Peter's Monona Grove School Board Forum

Winnequah 10K...

2011-12-29T11:44:00.000-05:00

A special thanks to the Meriter Foundation whose $5000 Donation, along with $2500 from the Monona PTO and a $2500 capstone donation from an anonymous donor, has helped the Winnequah endowment fund reach its initial goal of $10,000 with the Monona Grove Education Foundation.

The MGEF has set up an endowment fund for each of the schools in the district with an initial goal of $10,000. When this amount is raised the funds will be administered by the Madison Community Foundation. A $2500 "capstone grant" from an anonymous donor will be contributed to each fund when it reaches $7500 to put it over the top.

Winnequah school is the first to reach the $10K goal. You can find the MGEF on facebook or the MG website to contribute!

Whither Madison Prep...

2011-12-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

The proposed Madison Prep Charter School was voted down by the Madison school board on Monday. A bold proposal to address the achievement gap in Madison, Madison Prep supporters have a very good point- the status quo is not working for minority students.

There wasn't any magic to the Madison Prep proposal: longer school year, extended school days, smaller class ratios, additional support services, we know these things work, and taken together these things would likely make a significant impact on student achievement. But all these things cost significant amounts of money which is ultimately the problem. What distribution of resources is the most effective and fair?

Personally I would like to see Madison Prep with a contract to operate for a fixed period of time of 3 to 5 years, with an evaluation against pre-defined goals at the end of that time. A cost-benefit evaluation could then be made of whether or not Madison wanted to raise the resources to extend the model across the board, or drop it in favor of another model.

Last meeting of the year...

2011-12-20T23:24:00.001-05:00

Is tomorrow evening in the High School IMC. You can find the agenda here. Items of Note:

I. Unfinished Business
1. Report on Monona Grove Education Foundation Endowment Funds

Last year the Monona Grove Education Foundation inaugurated endowment funds for each of our schools, with the goal of reaching a $10,000 initial investment in each fund. A capstone grant is available for the last $2500. The MGEF will provide the board with an update of the fundraising.

2. Discussion and Possible Approval of MGHS Parking Lot Concepts

Hopefully we will give approval to the modifications to the parking and entrance to the lot on the South Side of the High School

4. Discussion and Possible Approval of the Budget Process and Budget Calendar

The proposed calendar for finding $1.2M in savings next year can be found here.

J. New Business
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of Superintendent's Contract
2. Discussion and Possible Approval District Administrators' Contracts

Good news and bad news...

2011-12-13T19:17:00.004-05:00

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news? OK, I’ll start with the good news: according to the PMA budget projections the district is “only” facing cuts of $1.2 Million for next school year. How is that “good”? – It’s about ½ what we were anticipating. Still brutal, but not as bad as I thought. $1.2M is about 3.5% of our total operating fund, about the cost of 21 teachers.

So if that’s the good news what’s the bad news? In 2014 the deficit is additional $875K, in 2015 an additional $540K, in 2016 another $500K, in 2017 another $500K – through 2017 the cumulative total deficit $12.5 million dollars vs. our current cost to continue. Each year our capacity to provide a quality education is reduced an incremental amount, and the deeply corrosive effects of Wisconsin’s school funding system continue to degrade our children’s future. And don’t think for a minute that this is, in the long run, saving you money.

I hear people talk of a referendum to balance the budget? To do so would require a referendum that starts at $1.5M and grows by at least $650K each subsequent year. (For every dollar we raise in an operating referendum the state reduces our aid by 30 cents, so we would have to compensate) If you can tell me how to structure an acceptable referendum that meets these conditions, I’m all ears. Of course then we have the funding cliff at the end to deal with.

Eventually we will need additional revenue sources to adequately fund our schools. Perhaps we can expand on Newt Gingrich’s repugnant idea and hire out low income students to clean other people’s buildings as well as our own. (Please note the sarcasm in that last comment!)

Moving into the 21st century...

2011-11-19T18:42:00.000-05:00

Effective with the Nov. 22 meeting the board is away from paper copies of board agendas and documents to the web based "Board Docs" system. Board Docs provides tiered access over the web to documents for the board, administrators and the public. The public portal can be found here: http://www.boarddocs.com/wi/mgsd/Board.nsf/Public. A list of meeting agendas is found in the column on the right hand side of the screen, click through to see the item as well as additional information and attachments.
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The next board meeting (and first electronic one) will be on Tuesday the 22nd. Items of note:

J. Unfinished Business
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposals for Physics and Honors Physics
2. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposal for Introduction to College Writing
3. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposal for AP Music Theory . 4. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposal for After School At-Risk Program

The board will be considering three new courses at the high school. The Physics/Honors Physics class is a continuation of the Biology/Chemistry track for freshman and sophomores recently instituted. The college writing course is for students who need to improve their writing skills to the college level, the course is aligned with a Madison College writing course and college credit is available upon successful completion. The AP Music Theory course will be the only non-performance music course offered at the high school and is intended for students interested in a career in music or strongly interested in composition. The After School At Risk proposal is for a program to provide additional instruction and mentoring for students in need. This will be funded from dedicated Title 1 monies, not general funds.

5. Discussion and Possible Approval of MGHS Parking Lot Concepts

The board will consider options for realignment of the driveway to the staff parking lot onto Monona Drive as part of the Monona Drive reconstruction project.

7. Discussion and Possible Approval of Concealed Carry Signage

Wait, what? Under WI new concealed carry law the carrying of weapons in schools and on school grounds is still illegal, and constitutes a felony. However those with CC permits may now carry a weapon up to the edge of the school property, where previously weapons were prohibited within 1000 ft of a school. In addition weapons are now allowed in vehicles on school property provided they are unloaded and locked up. The board will consider signage on school buildings to provide a reminder of the prohibition of weapons.

9. Budget Reduction Discussion

Sigh. A proposed outline for this year's process can be found here. A draft timeline here.

Meanwhile in the IMC...

2011-11-11T01:18:00.001-04:00

State Superintendent of school Tony Evers held a press conference in the the MG High School IMC this morning to announce the results of the DPI's annual survey of Wisconsin School districts. Craig, Sue Fox, Susan Howe and an Administrator, parent and student from across the state participated in the press conference This year the survey highlights the impact of reductions to school budget across the state. An interactive map of the results can be found here.

Most districts have reduced staff and/or increased class size and reduced programs. Although the complicated state funding formula means that the impact is different in each district, in general the savings from compensation reductions mandated by Act 10 do not fully offset the reduction in funds. In MG the budget deficit exceeded the savings by more 2.5x, resulting in various cuts. 2/3rds of school districts report they are expecting to make even deeper cuts next year.

I'll say it again: what concerns me most is the cumulative corrosive effect of the loss of time, resources and energy spent on the annual budget scramble that should be deployed in the quest for school improvement.

Upcoming issues:

2011-11-08T01:11:00.000-04:00

Wednesday's meeting is a "Committee of the Whole" - we will discuss but not act on any items. Here are some significant ones:

E. Discussion Items/Policy Review
1. Presentation of the Parking Lot Concepts for Monona Grove High School and Access Changes to
Monona Drive – Tom Lynch, Strand Associates

As the reconstruction for Monona drive goes past the high school the entrance to the parking lot on the south side of the building needs to be relocated to make room for a protected left turn feature in the center of the road. The board is considering some of the options, which include moving the drive north so that it is opposite Lofty Ave, or moving it south so it is midway between Lofty and Springhaven. This second option would likely result in the removal of some of the trees in the corner of the lot. In either case we would need to reconfigure the parking, but it is possible to add several spaces.

