Sleeping on the job

Ok, I haven't been sleeping on the job, just too busy with the family, the holiday and work to pull together the focus it requires to keep up with this blog. A new year's resolution is to keep this up-to-date.

Just a few items of note:

Ad Hoc Facilities Committee documents can be found here. The December meeting was cancelled due to snow so there isn't an update on any progress. The next meeting is Tuesday, Jan 6th (weather permitting!)

The 28 students on the Monona Grove Varsity Math Team won FIRST PLACE in the Madison math competition earlier this month. When will academic teams be greeted with the publicity and accolades of athletic teams?

At the last board meeting we received the report from the auditor for the 2007-8 fiscal year. The district received an "unqualified opinion": that is accountant speak for a positive review of the accuracy of district's accounting system. Mary Ellen VanValin deserves credit for managing a very well run financial system in the district.

McKinstry report a list of potential energy saving infrastructure investments totalling $2.7 million with an estimated payback period of 12 years. McKinstry would guarantee that the energy savings would exceed the costs of the repayment over a period of 15 years.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Business Services meeting

The agenda for Wednesday's meeting can be found here.

The committe will review a proposal from Alliant Energy to provide the district with a low interest loan to fund energy improvements in the district. The loan is based on Alliant's estimates of savings from the energy efficiency investments made in the Glacial Drumlin School, and can be used to fund some of the energy saving work we hope to do in other buildings. The idea is to make the improvements self-funding, with the utility savings being sufficent to cover the loan payments. At the same time the committee will get an update from the Energy committee concerning proposed capital projects.

Most importantly we will receive and review the results of the 2007-8 budget year financial audit.

Doug Wood posts on his blog:

Alderman Wiswell also proposes to eliminate the entire $7,700 amount in the CATV budget for 'new transmission methods'. That funding was proposed by the committee to pay for live web streaming and start up cost for the LPFM radio station (basically a low-cost, low-powered community radio station for Monona and immediate environs). I give the committee big kudos for this proposal that improve communication between the government, schools and residents and amongst the residents directly.

This budget reduction would impact coverage of district as well as city meetings and events and has special significance now that Charter is no longer required to carry the PEG channel on basic cable.

Charter tried to drop PEG from the analog service last year and Andy expects they will try again next year. THe nearly 50% of Charter customers with analog only cable would be faced with the costs of upgrading to digital cable and digital tuners to receive the PEG channels. Internet streaming would help reach those constituents who don't have cable or might lose it because they only have basic analog cable. I think the connections between local government and citizens are tenuous enough already and we should seriously consider these upgrades as essential to good government.

Ad Hoc Committee

Last night the board approved a resolution to create an Ad Hoc Committee to consider grade configuration issues in the district. The scope is laid out in the resolution:

A task force appointed by the School Board President be established to discuss the issues relating to the enrollments and grade configurations of the 4K through 8th grade schools in the Monona Grove School District. An analysis and recommendation(s) will be provided to the School Board by the end of the 2008-2009 school year. The committee to be comprised of 2 School Board members, 3 administrators, 1 staff member from the Cottage Grove elementary schools, 1 staff member from the Monona elementary schools, 4 Cottage Grove citizens, and 4 Monona citizens.

John Kitslaar also announced the committee citizen membership.


The committee agenda for yesterday's meeting can be found here:

The Snow Queen...

Playtime Productions Children's Theatre fall production is coming to the MG High School auditorium Saturday, Nov. 15th at 7pm. This season's performance is an original musical adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale "The Snow Queen" and features 12 Monona Grove students in the cast and crew (pictured). You will enjoy this entertaining show and at the same time support these hard-working and talented kids in this terrific program.

The rest of the fall schedule and more information about Playtime Productions Children's Theatre Group can be found here.

Coming attractions

Next Wednesday's board agenda can be found here.

Items of Note:
VIIa&b:Approval of the Scope and Membership of the Ad Hoc "Grade Configuration" Committee.

VIIIB:Paul Brost will give a report concerning Homecoming week at the High school. Paul has repeatedly expressed frustration with continued unruly behaviours associated with this event and intends to reduce Homecoming week activities in response.

VIIIC: Approval of 4-K providers for 2009-10. I would be interested if anyone has comments about the current providers.

More on the budget flier

Kristin Yates writes:

There was another big problem with the mailer. There was a pretty significant number problem. Equalized value for property tax was stated as 1,999,308,341, and the DPI numbers ended up at $1,877,729,956. I assume this is a timing problem since these numbers were late, published the 23rd.

THE ERROR IS HUGE THOUGH. The mill rate was shown to increase only 4.5% despite the levy going up 12.86%. In reality, the mill rate goes up 12.4%. in the final numbers.

The discrepancy noted between the budget flier and the actual numbers approved at the annual meeting is correct. The difference arises from the fact that the state “Equalized Property Value” was not reported to the district until October 23rd, after the flier was mailed. The estimates that had been used for equalized value were too high, the actual increase came in at only 1.43%.

However on average this makes no difference to property taxes. How’s that? The total amount of money raised by the district from property taxes is fixed by the state school funding formula and any referenda- the district is budgeted to raise $23 million from taxes this year. On the other hand the tax paid on each property is the product of the value of the property and the mill rate. If the total increase in the property value is less, then the mill rate will increase; conversely if the total property value increases faster than the revenue limit then the mill rate will fall. We have seen the mill rates decrease in 6 of the last 10 years, and last year the increase was only 0.3%. Of course what happens to the taxes on a particular piece of property depends on the individual valuation of that property.

The lower equalized property value for the district does in the end increase the proportion of state aid to the district resulting in a smaller total increase in property taxes.

