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.
Friday, October 24, 2008
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40 comments:
Is there anything going on underground that we need to know about or just be on the ready?
I recall meetings in the past...
I heard that there will be a proposal to authorize the Board to act to sell Nichols School.
So how come nobody at the meeting brought up the rumor in the post above? Makes you wonder about the motive of whomever started the rumor or made that post.
I heard the rumor too. Supposedly CG parents want it closed and sold so they can build another elementary school or add on the the two existing ones in CG.
Nichols is on a prime piece of real estate that could be a real asset for the development of the Monona. But it probably would be prudent to wait until the reconstruction of Monona drive is done and the real estate market improves.
Actually-I watched the meeting.
I thought it was great-
I knew who was charge and he did it a kind, respectful and forward manner. There was none of the business of trying to shut people down with tactics that I have come to abhor.
It was a welcome change.
good hire.
"Neighborhood schools belong in the Neighborhood not in the business district."
It is a neighborhood school-families and student commonly biked, walked and played at that site. Frankly, you show your own bias with the above statement and it looks a bit dark from where I sit.
"Freeing it up would be a great thing for Monona. "
Glad to hear you have monona's best interest in mind!
"As usual the old Monona crowd is so resistant to change they would cut off their nose to spite their faces. THey complain about taxes and spending and then fight tooth and nail against responsible decisions."
Again, it is an age old technique to stereotype or typecast a group of people that you really do not know and you have done a very nice job. Congratulations!
Would you like to know your typecast or stereotype?
OK, I'll bite. You obviously prefer Nichols. Which of the other two schools, Maywood or Winnequah should we move to the Nichols building?
"Which of the other two schools, Maywood or Winnequah should we move to the Nichols building?"
Sorry, that is not the point. I really do not care about that..per say-the point being do not say that building ineeds to be closed until the facts are on the table....and espically do not tell me that would be good for me or Monona-'cause at this point we have very few facts all the previous post does is poke fun and sterotype.
That is the rub. Monona has at least one too many Elementary school buildings in close proximity. There is never going to be a time again when Monona will have enough students to require these three buildings. On the other hand we have to respect the desire of CG parents to have neighborhood elementaries just as much as we do.
Given that, it would be illogical and wasteful for the district to continue to keep 3 building off the tax rolls and on the district expenses. Nichols is the logical building to sell. Isn't it?
What facts do you need?
Here we go.
SPLIT the damn district now, keep our schools and bring back our middle schoolers.
What are we waiting for? A cheesy, slopped together re-development that will never provide the benefits of neighborhood schools? How many people do you think would buy a residential lot there, when they will very soon be able to buy one right behind that nice new shiny middle school in cottage grove?
Your posts show your ignorance regarding the state of mind in Monona. Lots of people have learned very valuable lessons since the passage of the middle school referendum.
Stay tuned.
And since you ask Peter, how about the numbers and space needs should your board be presented with a valid (we already know it would be valid, from the last time the board looked at it) split study and the will of the people indicates that Monona wants to stand on it's own?
Think that through for a second. There are something like 700 total Monona students. In a split district they could all fit into Winnequah or the High School. The fastest way to unload school buildings in Monona would be to split the district - the new district could not afford to operate more than one building.
Look, if you believe the majority of people in Monona would prefer a split, then please, oh please, get on with it so we can move forward. Research the statutes and proceed. But if you are not willing to do that, then stop complaining.
It amazes me the way people focus on buildings instead of education. What the heck is the problem with consolidating schools? It saves money that can then be spent in the classrooms, not on the classrooms. Its not like Maywood and Winnequah are so far apart that it makes any difference. They are both practically on top of each other in the same "neighborhood". So long as the people in Monona are more concerned about buildings than education this district will never have any success attracting children.
Consolidating these two schools would be a financial boon to the district and the kids would get a better education because they would all have access to better facilities.
"Given that, it would be illogical and wasteful for the district to continue to keep 3 building off the tax rolls and on the district expenses."
I agree on the surface.
Let me try this-playing devils advocate.
We are sitting on some VERY valuable property in the district. We have some capital projects that need to get done (athletic fields-come to mind). We could sell that property invest in our district and make change for many years to come. However, people are too close minded and want to stick to what they know, right?
I am talking about the large tract of land called the school forest...in CG...now what do you say?
That land and the land bldgs in Monona are part of the district and we need to honor our traditions and step carefully and kindly...leaving out the parties with cool aid and name calling....
See-I do not want to sell that land...but when people post such FLIP things and call people NAMES-they need to get a life.