3. Update on Employee Handbook Process (10 Min)

Our current contracts with employees will expire in July of 2012. By that time the district has to have a "handbook" in place that replaces the current contract and codifies in policy the relationship between the school district and its employees. I view this document as the most important project before the board as it will impact all aspects of operations for the foreseeable future.

7. High School Course Proposals: Paul Brost and High School Teachers
Physics, Honors Physics , Introduction to College Writing , AP Music Theory, and After
School At-Risk Program (30 Min)

Paul Brost and the High School staff will be presenting information on these proposed classes.

Looking for something to do this afternoon?

2011-11-05T10:49:00.000-04:00

Playtime Productions Children's Theater starts their fall tour of http://www.playtimeproductions.org/schedule.htm this afternoon at 2pm in the Monona Library auditorium. Other nearby shows on the schedule include the MG High School Auditorium Friday, Nov.11th at 7pm and the Barrymore Theatre Sunday, Nov. 20th at 6pm.

Founded by Monona's Teddy Studt, Playtime Productions has been providing great children's entertainment as well as terrific opportunities for young performer for 32 years!

Here we go again...

2011-11-03T00:11:00.000-04:00

This year's budget reduction process (for the 2012-13 school year) starts now. The familiar and seemingly endless cycle of budget reductions will start again this month as the board will consider the Superintendent's recommended process timeline. We must be prepared to act by the Feb. 22 board meeting.

How big a deficit do we expect for next year? We are estimating about $2 million. Although this is a bit less than last year's, the last time around there were some easy savings: we took a million out of staff compensation and spent $800K from stimulus funds. So if your kid isn't in high school Calculus or one of the other classes with increased size, or a patron of some of the other services we trimmed, you might not have noticed much difference

But this year there isn't any more low hanging fruit, and it doesn't look like there will be any more help from Washington. That means the majority of the cuts are going to be noticeable reductions in services- and some of this will inevitably come out of the classroom, as that is where the great majority of money is spent. $2 million represents the compensation of more than 30 teachers.

http://www.herald-independent.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=2949

MG21 Open House this week

2011-10-30T23:46:00.001-04:00

The "Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century" (MG21) is holding their annual open house this Wednesday (Nov. 2nd) from 6:30 to 8pm in their facility in Nichols.

As you may know, MG21 was awarded a $175K Implementation Renewal Grant in August. The grant will be used to develop the curriculum and expand its program. Currently the program has room for 30 students in grades 10-12 but plans to double its capacity.

MG21 uses a project based learning model to teach an integrated curriculum. More information can be found at www.MG21.org.

http://www.mg21.org/events-dp4

More numbers...

2011-10-24T23:25:00.004-04:00

UPDATE: According to Jerrud, part of the drop in property values was due to a miscalculation of the value of property associated with a TIF district in Monona last year. The property was over valued last year and the property has been undervalued this year to compensate.

With the final numbers from the state now in hand Jerrud has finalized the levy calculations. The total property tax levy has dropped $250K from the estimate to $18,188K. At the same time the state reports that the total property value in the district has decreased 5.6%. Together this means that the Mill rate will be $13.08. Note that the total dollar amount of the tax collected hasn't changed, just the relative components of the calculation.

The bad news is that the state is saying your home lost 5.6% of its value last year. To find tax and valuation information about your property you can go to http://accessdane.co.dane.wi.us/.

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A constituent today asked about the Governer's new website reforms.wi.gov where one can find the statement "Monona Grove School District Taxpayers will save $2,085,400 due to Act 10 reforms, according to media reports."

If you have been following along here you know the district has saved $1,009,000 by reducing staff compensation consistent with the Act 10 provisions. So the report is more than double the actual value.

The oddly specific number makes it easy to Google, and we find the only source is the website of the advocacy organization the MacIver Institute - not exactly a "media report". MacIver does point to an article in the Herald-Independent, but the HI article only mentions the $1.09M number. It seems the accounting of the effects of Act 10 have been outsourced, but not to a reliable source.

Local educational news roundup...

2011-10-15T11:09:00.004-04:00

A couple of other interesting articles in the WSJ today: Wisconsin schools have been historically known for their quality (we choose to Wisconsin after studying this issue), but that was coupled with higher spending per pupil. Coincidence? I think not! But now funding is slipping toward the national average.

"It's been a big change in a very short period of time, there's no question about it," says Dale Knapp, WISTAX research director. "In the late ‘90s to around a decade ago, Wisconsin's spending per pupil on schools was typically around 10 percent above the average nationally. In the last eight years, we've been moving more toward the middle."
Salaries for instructional staff (primarily teachers) ranked 21st nationally in 2009, or 1.5 percent below the national average. Wages for all school personnel ranked 29th in 2009, or 7.4 percent below average

If you want average schools, then average funding will do.

We also find a report on the Madison Preparatory Charter School where some operational details have been revealed. The plan calls for a adding 20 days to the school year (200 vs. 180) by adding a summer semester during the month of July, lengthening the school day to 8 to 5 and mandatory sports and extra-curricular. Its a bold proposal and an excellent example of how the charter school model is best used: to provide a laboratory in which to develop innovative educational models. I won't speculate on the success of this model but the empiricist in me would like to see how will it works. The down side is of course cost. A significantly extended school day and year come at a significantly greater cost. However reducing the achievement gap and better preparing young people for success has significant value to society, and over the long run could have a significant return on investment.
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Note to Sunny: Class size guidlines are set by the board, balancing costs vs. educational considerations and public support. They aren't in the teacher's contract. Never were. In fact, you might be surprised by the things that aren't in the contract!

Sunny's point that small class sizes aren't a panacea is accurate, but we have in hand a stark example of how class size can make a difference. The high school AP Calculus class, with 34 students, is 2.5 weeks behind the point in the curriculum that last year's smaller classes were.

More on the annual meeting.

2011-10-14T00:01:00.001-04:00

The Herald-Independent covers the Annual Meeting here. It has a rundown on the numbers and budget challenges facing the district:

Our expenditures such as utilities increased by 5 percent, 7 percent, health insurance by 9 percent,” Rossing said. “The district has worked very hard [to balance the budget]. We had to cut $811,000 out of the budget to get to the balanced budget tonight.”
Last year, the district cut $929,531 from the budget. “It’s definitely changing the way we’re educating our students,” Rossing said.

I would add that the $811K cut in services is on top of a $1.1M reduction in staff compensation.

On a related note Jerrud reported last night that our September count of district resident students has decreased by 36 over last year. This will negatively impact funding over the next few years.

I agree with Mike Mikalsen's point about the decision process at these meetings. With the small number of residents present voting on the levy and property dispositions, it is not particularly democratic and may not reflect the wishes of the district as a whole. But whether we use a special meeting or the annual meeting the same process is the one dictated by the state law. This needs to be fixed.

The article does misstate the number on the tax levy, the $126 figure given is the reduction in property taxes on a $200K home compared to last year's taxes. The estimated levy for that home would be $2462.

