The WSJ saves me the trouble of a long post explaining the situation regarding the Nuestro Mundo charter school and Maywood.
In brief: we are negotiating a 6 year lease and a joint operating agreement that will allow the Nuestro Mundo charter school to relocate in Maywood. Our district would receive $165K in rent and space for up to 5 MG students per grade, starting with Kindergarten this fall.
The Nuestro Mundo Charter School is a successful K-5 elementary program that features dual language immersion to provide bi-lingual education to its students.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Budget meeting schedules.
Once again it is time for our public hearings for input on the proposed budget reductions for next year.
The three public hearings will be held:
Saturday, March 17, 9-11am, Winnequah Cafeteria
Tuesday, March 20th, 6-8pm, High School Auditorium
Thursday, March 22nd, 6-8pm, Glacial Drumlin IMC.
The list of proposed items for reduction can be found here.
See you there!
The three public hearings will be held:
Saturday, March 17, 9-11am, Winnequah Cafeteria
Tuesday, March 20th, 6-8pm, High School Auditorium
Thursday, March 22nd, 6-8pm, Glacial Drumlin IMC.
The list of proposed items for reduction can be found here.
See you there!
Shaken
My heartfelt condolences go out to the family caught up in the tragedy that visited our school community last week. This event left me shaken; I have two children at this vulnerable age, and the imagination quickly runs to the unthinkable.
And although I've thought about it quite a bit I have been at a loss as to what to say here. I do view this event as a failure of the school district and the school board. What could we have done or should do to prevent a recurrence? I don't know. But I do know that our students spend a significant portion of their time in our care, and we have an obligation to provide a environment that provides physical and emotional security for each, regardless of the other factors in their lives. The fact that this occurred indicates to me that we have failed at that goal. We need to carefully consider what might be done moving forward.
For a view of how a school board can impact school climate you might check out this article in Rolling Stone. The article is not uncontroversial, and has a different focus, but to me it illustrates how what happens on the school board can directly influence school climate in positive or negative ways.
And although I've thought about it quite a bit I have been at a loss as to what to say here. I do view this event as a failure of the school district and the school board. What could we have done or should do to prevent a recurrence? I don't know. But I do know that our students spend a significant portion of their time in our care, and we have an obligation to provide a environment that provides physical and emotional security for each, regardless of the other factors in their lives. The fact that this occurred indicates to me that we have failed at that goal. We need to carefully consider what might be done moving forward.
For a view of how a school board can impact school climate you might check out this article in Rolling Stone. The article is not uncontroversial, and has a different focus, but to me it illustrates how what happens on the school board can directly influence school climate in positive or negative ways.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Big shoe dropping
The HI covers the district's budget reduction process here. I have to say the process has been outstandingly well run, with a careful process design and excellent collaboration and information provided by the administrative team. If you want to see the ranked list of proposed reduction you can find it here.
As it stands we need to cut $1.2M. A line drawn through the chart at that point falls just above the 4th grade string program. But don't cheer about that - its hard to see much of the rest of the list surviving next year if things don't change.
The top of the list starts with "easy" things, including reductions in transportation and custodial services, administrative and infrastructure spending, but quickly moves on to support staff reductions and teacher workload increases. Teachers are going to have significantly less time to provide the individual attention that is key to reaching many students.
Regardless of how the details of the final result the district will be losing things of significant value.
As it stands we need to cut $1.2M. A line drawn through the chart at that point falls just above the 4th grade string program. But don't cheer about that - its hard to see much of the rest of the list surviving next year if things don't change.
The top of the list starts with "easy" things, including reductions in transportation and custodial services, administrative and infrastructure spending, but quickly moves on to support staff reductions and teacher workload increases. Teachers are going to have significantly less time to provide the individual attention that is key to reaching many students.
Regardless of how the details of the final result the district will be losing things of significant value.
Labels:
Monona Grove Budget
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Idiot's guide
Here you go Tom: In this week's HI Tom Reason asks for an "Idiot's Guide" to the $1.2M projected budget shortfall the school district is facing.
To understand the deficit we must first explain the school finance system in WI. As I have explained before there are two major parts the to school finance puzzle: The "Revenue Limit" and the state aid formula.
