We can't shoot our way out of the gun problem...

After the disruptive mess that was Act 10 and the funding cuts to our schools, the attempted voter suppression in his unconstitutional Voter ID law, and now the loss of millions due to his incompetent management of WEDC, I thought the Governor Walker couldn't do much more damage.  Boy was I wrong: 


On Wednesday Gov.Walker said that arming school officials should be "part of the discussion."  Well maybe it should, as in: "That's a bad idea! end of discussion."

Let's look at the facts: even counting the recent tragedies in Connecticut and elsewhere, we need to remember that schools are the safest place for kids in this country, safer than homes and safer than anyplace else kids are likely to be found.  And not by a little, by a lot.  The first principle of change is: don't mess up what you've got!  
Can we anticipate the effects of guns in schools?  First question: will armed teachers have an impact on reducing events like last Friday's?  30 years of experience says no:  Of the 62 mass shootings in the US in the last 30 years, not one was stopped by an armed civilian.  In a few cases the shooter was apprehended by an armed civilian, after they stopped shooting; but in a similar number of cases the armed civilian ended up dead or severely injured.  Based on that real experience it is probable that an armed school staff would have a negligible small impact on shooting rampages.  Consider, the one person involved in the Sandy Hook rampage who had an arsenal of weapons for self protection, became the first victim.
And what about the collateral damage?  Every year in the US there are about 650 accidental shooting deaths and 15000 injuries.  5 children are shot accidentally every day.   If you extrapolate that rate per gun into 4 guns per school you end up with an expected 31 accidental shootings per year in schools.  And that is just accidents, it doesn't count the all to frequent incidents of "He had something in his hand, I thought it was a gun" - something that happens regularly even with highly trained police; or situations where an emotionally distressed or disturbed person creates a confrontation that has the potential to turn deadly in the presence of a gun.  And don't forget, even police officers only hit their intended targets about 1 in 5 shots.
School can be a difficult place, with young men and women going through difficult changes and situations for which they are as yet poorly emotionally and socially prepared.  Indeed, 4000 teens are sufficiently emotionally distraught to commit suicide each year, introducing deadly weapons into this environment is destined to make schools a more dangerous place.  
I could go on, but the youtube video is worth a million words:  Here a police officer accidentally shoots himself in front of a class room full of students.  Ironically while lecturing about gun safety.
In short, we can't shoot our way out of our gun crime problem, and suggestions that we can ignore reality.

Ugh.

If this nation’s founders could witness us trying to parse the text of the 2^nd amendment into a basis of arms regulation today, they would either laugh or cry (or probably both, they were a mixed lot!)   On the day the 2^nd amendment was written the height of military technology was the muzzle loading rifled musket, hostile and well-armed foreign powers and aboriginal peoples sat just beyond poorly defined western borders, and any assistance could only come at walking pace.  And yet some how we don’t question the idea that the 2^nd amendment was the last word when it comes to arms regulation, and that it is appropriate to stretch it around everything from handguns to nuclear weapons.   

The founders would call us idiots – in slightly more polite language – and then explain, slowly and in small words, that their laws were meant for their time, and that they gave us the means and intended that we update our governance to fit our times.  In their times they had to fear madmen, but not a madman armed with killing machines of incredible efficiency.  Does anyone think that if Adam Lanza had walked into an elementary school with a muzzle loading musket that 26 people would be dead?

In a limited sense the gun rights people are correct: there will always be deranged people dedicated to the commission of mass crimes.  No laws will stop them.  However you can limit the damage they can do by making it difficult to obtain weapons of excessive efficiency.  Making it harder will reduce the incidents and their lethality.  

Virtually everyone agrees in prohibition of arms at some level.  I know of no one who thinks surface to air missiles should be readily available to the public.  The difference between the most ardent guns right supporter and the gun control activist is only where to draw the line.  This is what I think:  there are two reasonable uses of guns: personal protection and hunting/sport.  Neither semi-automatic versions of assault rifles, or handguns with 13 round clips than can be reloaded in seconds, are essential for either of these purposes.  It’s time for them to go. 