Annual meeting follow-up

2011-10-06T12:34:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone who attended the annual meeting last night -

After significant debate the community approved the motions authorizing the board to lease the Maywood property and sell or lease the Nichols property. Concerns were raised about capacity for future growth, appropriate use of the sites, and the facilities for MG21. These are all issues the board will have to consider before taking any action. The district doesn't have any "deals" pending, but the authorization will IMHO increase the chance that we will be able to take advantage of any appropriate interest that comes along.

Authorization is only the first step in the processes that will involve the district, community and the municipal governments, and any agreements would have to conform to local zoning and use provisions.

Slightly more interesting than usual

2011-10-02T12:37:00.006-04:00

This year's MG school district annual meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct 5th at 7pm in the IMC at Glacial Drumlin school.

In addition to the usual budget approvals three items will be put before the electorate for approval. These items give approval to the board for the sale or lease of the Nichols building and site, lease of the Maywood site and sale of 2 residential properties on Jerome Street across from the high school.

The Madison School District has expressed interest in leasing the Maywood site for their Nuestro Mundo Elementary Charter School. This would be a great opportunity for our district to cut costs while maintaining the building and provide a different opportunity for MG students. We don't have any prospects for the Nichols property, but by getting authorization it will communicate to potential developers that we are serious about moving forward.

Update: the meeting booklet can be found by clicking here.

Credit where no credit is due--

2011-09-30T22:28:00.002-04:00

In this week's Herald-Independent Tom Reason delivers kudos to the school board for the decreased mill rate taxpayers we'll see in next year's bills. But no thanks are necessary, really - because it's not up to us! The tax levy and mill rate are essentially determined by the state funding formula.

This is how it works: the state has a complicated formula based on enrollment and previous funding which dictates the "revenue cap": the maximum revenue each district can raise. The state then tells the district how much of that revenue the state will provide. The difference between that state aid and the revenue cap then can be levied on local property. The mill rate ends up being the amount the district can levy divided by the total value of property in the district. (If property value goes up the mill rate will go down and vice-versa, because the total amount is fixed.)

So the slightly smaller levy this year is a natural consequence of the state budget which cut $650 per pupil from the magic funding formula for the revenue cap, nothing we on the board did.

Of course the school district could choose not levy to the revenue limit, but even after the million dollar reductions to compensation related to the "budget repair bill" the district was still more than $1.5 million in the hole. The deficit was made up by using all our federal stimulus funds and more than $900K in cuts.

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Speaking of budget cuts - the administration reported that there are 29 class sections in the high and middle schools that exceed class size guideline of 30 students. Last year that number was 4.

We can argue about how to best manage the situation, but the big picture is that we can't cut the budget a million at a whack without reducing services to students.

MG retirement in the news

2011-09-20T00:02:00.001-04:00

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the wave of teacher retirements in the Wisconsin with coverage of the MG district and an interview with retiring history teacher Tom Howe. MG has seen 17 teachers retire this year, considerably more than average.

I do think the article falls short on a couple of points:

1) It fails to explain why many teachers are retiring this year: Teachers eligible for retirement are doing so for guaranteed access to retirement benefits that are part of existing contracts, these benefits will be at the sole discretion of school boards in the future.

2) The recent changes to WI law will result over the next several years in less turnover of senior teachers, not more, even including the increased retirements this year. The reduced pay and retirement packages will have teachers working longer before retiring. This will result in actually slowing the "changing of the guard" that the article identifies as a silver lining.

3) I think the idea that replacing senior teachers with new teachers might improve student outcomes is speculative and unproven. While it may be true that younger teachers have attitudes more aligned with current school reform efforts, this isn't necessarily better than experience. In fact we know there is a positive correlation between the level of teacher experience and student achievement.

It should be noted that early retirement benefits were initially introduced to save districts money by encouraging senior teachers at the top of the pay scale to retire. The explosive growth of health care costs, the major early retirement benefit, has significantly changed this equation, although I estimate we still at least break even.

Budget time again

2011-09-15T18:26:00.001-04:00

At Wednesday’s (9/14) meeting the Board reviewed the 2011-12 budget that will be presented for approval at the District's Annual Meeting (Oct. 5th). Although the numbers aren’t final until the September enrollment counts and the certification of state aid in October, the estimated general fund expenditures for the year will be $33,753,104. Due to factors including a $650 reduction in the per pupil revenue limit and a $1.4M reduction in state aids, the budget started with a deficit of approximately $2.75M (about 8%) relative to "cost to continue".

The operating fund deficit was closed in three ways:
1)About $900K in cuts that were approved by the board last spring, these include the consolidation of Maywood and Winnequah Elementary schools as well as staff reductions: your student may have noticed larger class sizes, particularly in the high school.
2) Use of $850K in federal ARRA (stimulus bill) funds. The $850K is equal to the cost of about 15 teachers that the district can continue to employ. The ARRA funds have to be used this year and next, we chose to use the entire amount this year.
3) Just over $1M reduction in compensation for the teachers and staff. A teacher will see a reduction in take home pay equal to 12.8% of the health care costs plus half the WRS pension contribution.

Total local property tax collections for general fund revenues are limited by the revenue cap and should be down slightly, but less than 2%.

Fact checking

2011-08-27T12:38:00.006-04:00

Update: the version I submitted to the Herald-Independent can be found here. The links to the data I reference are here:

WI pK-12 spending as a % of GDP:

WI pK-12 spending in inflation adjusted dollars:

1998-99 School year expenditures per pupil:

FY2008 Expenditures per pupil:

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Original Post:

Total Wi school funding in 1998 was $7,527, not the $4,956 reported by Sunny in her recent column. Corrected for inflation that's $9899. In 2008 average spending was (correctly reported) $10,791. In real dollars that's an 8% increase, less than 1% per year, not the whopping 64% increase reported by Sunny.

So were did that 1%/year go? Not into the pockets of teachers, who have been losing ground to inflation in the last decade, and not into smaller class sizes (average class size has been creeping up in Wisconsin.) No, any employer will tell you that health care costs have been increased by more than 50% over this period - and school districts feel the same effects. The fact that cost increases are slowly squeezing the life out of our schools is another reason we need to fix the broken health care system in this country.

On with the facts: In 1998 scores on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) ranked WI in the top 3 among states- but Wi scores have stagnated while the rest of the nation has (on average) been improving significantly. In the latest results WI ranks 15th and falling. These results mirror the funding situation: In 1998 WI had schools among the best funded in the nation, but since then funding has stagnated while on average other states have increased spending. Between 2000 and 2009 average spending in the US on education has increased 17.9%, while in Wisconsin spending has been flat since 2003. As Wisconsin funding for schools sinks to the national average, our test scores have also.

More facts: spending on schools has been sinking as a share of GSP (Gross State Product) for more than a decade. The education "piece of the pie" is smaller than it has been. That means public schools are more affordable now than in 1998, and educational professions are becoming less attractive compared to other endeavors. The recent changes to WI school funding will probably put us below the national average - we should not be surprised when our test scores follow.

These facts reinforce something simple I learned long ago: You get what you pay for. Education is not exempt. I wish our politicians could learn it too.

PS: Apparently Sunny got taken in by CNS news- a Conservative "news" organization which falsely reported the 1998 number - using a slight of hand to link to the wrong report from NCES.

