School Board Meeting 4/29/2026
Full Video Recording - 4/29/2026
This school board meeting consisted of several consecutive meetings: organizational, instruction, finance, regular business, and committee of the whole.
There was no specific discussion of the referendum during these meetings. We include these notes because it’s important to see the regular work the board/administration is doing, and items like teacher compensation and early debt payoff are tangentially related to future referendum work.
Main Takeaways
The school board elected their President (Kristin Bencik-Boudreau), Vice President (Lynn Raines) and Treasurer (Pam Woodard) for the upcoming year. They approved their policies, meeting dates and committee appointments for the next year.
The school board approved additional compensation increase $500 per teacher for the 2026-2027 school year. Including the already budgeted CPI increase of 2.63%, this additional amount brings the total increase to teacher compensation to 3.33%. For additional information, see this memo.
The finance committee shared various other items including: creative staff sharing with Nicolet, renewing the Milestones’ lease at Lydell through 2029, debt payment strategy to finish paying the debt from the 2009 referendum, and healthcare renewals. The board also acknowledged the $114,000 donation from Bay Ball.
The district presented the professional development plan for the 2026-27 year. They also presented how they plan to prepare for generative AI in the curriculum and instruction. They emphasized training teachers in AI use before expanding formal student policies.
Full Notes
*These are unofficial notes from the video recording of the meeting. AI was used to create these notes. They were reviewed by a community member.
This meeting included annual board organization items, committee assignments, instructional planning updates, financial discussions, and several operational updates. While referendum discussion was largely absent, conversations touched on broader district priorities, long-term planning, and stewardship of district resources.
Board Reorganization and Committee Assignments
The meeting began with annual board organizational votes, including reelection of board leadership positions. Dr. Kristin Bencik-Boudreau was reelected board president, Lynn Raines was reelected vice president and clerk, and Pam Woodard was reelected treasurer.
Board members also discussed committee assignments for the upcoming year, including buildings and grounds, finance, instruction, negotiations, policy, technology, facilities planning, and teaching and learning committees.
There was discussion about increasing board participation on certain committees, particularly Teaching and Learning Council, to allow more board perspectives and continuity across discussions. They also discussed balancing workloads across committees and ensuring newer members had opportunities to participate in district planning work.
Professional Development Planning for 2026–27
One of the largest presentations of the night focused on the district’s professional development plan for the upcoming school year. Administrators described the district’s overall philosophy of creating an “exceptional place to learn” and an “exceptional place to work” through continuous staff learning and support. Much of the presentation focused on how professional development has become more personalized and role-specific over time.
Several major instructional initiatives were discussed, including:
implementation of the new Benchmark Advance literacy curriculum
required Act 20 literacy training
curriculum review work
and the district’s ongoing “SALE” continuous improvement process
Administrators described how elementary teachers spent significant time this year preparing for Benchmark Advance implementation and participating in foundational literacy training required under Wisconsin Act 20. The district plans to continue that work next year with additional curriculum unpacking sessions and coaching support.
The presentation also emphasized increased focus on teacher collaboration, curriculum alignment, and providing professional development tailored to specific subject areas and specialist roles. An example was sending the entire art department to the National Art Education Conference in Chicago.
Administrators repeatedly emphasized the importance of giving teachers time to apply learning rather than simply delivering large amounts of information during training sessions. One administrator reflected that earlier professional development models sometimes overloaded staff with too much content at once, while newer approaches prioritize collaboration and classroom application.
The district also shared staff survey data showing very high satisfaction with current professional development structures.
AI Discussion and Future Instructional Planning
One of the most detailed discussions of the meeting focused on generative AI and how the district plans to approach AI tools moving forward.
Administrators explained that staff are beginning to use AI tools as part of curriculum planning work and are also being asked to think through broader instructional implications of AI.
