{"id":877,"date":"2025-12-19T18:48:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T23:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/serious-concerns-about-sdw-board-and-administration-actions-regarding-optimizing-our-future-plan-copy\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T19:15:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T00:15:48","slug":"failure-to-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/failure-to-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"SDW\u2019s Failure to Launch Optimizing Our Future Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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(Espa\u00f1ol abajo<\/a>)<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Yesterday, the School District of Waukesha (SDW) attempted the first step of implementing the Optimizing Our Future (OOF) plan, which the school board had approved in November as a way to \u201cright size\u201d the footprint of the district. Unfortunately this first step was a major stumble, as the district sent multiple emails to families with incorrect information pertaining to school assignments and transportation availability, and was forced to immediately issue retractions, promising that \u201cA follow-up communication containing your corrected school placement and transportation eligibility will be sent […] as soon as we have corrected the data.\u201d Additionally, some families have, as of the time of writing, received no email communication regarding their children\u2019s placement(s) for next year, or have only received the correction email.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have been concerned since the beginning of the OOF process that the district\u2019s haste to meet their self-imposed deadline of Fall 2026 would lead to sloppy implementation, and bring harm to students and families. This was why we created the <\/span>\u201cSlow Down \u2018Optimizing Our Future\u2019\u201d petition<\/span><\/a>, which was signed by 526 community members. We take no joy in being right.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nor is this the first time SDW has struggled to send accurate email communications. In November, after the OOF vote, the district sent out an email incorrectly stating that Bethesda, Hawthorne, Whittier, Saratoga, and Horning would be closing at the end of the 2026-27 school year, and had to send a subsequent message correcting those dates to 2025-26. On December 11, the district sent a message stating that \u201c[Dual Language] students currently attending Bethesda will be assigned to Lowell Elementary\u201d; however, now families are discovering that they are being assigned to Banting or Heyer instead. And lest we forget, at the beginning of this school year, thousands of families received notifications about exorbitant school fees, which also proved to have been sent in error.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha (AEW) is calling for <\/span>an immediate pause in the implementation of the OOF plan<\/b> until district leadership can reevaluate the logistics of their plan, clarify discrepancies in school assignments and transportation, and ensure that effective leadership is in place to implement it. Concurrently, <\/span>we call on Dr. Sebert to step down from his position as superintendent<\/b>. Yesterday\u2019s miscommunication, while not a fireable offense in and of itself, is the proverbial \u201cstraw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d. It is clear that, after years of missteps and mistakes while at the helm of SDW, Dr. Sebert is not up to the challenge of navigating the OOF implementation and is not deserving of his over $200k annual salary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If district leadership can\u2019t successfully complete the simple tasks in the implementation of this plan, such as sending correct emails to parents, how can we trust them to do the extremely difficult parts\u2013like staff redeployment, busing routes and schedules, navigating the complex setup our middle schools will need for an over-capacity student body, and dealing with the major increase in support our students will need in order to thrive in their new school communities?<\/span><\/p>\n

Families, students, and educators need and deserve school district leadership that is effective and trustworthy. Taxpayers deserve leadership that is careful and detail-oriented, who won\u2019t waste time, money, and effort by having to redo things that should have been done right the first time. The School District of Waukesha must do better.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \n El Fracaso de SDW en Lanzar el Plan de \u2018Optimizando Nuestro Futuro\u2019 <\/span>\n\n \n \n <\/span>\n <\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Ayer, el Distrito Escolar de Waukesha (SDW) intent\u00f3 dar el primer paso para implementar el plan Optimizando Nuestro Futuro (OOF), que la junta escolar hab\u00eda aprobado en noviembre como una manera de \u201cajustar\u201d el tama\u00f1o del distrito. Lamentablemente, este primer paso fue un tropiezo importante, ya que el distrito envi\u00f3 m\u00faltiples correos electr\u00f3nicos a las familias con informaci\u00f3n incorrecta sobre las asignaciones escolares y la disponibilidad de transporte, y se vio obligado a emitir retractaciones de inmediato, prometiendo que \u201cSe enviar\u00e1 una comunicaci\u00f3n de seguimiento con la asignaci\u00f3n correcta de la escuela y la elegibilidad para transporte […] tan pronto como hayamos corregido los datos.