School Board President Cancels Special Board Meeting

A special meeting of the Port Washington-Saukville School District scheduled for Monday night to discuss new contracts with the teachers union has been canceled.

School Board President Patty Ruth said too much confusion still exists surrounding the budget repair bill to go forward with the discussion about the contracts.

"Based on the action taken Friday by the Legislative Reference Bureau and my consultation with the board's legal counsel, there clearly is a great deal of confusion as to whether or not the Budget Repair Act is, in fact, in force and if its provisions are, indeed, current law," Ruth said in a press release.

Gov. Scott Walker's bill, among other things, eliminates most collective bargaining rights for many public employees. The Republicans removed the fiscal items and passed the bill, which was then signed by the governor. Lawsuits are pending accusing the lawmakers of violating the open records law because they did not offer the needed 48 hours notice before passing the bill.

The law can't go into effect until it is published and the most recent dispute lies over what exactly constitutes publication. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Friday posted the law on its website and the Walker administration said that action constitutes "publication" of the law.

However, Secretary of State Doug La Follette, a Democrat, says the bill has not taken effect because it has not been published by his office in the official state newspaper.

The dispute is what prompted Ruth to put Monday's meeting on hold.

“Going forward with Monday's board meeting under these circumstances and the considerable legal confusion that currently exists would create significant risks for our district, all of which can be avoided if we cancel the meeting until the courts have rendered their decisions on the various legal questions," she said in the release.

Ruth has asked the school's legal counsel to closely monitor the situation, and Superintendent Michael Weber will also stay in touch with officials in Madison so that the board can act when the time is appropriate.