Monday, November 29, 2010
In the News...
Cap. Times coverage of the Maywood-Winnequah issue can be found here, in case you missed it. Informational sessions for the public are scheduled for December 11th - 9:00am @Winnequah and December 14th - 6:30pm at Glacial Drumlin.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
MG21 responds...
The "Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the21st Century" is both a mouthful and our charter school that addresses the needs of high school students who are not well served in the traditional setting. Currently located in Nichols, MG21 is a newly chartered entity that replaced the Monona Grove Alternative School this year. The new charter brought with it an infusion of funds that allowed for an expansion of programming.
MG21 is hosting an open house in their Nichols facility on Thursday December 2nd from 6:30 to 8:00pm. This is a quality program that doesn't get enough attention, I urge you to attend and learn about it.
The staff of MG21 have prepared this response to the proposal to relocate the program to the Monona Senior Center:
MG21 is hosting an open house in their Nichols facility on Thursday December 2nd from 6:30 to 8:00pm. This is a quality program that doesn't get enough attention, I urge you to attend and learn about it.
The staff of MG21 have prepared this response to the proposal to relocate the program to the Monona Senior Center:
Craig Gerlach, Superintendent, Monona Grove School District
Susan Fox, President, Monona Grove School Board
November 23, 2010
Craig and Susan:
We write to address issues concerning the future location of MG21, the Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the21st Century.
As you know, Monona Mayor Robb Kahl recently proposed moving MG21 out of our current location in Nichols School and into space now occupied by the Monona Senior Center in the bottom floor of the Monona Community Center. The Monona Grove School Board briefly addressed the issue at its November meeting.
We have deep reservations about this proposal. We do not think it would provide an adequate learning environment for our students, nor do we think it is in the best long-term interests of our charter school.
(Some background that might be helpful: There seems to be confusion about the identity of our school. The Monona Grove Alternative School ended its charter with the district and the State of Wisconsin on June 30, 2010. The Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century is newly chartered and opened its doors on September 2, 2010 at Nichols School. MG21 currently serves 25 students in grades 10-12 who have not had success in the traditional high school. Students apply to attend this school. MG21 is not the same as the MGHS EXCEL program, which is also housed at Nichols in a separate location from MG21.)
Among our concerns are the following:
The space currently provided by the school district for MG21 in Nichols School is ideal for the needs of our students, and our long-term plans for MG21. We now operate as a Project-Based Learning (PBL) school, which requires more space than the previous alternative high school. In particular, we now offer students independent work stations, with individual computer terminals, to replicate the college and work environment our graduates will encounter when they leave MG21. We have two work station areas, totaling 28 computer areas and cubicles, in MG21 – one occupying the computer lab adjacent to the old library, and a larger area occupying roughly half of the former library space. We also have an area set aside in the library for large-group instruction and lectures, as well as the use of two classrooms directly across the hall. Current square footage of MG21 in Nichols School totals approximately 5,140 square feet. We also have access to the gymnasium at Nichols School for recreational and physical education use by our students, and potential use of the Nichols School multi-purpose room should our program grow in enrollment in future years.
In contrast, the space at the Senior Center is considerably smaller than what we have now (roughly 2,600 square feet), and not at all adequate for the current PBL-based approach of our school. The senior center space lacks adequate room for our individualized computer work stations, and there is inadequate instructional space for our academic classes. Our ability to carry out our PBL-based instructional program – the cornerstone of MG21’s educational approach, and one funded in part by a recent $175,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction – would be severely compromised with a move to the Senior Center.
Moving to the Senior Center risks the potential for growth in MG21’s enrollment. Our school will always remain a school geared toward Monona Grove high school students not finding success within the traditional program offered at the Monona Grove High School. But we also envision MG21 becoming a school of choice both within the MG school district, and for students from neighboring districts, attracted to our PBL-based instructional program and our emphasis on developing 21st Century learning skills. Already MG21 is generating student revenue to the district through enrollment of students contracted by a neighboring district. The space at the Senior Center provides little if any room for growth in MG21. We are not even convinced we could adequately educate our current student population of 25 students in that space; we would have to examine closely our current instructional program, to see if we could maintain our current enrollment, if forced to move into the Senior Center.