\u201d Adem\u00e1s, algunas familias, al momento de redactar este comunicado, no han recibido ning\u00fan correo electr\u00f3nico sobre la asignaci\u00f3n de sus hijos para el pr\u00f3ximo a\u00f1o, o solo han recibido el correo electr\u00f3nico de correcci\u00f3n.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hemos estado preocupados desde el inicio del proceso OOF de que la prisa del distrito por cumplir con su fecha l\u00edmite autoimpuesta de oto\u00f1o de 2026 podr\u00eda conducir a una implementaci\u00f3n descuidada y causar da\u00f1o a los estudiantes y a las familias. Por esta raz\u00f3n creamos la petici\u00f3n <\/span>\u201cReducir la velocidad del \u2018Optimizing Our Future\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/a>, que fue firmada por 526 miembros de la comunidad. No nos alegra tener raz\u00f3n.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tampoco es la primera vez que SDW tiene problemas para enviar comunicaciones por correo electr\u00f3nico precisas. En noviembre, despu\u00e9s de la votaci\u00f3n del OOF, el distrito envi\u00f3 un correo electr\u00f3nico indicando incorrectamente que Bethesda, Hawthorne, Whittier, Saratoga y Horning cerrar\u00edan al final del a\u00f1o escolar 2026-27, y tuvo que enviar un mensaje posterior corrigiendo esas fechas a 2025-26. El 11 de diciembre, el distrito envi\u00f3 un mensaje afirmando que “[Los estudiantes de Lenguaje Dual] que actualmente asisten a Bethesda ser\u00e1n asignados a la Escuela Primaria Lowell”; sin embargo, ahora las familias est\u00e1n descubriendo que se les est\u00e1 asignando a Banting o Heyer en su lugar. Y para que no lo olvidemos, al comienzo de este a\u00f1o escolar, miles de familias recibieron notificaciones sobre tarifas escolares excesivas, que tambi\u00e9n resultaron haber sido enviadas por error.<\/span><\/p>\n

La Alianza por la Educaci\u00f3n en Waukesha (AEW) est\u00e1 pidiendo <\/span>una pausa inmediata en la implementaci\u00f3n del plan OOF<\/b> hasta que la direcci\u00f3n del distrito pueda reevaluar la log\u00edstica de su plan, aclarar las discrepancias en las asignaciones escolares y el transporte, y garantizar que haya un liderazgo efectivo para llevarlo a cabo. Al mismo tiempo, <\/span>hacemos un llamado al Dr. Sebert para que renuncie a su puesto como superintendente<\/b>. La falta de comunicaci\u00f3n de ayer, aunque no constituye un motivo de despido por s\u00ed sola, es la proverbial “gota que colm\u00f3 el vaso”. Est\u00e1 claro que, despu\u00e9s de a\u00f1os de errores y desaciertos al frente del SDW, el Dr. Sebert no est\u00e1 a la altura del desaf\u00edo de llevar a cabo la implementaci\u00f3n del OOF y no merece su salario anual de m\u00e1s de $200,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Si el liderazgo del distrito no puede completar con \u00e9xito las tareas simples en la implementaci\u00f3n de este plan, como enviar correos electr\u00f3nicos correctos a los padres, \u00bfc\u00f3mo podemos confiar en que podr\u00e1n manejar las partes extremadamente dif\u00edciles, como la redistribuci\u00f3n del personal, las rutas y horarios de transporte, la gesti\u00f3n de la compleja organizaci\u00f3n que nuestras escuelas intermedias necesitar\u00e1n para una poblaci\u00f3n estudiantil sobredimensionada, y enfrentar el gran aumento de apoyo que nuestros estudiantes necesitar\u00e1n para prosperar en sus nuevas comunidades escolares?<\/span><\/p>\n

Las familias, los estudiantes y los educadores necesitan y merecen un liderazgo del distrito escolar que sea eficaz y confiable. Los contribuyentes merecen un liderazgo que sea cuidadoso y detallista, que no desperdicie tiempo, dinero y esfuerzo teniendo que rehacer cosas que deber\u00edan haberse hecho correctamente desde el principio. El Distrito Escolar de Waukesha debe mejorar.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the School District of Waukesha (SDW) attempted the first step of implementing the Optimizing Our Future (OOF) plan, which the school board had approved in November as a way to \u201cright size\u201d the footprint of the district. Unfortunately this first step was a major stumble, as the district sent multiple emails to families with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,88,47],"tags":[93,60,92,17,28,94,15,18,25],"class_list":["post-877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alliance-statements","category-optimizing-our-future","category-press-releases","tag-concerns","tag-dual-language","tag-oof","tag-parents","tag-school-board","tag-school-closures","tag-students","tag-teachers","tag-transparency","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\nSDW\u2019s Failure to Launch Optimizing Our Future Plan - Alliance for Education in Waukesha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We've been concerned since the beginning of OOF that the district\u2019s haste would lead to sloppy implementation. 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We take no joy in being right.