HUSTISFORD — Interim Hustisford School District Superintendent Todd Bugnacki said Wednesday that the tuition agreement his district is continuing to work through passed the Dodgeland Board of Education for the 2026-27 school year.
“I can’t tell you enough how grateful I am that we have that great partner in Dodgeland in helping us find a path for our students,” Bugnacki said. “I am not sure what we would do without their generous offer to educate our students for the 2026-27 school year. For them to just believe in us, trust us and adopt us as a neighboring district and offer all of our kids a robust education next year is quite honestly a blessing for us and our community.”
He said the tuition agreement is in the hands of the state Department of Public Instruction and he has not heard back from them yet.
“I know they are reviewing it,” Bugnacki said. “They can make changes to the agreement and can also clarify some issues Hustisford and Dodgeland have with it. Once DPI sends it back to the Hustisford School District, Dodgeland and Hustisford School Board officials will be able to review it, too.”
Bugnacki said the agreement also includes all of Hustisford School District’s special education students receiving full programming in Dodgeland next year.
“Enrollment for Dodgeland will be done through Hustisford and we will continue to be the home school on paper. We will continue to register our kids here and then share that information with Dodgeland,” Bugnacki said. “There are still many items that need to be worked out. We want to get the agreement approved so we can get through the weeds and get to the other items on our list.”
He could not provide a cost per student within the tuition agreement because the DPI is still examining it. He said many different parties are looking at the document including Baird Financial, WASB and Hustisford School District’s attorney.
“Our special education students would be part of this tuition agreement in Dodgeland. We are working on a process of sharing information across the districts and looking for a continuity of services. CESA 6 is involved in this and a special education consultant is also involved to make certain we are doing everything we need to do is done correctly to make sure students receive the special education services in Dodgeland under this tuition agreement,” he said. “There is no reason they can’t. We just want to make sure the IEP (Individualized Education Program) is followed correctly. If the IEP needs to be reconvened, its reconvened when it’s needed to ensure all the services that are offered here are offered there. In fact, Dodgeland has a few more services than we offer here.”
The Hustisford School District has a total of 40 special education students, but some of them are going back to their home district or attending Bethany Lutheran School in Hustisford or looking at other options.
Bugnacki also said the Hustisford School District received a letter from the Mayville High School principal, who said they have space for students to enter their summer school program or for Hustisford students to enter the Mayville School District through open enrollment.
“A shout out to Mayville and Horicon for passing their transportation resolutions to allow their buses to come into Hustisford School District boundaries and pick up our open enrollment students,” Bugnacki said. “It’s a very generous thing for them to do. Dodgeland does not need to do that because we are already in a position to provide transportation to Dodgeland.”{/div}