You will note from the flier that this year our state aids decreased about $1.2 million, largely due to declining enrollment in prior years. This trend will be reversed next year given our current increasing enrollment, but it does represent a significant shift toward property taxes in the district.

Its in the Mail

I have heard some complaints about the annual budget flier being delivered late in Monona, with many people not receiving it until the day of the meeting.

The budget flier was delivered to the Post Office the week of the 8th, after approval by the board. This should have allowed plenty of time for postal delivery, and indeed the flier was delivered in Cottage Grove the beginning of the week prior the meeting. However the USPS apparently mishandled those destined for Monona addresses. The district did inquire with the local Post Office when it was noticed the flier wasn't received, at which point the USPS did deliver it.

The budget flier, with its annual meeting notice, is sent out each year as a courtesy to the residents of the district. It is my understanding that most districts don't do this, relying instead on the usual meeting notices posted in newspapers, district offices and on-line.

A real loss

The following appeared in this week's Herald-Independent:

After considerable personal reflection, I have decided not to seek re-election to the Monona Grove School Board this coming spring. Serving for the past six years on the board has been a great privilege, and I will depart the board with mixed emotions. But I will do so with the knowledge that our district is comprised of outstanding teachers, staff and administrators who will continue to work with our school district community in providing the best education possible for all children in the district.

I want to thank the citizens of the district for allowing me to serve on this school board. Serving this wonderful district has been a true honor.

Sincerely,

Phil McDade

This is a great loss for the district. Among the board members Phil has been uniquely and uncompromisingly dedicated to the promotion of educational excellence in our district. You just have to watch a few board meetings to know that he has always brought the most knowledge and insight to board deliberations and has played a key role in realizing many important district initiatives. Phil has been a key player in 4K programming, world languages, RTI and our assessment strategies, some of things that make the MG district an educational leader in the state. Recently he was appointed by the State Superintendent's task force on assessments. While much of the activity of the board plays around the edges, such things as gym usage and bus schedules that often get public attention, Phil has constantly focused on the core issues of education that really improve the quality of the district and that we all should focus on. Phil has also often been the behind the scenes compromiser that worked to bring the factions on the board together on important decisions.

As long as I have known him Phil has never put politics or colloquial views above the good of the district or our communities, even though this has rankled some. But I hope everyone can appreciate the great deal of good Phil has done for the district.

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the School District is coming up on Monday at 7 pm in the high school Auditorium.

The Annual Meeting is a meeting of the citizens of the district, the "Electorate", not a meeting of the school board. The meeting is required by state statute to approve the tax levy for the district and a few other items which are reserved for the electorate.

Committee chairs will present annual reports summarizing the year's business and the auditor's statement and 2008-9 annual budget will be presented. But no school board business will be conducted.

The agenda of the meeting can be found by clicking here.

Phil on the CG & TP capacity

Phil McDade weighed in on the comments section, and I though his response is worth reposting here.

Since the question was asked...(and apologies in advance for the length of this response):

In my view, it's important to distinguish between the two elementary schools in Cottage Grove -- Taylor Prairie (TP) and Cottage Grove School (CG).

Start with TP. It currently enrolls 401 students. The school houses K and 1st grades, plus some sections of the district's new 4-year-old kindergarten program. Although its capacity is listed by the district as 364, I think it's important to look at actual classroom usage, to my mind a more insightful way of assessing usage. We have 8 sections of K at TP, 7 of 1st grade. We have 4 sections of 4K, but since they only attend half-days, we use only two classrooms for those 4K students. We also have dedicated classrooms for art, music, and a computer lab, in addition to dedicated rooms for children with special needs, such as our occupational therapy/physical therapy (OT/PT)classroom. In addition, the "step-room" at TP -- used in previous years for music -- is now open and available for use (teacher training, art shows, the like). The library, gym and cafeteria are used for their original purposes, i.e., we don't have any "spillover" usage of those spaces for anything other than regular instructional/other use. In short, we're using all of the available classrooms at TP, but -- in my view -- we're not overcrowded in that school.

CG School: There is a legitimate argument, in my view, that CG is beyond capacity, but not terribly overcrowded. It currently enrolls 477 students; its listed capacity is 440. We currently have 7 sections each of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades in CG. We have two dedicated computer labs there, plus a number of spaces for instruction of children with special needs. Are they smaller than regular classrooms? Yes, some are. Are they closets? Not by any stretch. As for crowding at CG, it's mainly confined to related-arts classes like music and art. Music is currently being taught in the step room -- a much larger space than a regular classroom, but it makes that space unavailable for other school uses. Art (and 4th graders who take strings) is currently held in a portion of the cafeteria walled off with a temporary, movable wall. So, in the end, "crowding" at CG comes down to music and art being taught in something other than classroom space, and a smaller cafeteria. Is that less than ideal? Without question. But it is less-than-ideal for only a (relatively) small portion of any student's given day. Most instruction at the elementary levels takes place in regular education classrooms. In my view, CG is "overcrowded," but it's on the order of a few small degrees -- essentially two or three classrooms.

But didn't the school district/board at one time talk about a building addition for CG School? Good question; indeed it did. Some background that may be helpful. The school board put together the referendum package in February '06. The previous referendum, at a cost of $39.9 million, included a four-classroom addition to CG School. A friend of mine dubbed that referendum the "everything AND the kitchen sink" referendum. It failed badly, garnering only 37 percent support. When the board came back to put together the second referendum, it was concerned (quite appropriately, I would argue) with holding down its cost, and by a significant amount. Part of what was pared from the second referendum was the CG classroom addition, at a cost of at least $1 million and perhaps as much as $2 million. As one of two current board members who helped put together that referendum package, holding off on the CG classroom addition was one of the tougher decisions we made. But we also knew the second referendum had to be less expensive, viewed as more affordable by the citizenry, and demonstrate that the board was serious about paring back costs. In the end, the second referendum cost $28.7 million (still a substantial amount for a district our size), and passed with 59 percent of the vote.

