CONSOLIDATION. Herman #22, Neosho J3, Rubicon J6. Honoring the past, Embracing the future. Neosho JT3 School District PO Box 17 Neosho, WI 53059

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1 Neosho JT3 School District PO Box 17 Neosho, WI Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Milwaukee, WI Permit No. 1 Herman #22, Neosho J3, Rubicon J6 CONSOLIDATION Herman l Neosho l Rubicon School District Honing the past, Embracing the future

2 Herman #22, Neosho J3, Rubicon J6 CONSOLIDATION After though review of a budget fecast financial study and our community survey results (75.1% of the survey responses were in fav of consolidation), the Herman #22, Neosho J3, and Rubicon J6 School Boards made a verbal commitment to consolidate effective Since February, a Tri-School District Consolidation Committee has been wking collabatively to develop a Mission & Vision Statement f the consolidated district, a list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding consolidation, and a draft of the official Resolution to Order Consolidation. Herman l Neosho l Rubicon School District Consolidated School District Mission & Vision Statement Mission Statement Vision We will... Bringing communities together to educate and inspire. Honing the past while embracing the future. PROVIDE all students with the experiences and personalized learning opptunities to reach their fullest potential. COME TOGETHER as staff, parents, and community members to model and serve as lifelong learners. HELP each student develop a foundation to become a responsible, respectful, and productive citizen. ENSURE a safe environment and a nurturing atmosphere where all students excel.

3 Consolidation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) FACILITIES Will one of the school buildings need to close? The preliminary recommendation presented to the Boards in October 2014 was to close Herman School in der to permit additional student and teacher collabation and a me efficient model of education delivery. The estimated savings associated with closing Herman School is $250,000 that could be used to assist in program expansion, limit bus times f children, and suppt balanced class sizes. The Boards will need to wk together to determine the future of the vacant building and encourage innovative ideas from all community members. Which buildings will be used f what grade levels? The current recommendation is to use Neosho School as an Elementary (Grades 4K-4) and Saylesville School as an Intermediate School (Grades 5-8). The consolidated model will experience program expansion of Summer School and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten. We are currently expling offering the option of 4K at both remaining school sites but will need to consider the financial implications and staffing efficiencies associated with operating two sites. STAFFING & ADMINISTRATION Who will be the administration? The Board was presented a recommendation to redistribute the FTE (full-time equivalency) currently allotted to administration in der to staff one Superintendent/Business Manager and a Principal. In addition, existing funds would be allotted to suppt a Direct of Curriculum and Instruction to codinate program expansion, professional development, and the curriculum transition f the combined district. Will teachers maintain jobs? Yes! The administrative recommendation is to wk with the existing staff to smooth out class sizes, limit the amount of required blended learning sections (multi-age classrooms), and permit me focused assignments f Grades 6-8 staff. Currently, all three school districts have reduced staff to a point of absolute necessity. One of the primary objectives of consolidation is to maintain (expand) quality programs while balancing small class sizes. As a result, the preliminary staffing recommendations resulted in $28,000 in savings which could be dedicated to program expansion/suppt. All three school districts are facing a need f budget reductions in As always, staffing levels will need to be adjusted to reflect incoming revenues and expenses. School district consolidation is a way to ensure that we can continue our commitment to small class sizes in a caring rural school learning community.

4 Consolidation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) STAFFING & ADMINISTRATION (cont.) What will happen to class sizes? The goal is to offer a dual track model (two teachers per grade level) f students. As a result, the average class size is projected to be 19. Special education staffing will continue to directly reflect student need while counseling and school psychologist services will experience an increase to help suppt the increased student population. SCHOOL BOARD What will the new school board look like? The current Board members will be considered the Joint Interim Board. The first election of school board members in a newly created school district will occur during the spring election in The new school board members take an oath of office the 4th Monday in April 2016 following the election, provided they have taken an oath of office. The resolution to der consolidation includes specifically: the number of new board members (5) and the terms f each of the positions. TRANSPORTATION What will happen to our bus routes? All three school districts currently contract our bus services through Wittenberger Bus Company. Our initial conversations with Wittenberger resulted in a recommendation to add one (1) bus route to our contracts in der to reduce drive time f students being transpted from the most nthern ption of the new district. The two remaining buildings will require staggered start/stop times in der to provide two pick up/drop off locations. In , the Elementary School (Grades 4K-4) will no longer be required to run the extended minutes to align with the DPI required middle school schedule. As a result, the adjusted instruction time will most likely be a slight reduction of the elementary schedule and an addition of time to the Intermediate School (Grades 5-8) schedule. Our existing Four-Year-Old Kindergarten schedule will need to be adjusted in der to eliminate the need to cover the 90 square mile school district two times during the middle of the school day.