The Community Center is in the heart of Monona, and thus is quite busy, with people using the building seven days a week, from early-morning hours into the evening. We are concerned this could be a counter-productive learning environment for our students. The programs offered at the Monona Community Center are considerably different than the needs of our charter school, and the many and varied uses of the community center do not strike us as compatible with the learning needs of our students.
We have significant concerns for our computers and work stations, along with classroom and curricular materials, should the city follow through on plans to rent MG21 school space by outside groups during the summer months. Our school program and space is not designed to be used as a rental facility during the summer months.
We also have concerns about access and egress to the community center is it relates to housing students in a school. As you well know, the school district has taken significant steps to upgrade safety measures at our schools. The Monona Community Center has several access points; issues of security and access to MG21, should it be forced to move to the current Senior Center, would have to be addressed, and could lead to diminished access to the community center.
The cost to relocate MG21 should also be considered. Because we are a project based learning school, we require extensive computer cabling, and wiring to support this.
Finally, we would need to work closely with the school board and city officials to address both the short- and long-term occupancy of the Senior Center space if forced to re-locate there. How long could MG21 count on remaining there? Will the terms of MG21’s occupancy of the space be subject to a contract between the city and school district? How would routine, day-to-day maintenance issues at the school be addressed?
Although we recognize the school district is facing budgetary and facility challenges, we have significant concerns about MG21 being used to help alleviate them by moving our program to the Monona Senior Center. We believe that such a move is not in the beneficial to our students, and is not in the best long-term interests of our school or this school district. We look forward to working with you on a solution that will best serve the needs of all interested parties.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Rebecca Fox-Blair, MG21 Executive Director
William McDonald, MG21 Faculty
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Plans- updated
Mayor Kahl has made a proposal concerning the utilization of the district's building in Monona. The full communication can be found here on Doug Wood's blog.
In a nutshell:
Nichols: The district vacate Nichols and move the administrative office to Maywood next school year. Vacating Nichols would be a sign that district is serious about considering development opportunities for the property. The Mayor notes in his letter that the city has been approached with "multiple development concepts" for the Nichols site.
Maywood: In addition to the district offices the Mayor asks that EC and 4K students continue to attend this building, plus that a portion of the building be converted for use as the Monona Senior Center. The current Senior Center in the city's community center is in need of additional space. The proposal indicates that the city would contribute to remodeling costs associated with conversion to a senior center. The proposal indicates that keeping EC and 4K programs in Maywood would help keep space available for a potential charter school program in the Winnequah building.
Community Center: The MG21 program, our existing charter school that provides alternative high school programming would occupy the space in the Monona Community Center currently occupied by the Senior Center during the school year. This space would be available for other uses during the summer months.
Winnequah: Maywood K-2 students would move in to Winnequah and that space would be available for a future charter Middle School if that materializes.
____________________________________________________________________
What do I think of it?
1) I have always advocated for cooperative ventures with the other units of local government to maximize use of resources and provide the best return on the taxpayer investments to the community. We should utilize any good ideas along these lines to the best of our ability.
2) Air conditioning is the $500K-$1M elephant in the room. Maywood is not air conditioned and this would be the major cost of converting the building for use in the summer by administration and the senior center. I think air conditioning would be a requirement for a senior center, but not for MG21 (since they aren't in session in the summer). The rate limiting item in moving from Nichols to Maywood is the availability of funds to accomplish this. The current administrative offices work fine, and there is no compelling district need to move the offices out of Nichols so long as the location is available to the district. (Craig does wish to move the Pupil Services offices out of the basement and up to the top floor in order to improve communication. This would require some minor remodelling but is not a necessity).
The mayor's proposal offers to contribute toward the remodeling (including air conditioning) of Maywood, but I don't see an obvious significant source of revenue on the district's side until we can sell Nichols- (although I would argue that it is a good time to invest in infrastructure with interest rates at historic lows.) It seems to me the district's current path is to wait until we have a deal to sell the Nichols before relocating the administration.