The broad point is this: the school board made a very explicit (and unanimous) decision to approve a referendum package that included a new middle school, and significant improvements to Winnequah, in return for not expanding CG School. The board tried, in the old political parlance, to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Was there a solid rationale at the time for adding on to CG School. Yes? But the larger rationale was passage of the referendum.

Now, I fully recognize and accept that there are those in our school district community who continue to believe that referendum did not meet the needs of the district, and that it should have focused instead on renovating/expanding Winnequah and providing, in some form, additional elementary classroom space in the Cottage Grove attendance area. But the referendum put out by the board, the one that focused instead on building a new middle school (along with improvements to Winnequah), was endorsed by 59 percent of the voters. I don't know of any similar-sized districts that have seen anything as expensive passed by such a margin; maybe there is one, but I haven't found it. In short, I believe the board's decision on the referendum was soundly endorsed by a significant share of the district's voters.

What about future enrollments? They are tough to predict, for anything more than two years out (for a variety of factors, i.e., housing markets, open enrollment trends, gas prices...).

Things we know:

-- TP enrolled eight sections of K this fall, and will likely enroll 8 sections next fall. TP has never enrolled more than 8 sections (classrooms) of K in any one year since it opened in the mid-1990s. That's not to say it won't happen in the future, but it hasn't in the decade-plus that the school has been open.

-- CG School will likely have the same number of regular-education sections next fall (21) that it currently has (7 sections each of the three grades). Seven sections of 4th grade grade will move out, and seven sections of the 1st graders that are now at TP will move in. To my mind, the bigger crunch at CG School comes in the fall of 2010, when the school has to absorb the 8 sections of K now at TP, or one more than CG school currently has now (we have fairly sophisticated models of enrollment retention done by the UW population lab; essentially they tell us that once students enroll in our schools, they tend to stay with us until they graduate. Modest growth in grade enrollment occurs primarily in the middle and high school years, largely through private school/open enrollment into those grades. We tend not to "grow" that much in the elementary years).

-- We enroll 703 student at Glacial Drumlin; its official capacity is 750. There is some room for enrollment growth there, but not a ton (middle school classroom space tends to be a bit more flexible than elementary space, as well). Again, getting back to the referendum, the board tried very hard to "right-size" that school -- not too big (as one of my board colleagues said at the time, "You don't build a church for Easter Sunday"), but large enough to handle some level of enrollment growth. I remain convinced GDS is large enough to handle future enrollment growth in the district.

To answer the question directly of the previous poster, my view (perhaps shared by others on the school board, but perhaps not) is that we don't have a serious overcrowding issue at our CG schools. We have overcrowding at one elementary school there, but it is relatively modest, in my view (on the order, roughly, of 10 percent of the building capacity, or enrollment projections from two years ago, however you want to look at it). Others may view it as alarming, but I don't share that view. Is it manageable in the near-term? I think so, although my guess is that how it can be managed will provoke some interesting debate in our school community. I will say flatly that the crowding at CG School, in my view, doesn't necessitate the drastic step of a referendum for a third elementary school in the CG attendance area; that, to me, would be an overreaction to what I view as a relatively modest problem. (Besides, I don't think this district should seek approval of another school building referendum until the high school referendum is paid off, which I think is about 10 years from now.)

I hope some or all of this provides some additional context for this debate, and perhaps even proves helpful.

Borrowing a little money

I was asked about the board meeting in special session on wednesday for the annual approval of our short term borrowing in the amount not to exceed $2.3 million. There is nothing remarkable about this, we do it every year- this borrowing simply allows the district to keep up with the difference in the timing of payments received from the state and what we pay out, monthly payroll for example.

It does however get right to the financial crisis facing this nation. This is money that comes from the money markets - short term interbank lending that is the grease for the wheels of the american economy. If that market dries up banks might not be able to find funds to loan out for these short term borrowing needs. If that happens companies won't be able to make payroll and won't be able to buy inventory - things can grind to a halt.

We've heard about the mortgage default crisis, but as far as I can see that was only the trigger for the real problem. Those bad mortgage assets make everyone reluctant to loan money- you can't judge the net worth of the borrower who might be holding bad assets.

Words for the next president

A new study from the American Mathematical Society caught my eye. In it they conclude:

The study suggests that while many girls have exceptional talent in math — the talent to become top math researchers, scientists and engineers — they are rarely identified in the United States. A major reason, according to the study, is that American culture does not highly value talent in math, and so discourages girls — and boys, for that matter — from excelling in the field.

NY Times Story

Although this study focuses on Math skill and gender differences I think it reflects on a slice of the bigger picture. I have long felt that the largest problem with education isn't in our schools at all, but our culture.

The PBS "Education Matters" podcast has been asking prominent educators what they would want to say to the next president. "Two Million Minutes" filmmaker Robert Compton says:

The president needs to use symbols, rhetoric recognition and rewards as a way to start changing that culture and elevating academic achievement.

Listen Here


http://www.ams.org/notices/200810/fea-gallian.pdf

Next Board Meeting

The next board meeting will be held Wednesday Oct 8th at 7 pm in the Community Room at Glacial Drumlin School.

Items of Note:
A presentation of our Diversity and Minority Student Achievement Initiatives.

Alternative High School End of year report.

Discussion and Approval of the Appointments to the Grade Configuration Study committee.