Will anything significant come of this tragedy?  No, arms regulation in this country is written and promoted by the well-funded lobbying arm of the gun manufacturers and dealers, masquerading as a grass-roots organization.  Its intent is always and exclusively to maximize the profitability of its funders.  How did we get to a world were our representatives hold their allegiance to gun dealers and Grover Norquist above their oath to us?  We all know that answer to that.  Before we can fix anything in this country, we need to first fix the campaign finance system, so that our leaders can represent the people’s interests alone.  Gun dealers and  Norquist deserve their say, but they aren't entitled to drown out the voices of the rest of us.

So what is the board up to?

After all the extreme churn the last couple of years over startling budget deficit, building consolidation, and the (unnecessary) fallout of Act 10, I welcome this period when our meetings are occupied working through mundane policy updates.  I'm not arguing that policies on concussions, foundation relations and fundraising aren't important, just that its a relief to work on brass tacks.

Unfortunately I'm sure it will be over all to soon!

Closing the gaps...

The widely anticipated(?) school report cards were released by the WI DPI today.  The report cards compare schools across the state on a variety of criteria.  MG's report cards can be found here.  What do they show? MG's schools all ranked in the "Exceeds Expectations" level, with achievement significantly above state averages.  The biggest deficit is found in the "Closing Gaps" section, that reports on the differences in achievement between white students and other groups, including minority students, students with disabilities and otherwise disadvantages.

 None of this is a surprise, at least to me.  The achievement gap in our schools is serious and has been a problem for some time.

The ever scintillating MGSD Annual Meeting will be held Wednesday Oct. 3rd in the High School auditorium. We will cover ALL the usual-- Don't miss the excitement!

 This year the electors will be asked to approve a total levy in the amount of $23,688,323.00, down about $800K from last year. Total spending is up about $325K (1%) over last year, but is still well below the budget of a few years ago.

What Mitt Romney didn't say

He didn't say:

“We simply can't have a setting where the financial executives are able to contribute tens of millions of dollars to the campaigns of politicians and then those politicians, when elected, stand across from them at the regulatory table, supposedly to represent the interest of investors. I think it's a mistake,”

or

“We simply can't have a setting where the oil executives are able to contribute tens of millions of dollars to the campaigns of politicians and then those politicians, when elected, stand across from them at the legislative hearings, supposedly to represent the people’s interest in their natural resources. I think it's a mistake,”

or

“We simply can't have a setting where business owners are able to contribute tens of millions of dollars to the campaigns of State Supreme Court Justices and then those Justices, when elected, sit across from them at the bench, supposedly to represent the interest of all citizens. I think it's a mistake,”

But he DID say:

“We simply can't have a setting where the teachers unions are able to contribute tens of millions of dollars to the campaigns of politicians and then those politicians, when elected, stand across from them at the bargaining table, supposedly to represent the interest of the kids. I think it's a mistake,”

Ahead of the curve...

 (I’m not ahead of the curve, I’m months behind, but) Last week State Superintendent of Schools Tony Evers proposed replacing the WKCE in middle and high schools with a suite of three tests: Explore, Plan and ACT, from the ACT organization.  At MG we have been administering these tests for several years because they are better aligned with our college readiness goals and are much more useful to students and staff than the WKCE.  All MG 11^th grade students take the ACT after having taken the Explore and Plan tests in lower grades.  Unfortunately MG students also have to take the WKCE to meet state requirements.  Under the new proposal we can drop the WKCE and keep the rest or our testing regimen.

I think this is a great move by the state.  Over the past few years the state Department of Education has acknowledged the deficiencies of Wisconsin’s WKCE and has been working to replace it.  But there is no reason to reinvent the wheel or invest in duplicate infrastructure when there is a high quality off-the-shelf test available.

It is important to note that MG has been leading the efforts in WI to find a more useful test than the WKCE.  This proposal from Evers is a validation of the approach advanced in the district by our staff and administrative team.

Color me not surpised.

Act 10, the Governor's controversial law that stripped most public employees of collective bargaining rights, was struck down by a Wisconsin Circuit Court today on equal protection grounds. I'm not surprised.  Regardless of the merits of the legislation, it was obvious that it was hurriedly pushed through the legislature without the substantive deliberation such a major piece of legislation requires.  And that is a recipe for legal limbo.