Of course this is where the cooperative venture could pay off: by investing in and utilizing Maywood the city can provide necessary improvements to its Senior Center facilities at less cost than building a new facility. At the same time the District's costs to provide facilities for our administration and MG21 program could be reduced.
I'm surprised to learn from the letter that the city has had multiple proposals for development of the Nichols property. I don't think I have seen any of them, although there was talk of interest by Meriter. If its true that these would provide income above the current appraised value of the property then we would be very interested. I think the district has already indicated we are serious about redevelopment of the property, as evidenced by the reported interest the city has received.
My motivation on Nichols is that this is a prime property location available in a landlocked community that is largely unused - we will all be better off when it is working for the citizens and taxpayers of Monona and the School District.
3) Keeping EC and 4K in Maywood would for me have to hinge on the educational pros and cons and efficiency of resource usage. I have suggested this approach in the past myself, but this is primarily an educational decision.
4) I can see MG21 using the community center space if needed, this seems reasonable. My primary concerns would be the educational pros and cons as well as the costs involved- I trust and value the opinions of the MG21 educational staff in these matters.
Update: The MG21 staff has composed a response to the proposal. Their concerns revolve around space an utilization of the facility. A major concern is that MG21 currently uses about 5000 sq.ft. of space while the existing senior center only has about 2,600 sq. ft. This smaller space would not have room for both group instruction and individual workstation spaces.
Although no place is perfect it is important that any facilities we have don't impair the instructional mission. The MG21 program is an important part of this district and it needs to have adequate facilities. While the program can't remain in Nichols indefinitely its important to give primary consideration to instructional needs when considering where they should be housed in the future.
5) This proposal presumes moving the Maywood students to Winnequah. The district hasn't made a decision on this issue (although we plan to decide next month) - Having been suprised in the past I've learned not to try and predict outcomes until the fat lady sings.
In a nutshell:
Nichols: The district vacate Nichols and move the administrative office to Maywood next school year. Vacating Nichols would be a sign that district is serious about considering development opportunities for the property. The Mayor notes in his letter that the city has been approached with "multiple development concepts" for the Nichols site.
Maywood: In addition to the district offices the Mayor asks that EC and 4K students continue to attend this building, plus that a portion of the building be converted for use as the Monona Senior Center. The current Senior Center in the city's community center is in need of additional space. The proposal indicates that the city would contribute to remodeling costs associated with conversion to a senior center. The proposal indicates that keeping EC and 4K programs in Maywood would help keep space available for a potential charter school program in the Winnequah building.
Community Center: The MG21 program, our existing charter school that provides alternative high school programming would occupy the space in the Monona Community Center currently occupied by the Senior Center during the school year. This space would be available for other uses during the summer months.
Winnequah: Maywood K-2 students would move in to Winnequah and that space would be available for a future charter Middle School if that materializes.
____________________________________________________________________
What do I think of it?
1) I have always advocated for cooperative ventures with the other units of local government to maximize use of resources and provide the best return on the taxpayer investments to the community. We should utilize any good ideas along these lines to the best of our ability.
2) Air conditioning is the $500K-$1M elephant in the room. Maywood is not air conditioned and this would be the major cost of converting the building for use in the summer by administration and the senior center. I think air conditioning would be a requirement for a senior center, but not for MG21 (since they aren't in session in the summer). The rate limiting item in moving from Nichols to Maywood is the availability of funds to accomplish this. The current administrative offices work fine, and there is no compelling district need to move the offices out of Nichols so long as the location is available to the district. (Craig does wish to move the Pupil Services offices out of the basement and up to the top floor in order to improve communication. This would require some minor remodelling but is not a necessity).
The mayor's proposal offers to contribute toward the remodeling (including air conditioning) of Maywood, but I don't see an obvious significant source of revenue on the district's side until we can sell Nichols- (although I would argue that it is a good time to invest in infrastructure with interest rates at historic lows.) It seems to me the district's current path is to wait until we have a deal to sell the Nichols before relocating the administration.
Of course this is where the cooperative venture could pay off: by investing in and utilizing Maywood the city can provide necessary improvements to its Senior Center facilities at less cost than building a new facility. At the same time the District's costs to provide facilities for our administration and MG21 program could be reduced.