Real Estate:

2011-08-12T11:33:00.001-04:00

By law and policy the district can only sell or lease real estate with authorization from the electorate at a public meeting. At last Wednesday's board meeting we unanimously approved three measures to be placed on the agenda of the October 5th annual meeting. The three measures seek authorization from the public to:

1) Sell or lease the Nichols property
2) Sell the two residential properties on Jerome street across from the high school
3) Lease the Maywood property

None of the proposals require we do anything with these properties, but the give the board the authority to take advantage of any opportunities that might come along.

I have said before that I think the district would be better off with the Nichols property working for the community rather than sitting (largely) idle. It is a prime piece of real estate in Monona and could be of significant value to the community. To my knowledge there are no plans or proposals in the works, but finding the right project for the property is likely to take some time. Public approval will let potential developers know we are serious, and makes it more likely that someone will invest the time and effort to develop a proposal.

The Jerome street properties are two houses adjacent to the District tennis courts across the street from the high school (these are actually in the city of Madison.) We've been talking about doing something to upgrade the tennis facility for years - and the neighbors would prefer something to these unoccupied residences. The houses are used by the district for storage, but they aren't really of much value to us - selling them could provide some revenue for much needed facilities maintenance and upgrades.

No one is interested in selling the Maywood property, I think we should keep it for potential future needs. But finding a paying occupant would be of financial benefit to the district, better maintain the building and address some of the community concerns associated with an unoccupied school. As I noted we have seen some interest from the Madison school district as a location for their Nuestro Mundo charter school. An arrangement could be substantially mutually beneficial.

Nuestro Mundo

2011-08-07T13:56:00.004-04:00

Today the WSJ covers Madison's Nuestro Mundo charter school and its search for new space. Nuestro Mundo combines (50/50) English language learning students with traditional students to provide a "dual language" program. This enables ELL students to progress in English proficiency and an foreign language immersion program for the traditional students. The data appear to indicate that this program is quite successful and it is popular in Madison.

The Madison School District is looking for more space because the program is crowded into Allis Elementary alongside the traditional elementary program. To that end Madison has contacted us about the possibility of leasing space in the Maywood or Nichols buildings. Nothing has been decided, but I think an appropriate arrangement that provides a financial benefit to the district, additional opportunities to MG students and "keeps the lights on" in one of our unoccupied buildings is certainly worth pursuing.

Two articles on the topic are in today's WSJ - but they aren't available on-line. I'll link to them when I can.

On a personal note - my summer hiatus from writing this blog wasn't intentional. It just happened that way. I have to say its been a big relief to take a break after the intensity of last spring's debates. I'll try and get back in the swing.

WiscNet to be eliminated?

2011-06-08T10:14:00.000-04:00

In addition to dramatic cuts in school funding the WI state legislature is taking steps that will increase costs of operating public schools. The latest budget amendment would eliminate "WiscNet" the non-profit internet service provider used by most schools (including Monona Grove) and libraries across the state. WiscNet provides low cost internet service that is significantly less than privately funded alternatives.

The argument for the amendment is that public entities should not compete with private business. But this is not about competing with the private sector, but an effort to divert taxpayer dollars from a public non-profit to private businesses. What it should be about is providing essential services to taxpayer supported public institutions at the lowest cost. Eliminating WiscNet will result in fewer dollars in our classrooms or higher taxes.

State Superintendent Tony Evers notes

it will prohibit any UW campus from participating in advanced research networks linking research institutions worldwide.

The internet as we know it was created by public research networks and organizations like WiscNet - what future revolutionary inventions will we pass up by getting out of this game?

This doesn't seem like the right direction...

2011-05-24T23:45:00.001-04:00

The Legislature's budget-writing committee on Tuesday signed off on a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to phase out a program designed to help students -- especially those from low-income families -- find a path to a college degree.

You can find the full story here.

Wisconsin Covenant scholars who follow the program's guidelines -- and earn at least a B average in high school -- are guaranteed spots in the University of Wisconsin System, the state technical college system or one of the state's 20 private colleges.

Education isn't an expense, its an investment.

P.S. Sorry for the posting hiatus...

More changes...

2011-04-08T00:38:00.000-04:00

Adam Mella, managing editor of the Herald-Independent has announced in this week's edition that he is leaving us. Over the last several years Adam has provided excellent coverage of local events and government affairs, and I think the quality of the reporting has only improved under his leadership. Adam's tenure has also seen the development of a frequently updated web presence that has provided a new and valuable level of service to our communities.

Thanks for your good work Adam, and good luck in your future endeavors!

Election results

2011-04-06T11:35:00.000-04:00

In a shocking upset Dean Bowles and Susan Fox win seats on the Monona Grove School board.

Congratulations! and welcome to the board Dean!

Belated board meeting wrap up...

2011-04-04T22:03:00.002-04:00

The board approved the charter school planning grant application after a presentation by Nancy Gagnon and some of the other proposers, although many questions remain to be answered during the planning grant period. The charter school proposal as presented calls for up to 180 seats (3 grades of 2 sections of 30 students each), very preliminary budget numbers were about $950K/year in operating costs. The proposal calls for a school that is an "instrumentality" of the district: although it has a separate governance board it would not be a distinct fiscal entity - this is the way our current charter school (MG21) is operated. The school would use a "project based learning" model and feature an environmental and health sciences curriculum. Ann Schroeder raised concerns that there was not sufficient room n Winnequah for 180 Middle School students.

The next step would be to negotiate and agree to a charter in December of next year. IMHO any agreement would have to be budget neutral - the costs of the charter school should not exceed the differential savings of taking those students out of our existing program - anything more would result in fewer resources for students in our existing programs.

The board also approved open enrollments for next year. Out of a total of 206 applicants we accepted 125 based on available space. This includes 55 4K, 20 Kindergarten students at Winnequah, and 30 high school students.

We also got a look at an updated budget forecast: we are anticipating a $3.1M deficit representing a proposed budget reduction of 5.5% per student. The deficit can be offset by projected savings of $1.1M in WRS and Health insurance payments (the pay cut to teachers), $100K revenue from open enrollment, $850K in Federal Jobs Bill revenue, $245K savings from the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation, $340K from staffing maximization (reducing staff and moving them around to match student needs) and $362K in program and services reductions (more on those next time). This leaves us with a projected negative $88K balance on the year, plus whatever is required for remodeling in Winnequah due to the consolidation.

P.S. The H-I website embeds my cell phone video of the 1812 overture played by the combined 4th-12th grade orchestras at the bottom of the front page: http://www.herald-independent.com/, check it out!

March 30 meeting

2011-03-29T23:48:00.001-04:00

The board will meet tomorrow Wednesday with a few items on the agenda. In closed session the board will:

III. Motion to Move into Closed Session Pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 19.85 (1)(c)
(e) for Consideration and Deliberation Regarding Administrative Contracts/Salaries,
Superintendent Evaluation, Possible Contract Extensions for Support Staff,
Possible Negotiation of Resignation Agreement with an Employee and Strategies
for Real Estate Practices Regarding School District Properties.

In open session the board will:

A. Discussion and Possible Approval of Planning Grant Application for School of
Health and Environmental Sciences - Nancy Gagnon and Stephanie Ramer (30 Min)

The board will review the planning grant application proposed by a group of Monona residents for "the Monona Grove Environmental and Health Sciences Charter School" designed to serve as many as 75 middle school students with a project based learning environment. You can review the document here.