5 Consolidation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) FINANCIAL What kind of aid does the state provide as an incentive to consolidate? Per State Statutes (6)(e) and (7)(e), consolidated school districts receive an incentive aid (not tax) f seven (7) years. The Baird study repts the first four (4) years of projected consolidation aid as follows: $642,567 $640,420 $665,237 $689,471 The total estimated aid the consolidated district will received is $5,000,000 over the seven year period. Consolidation aid is received outside of the revenue limit, and because it is not ongoing revenue, it is typically earmarked f one-time expenses. What will happen to the school districts pri existing debt when the three school districts become one? Currently each district has debt associated with unfunded liability and/ facilities. The debt of each district will become the liability of the consolidated school district. However, the existing debt is built into each school district s existing mill rate (property taxes) and has been calculated into the consolidated model. No new tax would be required as a result of pri school district liabilities. In contrast, if a school district was to dissolve, the state of Wisconsin would determine how to distribute their liabilities (debt) and assets. There is a chance that an area school could be assigned the debt of a dissolved district that would be added to their existing mill rate. This would result in an increase tax f the district that is assigned the new liabilities.

6 Consolidation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) What will happen to my taxes when the three school districts consolidate? Typically, in the first year of a consolidation, the tax rate f the consolidated school district will fall between the projected tax rates. Due to the stabilized projected enrollment, the fecast model projects a consolidated mill rate that is relatively stable and similar to the Neosho J3 School District mill rate ($6.31). A $100,000 home would see the following consolidated school based property tax: $655 $639 $634 $652 All three school districts project deficit budgets due to diminishing state revenues in and beyond. Both Herman #22 School District and Rubicon J6 School District will require a referendum to continue operating in face dissolution. Neosho J3 School District will require a referendum f operations to continue operating in face dissolution. A referendum f operations will require an increase in property taxes in der to suppt the school districts. The consolidated school district will continue to wk within the revenue limit established by the state of Wisconsin. No referendums f operations are projected to occur (at minimum through 2022) due to the consolidated efficiencies and considerable incentive aid (not tax) granted to the new district by the state of Wisconsin to suppt the consolidation. What happens if the consolidation does not occur in ? The three school districts can only be involved in one consolidation efft at a time. As a result, the districts are not able to fmally consider der consolidation with districts that are not a part of this official process. The Department of Public Instruction has been notified of our official der to consider consolidation that was adopted in September As a result, the DPI is waiting to receive notice of the school district action by July 31, Should the school districts not move ahead with consolidation, official ders to consider consolidation with another school district could only occur after our timeline has passed. The earliest possible date to consider an alternative consolidation model would be August 1, 2015 resulting in the earliest consolidation effective date of July A school district cannot consider the fmal process of dissolution while they are pursuing consolidation. Based upon the Baird Financial Study, without consolidation, both the Herman #22 School District and the Rubicon J6 School District are projected to require a referendum f operations in (new tax) experience dissolution (no longer exist). The Neosho J3 School District faces a similar experience in A referendum f operations will result in increased mill rates and the financial impact of dissolution is unknown. It is imptant to note that a community will continue to pay taxes f public schools regardless of dissolution.

7 JUNE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS NEOSHO Thursday, June 23 6:00 pm RUBICON Wednesday, June 17 7:00 pm HERMAN Thursday, June 18 6:00 pm Scott Sabol District Administrat Neosho J3 School District Scott Sabol District Administrat Rubicon J6 School District John Mason District Administrat Herman #22 School District ORDER OF SCHOOL DISTRICT REORGANIZATION Based on Consolidation The boards of education of: Herman #22, Neosho J3, and Rubicon J6 acting pursuant to the provisions of s , Wis. Stats., do hereby der that the following school districts be dissolved, to wit: Herman #22, Neosho J3, and Rubicon J6 and that the new school district be created comprising all the territy included in the afementioned dissolved school districts. It is further dered: 1. The name of the new school district will be: Herman-Neosho-Rubicon School District as provided in s (5), Wis. Stats. 2. The type of school district structure will be: Common under s (3) and will operate under this provision of Chapter 120, Subchapters The grades to be taught in the newly created school district will be Pre-Kindergarten - Grade 8, under s (2), Wis. Stats. 4. The school board of the newly created school district will be composed of five members, under s , Wis. Stats. 5. The method of election of school board members of the newly created school district will be at large in accdance with s and , Wis. Stats. 6. The date of election of the first school board of the newly created school district will be the 5th day of April, 2016, under s (2)(b), Wis. Stats. 7. The time and place of the first annual meeting, if one is held, of the newly created district will be 6:00 p.m. on the 27th day of October 2016, at 201 Center Street, Neosho, WI in accdance with s (1), Wis. Stats. 1/12/00 8. The effective date of this reganization will be the 1st day of July, 2016, in accdance with s (4),Wis. Stats. Dated this 15 th day of July, 2015.

8 TRI-SCHOOL DISTRICT FINANCIAL CROSSROAD Herman #22 School District WITHOUT CONSOLIDATION Neosho J3 School District Operational Referendum (NEW TAX) Dissolution (NO DISTRICT) Sht-term Browing (Loan) Operational Referendum (NEW TAX) Dissolution (NO DISTRICT) Rubicon J6 School District Sht-term Browing (Loan) Operational Referendum (NEW TAX) Dissolution (NO DISTRICT) CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT Herman - Neosho- Rubicon School District Annual Efficiency Savings & Consolidation Incentive Aide (NO NEW TAX) $ 892,567 $ 890,420 $ 915,237 $ 939,471