I'm surprised to learn from the letter that the city has had multiple proposals for development of the Nichols property. I don't think I have seen any of them, although there was talk of interest by Meriter. If its true that these would provide income above the current appraised value of the property then we would be very interested. I think the district has already indicated we are serious about redevelopment of the property, as evidenced by the reported interest the city has received.
My motivation on Nichols is that this is a prime property location available in a landlocked community that is largely unused - we will all be better off when it is working for the citizens and taxpayers of Monona and the School District.
3) Keeping EC and 4K in Maywood would for me have to hinge on the educational pros and cons and efficiency of resource usage. I have suggested this approach in the past myself, but this is primarily an educational decision.
4) I can see MG21 using the community center space if needed, this seems reasonable. My primary concerns would be the educational pros and cons as well as the costs involved- I trust and value the opinions of the MG21 educational staff in these matters.
Update: The MG21 staff has composed a response to the proposal. Their concerns revolve around space an utilization of the facility. A major concern is that MG21 currently uses about 5000 sq.ft. of space while the existing senior center only has about 2,600 sq. ft. This smaller space would not have room for both group instruction and individual workstation spaces.
Although no place is perfect it is important that any facilities we have don't impair the instructional mission. The MG21 program is an important part of this district and it needs to have adequate facilities. While the program can't remain in Nichols indefinitely its important to give primary consideration to instructional needs when considering where they should be housed in the future.
5) This proposal presumes moving the Maywood students to Winnequah. The district hasn't made a decision on this issue (although we plan to decide next month) - Having been suprised in the past I've learned not to try and predict outcomes until the fat lady sings.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Maywood-Winnequah Consolidation consideration dates & times:
After last Wednesday's meeting the school board is proceeding with the process to reach a decision on consolidating Maywood into Winnequah. The Herald-Independent has coverage here. The district will have a public input session on Saturday December 11th, from 9 to 11 am at Winnequah school and has tentatively planned to vote on this issue at a meeting the evening of Tuesday, December 21st.
In brief, the proposed consolidation will reduce operating expenses by about $259K per year, although there will be one time costs associated with the move of $225-250K for upgrades to Winnequah- mostly from replacing cabinetry and installing sinks in several rooms.
In brief, the proposed consolidation will reduce operating expenses by about $259K per year, although there will be one time costs associated with the move of $225-250K for upgrades to Winnequah- mostly from replacing cabinetry and installing sinks in several rooms.
Hiring in a downturn:
Last Wednesday the board approved a full time HR Director position. Jim Orlenko, our current HR Director, has resigned and will be leaving next month. Jim currently works half time, and the proposal made by Superintendent Gerlach is to replace Jim with a full time employee - this is expected to cost an additional $10K over current expenditures. I have heard concerns from several that it might be inappropriate to add an administrative position while we are facing budget cuts. I understand these concerns, but for me this was not a difficult decision:
It has become apparent that there are significant deficiencies in administration of payroll and benefits that have been going on for some time, and that the status quo really hasn't been successfully managing these functions. The district has routinely relied on overtime from central office staff to do significant portions of the related HR work. Straightening this out will result in a better run district which will entail savings, at the same time it will allow the administration to focus on other issues central to our mission.
The school district has employment contracts with six different bargaining units. Currently we rely on contracted legal services to assist us in negotiating these agreements, work that accounts for the major portion of our $140K legal services budget. In effect the district has been contracting out these essential services to our law firm because we didn’t have the internal expertise or resource to handle them. An HR Director with the right qualifications will be able to significantly reduce our legal costs, as Jim has done during his tenure.
The ultimate responsibility of an HR director is to ensure the quality of the workforce in the district. I believe its worth a small investment to help ensure we get full value from that larger one. I bet there are very few examples of organization in the private sector our size that don’t have entire HR departments. The business community has voted with their wallets that investing in dedicated Human Resources personnel is a smart bet. Done correctly I'm confident that we will find this a worthwhile investment.