The district described introducing staff to tools like NotebookLM and Google Gemini during recent collaboration sessions and acknowledged that teacher comfort levels currently vary significantly: some staff are already advanced AI users while others have very limited experience with the tools.
Administrators emphasized that the district is intentionally focusing first on adult learning before expanding formal classroom AI usage for students. Board members asked how the district plans to balance instructional innovation, academic integrity and responsible student use of AI. Administrators described early discussions around creating clearer classroom expectations, including “zero AI” assignments, assignments where AI may assist editing or refinement and teaching students how to use AI tools responsibly rather than simply banning them outright.
One administrator also acknowledged the practical reality that students already have access to these tools outside the school network and that the district needs to prepare for that reality rather than assuming AI can simply be blocked completely.
A notable moment during public comment came from a Whitefish Bay High School senior and Tower Times reporter who raised concerns about AI disrupting classroom learning. The student described seeing assignments in English classes repeatedly reformatted because of AI misuse and asked whether the district had considered stronger restrictions until systems for responsible student use are better developed. Board members cannot directly engage in discussion during public comment but thanked the student for raising the concern and said administrators would follow up afterward.
Finance Committee Updates
The finance portion of the meeting covered several operational and long-term financial planning topics.
Administrators shared that the district’s self-funded health insurance plan is currently performing better than projected, which helped produce a more favorable insurance renewal than initially expected. The district was able to secure more competitive stop-loss coverage through a new carrier, which administrators said should help stabilize future costs as well.
The board also discussed a staffing-sharing agreement with Nicolet High School that would allow a business education teacher to split time between districts while remaining a full-time employee. Administrators described the arrangement as a creative staffing solution that helps avoid reducing the position to part-time while also helping Nicolet fill a staffing need.
Another discussion focused on renewal of the district’s Milestones lease agreement, which supports programming at the district’s Lydell facility. Board members emphasized the value of the partnership and its benefit to families in the community.
The board also approved an additional compensation increase $500 per teacher for the 2026-2027 school year. Including the already budgeted CPI increase of 2.63%, this additional amount brings the total increase to teacher compensation to 3.33%. For additional information, see this memo. This was discussed at the 4/8 board meeting.
Debt Payoff and State Aid Discussion
One of the more substantial financial discussions focused on a proposal to pay off the district’s remaining referendum debt early. Administrators explained that early payoff would save approximately $26,000 in interest costs and potentially increase projected state aid by roughly $600,000 the following year due to Wisconsin’s equalization aid formula.
The discussion included explanation of how district spending interacts with state aid calculations and how Whitefish Bay sits near a threshold where relatively small spending changes can significantly impact aid received from the state.
Board members framed the proposal as both responsible long-term financial management and an opportunity to reduce taxpayer costs while maximizing available state support.
The conversation also included reflection on the long-term impact of the district’s previous referendum investments and recognition that community support from nearly two decades ago continues benefiting current students today.
Bay Ball Donation Announcement
The meeting also included recognition of a major donation from the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation tied to this year’s Bay Ball fundraiser. Bay Ball raised approximately $114,000, which will support playground projects at Cumberland and Richards and PTO funding for the middle and high school
Event organizers described the fundraiser as a large community effort involving more than 500 attendees, dozens of volunteers and sponsors and extensive coordination with district staff
Board members repeatedly emphasized appreciation for the strong community support and volunteer effort involved in organizing the event.
Overall Tone of the Meeting
The overall tone of the meeting was operational, collaborative, and forward-looking.
Unlike several previous meetings focused heavily on referendum reflection and community engagement, this meeting concentrated more on district management, instructional planning, long-term financial stewardship and emerging educational challenges like AI
The AI discussion in particular stood out as one of the more substantive and future-oriented conversations of the night, with administrators and board members openly acknowledging both the opportunities and uncertainty surrounding rapidly evolving technology in schools.
Public Comment
If you’d like to review public comments, please see full video. Each meeting had period of public comment. The only public comment was made after the professional learning discussion at 36:00.