1) General fund revenues are subject to the per pupil "Revenue Limit" set by the state. The Revenue limit for MG for the current school year is $10,404 per pupil for a total of $30.1M. That is what we get to spend on general operating expenses, such as paying teacher salaries and the utility bills. The only way to exceed the revenue limit is to hold a referendum asking for additional funds to be levied from local property taxes.
2) Once the revenue limit is set, the state uses a complicated formula to determine how much of the total revenue will come from the state budget. The formula is related to the number of students and the total property value in the district. Districts with lower property value per student will receive a higher proportion of state aid. In MG the state funding comes to about 1/3 of the revenue limit. The school district can then levy the remaining amount from local property taxes up to the revenue limit.
Between 1993 and 2011 the revenue limit has been increased by about 2% per year, a bit less than inflation. This has generally led to gradual, but over time significant, tightening of the belts in school districts across the state. By 2011 most districts were very lean, MG has a Staff/Management ratio more than double the private sector average; and teacher take home pay has been losing ground against inflation for some time.
The Biennial (2 year) budget past last summer included a 5.5% cut for state aids to schools for the 2011-12 school year and an equivalent cut in the revenue limit to prevent school districts from making up the short fall by increasing the local tax levy. For MG that is amounted to a reduction in revenue by about $1.4M; combined with enrollment changes and inflation of everything from health care to utilities that produced a $2.5 million deficit. We plugged that deficit by spending our federal stimulus dollars, $900K in cuts and $1.1M in reduced compensation to the employees of the district as mandated by Act 10.
For next year the Revenue limit will increase by $50 per student, but after inflation this is something like another 2.6% cut, and we lose the federal stimulus money that helped fill the gap this year. This means that for next year we have an estimated $1.2M deficit. Note that this is the 3rd year in a row with budget cuts in the range of $1M, and the cumulative effect will start to have a noticeable negative effect on education in the district.
To understand the deficit we must first explain the school finance system in WI. As I have explained before there are two major parts the to school finance puzzle: The "Revenue Limit" and the state aid formula.
1) General fund revenues are subject to the per pupil "Revenue Limit" set by the state. The Revenue limit for MG for the current school year is $10,404 per pupil for a total of $30.1M. That is what we get to spend on general operating expenses, such as paying teacher salaries and the utility bills. The only way to exceed the revenue limit is to hold a referendum asking for additional funds to be levied from local property taxes.
2) Once the revenue limit is set, the state uses a complicated formula to determine how much of the total revenue will come from the state budget. The formula is related to the number of students and the total property value in the district. Districts with lower property value per student will receive a higher proportion of state aid. In MG the state funding comes to about 1/3 of the revenue limit. The school district can then levy the remaining amount from local property taxes up to the revenue limit.
Between 1993 and 2011 the revenue limit has been increased by about 2% per year, a bit less than inflation. This has generally led to gradual, but over time significant, tightening of the belts in school districts across the state. By 2011 most districts were very lean, MG has a Staff/Management ratio more than double the private sector average; and teacher take home pay has been losing ground against inflation for some time.
The Biennial (2 year) budget past last summer included a 5.5% cut for state aids to schools for the 2011-12 school year and an equivalent cut in the revenue limit to prevent school districts from making up the short fall by increasing the local tax levy. For MG that is amounted to a reduction in revenue by about $1.4M; combined with enrollment changes and inflation of everything from health care to utilities that produced a $2.5 million deficit. We plugged that deficit by spending our federal stimulus dollars, $900K in cuts and $1.1M in reduced compensation to the employees of the district as mandated by Act 10.
For next year the Revenue limit will increase by $50 per student, but after inflation this is something like another 2.6% cut, and we lose the federal stimulus money that helped fill the gap this year. This means that for next year we have an estimated $1.2M deficit. Note that this is the 3rd year in a row with budget cuts in the range of $1M, and the cumulative effect will start to have a noticeable negative effect on education in the district.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Winnequah 10K...
A special thanks to the Meriter Foundation whose $5000 Donation, along with $2500 from the Monona PTO and a $2500 capstone donation from an anonymous donor, has helped the Winnequah endowment fund reach its initial goal of $10,000 with the Monona Grove Education Foundation.