B. Discussion and Possible Approval of Open Enrollment Recommendations (30 Min)
C. Discussion of 2011-2012 Budget Reduction Items. (60 Min)

The proposed 2011-13 state budget puts the district in need of significantly more budget cuts than we had planned- the board will consider recommendations for the administration for different directions we can go.

Expand vouchers because...?

2011-03-29T09:02:00.000-04:00

From today's WSJ:

The test results show the percentage of students participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program who scored proficient or advanced was 34.4 percent for math and 55.2 percent for reading.

Among Milwaukee Public Schools students, it was 47.8 percent in math and 59 percent in reading. Among Milwaukee Public Schools students coming from families making 185 percent of the federal poverty level — a slightly better comparison because voucher students come from families making no more than 175 percent — it was 43.9 percent in math and 55.3 percent in reading.

That is a gap of 9.5 percent in the math proficiency between the MPS students and voucher school students. At the very least the state should stop to look at the Milwaukee voucher program and seriously consider if and under what conditions it should continue- because what is happening now is not working.

2011-03-16T23:29:00.001-05:00

3/16/2011

The Honorable Senator Luther Olsen
The Honorable Senator Mark Miller
The Honorable Representative Gary Hebl
The Honorable Representative Joe Parisi
Madison, WI

Gentlemen,

Thank you for taking the time today to allow me to express my concerns about the impact of the Governor’s 2011-13 budget on education in the Monona Grove School District and the state of Wisconsin.

As I noted to some of you, according to the website //www.usgovernmentspending.com, K-12 education spending in Wisconsin over the past decade has shrunk from 4.5% of GDP in 1990 to 4.05% in 2010. In other words the education “piece of the pie” has shrunk more than 12% in a little over 10 years. To the dubious extent that Wisconsin is “broke” it is certainly not the fault of public education.

Those of us involved with public education don’t need to be told of this statistic because it has become part of our way of life: Year after year we adjust and cut, increase class sizes here, reduce a student service there, and always defer maintenance of our infrastructure. At the same time our ability to compensate qualified staff has increasingly slipped behind inflation. On top of the corrosion over the last decade I fear the significant cuts in the proposed budget will do irreparable damage to our schools. Wisconsin is known for one of the best education systems in the country (although it admittedly has problems), but the proposed budget now places that system and our reputation at risk.

Please contact me for additional information or if I can be of any assistance.

Regards,

Peter Sobol
Member, Monona Grove School Board

The pesky spam filter

2011-03-14T22:20:00.000-05:00

blocked a half dozen comments. They are in now, but hopelessly out of date. Thanks for commenting anyway!

Board agrees to MGEA contract extension (with modifications)

2011-03-11T23:59:00.002-05:00

The MG school board met in special session this afternoon and approved an extension of the current contract with MGEA for the next school year with several important modifications:

1) Teachers will contribute 1/2 the WRS pension contributions from their salary. This is the same requirement as the "Budget repair bill".

2) Teachers will pay 12.6% of their health insurance costs. This is the same requirement as the "Budget repair bill".

3) Only teachers currently eligible for retirement within the next 5 years will retain the current retirement benefits. No provisions for retirement benefits for teachers retiring beyond the next 5 years are provided in the contract, these will be up to the board to provide in policy.

4) There will be a 0% increase to the salary schedule, although step and lane increases will occur.

5) The district calendar will be determined by the board and is no longer a subject of bargaining, teacher transfers also become a management prerogative.

Estimated Fiscal impact: The WRS and Health care contributions will save the district about $1M a year. The salary schedule freeze will probably cost less than the possible CPI salary increase that would be the subject of bargaining under the "budget repair bill". The agreement also allows the board to very significantly reduce retirement benefit liability in the future.

Question: Why would the board agree to this contract when the "budget repair bill" would allow us to "do anything we want" next year?

1) Without a contract, disputes regarding employment are governed by applicable (and complex) state law, which means they end up in court, which can be expensive. Considering the vast changes in the law there is considerable risk of litigation - this contract protects the district from that risk because it establishes the working conditions and compensation and procedures for resolving disputes. Private companies frequently establish agreements and systems which minimize recourse to the legal system in the event of disputes.

2) In the event that the new law is overruled in court, or repealed in whole or in part (either of which is a possibility) it is a very distinct advantage for the district to have an established contract with these terms (especially reduced retirement liability) in places as a starting point for any new contracts.

3) The operating structures of the district are long established through our contract - this extension provides the district and the staff with a bridge that allows us to adapt to both the new law and other budget changes with some degree of security and structure, while giving the board significantly improved flexibility. Continuity of operation is critical to good management of any organization.

5) Establishing a cooperative environment through a voluntary agreement rather than the adversarial relationship that will result from a one-sided imposition of conditions will go along way towards helping us adapt to the new realities. The relative goodwill is a significant advantage to the district.

Once the "budget repair bill" becomes law (no later than March 25th) we would not have the opportunity to enter into this contract and would therefore be unable to obtain the risk protections afforded. This is a good deal that provides important benefits and reduced risks to the district.

1 meeting 2 meetings ...

2011-03-10T23:44:00.001-05:00

Meeting 1: Last night's board meeting, recap in brief:

A Update and Discussion on Open Enrollment (30 Min)

We have received about 210 open enrollment applications including a significant number for 4K. We have room to accomdate about 50 of those applicatants. The board debated the possibility of adding an additional sections of 4K students in one of the CG off site 4K programs.

Discussion and Possible Approval of a Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Approximately $3,895,000.00 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2011

We approved a refinancing of some of the High School construction bonds that will save some $25K per year.

D. Discussion and Possible Approval of Proposal to Make-up Loss of Instructional Time

We approved a plan to make up lost educational time (although we weren't required too, we have enough hours) by extending days for a few minutes and using some 1/2 day releases reserved for professional development.

A. Discussion and Possible Approval of Two Sections of Second Grade Students Remaining at
Taylor Prairie School for the 2011-2012 School Year. (15 Min)

The board approved splitting next years CG elementary 2nd grade elementary students, leaving 3 classes in TP and 4 classes in CG. This move helps balance the students with the building capacities.

B. Discussion of State Proposed Biennial Budget (30 Min)

C. Discussion of Budget Reduction Proposals (30 Min)

Given the current budget proposal the district will have a $3M projected deficit for next year. We anticipate a $1M savings from teachers WRS and health care contributions, in addition we have $850K in stimulus money we can spend and $500K savings in proposed cuts. This leaves an additional $500K we will have to find.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting 2: The board will meet in both closed and open special session tomorrow to consider a possible extension to our current contract (with modifications) with MGEA.

Dear Senator Miller-

2011-03-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

Welcome home.

My family and I would like to thank you and Jo for the personal sacrifices you have recently made in the service of our community and the people of Wisconsin.

Best wishes,

The Sobols.

A tale of two governmental bodies...

2011-03-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

Last night the school board met in both closed and open session. In compliance with the WI Open Meetings law our meeting was properly noticed more than 24 hours in advance and accommodations were made for the public to attend and participate. Our closed session stuck rigorously to the topics that were noticed and are allowed exemptions.