Of course the final disposition (vs. State Law at least)  is up to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, so this ruling is likely  not the final word.  But what additional wrenches are going to be thrown into the gears of Wisconsin Schools before the dust finally settles on this?  We have already had to deal with quite a number due to this poorly designed law.

My biggest complaint with Act 10 has always been in implementation:  Any changes should have been phased in,  both to allow districts and teachers time to adapt and react deliberately, without creating large measures of uncertainty and stress, and to allow time for the law to be tested in the courts so we don't end up being jerked back and forth as we have.  But it wasn't.  IMHO the rush was to achieve a political end: reducing the lobbying power of the teacher's unions.  Regardless of what you think of the goals of Act 10, its sloppy content and roughshod implementation clearly reflect poor governance.

Any regrets Jeff?

I've neglected to welcome Jeff Simpson to the board.  Jeff has been appointed to fill the vacancy left by Jason Mccutchin's resignation.  Jeff is a Cottage Grove resident who has served on past School Board committees.  His appointment will last until next spring's election.  

The board considered three candidates: Jeff, Ana Hamill and Larry Miller.  The selection was made after considering applications and interviewing the candidates.  It was a difficult choice to make from among the well qualified candidates.  Thanks to Ana and Larry for applying!

And welcome Jeff!

When a surplus isn't a surplus...

Although an unanticipated $500k is good news, calling it a surplus portrays a misleadingly picture of the budget.  In more accurate statement would be that our deficit for the coming year has shrunk from $1.2M to $700K.  An improvement, but it doesn't mean that we will be able to undo much of the damaging cuts we plan for next year.

So what happened?  After we cut $1.2 million from next years budget (reducing programs and making significant cuts to support staff) based on projections, several factors helped reduce the gap:  open enrollment came in higher than expected, we closed the deal on the lease with Maywood, and there were fewer retirements than expected.  Combined these things reduce the deficit by $500K.

One should note that fewer retirements does not save the district money over the long term.  We have an early retirement payout because it saves the district money: it takes a highly paid senior teacher off the payroll to be replaced by a lower paid new teacher.    Although rising health care costs have dramatically changed the equation, I believe it is still no worse than a wash.  So the fewer retirements this year are only a reprieve, and may increase future deficits.

The good news is that repeat air testing in the High School, after implementation of preliminary mitigation steps, show a significant reduction in the PCE and TCE vapors to levels well below the EPA "Action levels".  The district will continue the mitigation (primarily increasing the air flow through the HVAC system) until more permanent solutions are in place.  Plans are proceeding to install a "depressurization" system to lower the concentration of vapors beneath the slab to prevent them from entering the building.

The Board did spend more than an hour last night with representatives from Klinke Cleaners, the DNR, the testing company, and experts hired to guide the remediation.  I was surprised to learn that soil contamination was first detected on the Klinke site in 2008, and removal of contaminated soil was done in 2010.  Klinke Cleaners has been funding the testing and cleanup efforts at the high school. The Wisconsin dry cleaner's association does have a fund to help with the costs of environment remediation.
__________________________________________________


In other business:

Technology update:  the board heard a detailed report from IT Director Bill Herman on the state of our technology infrastructure.  In brief: not good and falling behind, without outdated and inadequate equipment and support.  Bill presented an "adequate funding" proposal that included a nearly $200K increase in funding to support our educational goals.  You can find Bill's presentation here.

The one bright spot in: a federal stimulus funded program will bring us desperately needed high bandwidth internet access by the beginning of next year.

Buy a Bus seat:  The board also considered a "Buy a seat" program where students within our new 2 mile walk zones would have the option to receive school bus transportation for a fee of $150 on a space available basis.  It's unfortunate that we have to go this direction.

Nuestro Mundo Dual Language Immersion:  The board considered the application process for the Nuestro Mundo program to be operated with the Madison School district in Maywood next year.  Applicants have until June 29th this year to apply to enter the Kindergarten class.  Monona Grove has up to 5 spots reserved, if more than 5 applications are received there will be a random draw for the positions.

A Klunker...

Families of MG High School students have received an Email from Superintendent Gerlach related to the issue of chemical vapors in the High School that developed last week.  You can read the Email here, the Cap Times story about the situation here, and additional information can be found on the Klinke Cleaners website here.