Discussion and Approval of the 2008-9 budget flyer and the preliminary revenue limit calculation.

Looking for channel 12?

Monona's MCCC (former channel 12) is now broadcast on Charter's basic cable channel 98 in Monona and digital channel 990 in Monona and CG.

CG community cable should also be available on channel 98 in Cottage Grove and digital 987 in both communities.

Open Questions Thread

Post your questions on any topic in the comment section.

Nichols Usage

I have been asked for a summary of the current usage of the Nichols building. This is the information I currently have:

room 119: Excel Program

Rooms: 108,110 Pupil Services.

Room 202: District Office records storage.

Room 204: Barb Waara Food Service Director Office and meeting room.

Room 205 and 203: rented to the Dane CO. Consortium School to Career program at cost.

3rd Floor: District Offices.

All of the above usage is in the North "Administrative Wing" of the building. The Nichols gym is currently not available because it is on the HV system for the school side of the building- using the gym would require heating and ventilating the entire building at significant energy costs. Mark Scullion is looking into solutions for that.


Any other questions I can answer?

Enrollment - 2008/9

Preliminary 2008-9 enrollment numbers show a total of 3076 students "in seats" as of 9/10. This includes 85 4k students and community daycare sites, 107 4k students at Maywood and TP, and 133 open enrollment in (vs. 39 oe out).

Our total FTE (full-time equivalent) is 2892 (This number excludes our open enrollment in and counts our open enrollment out). This represents an increase of 141 FTE students over last year. Subtracting 4K students there is a net increase of 26 new students not counting the net open enrollment.

Coming up...

The September Business services meeting will be held tomorrow (Monday not Wednesday!)

The biggest items on the agenda will relate to the transportation issues in Cottage Grove, where an unexpectedly large enrollment (especially 4k) and various issues related to the new schedules have created needs to be resolved.

We will also be discussing a proposed administrative review of our facility usage fees which haven't been updated since 2003. The fees are set to cover the direct costs to the district resulting from the use of these facilities.

The 2008-2009 original budget will be presented for approval.

Results are in!

First and foremost all, a special thanks to Sean Jindrich for being the driving force behind this event. Sean has done more than help raise a bit of money for the Artist In Residence program, he pulled off a great event that reached across all segments of our community.

Second, a thanks to all the volunteers and pie bakers who helped make this work. A tremendous amount of effort went into making this event succesful.

The event has raised $4700 and counting, meaning we have about $2000 left to raise for the project. Don't forget to order your Monona Pie Cookbook featuring the recipes from the Pie Party. Were hoping Cookbook sales will complete the fundraising for this project.

So who won? The students of course!

But who won the prizes?

The prestigious "Bakers' Choice Award" award, determined by the votes of those who contributed pies goes to Libby Howting's Pecan Pie. Libby wins a commerative Engraved Silver Pie Server.

The Top "Bakers' Choice" vote getters were:
Libby Howting, Pecan Pie
Kristin Sobol, Pork Apple Sauerkraut Pie
Kristin Sobol, Pear & Hot Pepper Jelly Pie
Sue McDade, Lemon Truffle Pie

The top 3 fund raising pies (total "Pie Buck" votes and Auction price) each win a hand made ceramic pie pan donated by Jean and David Aurelius of Clay Bay Pottery. The top 3 are:

Kristin Sobol, Pork Apple Sauerkraut Pie
Sue Manning, Grandma's Louisiana Pecan Pie
Pat Coyne, Crummy Apple Pie


Yes! The Pork Apple Sauerkraut Pie raised the most money thanks to a bidding war between Judy Fritz and Ann Aswegan. I heard that Ann, after winning the auction, invited the Fritzs to dinner!

The top 15 pies by money raised are:

Kristin Sobol, Pork Apple Sauerkraut Pie
Sue Manning, Grandma's Louisiana Pecan Pie
Jessica Ace, Buffalo Chicken Pie
Michelle Gronski, Kaula Kissed Chocolate Pie
Deb Lyons-Zaber, Sarah Palin Pie to Nowhere
Pat Coyne, Crummy Apple Pie
Bonnie Mitchell, Rasberry Pie
Joel Overdier, Apricot Tart with Chevre Brulee
Wayne Kimmell, Wish I was in Key West Key Lime Pie
Sandra Homberg, Brandy-Apple Pie
Cathy Bernards, Candy Bar Pie
Judy Pincus, Northstar Cherry Pie
Emily Townsend, Crinkle and Smoothy Pie
Liz Primozic, Political Pie or Yukon Gold vs. Sweet Potato Pie
John DeBacher, Aunt Ann's Crumble Apple Pie

All Pie- All the time!

From now till Saturday this blog will be about nothing but Saturday's fundraiser at Winnequah School. Bring your friends. Heck they don't have to be friends, just bring 'em! The Event promises to be 4 hours of excellent food and great fun with great people.

In case you don't know what this is about, the Pie Party is a fundraiser for a great artist in Residence program for Winnequah School. Bakers in the community will be baking 200 pies of all description for you to taste, enjoy, vote for and take home. The Baker of the pie that raises the most money through your votes, donations and winning bid will win fabulous prizes; while you will enjoy the satisfaction of helping your community schools, great company and delicious pies to taste and take home.

The event is kid friendly, with pie themed games and activities for kids of all ages, from pie sculpting to pieku.

Stop by for a minute, or 4 hours, and don't forget your checkbook!

Coming up...