I am a Monona resident and greatly opposed to a split. The way things are funded these days, the only way for a district to survive is with student growth.
"That land and the land bldgs in Monona are part of the district and we need to honor our traditions and step carefully and kindly..."
I am greatly confused by this comment. Sitting on closed buildings, spending money to maintain them, keeping the valuable land from benefiting the city through better use should sit behind "honoring traditions". Education is more important than stupid buildings and traditions.
The school forest provides educational opportunities for all students. An empty building does not. Your post makes no sense.
Looks like we spent over 28 million dollars and didn't solve a thing. We're back to not enough room in Cottage Grove and the need for trailers or buildings.
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/311733
"Education is more important than stupid buildings and traditions."
The logical conclusion from post is as follows:
1. We need move to home schooling via the net and sell all buildings.
2. We should eliminate all athletics and music programs.
"The school forest provides educational opportunities for all students. An empty building does not. Your post makes no sense."
It is NOT that I disagree with you, it is that we have to walk carefully.
Stereotyping is not going to get the job done.
For instance, I heard the following "if CG people would not have been so excited to be in new and shiny things like GDS and their houses and think things through...there would not be problems with kids and bikes and their taxes."
Yep, pretty stupid and stereotyping...get us anywhere...nope.
If the people in Monona want their Middle Schoolers in Monona, that's fine. There is plenty of room for them in Monona. The sale of Nichols school could fund additional upgrades to Winnequah (another science lab, etc). This would also free up room at GD if the CG 4th graders needed to be moved out of CG school. This would also have the happy result of keeping Maywood open. Problem solved. Now, can we please start showing a little concern for the educational programs in this district? Whenever Peter posts anything here about education, very few people weigh in. But when it's about our buildings, everyone goes nuclear. If I were a parent checking out districts and happened upon this blog, I would be very worried this is a district that has its priorities screwed up.
There is room for ALL of the Monona Pre-K through middle school in the Winnequah building according to the number handed out at the meeting 2 weeks ago. It would be irresponsible of the district not to sell both Nichols and Maywood even if the Middle schoolers were kept there.
"when it's about our buildings, everyone goes nuclear"
That is because it is not about bldgs.
When did the district "try to remove a principal" without telling the parents?
You think a new super and new board members are going to change anything? Do you really believe that anything is going to be any different than before? I believe in the adage that the best predictor of the future is the past. We have a culture in this district that does not permit honest, respectful, open, civil disagreement on issues. The minute there is disagreement, we all retreat to our camps, suck our thumbs and brand those who disagree with us as evil and selfish. We are unwilling to tolerate a decision we do not agree with and move on to the next issue. We are not willing to believe that those who disagree with us simply disagree rather than assign some sort of nefarious agenda to them. Most of us only talk to people who agree with us. We are stuck. I do not have a magic answer to what will change the dynamic but this I will say - we cannot engage in the same behavior over and over again and expect that the outcome will be different.
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/311733
Truly a sad time for Monona, especially as we continue to foot a majority of the bill for the misguided decision to build that middle school.
Here comes round two. Another of our neighborhood schools is about to be taken away, but the price we pay on our tax bill goes up and up.
"Now, can we please start showing a little concern for the educational programs in this district? "
OK, Watch This-
WHY, do we have some business ed. classes and communication classes?
I tink that says so many....
I've been especially busy and haven't had time to keep up with the housekeeping. I've removed some inappropriate posts that should have gone sooner. Again: keep it civil, factual and DON'T presume to speak for anyone else. That means when you say I "don't support neighborhood schools" you are both wrong and out of line.
Lily: You are my favorite commentor here. Thank you for your thoughtful posts.
I think we should look at a unified district where each community keeps k-8 with their own school boards and then unify in high school with a joint school board.
The reality is that high school sports and music are very important to many in Monona and those programs would suffer under a total split.
'we will never again have the students that will fill these schools" this is from the same crowd that said realestate would never go down..... (until 2024) how is your 201k doing peter?
I have never said that real-estate wouldn't go down, it is always easier to attack people by putting words in their mouths than it is to attack on a factual basis isn't it?
However, over the last 6 months Monona has bucked the national trend and seen an increase in average real-estate value.(www.zillow.com) This is reflected in the enrollment trend of families with school age kids moving into the district.
But the real question is how much do you think the district should spend each year hedging the bet that enrollment currently at 440 won't exceed 825 (the combined capacity of Maywood and Winnequah), and does that hedge exceed the cost of maintaining Nichols? I can't see a plausible scenario where the school age enrollment in Monona doubles.
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