Another governmental body of the state also met last night at the same time. However that body betrayed a contempt for both the open meetings laws and the public interest in open debate and transparency.

Why the double standard?

Wississippi

2011-03-05T10:58:00.000-05:00

The Christian Science Monitor (I'll repeat myself: one of the best sources of news in the US) asks the question: If Gov. Scott Walker Prevails will Wisconsin look more like the South? and discusses the "southern strategy" of economic development: low services resulting in low taxes that make the region attractive to businesses and job creation. The article does correctly point to a migration of people from northern & eastern areas to the south and west in pursuit of jobs. But I think the article misses a key factor. This strategy works because the educated american worker is highly mobile and can follow the jobs south. Why invest in local education when you can just import brains for other areas that do?

I noticed this effect first hand in California. We hired a lot of people, but virtually none of them were the product of the by then poor quality CA public schools. This was contrasted with the senior management of the company which included a number of native Californians who had been educated in the 60's and 70's when CA public schools were considered the nations best.

In essence job growth in the south and west of the US is subsidized by the taxpayers in the north and east that provide the educational infrastruct.

Dear Governor...

2011-03-04T09:50:00.001-05:00

The following is a copy of the letter sent by MG School Board President Susan Fox. I agree wholeheartedly.

Governor Walker,

Speaking as a local school board president, I appreciate some of the required contributions to health care benefits and even the retirement system, although I would not have enacted the level you chose all at once. That level of salary cut is very difficult for teachers and other public employees and it will have a significant negative impact on the local economy in the form of reduced discretionary spending. I do not support some other provisions of your "repair bill."

With regard to your budget proposal, the only interpretation possible is that this is an all-out attack on public education. The so-called "tools" you give us, in the form of employee contributions to benefits (salary cuts), will not come close to filling this hole. Additionally, if you really believe that we can lay off our most senior (expensive) teachers and replace them with people right out of college, or even those with a master's degree, you need to collect information from people working with schools. The negative impact on schools caused by the loss of this knowledge/experience base (these are the people who mentor our beginning teachers) is huge, to say nothing of age discrimination lawsuits. Schools improve in a collaborative culture with accountability built in.

We have worked hard at Monona Grove to build a collaborative process of using student performance data to inform teaching, and to build a process by which teachers share best practices. We are seeing positive effects, in early reading, for example, as well as in other skills. Your funding reductions threaten the gains we are making. When we increase class sizes to more than 30 (our current middle and high school max), we reduce the time teachers have to grade papers and provide meaningful feedback and re-teaching experiences for students. When we increase the number of classes teachers have to teach, we increase the exhaustion level, in addition to the number of students with whom to form relationships. Studies show that relationships between staff and students have a significant impact on student achievement. I seriously would like to see the critics of teachers spend just one day teaching a full class load, and of course a week would be even better.

I recognize that we need to make changes. We need to come up with a more equitable funding plan and re-invest in public schools. This is crucial to the economic success of our state as well as our country. How many businesses will want to locate in Wisconsin when the public school system has declined? Schools are a part of the high quality of life here. Private charter schools do not have any better track record over all than public schools. The method of school governance is not what determines school effectiveness; rather, the crucial elements are the teaching and the learning. At Monona Grove, we have worked with other districts on a curriculum model that uses data heavily and which works to improve student performance. We use the research-based benchmarks set by the ACT, and are incorporating these with the national core standards. With the loss of the public school system comes a situation of increasingly random acts of improvement.

Please invite us to the table to talk about these issues. These sweeping changes will be devastating and cause damage that will be hard to fix when the pendulum swings the other way in a few years. When making significant changes, thought must be given to all the ramifications. Compromise is usually the best course.

Respecftully,
Susan Fox

Global warming comes to Madison...

2011-03-03T19:29:00.000-05:00

As you can see in this video from Fox news the Capitol Square now is lined with Palm Trees:

A tale of two departments...

2011-03-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin has a Department of Administration:

16.003 Department of administration. (1) PURPOSE. The department shall carry out the purposes of this chapter by improving the techniques used for such management specialties, not limited by enumeration, as budgeting, accounting, engineering, purchasing, records management and fleet management; by coordinating and providing services which are used by more than one agency, and by reviewing agencies’ programs and management to identify problems and suggest improvements.

And a Department of Instruction under the State Superintendent of Schools whose first responsibility is:

(1) GENERAL SUPERVISION. Ascertain the condition of the public schools, stimulate interest in education and spread as widely as possible a knowledge of the means and methods which may be employed to improve the schools.

Guess which one is to implement Walker's new 3rd grade reading program?

And the other shoe drops...

2011-03-01T22:19:00.003-05:00

Scott Walker today released his budget proposal for the 2011-13 biennium. The proposal includes a 5.5 reduction in the revenue limit for schools. For the Monona Grove school district this works out to a reduction of about 1.7 million dollars - this will be somewhat offset by mandatory reductions in teacher compensation, but it will add an additional ~$700K to our projected budget deficit which is already $750K plus in the red (all numbers are approximate until we get the details!) The total spending cuts needed for next year will be on the order of $1.5 million.

To give you an idea $1.5M is the equivalent of more than 25 full time teachers. Elections have consequences and the last general election made it pretty clear that the electorate didn't want the budget to be balanced by raising taxes. This, of course, is the alternative.

Breaking news...

2011-02-27T23:46:00.000-05:00

The MGEA has ratified the contract agreed to earlier today by the board. This contract is for the 2009-2011 school year and will expire June 30th.

The contract mostly maintains the status quo to allow us to complete the year in an orderly fashion even if the current budget repair bill passes. Hopefully it will give us enough time to deal with the implications of the yet to be released state budget and make layoff and staffing decisions with enough knowledge to minimize disruption. The same is true of senior teachers with the option to retire. It also minimizes risk: in the absence of a contract we would be governed only by the complex state statutes if the "budget repair bill" becomes law, and there is a risk that any disputes would end up in litigation without this settlement.

The agreed upon contract provides for 0% salary increase in the first year (2009-10) and 1% in the current year. This is significantly less than inflation and saves the district money relative to what had been budgeted. Given that the MGEA would retain the right to negotiate salaries up to the rate of inflation under the "budget repair bill' this is probably a deal for the district. A teacher who started in the district this year with a bachelors will receive $31,695 in salary (including the new teacher stipend), a teacher with a master's and 16 years experience will receive $51,717.

The contract makes no movement on our OPEB ("Other Post Employment Benefits") liability, but because it only extends through June and it was unlikely we would have made changes to the retirements retroactive this won't impact the bottom line.

The long sticking point over the negotiations to this point has been the OPEB liability. The MG district has OPEB benefits that are much higher than our peer districts. The major cost was due to generous retirement health care benefits which were first negotiated decades ago at a time when health care was cheap. The rapid growth of health care costs had not been anticipated. The other part of the OPEB benefits is the TEP - a payout equal to the one year's salary. The TEP was originally implemented to reduce district costs by encouraging higher paid senior teachers to retire, however the high costs of health benefits in retirement now makes this less of a deal for the district.

It is past time to adjust these OPEB benefits to be more in line with other districts': The board's proposals did reduce the OPEB benefits considerably, by $200K or more per teacher - and as such were understandably difficult for the MGEA to swallow. Although we hadn't reached an agreement (and were in the process of arbitration) I feel we had made significant progress and both sides were finally at least reading from the same page. These issues will have to be resolved by the board or in negotiations (depending on what happens with state law) during the next biennium.

