Waunakee Community School District staff told the co-curricular committee June 5 that the district will offer education and support but is not the contracting party for student NIL deals and families are not required to disclose agreements to the district.

Nick said the district held an optional NIL workshop the night before that about 40 families signed up for and roughly 20–25 attended because of weather and other conflicts. He said the district has an annual agreement with a for-profit company, Influential Athlete, to provide workshops and monthly webinars and to serve as a retainer resource for questions about NIL rules and safe promotion practices.

Why it matters: Nick said the local NIL rules differ from college NIL and intentionally leave contracting and negotiation to students and families. Under the rules the presenter described, NIL opportunities apply only to students in grades 9–12. He said the district has “really no obligation to be a part of somebody's NIL deal” and families should ask businesses whether they have previously partnered with the district or school.

Booster donations and eligibility: The presenter told the committee that donations to booster organizations can create broad ineligibility: if a business donated to a booster while a student was in high school, that business would be ineligible to contract with any current high-school student in the district, and the restriction could affect students across sports. Nick said this is because booster support, even if handled externally, is considered an affiliation for the purposes of NIL rules the district discussed.

Consequences and remediation: If a violation is reported, the presenter said the state association (referenced in the meeting as “WI”) can remove athletic eligibility. He emphasized the rules allow a remediation process: the district can help families attempt to remove offending uses (for example, images showing school logos or property) and seek restoration of eligibility after corrective steps are taken. He described a past case where a student was able to regain eligibility within about 12 hours after self-reporting and corrective action.

Record-keeping and disclosure: The presenter said students are not required by law to disclose NIL agreements to the district; however, if families do disclose, the district will keep an internal log to help track which businesses are working with students. He and staff discussed why the district will not publish a master list of local donors (because disclosure by families is voluntary and external entities may have out-of-state ties the district cannot reliably track).

Ending: The district will offer additional workshops during the school year, begin monthly webinars in September and keep the workshop recordings available to families. Staff encouraged parents to discuss NIL opportunities with their children before entering agreements.