In brief, the district was notified last week by the DNR that vapors from solvents that used to be used in the dry cleaning process have been detected in soil samples and may have been seeping into the high school from underground.  As you may know Klinke Cleaners has operated a dry cleaning facility on the property adjacent to the high school for many years.

Air sampling was performed in the High School starting Wednesday, and the results reviewed on Saturday.  Very low levels of chemical vapors were detected, with the highest levels found in the Auditorium.  The highest levels detected, 10.7ppbv (parts per billion by volume) of PCE (tetracholorethylene) is about twice the DNR's recommended "Action limit" for indoor air.  Lower levels were found in other locations, all below the action limits.

Much higher levels were found in the air samples taken from below the building's concrete slab.

In response, the Administration has taken steps to lower the levels of these solvent vapors, including caulking around the building and sealing drain vents, and increasing air exchange through the HVAC system.  The district is also working with Klinke cleaners to install a system to "Depressurize" the area under the building foundation to prevent vapors from entering through the foundation.

I've looked at the literature related to PCE, and while not an expert, I am personally not concerned about  health risks at the levels detected (although we definitely need to reduce or eliminate the exposure in the building).   PCE is classified as a potential or probable (depending on which agency is doing the evaluation) human carcinogen, primarily due to experiments in rats and mice at higher levels of exposure.  Occupational exposure limits are set at 100ppm (parts per million) by OSHA and 20 ppm by the European agency for 40 hours/week.  The OSHA limit is 10,000 times higher than what was detected in the high school.

The chicken hatches...

The chicken that we've been counting for months has finally hatched as the Madison School Board at long last approved the lease & operating agreement to house the Nuestro Mundo school at Maywood.
As reported in the WSJ. 

This will have a positive impact on the district finances and provide a unique opportunity for students in our district.

Upcoming Events...

April 16th, MG21 Community Open house

MG21 -- the charter school for 10th-12th graders in Monona -- will hold an open house for the community April 26th from 6-7:30 p.m. Students, parents, and everyone else are welcome to attend and learn about the school, authorized by the Monona Grove school district two years ago. Come learn about MG21 student-led projects, and see how MG21 offers students the opportunity to learn in a small, student-centered environment. MG21 is located in the former Nichols Elementary School, 5301 Monona Drive.

____________________________________________________________________


May 12th, MGEF Spring Carnival Fundraiser at Northlawn Park

On Saturday, May 12 from 12-3 at Northlawn Park, MGEF is hosting a Spring Carnival to raise money for the Endowment funds for Taylor Prairie, Cottage Grove Elementary, Glacial Drumlin and Monona Grove High School.

This is interesting...

Every school district revenue referendum (in the area reported by the State Journal) passed yesterday.

Wrapping up the ends.

This year's budget cutting round was finished up on Wednesday night when the board voted to adopt the cuts recommended by the budget committee with a few modifications from the superintendent.  Most difficult among the cuts are the elimination of multiple support staff positions, including special and regular educational assistants library and clerical staff along with two special education teachers.  The loss of these positions will increase the demands on the teaching staff and reduce the time they can dedicate to each student.  More on the list can be found here.

In other big news the Board approved a six year lease and joint operating agreement with the Madison School District to operate their Nuestro Mundo Charter School in the Maywood Building.  This K-5 program is a dual language  immersion  program (English & Spanish).  Five spots will be available for Monona Grove students in each grade, starting next year with kindergarten.

Good for Jason...

We got the news that Board member Jason McCutcheon has accepted a position in Springfield, MO, starting in a few months.  As a result Jason will be resigning his seat on the board come the end of April.

Jason always brought a valuable perspective to our debates, and worked hard - never shying away from the tough assignments. We didn't always agree, but I felt I could always work more constructively with Jason than anyone else on the board.

Good luck Jason!

Saving me the trouble

The WSJ saves me the trouble of a long post explaining the situation regarding the Nuestro Mundo charter school and Maywood.

In brief: we are negotiating a 6 year lease and a joint operating agreement that will allow the Nuestro Mundo charter school to relocate in Maywood.  Our district would receive $165K in rent and space for up to 5 MG students per grade, starting with Kindergarten this fall.

The Nuestro Mundo Charter School is a successful K-5 elementary program that features dual language immersion to provide bi-lingual education to its students.