This week's Board Meeting agenda can be found here. Items of Note:
Craig will provide an update on the enrollment, which has apparently seen a significant increase beyond the expected open enrollment students.
Members to the Ad Hoc Committee to Study Grade Configuration in Monona will be appointed.
The Athletic Field Use Ad Hoc Committee will provide the board with an update on their progress.
The P&P Committee will present the High School Extra-Curricular Code of Conduct for approval.

First week done.

Ok, we now have the first week of the new configuration under our belt. I expected that not everything would go smoothly, with so many changes we are guaranteed to have problems. Take a moment to comment on any issues you are aware of that still need to be resolved, I'd like to hear them.

Winnequah looks great!

Both Katherine and Will are at Winnequah this year, so I have spent a bit of time in the building over the last 2 days. I have to say the remodel this summer has made a dramatic difference in the appearance and feel of the building. The staff seems pleased at how much brighter and appealing the hallways and classrooms have become with a little sprucing up.

See for yourself Sunday 1-3pm at the Winnequah Open House.

Enrollment - 2008/9

I've had some questions about enrollment for the coming school year, something I have been wondering about myself as it is directly related to revenue. Even modest increases in enrollment will significantly improve the budget picture.

The official enrollment numbers are generated by a count done on the 3rd Friday in September, we will have the actual numbers to report at that time. Anecdotally I have heard that enrollment was higher than anticipated, even on top of the expected increase in open enrollment students- but I don't know by how much.

Connie Haessly reports 193 4K students with a few more to be placed. There are 4 sections of 4K at TP, 3 sections at Maywood, 3 at Kids Safari and one each at IHM and Learning Ladder. I believe that a section was added at Maywood because of demand. The original 4K study from 2007 only estimated 145 students - this program appears substantially more popular than anticipated.

PEG isn't moving quite so far.

Andy Hagen sends word that Charter has relented a bit on the PEG channels (Channel 12 in Monona and Cottage Grove). The channels will be moved to a digital channel between 979 and 998, but will also be broadcast on an analog channel between 95 and 99, at least for the time being. That means that analog subscribers (like myself) will be able to tune in the PEG channel with existing TV sets and equipment.

The change is set to go in to effect on September 30th.

From Charter:

To address the needs of some of our non-digital customers who desire to view the public access channels in an analog format, (not requiring digital equipment), we have listened to their concerns and have engineered a way to launch our new HD channels and the Public Affairs Neighborhood, while maintaining the public access channels on analog. Effective September 30th, analog customers will be able to view the public access channels in each of their local markets on analog channels 95-99, while digital customers will find those PEG channels, as well as the PEG channels from neighboring communities in the Public Affairs Neighborhood on channels 979-999. In this manner, both analog and digital customers are accommodated!

Starry night

We're just back from our summer vacation, spent on Rainy Lake in the Boundary Waters with friends. I think the best part of experience was taking Katherine and Will out to see the stars in the dark nights. They were awestruck by a view of the sky that they had little idea existed.

The wonder of the night sky has been a constant for 100,000 years of human history, what are the consequences of extirpating it from our awareness?

Just a reminder...

Glacial Drumlin dedication tomorrow at 1:00 pm!

August 13 board meeting

This week's meeting agenda can be found here.

Discussions of note include the Monona Grade Configuration Study Committee and a report from the Ad Hoc Athletic Field Use Committee.

The Field Use Committee has been investigating the installation of artificial turf for the High school stadium, including the possibility of asking the voters to fund this investment. There clearly is a problem with the condition of the football field due to the high number of events that take place on the grass and artificial turf is seen as one solution to this problem.

two little changes...

1) Next week's board meeting (August 13th) will be held at the district office board room at Nichols. We were scheduled to hold it in the library at Glacial Drumlin School, but the facility is not ready.

2) The PEG channel move has been delayed at least a month by Charter, so you will still be able to tune in on channel 12 at least for the next meeting.


P.S. Have you signed up to bake a pie yet?

$5,000 grant awarded for Winnequah Tile Mural Project

Kristin just got word that the Monona Elementary PTO has been awarded $5000 from the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission. The money is to be used toward the Winnequah Cafeteria Tile Mural Project to create a student driven work of art for the Winnequah cafeteria. Counting this grant the committee is nearly halfway to its fundraising goal.

What about the other half? Can you say Pie Party? That's right, on September 13th the PTO is hosting a fundraising event in the Winnequah Cafetaria featuring 200 home baked pies. YOU can help by signing up to bake a pie (bakers can win fabulous prizes), attending the event and going home with your favorite pie, or SPREADING THE WORD about this event! More information can be found at www.bestpieparty.com.

Glacial Drumlin Dedication

The Dedication and Open House at the Glacial Drumlin School will be Sunday August 17th starting at 1:00 pm. Hope to see you there!


From the website:

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE
GLACIAL DRUMLIN
SCHOOL DEDICATION
AUGUST 17, 2008
1:00 p.m. Program in gymnasium
Refreshments and tour to follow program

PEG is Online!

Public Access channel programming from the Monona public channel is available online at http://www.mononatv.com to provide access to those of us without digital cable (QAM) tuners after next month's switch. Monona TV will include webcasts of MG school board meetings in the on-line content.

Coming up...

Next week's business services agenda is here. Its not very exciting, but financial expert Paul Thompson of Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co. will discuss post-retirement benefits and financing. Funding of post-retirement benefits is a key financial concern so this discussion should be of interest to anyone concerned about the long term financial health of the district.

If you scroll down to the bottom you will notice a calendar with board meetings and events marked. I will try to keep it up to date, but this unofficial and I make no guarantees to its accuracy. Please check the MG website for event times, events and locations.