It has become apparent that there are significant deficiencies in administration of payroll and benefits that have been going on for some time, and that the status quo really hasn't been successfully managing these functions. The district has routinely relied on overtime from central office staff to do significant portions of the related HR work. Straightening this out will result in a better run district which will entail savings, at the same time it will allow the administration to focus on other issues central to our mission.
The school district has employment contracts with six different bargaining units. Currently we rely on contracted legal services to assist us in negotiating these agreements, work that accounts for the major portion of our $140K legal services budget. In effect the district has been contracting out these essential services to our law firm because we didn’t have the internal expertise or resource to handle them. An HR Director with the right qualifications will be able to significantly reduce our legal costs, as Jim has done during his tenure.
The ultimate responsibility of an HR director is to ensure the quality of the workforce in the district. I believe its worth a small investment to help ensure we get full value from that larger one. I bet there are very few examples of organization in the private sector our size that don’t have entire HR departments. The business community has voted with their wallets that investing in dedicated Human Resources personnel is a smart bet. Done correctly I'm confident that we will find this a worthwhile investment.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Next Wednesday is this Tuesday
This month's board meeting has been moved up a day to Tuesday the 9th, because the board has a workshop with Brenda Clark scheduled for Wednesday.
The agenda for Tuesday's meeting agenda can be found here, the open session starts at 7pm after a closed session to discuss contract negotiations. Highlights include:
The agenda for Tuesday's meeting agenda can be found here, the open session starts at 7pm after a closed session to discuss contract negotiations. Highlights include:
X. New Business
A. Presentation of Report by UW Applied Populations Laboratory Regarding Enrollment ProjectionsThe annual enrollment projection report has no suprises: it predicts modest growth of about 20 student/year for the next 5 years. Slow growth is predicted both in Monona and Cottage Grove elementary schools. IMHO the current economy reduces the reliability of these projections because of the effects on development in CG and turnover in Monona.
XI. Unfinished BusinessWe have received updated numbers on the cost of consolidating Maywood and Winnequah: this lastest report shows $243K in annual operational savings, offset by one time costs of up to $225-250K for upgrades for Winnequah. Upgrades include one restroom and new cabinetry and sinks in a number of rooms. Some of cost of upgrades can be offset by remaining referendum funds.
A. Discussion of Maywood & Winnequah Consolidation, Nichols, and Related Issues
Mark Scullion, Craig Gerlach (45 Min)
B. Presentation and Discussion on Athletic Field Updates – Jeff Schreiner, Mark Scullion (30 Min)If you have been following along you might know that we have some issues with the condition and availability of our Athletic facilities. One trouble spot is the track at the stadium which is falling apart and in need of replacement.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Play on...
1) Tomorrow (11/6) at 1pm the undefeated MG football team meets the undefeated Waunakee Warriors for their 3rd round playoff game in Waunakee - it promises to be a great game. Go Silver Eagles!
2) It's Play Time again - I was privileged tonight to see PlayTime Productions preview of "The Emperor's New Clothes". Another clever story with outstanding performances from a cast of 25 area kids including many from Monona and Cottage Grove. Tomorrow's opening performance is at the Monona Public Library at 2pm, but they will be back in town with a performance at the high school auditorium next Friday at 7pm. The rest of the 16 scheduled performances can be found at: http://www.playtimeproductions.org/schedule.htm. Don't miss it!
This season's performance is especially poignant as PlayTime's founder and long time Monona resident Teddy Studt recently passed away. Teddy has touched the lives of hundreds of children and families in our community, and her legacy lives on in these productions she created.
2) It's Play Time again - I was privileged tonight to see PlayTime Productions preview of "The Emperor's New Clothes". Another clever story with outstanding performances from a cast of 25 area kids including many from Monona and Cottage Grove. Tomorrow's opening performance is at the Monona Public Library at 2pm, but they will be back in town with a performance at the high school auditorium next Friday at 7pm. The rest of the 16 scheduled performances can be found at: http://www.playtimeproductions.org/schedule.htm. Don't miss it!
This season's performance is especially poignant as PlayTime's founder and long time Monona resident Teddy Studt recently passed away. Teddy has touched the lives of hundreds of children and families in our community, and her legacy lives on in these productions she created.
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