on the agenda for September 11, 2023 for a first reading. 

As stated in the August 28 Board Meeting Preview, the portion of this policy regarding the McKinley attendance zone will be tabled, and any recommendation regarding the McKinley attendance zone will be brought forth by the Tosa 2075 Task Force. In short, the Board will not be voting to modify the attendance zone area for McKinley Elementary School prior to receiving a recommendation from the Tosa 2075 Task Force and conducting listening sessions to ensure the perspective and input from all stakeholders can be considered

The Board will also conduct a second reading of the following policies: 

  • 0144.1 - Compensation

  • 0165.1 - Notice of Meetings

  • 0165.2 - Change of Regular Meetings

  • 0167.3 - Public Comment at Board Meetings

  • 0172 - Legal Counsel

Because the Board will be asked to vote on these policies after this second reading, public comment will be heard. 

Opportunity for public comment on non-agenda items will be provided immediately following the Call to Order and immediately preceding the Board’s adjournment into an Executive (Closed) Session related to discussion of an investigation into allegations of misconduct by a School Board member.

Thank you, 

Wauwatosa School District