PEG is moving

If you haven't heard yet, Charter Communications is moving channel 12, the local PEG Channel (Public, Education, Government), that serves Monona and the school district. Currently broadcast on the basic tier of analog service the channel will be moved to a digital channel number somewhere between 980 an 994. Although the signal will be available on the basic tier you will need a TV with a digital tuner or a converter box in order to access such scintillating content as the MG Board meetings. The switchover will occur on August 12th so you will need to upgrade by then. The city's information page on the subject can be found here.

It is my understanding that Web Streaming of the content will be considered in order to offer some service options to those without digital reception or cable access.

Update: Andy Hagen (The city and district Media Coordinator) posted a comment with some important information, so I moved it up here:

Thank you for letting people know about this. The change is a little confusing because of another digital television change happening at the same time with over-the-air broadcasters. Cable is not using the same system that over-the-air broadcasters are using. A few other notes which could be helpful to you and your readers.

1)The change means that live events at the High School (sports, concerts, etc.) should be viewable in both Monona and Cottage Grove.

2)The new cable signal will require a QAM tuner. The digital tuners currently available for around $50 (and eligible for a $40 coupon) WILL NOT WORK with this signal. QAM tuners are hard to find right now, and usually are sold as part of a DVD recorder, or DVR for around $150.

3)The QAM tuner is not well documented on displays at TV retailers either. It is not well known by salespeople. Not all new TVs have them, and new TVs are not required to have them like the are for the other system. If you are looking for a new TV, shop carefully. You still might need a converter box to watch digital cable on a new TV.

4)Charter told us they will offer a converter box to viewers for free for 6 months. Viewers would have to call Charter, and then stop by their office on Daniels street to pick it up. Details will be released next week.

If you or your readers have any questions, please call me at 221-7666 x 2133.

Thank you,
Andy Hagen
Media Coordinator

Glacial Drumlin Blog

Thanks to the anonymous commenter for pointing out the Glacial Drumlin Blog. Among other things you will find schedules for next year and the behaviour program overview posted. Let Paul Herrick or Renee Tennant know if you find this a useful communication channel.

Are you aware of MGSD related blogs others might useful? Please post them here!

Happy 4th of July!

July Board Meeting Agenda

July's light agenda can be found here.
There are two items of note on the Agenda: the Resource Officer Agreement between the district and the municipalities will provide for the Police Liaison officer; and the "Committee to Study Grade Configuration in Monona" which will be tasked with evaluating the different options for grade alignment of the Monona elementary schools.

Education Podcast

I think there is a mismatch in the importance placed on education (at least judged by the money we spend on it!) and the lack of coverage it receives in the media. What news we do get tends to focus on local issues but don't give us a larger perspective on the education issues facing the nation. It is one reason I regularly listen to John Merrow's "Education Podcast" on my mp3 player (usually while walking Doogie!)

The podcast features interviews with teachers, principals, superintendents and even inner city single parents, but the emphasis is always on academic achievement. Recently they have had a series of speakers on the "Democracy at Risk" report - a follow up to the well known "Nation at Risk" report issued 25 years ago. Alternate perspectives are always thought provoking and help bring our local issues into focus, so I recommend to anyone looking for a wider view that they invest a few minutes with this podcast.

The podcasts can be downloaded from the link above or at Itunes.

Walking in Monona

A recent Dane County Sheriff's department evaluation of Monona has added the entire length of Winnequah Road to the list of "Unusually Hazardous Traffic Areas". This designation is related to high traffic combined with a lack of sidewalks, crosswalks and controlled intersections. This means that the walk zone for Winnequah school will be limited on the west by Winnequah Road.

(A similar evaluation will be done in Cottage Grove after the road project is completed.)

One of the attractive attributes of a community like Monona is that its size makes walking and biking to destinations around town a viable option. I do wish that we had the infrastructure to make this option safer for pedestrians, particularly for kids. I think that safer walking/biking corridors through the city would make it a more attractive and livable place.

What can we do?

Everything you wanted to know about School Finance but where afraid to ask.

At tonight's Business Services Committee meeting Business Services Director Mary Ellen Van Valin reviewed the wealth of information on the WI DPI website. The site features an overview of the finance system; presentations explaining school finance; data and reports by district; handy pie-charts and explanations of everything from Aid Information to WUFAR.

Complete MG finance information (through the 2006-7 school year) is available on the site for anyone interested in knowing nearly everything about WI school finance.

All this and more can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs

One in 172

I had heard that Alex VanAbel achieved a 36 on his ACT test this year, but I was previously unaware of the rarity of his accomplishment:

From: Galen.Johnson@
Sent: Fri 6/20/2008 9:33 AM
To: Breisch, Bill; O'Connor, Edward

Subject: Congratulations


Bill and Ed,

I just received an internal memo showing 172 students across the nation that earned a perfect ACT score of 36 on the April exam. I was pleased to see that one of these is a Monona Grove student. Congratulations! This represents an outstanding academic achievement for the individual student, but also indicates the strength of programming support from Monona Grove. Thank you for all that you do to make sure your students have access to such a high quality education.

Galen

Galen W. Johnson
Assistant Vice President and Regional Manager
ACT Midwest Region

Good Job Alex!

Positive Stories from 2007-8 wanted.

On the board we tend to only hear from people with complaints or when things go wrong. Yet as a commenter earlier pointed out many on our dedicated staff regularly go above and beyond in service of our students and community.

At the close of this school year I would like to give you an opportunity to relate your stories of how a staff member might have provided extraordinary service over the last year. Please share!


(On topic comments only please!)

Rumors?

Yesterday we heard a rumor that the board was secretly planning to move CG elementary students to the Monona schools to alleviate overcrowding in CG schools. Of course this isn't true, next year's grade arrangements create sufficient room in the CG elementary buildings.

