Policy Resource Guide


Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the Policy Resource Guide?

The Policy Resource Guide is a new Web-based policy tool designed to assist Wisconsin school boards and administrators in the important tasks of policy development and implementation. It contains information on a wide variety of policy topics, including policies required by law and “hot policy” topics. The purpose of the guide is to help school districts develop local policies that meet their own community needs and interests while keeping in mind general legal considerations.
What are the key components of the Policy Resource Guide?

The Policy Resource Guide has been designed especially for Wisconsin school districts with their policy interests and needs in mind. The guide is a user-friendly and easily navigable tool organized according to the WASB Policy Manual Coding System, but is searchable by topic.
Each policy topic addressed in the guide contains:
Key policy considerations related to the topic, including questions school officials can ask themselves when making local policy decisions; General legal considerations related to the topic, including hyperlinks to the laws and regulations referenced; Hyperlinks to selected additional resources related to the topic including WASB Legal Comments, Legal Notes, FOCUS issues and other relevant educational and other agency resources; and Sample model policies related to the topic, and in some cases, sample rules and exhibits.
What is new and different about the Policy Resource Guide?

The Policy Resource Guide offers school board members and administrators streamlined electronic access to school policy development and implementation information in one place. It has several special features that make it particularly useful to school boards and administrators:
It provides access to school policy development information and assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, not just during regular business hours. Subscribers to the Policy Resource Guide not only get access to sample model policies but also the background information necessary to make appropriate local policy decisions – ones that are in line with community values, needs and interests and applicable legal requirements and are realistic to implement in the district. Sample model policies, rules and exhibits are downloadable as Word documents for local customization and local policy manual maintenance and storage. Subscribers to the Policy Resource Guide get access to new and updated information on a regular basis.
How is the Policy Resource Guide useful to school boards?

The Policy Resource Guide can be used by school boards to update their school district policy manuals in a timely and efficient manner, using the policy background information and model policies as a guide. It can also be used by school boards in making policy decisions on individual topics under school district discussion and can be used by individual board members as a professional development tool.
How is the Policy Resource Guide useful to district administrators and other school administrators?

The Policy Resource Guide not only provides district administrators and other school administrators with access to relevant legal and policy information on school topics under school district discussion but it also serves as a quick reference for administrators in dealing with day-to-day policy implementation issues, questions and concerns.
How is the Policy Resource Guide useful to school administrative assistants?

School administrative assistants are often called upon to gather sample policy and other information for board and administration review, and are also often responsible for typing up district policies and maintaining the district’s policy manual. The Policy Resource Guide allows administrative assistants to access the policy information they need at their own convenience and on their own timelines, and to download the model policies for easy local customization and policy manual maintenance and storage.
How much does a subscription to the Policy Resource Guide cost?

It depends on which subscription option the district chooses to purchase. there are two initial subscriptions available for districts: Option 1: Purchase a one-year initial subscription to the PRG for $7,500, with annual renewals ($1,900 each year) year after that. Option 2 (new): Purchase a three-year initial subscription, paying the same amount each of the three years ($3,600 each year), with annual renewals after that. This new payment option allows a district to pay less for the initial PRG subscription the first year and provides a $500 cost savings to a district over the three-year period. Each option covers one subscription for the entire school district (see question below regarding who has direct access). It includes access to all of the policy topic information addressed in the Policy Resource Guide at the time the initial subscription begins and any additions and changes made to it through the end of the subscription period (June 30th). The Policy Resource Guide is officially listed as an “eligible” product/service for purposes of the Microsoft-Wisconsin Cy Pres Program. If your district is an “eligible school” under the Program, your district may be able to request Microsoft claims funds to pay for your PRG subscription.
Who has access to the Policy Resource Guide in a subscribing school district?

All school board members, administrators (including building principals) and the district administrator’s administrative assistant have direct access to the Policy Resource Guide in subscribing school districts. It is the responsibility of subscribing districts to provide the WASB with the names of any administrator in the district who they would like to have direct access to the Policy Resource Guide who is not already in the WASB database. If other school officials or staff would like to obtain specific policy topic information addressed in the Policy Resource Guide related to their work in the district, they would have to ask a school board member, administrator or the district administrator’s administrative assistant to retrieve the requested information.
Does a district’s purchase of a subscription to the Policy Resource Guide include special policy consulting services of a WASB Policy Consultant?

No. The price of a Policy Resource Guide subscription does not include any special policy consulting services of a WASB Policy Consultant. Any district-specific policy consulting services would be available at the regular WASB policy consulting hourly rates. This does not mean that WASB Policy Staff would not be available to provide general direction and assistance to a district on how to access and use the Policy Resource Guide in developing and updating its own district policies. General assistance of this nature would be available to subscribing districts. It is only when a district would request assistance from a WASB Policy Consultant in the tailoring or revising of the Policy Resource Guide sample model policies to fit their own local district’s needs, or in the development or review of district-specific policies, that policy consulting service fees would come into play.
How often is the Policy Resource Guide updated?

Policy topic additions and updates are made to the Policy Resource Guide on an ongoing basis throughout the subscription year. Subscribing districts are informed of those additions and updates as they are posted online. When there is a change in state law or other issues come up that require district policy action, it is our intention to update the Policy Resource Guide policy topic background information sheets and sample model policies related to such topics as soon as reasonably possible. It will be a priority to provide for timely updates.