Boots & Sabers

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Tag: Hartford School District

Hartford School Board Protects Girls

Good for them. We win back this country at the local level with work like this.

HARTFORD — The Hartford Union High School (HUHS) Board voted not to accept a revised definition of the term “sex” under Title IX on Monday night.

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The current HUHS process regarding students wanting to use different pronouns or a different name would not change. The school would still contact the parents and set up a meeting or have conversations with the parents, and only the parents’ written permission would allow HUHS to address the student by that name or pronouns.

School Board President Tracy Hennes, also a Moms for Liberty member said the Title IX document itself is very long and complex and it feels like the Department of Education is trying to force districts to accept it in an election year, as well as that there are required trainings for staff that would have to be implemented before the school year.

HUHS Board member Nolan Jackett said he was hesitant to accept the revised policy, due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises V. Raimondo, which struck down Chevron Deference (an administrative law principle that compelled federal courts to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statute).

 

“The Department of Education, without congressional authority, they shouldn’t be going and making drastic changes like this,” said Jackett.

 

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According to HUHS Board member Heather Barrie, based on paraphrasing what both Hennes and Lacy said, if this is not a reasonable way for the government to act, the district shouldn’t go along with it and they should wait for the current challenges to the policy to go through the court system (which could take “years and years and years,” according to Lacy).

 

HUHS Board member Craig Westfall motioned to approve the revised policy, but no other members, which included Hennes, Jackett and Barrie, seconded the motion, thus it failed and the current policy will stay on the books. HUHS Board member Don Pridemore did not attend the meeting.

 

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Lacy said it is likely that HUHS will be hit with an audit from the U.S. Department of Education, through the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, for not approving the revised Title IX policy.

That last sentence is why we need to get rid of the Department of Education. Not only has it failed to improve educational outcomes despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars, but it is also how they federal government bullies local communities into adopting their ideology.

Hartford School District Plans Another Tax Decrease

What a refreshing story.

A small crowd turned out for the meeting, but they approved the school district’s proposed 2018-19 budget that calls for a small decrease in the taxes district property owners will pay per thousand. The budget, which still needs the Board of Education’s final approval after they receive more financial information from the state calls for a drop from about $5.99 per thousand in 2017-18 to about $5.98 per thousand for the 2018-19 budget year.

According to information provided by the school district, the owner of a $200,000 home paid $1,198 in taxes to the district for 2017-18 and will pay slightly less for 2018-19 of about $1,196 — a decrease of about $2.

“The district total levy for the 2018-19 school year will be $9,997,988 compared with the levy of $9,788,739 for 2017-18,” said District Director of Business Services John Stellmacher. “But we are anticipating a larger drop after a significant increase in fair market values and new construction in the city of Hartford over the past year.”

Stellmacher said the balanced budget being proposed includes a 0 percent base wage increase for teaching staff but nearly $283,000 in merit pay increases for teaching staff. These increases were approved in March.

He said the district continues to use the Act 10 Tools effectively.

“Our average health insurance renewal the past 7 years has been under 2 percent. We have a rate guarantee for an under 2 percent maximum increase for 2019-20,” Stellmacher said. “The district has been able to accomplish this through purchasing power in the Waukesha County Area Schools Health Cooperative and through competitive bidding. We also have a highly engaged staff and robust wellness program that emphasizes healthy lifestyles and consumerism. Our teaching staff has a base employee contribution rate of 21 percent toward their health insurance as we’ve worked to model benefits closer to the private sector.”

Stellmacher said stability in health insurance rates has allowed the district to invest in merit pay, small elementary class sizes, facility maintenance, and high quality professional development.

Meanwhile, in West Bend, we are looking at another levy that increases the property tax levy to the maximum allowed by law, a $900k pay increase for teachers, no merit pay, and starving facility maintenance in a run-up to a massive referendum.

Hartford Schools to Decrease Levy

Looks like some decent work going on over in Hartford.

At the district’s annual meeting this week, district residents unanimously approved the district’s 2016-17 budget that includes a drop in the tax levy of about $39,000, but more significantly, a cut in the mill rate of about 26 cents per thousand. The owner of a home in the district valued at $200,000 could see a cut in their district tax bill of about $52.

“The drop in the levy, assuming 2.2 percent growth in property values, would decrease the mill rate from $6.52 per thousand to $6.36,” District Director of Business Services John Stellmacher said. “This is the sixth consecutive year the School Board has reduced the property tax levy.”

The Board has cut taxes by about $1.4 million in real dollars over the past six years. The cuts total $5.8 million when adjusted for inflation, Stellmacher said.

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