So I am curious to know what other rumors are out there. What have you heard?

Congratulations class of 2008!

Wear sunscreen...

MAP testing in the news

Today's WSJ has a nice write-up on MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing used in elementary schools. It features examples of its use in the MG district by 3rd grade teachers Mary Sullivan and Kym Davick:

A recent experience illustrates its effect upon top students. Early in the fall of the 2007-08 school year, Sullivan noticed that half a dozen of her 21 students had exceptionally high math scores on the MAP test.
Sullivan and Kym Davick, another third grade teacher who also had students with high math scores, devised a plan to challenge those students, including Davick 's daughter, Anika, a student in Sullivan 's class.
Before each unit of the regular math curriculum, all students took a test to see what they already knew.
Those who scored high enough were sent into an accelerated program. For example, in a unit focusing upon measuring lines and volume, the high-flying students were given more complex problems.
The flexible grouping worked.
MAP tests this spring showed that all students ' math skills progressed well, and the skills of Anika and many of her peers advanced nearly twice as many points as would have been expected for students with similar skills.
"This group did amazing things because we were diligent about the instruction, " Davick said. "That 's what 's happening everywhere. "

It takes time to develop these sorts of strategies, as teachers become familiar with the power of the tools they have at their disposal.

Open Houses

At Wednesday's meeting the board tentatively scheduled open houses for the Glacial Drumlin School and the renovated Winnequah school. The Glacial Drumlin event is scheduled for Sunday August 17th and the Winnequah event for Sunday September 7th. The construction schedule prevents us from having the Winnequah event before school starts.

The Glacial Drumlin School is on or ahead of schedule although Mike Huffman reports the recent weather has delayed the landscaping. Recent pictures of the school can be found here.

The two story atrium behind the curved glass wall in the front of the building is just crying out for a big piece of art - such as a suspended mobile.

2007 WKCE

The results for the WKCE test administered in November 2007 were finally released on May 30th. That is more than six months after the test was given. Worse, the data files containing the detailed results that can be used for proper statistical analysis of the results are STILL not available for download. Assessments are information that degrades over time. The fact that it takes six months to get the data out (whatever its other shortcomings) cheats the taxpayers of the full value of their investment.

At the very least the WI DPI should be embarrassed by the fact it takes this long to release the test results. Personally I find it outrageous. I had an email exchange with DPI officials concerning this long delay and the loss of value, this is an excerpt from part of that response (italics mine):

... The WKCE is a large-scale assessment designed to provide a snapshot of how well a district or school is doing at helping all students reach proficiency on state standards, with a focus on school and district-level accountability. A large-scale, summative assessment such as the WKCE is not designed to provide diagnostic information about individual students. Those assessments are best done at the local level, where immediate results can be obtained. Schools should not rely on only WKCE data to gauge progress of individual students or to determine effectiveness of programs or curriculum.

Does anyone else find the fact that the state issues WKCE results to individual students surprising given the above statement?

Anyhow - the WKCE results were published in the WSJ and on the Cap Times website. As in previous years they show Monona Grove near the top in Dane County, with Waunakee out in front. We do well against tough competition, Dane County schools average the highest in the state.

Ed O'Connor notes that the MG 3rd Grade scores as printed in the paper appear to be incorrect:

The numbers reported in the WSJ (79% Reading/74% Math) are inconsistent with reports we have received from CTB McGraw-Hill and reports provided on the DPI WINSS site. These other sources both show our percent of students at Proficient/Advanced to be 84% for Reading and 81% for Math.

The DPI website agrees with Ed's numbers.

I will do a little analysis when the DPI posts the results files and get back to you when I can. I neither want to put too much emphasis on a flawed assessment nor speak about what it shows without proper analysis.

Garden Drumlin School

Kristi Williams presented her vision for a community supported school garden on the Glacial Drumlin grounds at today's Business Services Committee meeting. Kristi plans to connect teaching staff and community members to develop a school garden as a way to educate and provide enrichment to our middle school students. The committee has recommended to the board approval of the proposal to use the identified property for the purpose of the garden.

Interested gardeners can contact Kristi by phone at 839-4758.

More Energy Savings in our Future?

Today's Herald-Independent editorializes about the energy efficiency of the new Glacial Drumlin School and the savings that will accrue to the district. Unfortunately not all the buildings are up to the same standards. In fact several of our buildings rank near the top in Wisconsin in energy usage per square foot, even when adjusted for age.

Next Wednesday the Business Services Committee will consider recommendations for a vendor to provide Guaranteed Performance Contracts for energy upgrades around the district. In this arrangement the district finances building and energy system upgrades identified by the vendor using low interest loans or lease arrangements. These loans are paid back by the district out of the resultant savings from reduced utilities bills. The "Guaranteed" part is that the vendor will guarantee that a certain level of energy savings will be reached each year of the contract. If savings aren't met the vendor is required to make up the difference.

Next week's business services agenda can be found here.

Here in Frost's Woods, spring ends when the Oaks leaf out and cast us into our summer shade. That makes spring bulbs our best opportunity for a little color in our yards. Alas the tulips are fading, but they were great while they lasted.

Energy Efficiency at GDS

The Glacial Drumlin Middle School construction was audited by Alliant Energy and received their highest rating, both due to its energy efficient construction with a well designed building "envelope", daylighting and a highly efficient HVAC system with geothermal source. Alliant is certain that the building will receive Energy Star certification. More importantly they estimate savings of $114,000 per year (at current energy costs) over more conventional construction. The extra investment in energy efficient construction will be paid back in savings pretty quickly.