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/failure-to-launch\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/failure-to-launch\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/failure-to-launch\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/email-fiasco-eng.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/email-fiasco-eng.jpg","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"We have been concerned since the beginning of the OOF process that the district's haste would lead to sloppy implementation. We take no joy in being right."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/failure-to-launch\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SDW\u2019s Failure to Launch Optimizing Our Future Plan"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/","name":"Alliance for Education in Waukesha","description":"Advocating for students and teachers in Waukesha","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/#organization","name":"Alliance for Education in Waukesha","url":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/alliance-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/alliance-logo-1.png","width":340,"height":340,"caption":"Alliance for Education in Waukesha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/allianceforeducationinwaukesha"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b561c02cf2603b5b2311e4f110386e4b","name":"alliancewaukesha_hcg3ek","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e742c7ea4556580bff01b99e931143a99efc140faa8a1862a2194f33672214b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e742c7ea4556580bff01b99e931143a99efc140faa8a1862a2194f33672214b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e742c7ea4556580bff01b99e931143a99efc140faa8a1862a2194f33672214b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"alliancewaukesha_hcg3ek"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/author\/alliancewaukesha_hcg3ek\/"}]}},"builder_content":"<p>Yesterday, the School District of Waukesha (SDW) attempted the first step of implementing the Optimizing Our Future (OOF) plan, which the school board had approved in November as a way to \u201cright size\u201d the footprint of the district. Unfortunately this first step was a major stumble, as the district sent multiple emails to families with incorrect information pertaining to school assignments and transportation availability, and was forced to immediately issue retractions, promising that \u201cA follow-up communication containing your corrected school placement and transportation eligibility will be sent [...] as soon as we have corrected the data.\u201d Additionally, some families have, as of the time of writing, received no email communication regarding their children\u2019s placement(s) for next year, or have only received the correction email.<\/p> <p>We have been concerned since the beginning of the OOF process that the district\u2019s haste to meet their self-imposed deadline of Fall 2026 would lead to sloppy implementation, and bring harm to students and families. This was why we created the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/slow-down-optimizing-our-future-focus-on-the-best-interest-of-our-students\">\u201cSlow Down \u2018Optimizing Our Future\u2019\u201d petition<\/a>, which was signed by 526 community members. We take no joy in being right.<\/p> <p>Nor is this the first time SDW has struggled to send accurate email communications. In November, after the OOF vote, the district sent out an email incorrectly stating that Bethesda, Hawthorne, Whittier, Saratoga, and Horning would be closing at the end of the 2026-27 school year, and had to send a subsequent message correcting those dates to 2025-26. On December 11, the district sent a message stating that \u201c[Dual Language] students currently attending Bethesda will be assigned to Lowell Elementary\u201d; however, now families are discovering that they are being assigned to Banting or Heyer instead. And lest we forget, at the beginning of this school year, thousands of families received notifications about exorbitant school fees, which also proved to have been sent in error.<\/p> <p>The Alliance for Education in Waukesha (AEW) is calling for <b>an immediate pause in the implementation of the OOF plan<\/b> until district leadership can reevaluate the logistics of their plan, clarify discrepancies in school assignments and transportation, and ensure that effective leadership is in place to implement it. Concurrently, <b>we call on Dr. Sebert to step down from his position as superintendent<\/b>. Yesterday\u2019s miscommunication, while not a fireable offense in and of itself, is the proverbial \u201cstraw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d. It is clear that, after years of missteps and mistakes while at the helm of SDW, Dr. Sebert is not up to the challenge of navigating the OOF implementation and is not deserving of his over $200k annual salary.\u00a0<\/p> <p>If district leadership can\u2019t successfully complete the simple tasks in the implementation of this plan, such as sending correct emails to parents, how can we trust them to do the extremely difficult parts\u2013like staff redeployment, busing routes and schedules, navigating the complex setup our middle schools will need for an over-capacity student body, and dealing with the major increase in support our students will need in order to thrive in their new school communities?