Watertown Unified School District's interim superintendent asked the school board on September 28 to consider free services from a Chicago-based nonprofit called School Boards for Academic Excellence, a group that bills itself as a reform alternative to traditional school board associations but draws most of its funding from undisclosed sources. The pitch landed just days after Interim Superintendent James Feil found himself at the center of local backlash over an unrelated decision to pull the high school's planned spring production of the musical Flashdance.
Feil told the board that School Boards for Academic Excellence, known as SBAE, is committed to helping elevate academic standards, according to Urban Milwaukee. SBAE Executive Director David Hoyt has proposed auditing Watertown's existing math and reading curriculum, producing a report on how well that curriculum aligns with state standards, and conducting both off-site and in-person governance training with the school board. Hoyt has said everything the organization does is 100 percent free. The Watertown proposal also included communication and public-relations assistance, while SBAE relies on donor contributions to operate.
Watertown Unified sits roughly halfway between Milwaukee and Madison and serves about 3,000 students. On the latest state report card, about 48 percent of its students were advanced or meeting expectations in reading, and 47 percent in math.
A Second Culture Clash in Watertown
The curriculum pitch arrived while Watertown was still absorbing fallout from Feil's decision to cancel Flashdance. That move triggered student protests and community pushback in late September, and marked the district's second high-profile arts conflict of 2026, following an earlier ban on an instrumental band piece, according to WTMJ. The timing has left some in the community watching Feil's next moves on curriculum and governance with a wary eye.
SBAE describes itself as a nationwide network of school board members created in 2023, now operating in 38 states with 45 partner organizations, per the same Urban Milwaukee report. It was formed as a reform-minded alternative to the National School Boards Association, whose 2021 letter requesting federal law enforcement intervention at local board meetings — comparing aggressive parental protests over COVID policies and curriculum to domestic terrorism — prompted exactly 25 state associations to withdraw or not renew their membership between 2021 and 2022, according to Ballotpedia.
Who's Funding the 'Free' Services
Despite Hoyt's insistence that SBAE's offerings cost districts nothing, the group itself depends heavily on outside money. The Center for Media and Democracy conducted a financial analysis of SBAE's contributions and found that most of its donations come from dark money groups, according to the organization's research director, David Armiak, who said SBAE seeks to be a right-wing influence on school boards across the country. Armiak's analysis identified contributions including $250,000 from the National Philanthropic Trust and another $250,000 from the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program in 2023, plus $100,000 from Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund in 2023, $20,000 from the Bradley Impact Fund in 2023, $25,000 from the Morse Charitable Foundation in 2024, and $18,000 from the Kansas Policy Institute in 2024.
Federal tax filings digitized by Cause IQ show SBAE was incorporated in September 2023 as a Chicago 501(c)(3) with tax ID 93-2247356, reporting $613,066 in total revenue against $948,872 in total expenses for fiscal year 2024 — a net loss the group absorbed even as it expanded operations nationally.
Hoyt's Path From Florida Charter Schools to National Advocacy
Before leading SBAE, Hoyt co-founded Cornerstone Classical Academy, a classical charter school in Jacksonville, Florida, and held management roles at conservative policy groups including The Heartland Institute and Young Americans for Liberty. Hoyt has said SBAE's ideology centers on student achievement, and that its positions often correlate with people who identify as conservative. The organization opposes watering down SAT and NAEP scores and views diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as a distraction from educational achievement, Hoyt has said, adding that SBAE seeks to change what is happening in education more broadly.
In Wisconsin, SBAE's chief partner is the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, known as WILL, which collaborates with the group on policy efforts and hosts its own conference for school board members alongside one SBAE runs. Cory Brewer heads WILL's Restoring American Education project. WILL has also built a formidable legal track record: the group's litigation led to a June 2026 unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that struck down a 40-year-old state grant program for minority college students on equal protection grounds, as Hoodline previously reported.
A Growing Pattern Across Wisconsin Districts
Watertown would not be the first Wisconsin district to consider stepping outside the traditional association structure. The Waukesha School Board voted 8-1 to withdraw from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards after four board members attended a training summit hosted by WILL. SBAE has built similar partnerships elsewhere, working with the Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation on interactive school district expenditure and academic performance report cards.
For cash-strapped boards weighing where to spend limited dollars, the promise of free services can carry real weight — even as questions persist about who ultimately funds the “free” alternative on the other side of the ledger.