Based on these savings Alliant is offering us a low interest loan that we could use to perform energy efficiency improvements elsewhere in the district. Hopefully we can net additional savings while at the same time reducing the environmental footprint of the district.

May 14th Meeting

The agenda for Wednesday's board meeting can be found here. Items of interest:

Election of board officers.
Review of the New Teacher Mentor Program
Presentation of the Artist in Residence project for Winnequah.
Consider a proposal for increasing the administrative resources for Maywood next year with an assistant principal.
Update on implementation of the Block Schedule: Principal Brost will provide information on the state of readiness for Block Scheduling at the high school.
Update on the first year of EPAS (Explore/Plan/Act) testing.
Energy Conservation RFP review: The board will consider proposals from various vendors for contracting for energy efficiency upgrades and energy management. Successful management of these projects will have significant long term implications for the financial status of the district.

Art Project at Winnequah

Kristin is spearheading an effort to bring artists Jeanne and David Aurelius to the district next fall for an artist-in-residence program with the goal of rendering a large tile mural in the Winnequah cafeteria. The project is meant to enhance the environment at Winnequah and mark the transition to an elementary school.

The project involves the artists working with the elementary students to select a theme, create the artistic elements and merge them into the overall design, manufacture the individual tiles (one per student) and then install them as a mural. The result is a unique and permanent creation that is an expression of the students and the school community.

More details of the process can be found on the Clay Bay Pottery website.

Kristin has been working with Ann Schroeder, Peter Kuzma, the PTO and several members of the community on this project. A big fundraising event is being planned for early next school year, hopefully to be supplemented with grants from area arts organizations. Volunteers will be needed to help both with the fundraising efforts and the art project itself, send me an email at sobol_p@yahoo.com if you would like to help!

Kristin is planning a brief presentation at next Wednesday's board meeting to introduce this project to the community.

Garlic Mustard Time

A silent invader is slipping into Monona's park and quietly displacing our native flora and fauna. This insidious invader is of course Garlic Mustard:

WDNR page on Garlic Mustard

The good news is that an hour or two of work once a year can successfully rid a neighborhood park of this pest. Can you help? Prime pulling season is now as the plants are starting to "bolt". I have scouted all the Monona parks and can tell you exactly where to look and what to do if you need some pointers. Otherwise post here in the comments if you do take do an area- that way others can look elsewhere.

I have been taking care of Frost Woods Beach and Maywood Park the last couple of years and will keep those two up.

I know, its not school business related!

Congratulations

Congratulations to Monona Grove's Aubrey Lauersdorf on her selection as a National Merit Scholar. Aubrey is one of 18 county students selected for this honor.


http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/283968

Communication

Lily Schlammelhanger made the following comment on an earlier thread:

I believe the entire problem here is one of process. The way the board gathers public input on difficult issues needs to change, and the involved, attentive
residents of this district should help and support the board in doing that. The processes used in decision making need to be more transparent and understandable. Criteria must be determined and then adhered to. More budget problems are coming. The good news is that Monona Grove has been very lucky to be one of the last districts in Wisconsin to face these problems. This means there are many districts who have already been through this. There must be at least a few districts who have engaged the public effectively, such that when the final decisions were made, most people felt like they understood the decisions and also believed their concerns were heard even if they did not agree with the final outcome. Until these process issues are addressed, this toxic dynamic will continue.

I too believe communication between the board and the community is problematic. Please comment on ways that this might be improved!

Help with the move

This summer is going to see the move of the Nichols students into the remodeled Winnequah building. Unfortunatly the move is going to be shoe-horned in around the renovation and will have to be done in the few days at the beginning and end of the summer break. If you could find time to help a teacher pack up or unpack please visit the http://nic-to-win.blogspot.com website and click on the "Sign up to help with the move!" link. You will be redirected to a page where you can pick a team and dates you would like to help.

Thanks to all those who have signed up already!

Topic: Monona Elementary Consolidation

The recurring theme in the open thread was the idea of consolidating the Monona elementary schools into one building. Please post your thoughts and comments concerning the pros and cons of such a consolidation as comments on this thread.

Open Thread

Let's start this with an "Open thread" discussion. Please comment on any topic of concern. Its not that I can't guess what's on your mind these days, but sometimes we suprise each other. I'll open individual threads for the relevant topics as they come up.

P.S. I would appreciate any comments on one old post I left up below, with some modest ideas for a better Monona.


Update 4/21 8PM:
1) Thanks for keeping it civil!

2) In general I don't intend to argue the points, I just want to hear what people have to say. But let me respond to a couple of things posted in the comments:

First, the "silly" comment: There is only one reason to close Maywood and that is the relative cost of maintaining two small schools vs. one larger one. This is of course balanced by the benefits of maintaining a small school environment. As far as I can see the less these two schools cost the less reason there would be to consolidate them. No?

Second, the comment about these schools being "half-staffed". I invite the poster to look at the number of teachers and staff (there are 30+ people who work in each of these buildings) and divide that into the number of students. You will find that the student/teacher ratios are much lower than other schools in the district, and that they among the very lowest in the state. These schools are by no means "half-staffed". Next year there will be one principal between the two, but we are also adding a teacher at Maywood.

Open for business! School discussion forum

In response to comments on Doug Wood's blog, I am re-opening this blog for discussion of school issues on a trial basis. It will remain open for business provided 1) I can continue to find the time and 2) it remains a useful discussion and idea forum. Please refrain from argumentative, intolerant or unproductive discussion. This is a place for discussion of general issues and ideas, not a place for complaints about specific issues in the school district. Specific issues need to be directed to the appropriate staff.

Remember, we are all in this together and we all want what is best for the Monona Grove schools and our communities, even though we may disagree about how to get there.