Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 119 - First class city school system.
119.16 - Board; duties.

119.16 Board; duties.
(1) Educational priorities and objectives. The board and the superintendent of schools shall identify broad yearly objectives and assess priorities for education in the district and shall issue an annual report and such additional reports as the board and superintendent deem desirable on the progress of pupils enrolled in the public schools.
(1m) Management of school district. The board shall have the possession, care, control and management of the schools, facilities, operations, property and affairs of the school district.
(1n) Contract with the superintendent of schools or with the commissioner. Notwithstanding sub. (1m), immediately upon the transfer of a public school to an opportunity schools and partnership program under s. 119.33 or subch. II, the board shall make the superintendent of schools or the commissioner, respectively, an agent of the board under any lease between the board and the city and shall transfer to the superintendent of schools or the commissioner, respectively, the possession, care, control, and management of all land, buildings, facilities, and other property that is part of the school being transferred.
(2) Establish schools and districts. The board shall maintain the public schools in the city, other than those public schools transferred to the opportunity schools and partnership programs under s. 119.33 and subch. II, and shall establish, organize and maintain such schools as the board determines are necessary to accommodate the children entitled to instruction therein. The board shall divide the city into attendance districts for such schools.
(3) Buildings and sites.
(a) The board shall construct, purchase, lease, improve or enlarge buildings and purchase furniture and sites for the public schools, shall purchase, install and maintain heating systems in public schools and may contract for carrying out any of these purposes.
(b) Except as provided in par. (c), schoolhouses and the sites on which they are situated shall be the property of the city. No site may be purchased or leased and no schoolhouse may be constructed unless a resolution therefor is duly adopted by the board. Except as provided in par. (c), deeds of conveyance and leases shall be made to the city.
(c) If the redevelopment authority of the city issues bonds under s. 66.1333 (5r), the board may lease buildings or sites from the redevelopment authority or borrow money from the redevelopment authority for the purposes of par. (a).
(3m) Master facilities plan.
(a) By July 1, 2011, the board shall evaluate all school buildings in the school district operating under this chapter according to the criteria established under par. (b), and shall develop a master plan governing the use, repair, renovation, and demolition of buildings in the school district.
(b) The board shall establish criteria to evaluate the safety, structural integrity, utility, and costs of maintenance and repair of school buildings in the school district. Subject to the requirements under sub. (10), the criteria shall include consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of repairing versus demolishing older buildings having high maintenance or operating costs.
(4) Competitive bidding. The board shall establish competitive bidding policies and procedures for purchases and for construction contracts.
(5) Special courses. Within budgetary limitations, the board shall establish in any public school, in grade 7 and higher, such classes of instruction consistent with the educational goals and objectives adopted by the board under sub. (1) as are petitioned for by the parents of a number of pupils attending the school sufficient to form one or more classes of instruction. Petition by the parents of 30 or more pupils of like classification attending any such school requesting the establishment of instruction in a specified subject is prima facie evidence of the sufficiency of the number of pupils to commence instruction therein.
(6) Custodians of school premises. The board shall fix the duties and responsibilities of principals, as custodians of the school premises, and of the school engineers. Each principal shall have general supervision of and shall be custodian of all school premises over which the principal presides.
(8) Budget.
(a) Annually before adopting its budget for the ensuing school year and at least 5 days before transmitting its completed budget under par. (b), the board shall hold a public hearing on the proposed school budget at a time and place fixed by the board. At least 45 days before the public hearing, the board shall notify the superintendent of schools and the commissioner of the date, time, and place of the hearing. At least one week before the public hearing, the board shall publish a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, of the public hearing.
(b) The board shall transmit its completed budget to the common council on or before the first Monday in August of each year on forms furnished by the auditing officer of the city, and shall include in the budget the information specified under s. 119.46 (1) for all public schools in the city under this chapter, including the schools transferred to the opportunity schools and partnership programs under s. 119.33 and subch. II. The board shall itemize those portions of the budget allocated to schools transferred to the opportunity schools and partnership programs under s. 119.33 and subch. II. Such completed budget shall be published with the budget summary under s. 65.04 (2) or 65.20 and budget under s. 65.05 (7).
(9) School budget. Annually, the board shall prepare a budget for each school in the school district operating under this chapter, other than the schools transferred to the opportunity schools and partnership programs under s. 119.33 and subch. II.
(10) School facilities.
(a) The board may not demolish any school facility that is 50 years old or older without the approval of the city historic preservation commission.
(b) The board may construct new school facilities only in the areas of greatest local need for such facilities.
(11) Comprehensive programs. The board shall collaborate with nonprofit organizations and government agencies to provide pupils with comprehensive social services and educational support, which may include a program that offers comprehensive services that address the needs of children and youth from before the time they are born through postsecondary education.
(12) Alternative routes to graduation. The board shall provide alternative methods of attaining a high school diploma for those pupils who are unlikely to graduate in the traditional manner, including a program allowing a pupil or former pupil to retake a course in which he or she was not initially successful.
(13) Research consortium. If the board determines that sufficient state or federal aid or private funding is available for this purpose, the board shall participate in an educational research consortium, similar to the Consortium on Chicago School Research and the Boston Plan for Excellence, to provide research and policy recommendations, including recommendations addressing pupil literacy and academic achievement, to the department, the board, and the legislature. In addition, the research consortium shall make its recommendations publicly available.
(14) Parent survey. Annually, the board shall conduct a survey of parents of pupils enrolled in the school district operating under this chapter and use the results of the survey to develop or modify parent involvement and school improvement plans, which may include school-based community resource centers, regularly scheduled public meetings, or parent education classes.
(15) Aggregate assessment data of pupils attending a school transferred to an opportunity schools and partnership program. Upon receipt from the superintendent of schools of pupil assessment and achievement data under s. 119.33 (2) (d) or from the commissioner of pupil assessment and achievement data under s. 119.9002 (4) for pupils enrolled in schools transferred to an opportunity schools and partnership program, the board may not make any modifications to the data but shall transmit that data to the state superintendent along with the report submitted under s. 119.44.
History: 1973 c. 17, 188; 1975 c. 353; 1977 c. 109; 1983 a. 391; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 395; 1989 a. 290; 1993 a. 492; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 30; 2009 a. 215; 2015 a. 55.
One who deals with a municipality does so at his or her own risk and may be subject to any provisions of law that might prevent him or her from being paid by a municipality even though the services were rendered. Unless the power to bind the municipality financially has been specifically delegated, the only entity with the statutory authority to contract is the municipality. The statutes do not authorize anyone other than the board to enter into contracts. The board may delegate that authority, but it must do so clearly and specifically. For an MPS employee to have such power, it must be specifically delegated by the board to that employee or class of employees. Holzbauer v. Safway Steel Products, Inc., 2005 WI App 240, 288 Wis. 2d 250, 706 N.W.2d 36, 04-2058.
The authority of school boards to contract for services and facilities for special needs students is discussed. 61 Atty. Gen. 203.

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