I do feel that this agreement has been reached at the point of a gun, and that is not an environment conducive to developing the cooperative relationships we need to move forward. But I do want to thank Superintendent Gerlach and the MGEA negotiations team for the difficult work necessary to move this forward in the last few days.

Meeting Sunday:

2011-02-26T00:18:00.002-05:00

The board will meet in special session on Sunday at 11am with one item on the agenda:

New Business
A. Discussion and Possible Approval of an MGEA Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2009-2011

The district is currently operating under the terms of the last contract which expired in 2009, the new contract has been in negotiations for nearly 2 years. A new contract would extend only through June 30th of this year - but it would provide staff and the board a little bit of continuity that will allow us to continue to operate while the budget mess is sorted out.

Update: After a 2 hour discussion the Board unanimously approved a contract with the MGEA. The MGEA will meet this evening for a ratification vote, I will comment more about the contract and negotiations but only after they are concluded. So please withhold judgement!

After much debate...

2011-02-23T23:27:00.001-05:00

Last night the school board created and approved by unanimous vote the following statement:

We believe that we need to keep the educational needs of the children in the forefront of all that we do.

Given the significant challenges facing our state, we believe that it is in the interests of the Monona Grove School District to maintain respectful partnerships and cooperative relationships that preserve rights and dignity for all. We agree that there is room for improvement in the laws governing the relationship between local governmental units and public employees. In our judgment, the proposals in the "Budget Repair Bill" give too little consideration for the possible disruptions that invariably result from such sweeping changes.

As such, we believe the collective bargaining provisions in the "Budget Repair Bill" should be reconsidered in a more collaborative process.

Our commitment must continue to be that of providing the best educational environment for our youth.

Monona Grove Board Of Education

Speaking for myself I would comment the continued statements by Gov. Walker that the collective bargaining provisions are intended to provide local governments with "the flexibility to deal with impending budget cuts" does compel those local governments to respond to the question of whether they want or need those provisions. While a number of local governmental units have approved statements in opposition to Walker's proposal, none (to my knowledge) have come out in support. This appears to me to significantly undermine the justification for the bill.

President's day...

2011-02-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

Monona Grove Schools should be open tomorrow, (weather permitting!)

The Monona Grove School District will be open for school on Monday, February 21. Kristine Wollerman, Monona Grove Education Association (MGEA) President, representing the leadership of their association, will direct all MGEA members to attend school beginning Monday, February 21, 2011.

Teachers who were absent without a legitimate reason will have a proportionate deduction taken from their pay.

The board has received many communications, some in support and others critical, concerning the teacher's actions over the last few days, thank you for your comments.

On another note, I haven't commented much on the budget process as yet this year - 1) I've been busy, and B) the "budget repair bill" and governor's proposed budget (which hasn't been released, but may contain a $500 per pupil cut) has thrown the whole thing up in the air. So its difficult to plan, or comment.

Former board member Mary P. has a thing or two to say...

2011-02-18T22:27:00.002-05:00

To the Monona Grove School Board,
The group of people in this school district who have sat across the bargaining table from the MGEA is rather small, and I am one of them. Bargaining with the MGEA was, hands down, the most bizarre and surreal trip through the looking glass I have ever experienced. I could drone on about a myriad of frustrations, but all else aside, I could never understand their complete and utter failure to realize the MG school board was not only not their enemy, but we also lacked the statutory power to improve their wages and benefits. While we could partake in rearranging the deck chairs on our own little Titanic, purchasing additional life boats was not within our power. Simply put, they directed a whole lot of energy toward a group who was essentially powerless all the while engaging in job actions that did little but harm students, demoralize many of their own members and generate ill will among the public. At times my own children were targeted, so please understand what I say next comes within this context.
Things are different now. Finally, the members of the MGEA have directed their energy toward the group of people who hold all the power, and all I can say is that it’s about damn time. For this reason, I urge the MG board to be measured in your response to the recent job actions that shut down our schools. I do not have knowledge of the relevant contract language, and while docking pay of those who did not report is reasonable, I urge you to not take disciplinary actions. Quite frankly, I find the message to the community on the MG web page today to be unsupportive of what our teachers are doing. I would have hoped for a more neutral statement.
What is going on right now is bigger than this district. Isn't it amazing to be living through this extraordinary time in Wisconsin history? I have seen nothing like this since I was a child in the 60’s. What happens in the coming days will certainly have an impact on Wisconsin public education for years to come. We should be proud that our teachers are standing up for what is right, and our Senator Miller is one of the brave individuals standing in front of the bulldozers. On the flip side, I don’t see organized buses of school board members pouring into Madison, so let’s support the teachers who are turning out by the thousands. Further, this may not end this weekend. This will take as much time it takes, and public educations stands to lose too much to blink first – however long this takes. If this grows more difficult, I beg of you to hang in there.
Last, while I suppose it’s too much to ask for the board to pass a resolution supporting the teachers’ actions, there is nothing stopping individual board members from expressing a little old fashioned solidarity, explicitly, and in a very public manner. It may not make you popular among some folks, but so what? I’m guessing most of you have long quit worrying about that and besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Not getting re-elected? I’m gonna go out on a limb and make another guess that most of you wouldn’t see that as the end of the world.
Thanks for your service. I wish you all the best as you grapple with the challenges of the coming months.

Mary Possin
4509 Midmooor
Monona, WI 53716

Closed tomorrow...

2011-02-16T22:17:00.000-05:00

Because a large number of the teaching staff have notified the district that they will be absent tomorrow the district's schools will be closed. All teacher's are expected to report for work tomorrow, and those who don't will be docked a day's pay.

Several other districts in the area have made the same decision and have cancelled classes.

$1.8 million further in the hole

2011-02-16T12:06:00.000-05:00

According to a WASB (Wi Association of School Boards) Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget will reduce the per pupil revenue cap by $500 per student. For MG this would be a net reduction of $600/student from our current budget process - increasing our budget deficit for next year by $1.8M over and above our current estimated $750K deficit.

WASB's Executive Director John Ashley has also issued a letter expressing opposition to the "budget repair bill" in that it goes too far without adequate deliberation.

"We are concerned that the provisions in the budget repair bill that prohibit collective bargaining over everything but wages go far beyond helping school districts control costs."

In which I go over the top.

2011-02-13T12:24:00.001-05:00

The last time the WI governor called out the National Guard against his own people it lead to the infamous Bay View massacre. Then, as now, the people Governor Walker threatened Friday with National Guard troops aren’t an invading army, but among the hard working citizens of Wisconsin that he is supposed to protect and serve

I’m not a member of any union, indeed I serve on a school board involved in contentious and drawn out negotiations asking for substantial concessions from the teachers in our district. And although it makes this job difficult and frustrating (and I wish for a more collaborative process that could result in better outcomes for both sides) I don’t question for a moment the right of the teachers to associate and as a group negotiate for fair compensation for their labors.