Budget meeting schedules.

Once again it is time for our public hearings for input on the proposed budget reductions for next year.

The three public hearings will be held:

Saturday, March 17, 9-11am, Winnequah Cafeteria

Tuesday, March 20th, 6-8pm, High School Auditorium

Thursday, March 22nd, 6-8pm, Glacial Drumlin IMC.


The list of proposed items for reduction can be found here.

See you there!

Shaken

My heartfelt condolences go out to the family caught up in the tragedy that visited our school community last week.  This event left me shaken; I have two children at this vulnerable age, and the imagination quickly runs to the unthinkable.

And although I've thought about it quite a bit I have been at a loss as to what to say here. I do view this event as a failure of the school district and the school board.  What could we have done or should do to prevent a recurrence?  I don't know.  But I do know that our students spend a significant portion of their time in our care, and we have an obligation to provide a environment that provides physical and emotional security for each, regardless of the other factors in their lives.  The fact that this occurred indicates to me that we have failed at that goal.  We need to carefully consider what might be done moving forward.

For a view of how a school board can impact school climate you might check out this article in Rolling Stone. The article is not uncontroversial, and has a different focus, but to me it illustrates how what happens on the school board can directly influence school climate in positive or negative ways.

Big shoe dropping

The HI covers the district's budget reduction process here.  I have to say the process has been outstandingly well run, with a careful process design and excellent collaboration and information provided by the administrative team.  If you want to see the ranked list of proposed reduction you can find it here.

As it stands we need to cut $1.2M.  A line drawn through the chart at that point falls just above the 4th grade string program.  But don't cheer about that - its hard to see much of the rest of the list surviving next year if things don't change.

The top of the list starts with "easy" things, including reductions in transportation and custodial services, administrative and infrastructure spending, but quickly moves on to support staff reductions and teacher workload increases.   Teachers are going to have significantly less time to provide the individual attention that  is key to reaching many students.

Regardless of how the details of the final result the district will be losing things of significant value.

Idiot's guide

Here you go Tom:  In this week's HI Tom Reason asks for an "Idiot's Guide" to the $1.2M projected budget shortfall the school district is facing.

To understand the deficit we must first explain the school finance system in WI.  As I have explained before there are two major parts the to school finance puzzle: The "Revenue Limit" and the state aid formula.

1) General fund revenues are subject to the per pupil "Revenue Limit" set by the state.  The Revenue limit for MG for the current school year is $10,404 per pupil for a total of $30.1M.  That is what we get to spend on general operating expenses, such as paying teacher salaries and the utility bills.  The only way to exceed the revenue limit is to hold a referendum asking for additional funds to be levied from local property taxes.

2) Once the revenue limit is set, the state uses a complicated formula to determine how much of the total revenue will come from the state budget.  The formula is related to the number of students and the total property value in the district.  Districts with lower property value per student will receive a higher proportion of state aid.  In MG the state funding comes to about 1/3 of the revenue limit.  The school district can then levy the remaining amount from local property taxes up to the revenue limit.

Between 1993 and 2011 the revenue limit has been increased by about 2% per year, a bit less than inflation.  This has generally led to gradual, but over time significant, tightening of the belts in school districts across the state.  By 2011 most districts were very lean, MG has a Staff/Management ratio more than double the private sector average; and teacher take home pay has been losing ground against inflation for some time.

The Biennial (2 year) budget past last summer included a 5.5% cut for state aids to schools for the 2011-12 school year and an equivalent cut in the revenue limit to prevent school districts from making up the short fall by increasing the local tax levy.  For MG that is amounted to a reduction in revenue by about $1.4M; combined with enrollment changes and inflation of everything from health care to utilities that produced a $2.5 million deficit.  We plugged that deficit by spending our federal stimulus dollars, $900K in cuts and $1.1M in reduced compensation to the employees of the district as mandated by Act 10.

For next year the Revenue limit will increase by $50 per student, but after inflation this is something like another 2.6% cut, and we lose the federal stimulus money that helped fill the gap this year.  This means that for next year we have an estimated $1.2M deficit.  Note that this is the 3rd year in a row with budget cuts in the range of $1M, and the cumulative effect will start to have a noticeable negative effect on education in the district.