The MGEF has set up an endowment fund for each of the schools in the district with an initial goal of $10,000. When this amount is raised the funds will be administered by the Madison Community Foundation. A $2500 "capstone grant" from an anonymous donor will be contributed to each fund when it reaches $7500 to put it over the top.
Winnequah school is the first to reach the $10K goal. You can find the MGEF on facebook or the MG website to contribute!
The MGEF has set up an endowment fund for each of the schools in the district with an initial goal of $10,000. When this amount is raised the funds will be administered by the Madison Community Foundation. A $2500 "capstone grant" from an anonymous donor will be contributed to each fund when it reaches $7500 to put it over the top.
Winnequah school is the first to reach the $10K goal. You can find the MGEF on facebook or the MG website to contribute!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Whither Madison Prep...
The proposed Madison Prep Charter School was voted down by the Madison school board on Monday. A bold proposal to address the achievement gap in Madison, Madison Prep supporters have a very good point- the status quo is not working for minority students.
There wasn't any magic to the Madison Prep proposal: longer school year, extended school days, smaller class ratios, additional support services, we know these things work, and taken together these things would likely make a significant impact on student achievement. But all these things cost significant amounts of money which is ultimately the problem. What distribution of resources is the most effective and fair?
Personally I would like to see Madison Prep with a contract to operate for a fixed period of time of 3 to 5 years, with an evaluation against pre-defined goals at the end of that time. A cost-benefit evaluation could then be made of whether or not Madison wanted to raise the resources to extend the model across the board, or drop it in favor of another model.
There wasn't any magic to the Madison Prep proposal: longer school year, extended school days, smaller class ratios, additional support services, we know these things work, and taken together these things would likely make a significant impact on student achievement. But all these things cost significant amounts of money which is ultimately the problem. What distribution of resources is the most effective and fair?
Personally I would like to see Madison Prep with a contract to operate for a fixed period of time of 3 to 5 years, with an evaluation against pre-defined goals at the end of that time. A cost-benefit evaluation could then be made of whether or not Madison wanted to raise the resources to extend the model across the board, or drop it in favor of another model.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Last meeting of the year...
Is tomorrow evening in the High School IMC. You can find the agenda here. Items of Note:
I. Unfinished BusinessLast year the Monona Grove Education Foundation inaugurated endowment funds for each of our schools, with the goal of reaching a $10,000 initial investment in each fund. A capstone grant is available for the last $2500. The MGEF will provide the board with an update of the fundraising.
1. Report on Monona Grove Education Foundation Endowment Funds
2. Discussion and Possible Approval of MGHS Parking Lot ConceptsHopefully we will give approval to the modifications to the parking and entrance to the lot on the South Side of the High School
4. Discussion and Possible Approval of the Budget Process and Budget CalendarThe proposed calendar for finding $1.2M in savings next year can be found here.
J. New Business
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of Superintendent's Contract
2. Discussion and Possible Approval District Administrators' Contracts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Good news and bad news...
Do you want the good news first, or the bad news? OK, I’ll start with the good news: according to the PMA budget projections the district is “only” facing cuts of $1.2 Million for next school year. How is that “good”? – It’s about ½ what we were anticipating. Still brutal, but not as bad as I thought. $1.2M is about 3.5% of our total operating fund, about the cost of 21 teachers.
So if that’s the good news what’s the bad news? In 2014 the deficit is additional $875K, in 2015 an additional $540K, in 2016 another $500K, in 2017 another $500K – through 2017 the cumulative total deficit $12.5 million dollars vs. our current cost to continue. Each year our capacity to provide a quality education is reduced an incremental amount, and the deeply corrosive effects of Wisconsin
I hear people talk of a referendum to balance the budget? To do so would require a referendum that starts at $1.5M and grows by at least $650K each subsequent year. (For every dollar we raise in an operating referendum the state reduces our aid by 30 cents, so we would have to compensate) If you can tell me how to structure an acceptable referendum that meets these conditions, I’m all ears. Of course then we have the funding cliff at the end to deal with.
Eventually we will need additional revenue sources to adequately fund our schools. Perhaps we can expand on Newt Gingrich’s repugnant idea and hire out low income students to clean other people’s buildings as well as our own. (Please note the sarcasm in that last comment!)
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Monona Grove Budget
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