Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance - Representing the Interests of Wisconsin Students

School Start Date Repeal Materials

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 20, 2016

Check out the materials that Mike Richie, Superintendent at Northland Pines, is distributing to advocate for repeal of the school start date law.

Included is a letter of support from the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center and a resolution from the Northland Pines School Board.

Nice work, Mike!

Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »

Nygren Calls For End To Local Government Property Insurance Fund

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 15, 2016

From WisPolitics:

JFC Co-chair John Nygren is calling for the end of a program that makes property insurance available for local governments to cover their buildings, schools, libraries and motor vehicles.

Nygren, R-Marinette, also wants changes to the State Life Insurance Fund, which was created in 1911 to provide low-cost individual life insurance to Wisconsin residents. The number of policies the program offered dropped to 25,132 as of Dec. 31, compared to 31,361 at the end of 1996, according to a Legislative Audit Bureau report released this month.

“Just like with the (Local Government Property Insurance Fund), the state should not be in the life insurance business,” said Nygren, an insurance and financial services agent. “With so many viable options in the market, a state-run life insurance fund is simply duplicative and outdated.”

As part of its budget request, the Office of Commissioner of Insurance has asked for statutory changes to allow it to stop issuing new property insurance policies and renewing existing ones through the Local Government Property Insurance Fund. It is part of an effort to cease operation of the program.

More than a year ago, the LAB found the fund’s net position on June 30, 2014, was a deficit of $703,000.

Nygren said the state auditor has now reported the number of insured entities has dropped from 983 to 174, while premiums went from $23.1 million to $3.2 million.

“While I support the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance’s budget request to stop renewing and issuing new policies, we must go further,” Nygren said.

See Nygren’s statement here.

Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »

Video: Hiring & Rehiring of WRS Annuitants

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 8, 2016

Many SAA Members have expressed an interest in this video on the hiring and rehiring of WRS Annuitants of late, so we are re-posting it.

Outline For Video

(We recommend that you download the outline for the video and follow along during the video presentation.)

The combination of budget cuts and Wisconsin’s “double-dipping” statute has put Wisconsin school districts in a difficult spot when trying to find qualified teachers for hard-to-fill positions. 2013 Wisconsin Act 20 (Act 20) made substantial changes to the statutory provisions governing Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) annuitants who return to work for WRS-participating employers after retirement.

Before Act 20, districts could re-hire any retired teacher after a 30-day period of separation (break-in-service) from all WRS employment. Upon re-hire, the retiree could choose to suspend receipt of the annuity and become a WRS participant, or continue to receive the annuity, but not be a WRS-eligible participating employee. Many teachers chose the latter option and, under this arrangement, the teacher and the district were not required to make annual contributions to WRS (each paying 6.8% of the teacher’s earnings in 2015 and 6.6% in 2016). This allowed the districts to save money and fill vacant positions while making use of retirees’ considerable expertise.

This option is still available for teachers who retired on or before July 1, 2013. However, Act 20 made the following significant changes to the law as it applies to retirees who terminated WRS participating employment after that date:

Increased the required minimum break-in-service period from 30 to 75 days.
Provided for automatic suspension of the annuities of retirees hired to work in WRS-eligible positions for at least 2/3 of what ETF considers to be full time (880 hours for teachers, administrators, and education support staff).

As a result of these changes, districts have found it more difficult to attract recent retirees to hard-to-fill positions. SAA member complaints regarding the impact of the law on hiring have grown in volume and intensity throughout the 2014-15 school year. In response, the SAA began working with a small working group of superintendents to identify and develop a reasonable legislative response to the problem.

What we initially found however, was enormous confusion among SAA members over the application of the new law by the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF). Therefore, we believed our first priority was to clarify the application of the law for the membership. I was joined in this endeavor by Attorney Mike Julka of the Boardman & Clark law firm. Attorney Julka’s experience and expertise were absolutely indispensable in sorting through the layers of complexity involved.

After more than four months of investigation and numerous meetings and other communications with ETF personnel, Attorney Julka, the SAA and the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) have produced a video that we believe clarifies the application of the law. We encourage all SAA members involved in hiring staff to watch the video.

Special thanks to Attorney Mike Julka for providing this outstanding service to SAA members.

Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update, SAA Legal Side, SAA Video Alerts, Uncategorized | No Comments »