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.