<\/p> <p>Families, students, and educators need and deserve school district leadership that is effective and trustworthy. Taxpayers deserve leadership that is careful and detail-oriented, who won\u2019t waste time, money, and effort by having to redo things that should have been done right the first time. The School District of Waukesha must do better.<\/p>\n<a name=\"espanol\"><\/a>\n\n<h2>El Fracaso de SDW en Lanzar el Plan de \u2018Optimizando Nuestro Futuro\u2019<br\/><\/h2>\n<p>Ayer, el Distrito Escolar de Waukesha (SDW) intent\u00f3 dar el primer paso para implementar el plan Optimizando Nuestro Futuro (OOF), que la junta escolar hab\u00eda aprobado en noviembre como una manera de \u201cajustar\u201d el tama\u00f1o del distrito. Lamentablemente, este primer paso fue un tropiezo importante, ya que el distrito envi\u00f3 m\u00faltiples correos electr\u00f3nicos a las familias con informaci\u00f3n incorrecta sobre las asignaciones escolares y la disponibilidad de transporte, y se vio obligado a emitir retractaciones de inmediato, prometiendo que \u201cSe enviar\u00e1 una comunicaci\u00f3n de seguimiento con la asignaci\u00f3n correcta de la escuela y la elegibilidad para transporte [...] tan pronto como hayamos corregido los datos.\u201d Adem\u00e1s, algunas familias, al momento de redactar este comunicado, no han recibido ning\u00fan correo electr\u00f3nico sobre la asignaci\u00f3n de sus hijos para el pr\u00f3ximo a\u00f1o, o solo han recibido el correo electr\u00f3nico de correcci\u00f3n.<\/p> <p>Hemos estado preocupados desde el inicio del proceso OOF de que la prisa del distrito por cumplir con su fecha l\u00edmite autoimpuesta de oto\u00f1o de 2026 podr\u00eda conducir a una implementaci\u00f3n descuidada y causar da\u00f1o a los estudiantes y a las familias. Por esta raz\u00f3n creamos la petici\u00f3n <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/slow-down-optimizing-our-future-focus-on-the-best-interest-of-our-students\">\u201cReducir la velocidad del \u2018Optimizing Our Future\u2019\u201d<\/a>, que fue firmada por 526 miembros de la comunidad. No nos alegra tener raz\u00f3n.<\/p> <p>Tampoco es la primera vez que SDW tiene problemas para enviar comunicaciones por correo electr\u00f3nico precisas. En noviembre, despu\u00e9s de la votaci\u00f3n del OOF, el distrito envi\u00f3 un correo electr\u00f3nico indicando incorrectamente que Bethesda, Hawthorne, Whittier, Saratoga y Horning cerrar\u00edan al final del a\u00f1o escolar 2026-27, y tuvo que enviar un mensaje posterior corrigiendo esas fechas a 2025-26. El 11 de diciembre, el distrito envi\u00f3 un mensaje afirmando que \"[Los estudiantes de Lenguaje Dual] que actualmente asisten a Bethesda ser\u00e1n asignados a la Escuela Primaria Lowell\"; sin embargo, ahora las familias est\u00e1n descubriendo que se les est\u00e1 asignando a Banting o Heyer en su lugar. Y para que no lo olvidemos, al comienzo de este a\u00f1o escolar, miles de familias recibieron notificaciones sobre tarifas escolares excesivas, que tambi\u00e9n resultaron haber sido enviadas por error.<\/p> <p>La Alianza por la Educaci\u00f3n en Waukesha (AEW) est\u00e1 pidiendo <b>una pausa inmediata en la implementaci\u00f3n del plan OOF<\/b> hasta que la direcci\u00f3n del distrito pueda reevaluar la log\u00edstica de su plan, aclarar las discrepancias en las asignaciones escolares y el transporte, y garantizar que haya un liderazgo efectivo para llevarlo a cabo. Al mismo tiempo, <b>hacemos un llamado al Dr. Sebert para que renuncie a su puesto como superintendente<\/b>. La falta de comunicaci\u00f3n de ayer, aunque no constituye un motivo de despido por s\u00ed sola, es la proverbial \"gota que colm\u00f3 el vaso\". Est\u00e1 claro que, despu\u00e9s de a\u00f1os de errores y desaciertos al frente del SDW, el Dr. Sebert no est\u00e1 a la altura del desaf\u00edo de llevar a cabo la implementaci\u00f3n del OOF y no merece su salario anual de m\u00e1s de $200,000.<\/p> <p>Si el liderazgo del distrito no puede completar con \u00e9xito las tareas simples en la implementaci\u00f3n de este plan, como enviar correos electr\u00f3nicos correctos a los padres, \u00bfc\u00f3mo podemos confiar en que podr\u00e1n manejar las partes extremadamente dif\u00edciles, como la redistribuci\u00f3n del personal, las rutas y horarios de transporte, la gesti\u00f3n de la compleja organizaci\u00f3n que nuestras escuelas intermedias necesitar\u00e1n para una poblaci\u00f3n estudiantil sobredimensionada, y enfrentar el gran aumento de apoyo que nuestros estudiantes necesitar\u00e1n para prosperar en sus nuevas comunidades escolares?<\/p> <p>Las familias, los estudiantes y los educadores necesitan y merecen un liderazgo del distrito escolar que sea eficaz y confiable. Los contribuyentes merecen un liderazgo que sea cuidadoso y detallista, que no desperdicie tiempo, dinero y esfuerzo teniendo que rehacer cosas que deber\u00edan haberse hecho correctamente desde el principio. El Distrito Escolar de Waukesha debe mejorar.<\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":887,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877\/revisions\/887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alliancewaukesha.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}