Open enrollment concerns could affect the WBSD budget

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District has been working to address wage and open enrollment issues to help stabilize the budget for the 2020-2021 school year in the midst of uncertainty due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.

WBSD is planning to reopen this fall with the traditional face-to-face classroom environment. For those parents who want their children to use online education, the district is in partnership with EdOptions Academy based in Bloomington, Minnesota.

According to the website, www.edmentum.com, is a fully accredited K-12 online school and has partnerships with over 480 school districts. Their teachers are state certified and can accommodate a variety of students with special needs or gifted or even with limited English comprehension skills.

Although there are many online options available, using EdOptions Academy would have the students listed as part of the school district and therefore not counted as a part of open enrollment. The students would also be able to participate in field trips and other extracurricular programs.

Remaining as a WBSD student is an important part of the annual school budget as each open enrollment student represents $10,000 coming into or going out of the district. Traditionally, the school district has made money on the open enrollment option, but this year could be different if parents decide to keep their children home and use a different online education system.

“The open enrollment factor could be a nasty one,” said WBSD Superintendent Garrett Rogowski, at the board meeting on July 27.

He explained that each child coming in or going out of the district represents $10,000 per child per year. With 130-140 students per year enrolled in open enrollment, that is a $1.14 million line item in the budget said Rogowski. Currently, WBSD takes in more students than they lose from the Antigo, Tigerton and Bowler school districts. WBSD includes the Hatley area and many of those children who are within a two mile distance of their home go to the Hatley Elementary and then on to DC Everest High School.

Rogowski has been in contact with many of the parents to have them sign up by Aug. 7 so that the board has a good idea of what to expect at the next board meeting, which will be the annual WBSD annual meeting. So far the district office have only had six parents respond prior to the deadline.

The school board has been in contact with other districts regarding pay raises for teachers. The board felt it was in the best interest of the teachers to provide raises at the beginning of this school year rather than waiting for the finalization of the budget.

Board President Chuck Wendler acknowledged that the teachers worked hard to make the last part of the 2019-2020 term work in spite of the challenges brought about by the pandemic. By offering a pay raise at this time he hopes to take away some of the stress the teachers are under as they go into the new school year.

The board voted to raise the base pay by $200 for each teacher. Base salaries now start at $32,800 per and tap out at $63,000. Of the 92 teachers there are 26 who have been with WBSD for a long time and each of those will receive a one time payout of $800.

The annual meeting where the budget will be presented will be held on Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School auditorium.

mnelson@newmedia-wi.com