My attitude does not just derive from idealistic notions of our rights as citizens in a country founded for the people, but also from a practical interest in what is best for the education of my children, our state and nation. A comparison of student achievement as ranked by the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows those states without teacher’s unions nearly uniformly rank at the bottom of in terms of student achievement, while those with healthy unions, including Wisconsin, rank at the top. We don’t know all the reasons for this correlation but it is more than a coincidence, I fear the “budget repair bill” will deliver us speedily to the bottom of this list. Yes, a teacher’s union can create impediments to reforms in our schools, but at the same time they create a rewarding work environment that in the long run attracts highly qualified people to the profession.

I do think that the public unions of this state are much to blame for the fact that they enjoy so little public support that their existence hangs in the balance. They have enjoyed considerable power and influence, and yet they have often appeared tone deaf to the greater concerns of the state. Unions need to demonstrate their relevance by working collaboratively for change for the better, and help adapt to (not fight) new realities.

But we all know that these proposed measures gutting union rights have no business in a “budget repair bill”– and the pure ugly political nature of these provisions is revealed by the exemptions given to the police and fire unions. If we wish to debate the nature, status and conditions of public employee unions lets have that discussion on its own merits, not undo 50 years of work in a single week with little debate and less thought.

We all understand the need for austerity measures in the face of an economic downturn. Although one wonders why, when headlines show that corporations are turning their tax breaks into record profits rather than jobs, that austerity means belt tightening primarily for the working families of this state. A healthy, prosperous middle class is the ultimate strength of our state and the hundred thousand teachers, if they are anything like my community, stand at the heart of that class and the guardians that prepare its children for their future.

Yet our Governor refuses to even meet with the representatives of these tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens and public employees, an act that can only be described as dereliction of duty. What is he afraid of? In his refusal the Governor claims that he has nothing to offer the unions – and yet he entirely exempts unions representing other groups from his proposals. Teachers are every bit as important to the state of Wisconsin as police officers and firefighters – don’t they deserve the same rights and respect? The governor says the state is “broke”, but our $3.6 billion shortfall over the next biennium represents much less than 1% of the Wisconsin GDP. According to usgovernmentspending.com education spending (preK-12) as a percentage of GDP has shrunk more than 12% since 2002. If the state IS broke, it is not because of education.

The Governor says he is committed to creating jobs in the state of Wisconsin, I have a news flash for him: employers are not going to come here for the weather, and they will never find the labor costs of India or China. The only thing that will attract employers is a well-educated, creative and productive workforce. That is a race we can win, but we can’t even compete in a race to the bottom, nor should we want to. The teachers of the state must be at the core of our efforts to win the race that Wisconsin needs to run.

We live in the most prosperous country ever known to history- we need to remember that we got here neither by magic nor chance, but in part because our grandparents made the sacrifices necessary to adequately support universal education and allow teaching to become a rewarding and respected profession. When we turn our backs on those values, we turn our backs on prosperity for our children.

Governor Walker versus teacher unions...

2011-02-10T23:56:00.000-05:00

According to the AP Walker's budget proposal includes the following sweeping changes:

Under Walker's immediate plan, all collective bargaining rights would be removed for state and local public employees starting July 1, except when it comes to wages. But any salary increase they seek could be no more than the consumer price index, unless voters in the jurisdiction affected approved a higher raise.

Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until the next contract is settled. Public employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues.

Local law enforcement and fire employees, as well as state troopers and inspectors would be exempt.

...The ban on public employees striking would remain, Walker said.

Collective bargaining rights would only extend to wages, and that would be limited to the consumer price index. I would note that public sector already receive less total compensation than private sector employees with equivalent education and responsibility - limiting raises to the consumer price index would further increase this gap each year.

2/9 Board Meeting:

2011-02-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

The public portion of tomorrow's meeting starts at 7pm in the Nichols District Office Board room. Items of note:

X. New Business

A. Presentation and Discussion of the Proposed School of Health and Environmental Sciences, a project-based learning charter middle school serving grades 6-8.- Nancy Gagnon and Stephanie Ramer (10 min)

We will hear a report on the progress being made by the group proposing a charter middle school in the district.

B. Discussion on Paperless Board Meetings – Jason McCutchin & Bill Herman (20 Min)

At last months WASB convention I talked to one vendor who specializes in software for "Paperless Board Meetings" and has a package available for $2K/year. Aside from the convienence of not having to deal with all the paper, the main goal would be to reduce the time and effort required by the staff to support board meetings.

D. Discussion and Possible Approval of Final Notice of Nonrenewal of One-Year Administrative Contracts and .5 FTE Diversity Coordinator Position (5 Min)

F. Discussion and Possible Approval of Preliminary Non-Renewal Notices of Teachers (15 min)

Until we finalzie the budget, we can't say who will be employed by the district in the next year. To accomodate potential reductions we need to provide notice of non-renewal to these employees to prevent their contracts from rolling over for next year.

H. Discussion of Location of Second Grade Students in Cottage Grove Elementary Schools for 2011-12 (15 min)

Taylor Prairie has about 372 K-1 students while Cottage Grove has 485 2-4 students. Shifting some 2nd graders from Cottage Grove to Taylor Prairie will provide a better balance of space for our elementary students.

XI. Unfinished Business

A. Discussion of Budget Reduction Proposals and Process (20 min)

We should be hearing specific proposals for budget reductions - although without the governor's budget proposal we don't know how much we will have to cut.

B. Approval of Staff Resignations/Retirements

Barbara Berg, Principal – Cottage Grove School, effective at the conclusion 2010-11 school year.

CG elementary principal Barbara Berg is retiring at the end of the year. Barb has done a wonderful job running our largest elementary school - she is an important part of the management team and will be missed!

I find this is interesting:

2011-02-08T23:34:00.000-05:00

A "meta-analysis" collates and the results from multiple independent research studies of a single subject to provide a more reliable evaluation of the tested hypothesis. Increasingly common, meta-analyses are an important way of sifting through often contradictory or confusing results from multiple studies reported independently.

This meta-analysis in the news caught my eye because it reported an average increase in academic achievement by 11 percentile points associated with "Social and Emotional Learning" programs. A gain of 11 percentile points is huge when compared to effects from other strategies employed in schools. The analysis included a review of a whopping 213 studies involving 270K students K-12, and noted improvements in student attitude and behaviour as well.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x/full

What is "Social and Emotional Learning"? SEL programs seek to teach children "to recognize and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, appreciate the perspectives of others, establish and maintain positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle interpersonal situations constructively"

Snow Day Tomorrow...

2011-02-02T00:23:00.000-05:00

Just came back from walking the dog - its quite the blizzard out there. Stay warm!

What the Governor Said...

2011-01-29T01:09:00.000-05:00

Last week in Milwaukee Governor Scott Walker briefed the Wisconsin Association of School Boards annual convention about what to expect from his administration. He started with the message that he would like to implement reforms that empower local school boards to more flexible in staffing decisions "to hire and potentially fire” and move toward “pay for performance”- Walker made a comparison to a stint he had with IBM where he earned commissions on sales.

On the budget Walker warned that reductions in state aid were coming but they “won’t affect what goes on in the classroom” because cuts would be offset by reductions in benefits to school employees. Walker indicated that he wasn’t “picking on teachers” – that similar cuts will apply to other public employees.

Walker also took time to re-iterate his campaign position that all 3rd graders should be reading at grade level before promotion to 4th grade. The problem I have with this proposal is that a significant body of research and experience that indicates such a policy is detrimental to student achievement. In many controlled studies students who were retained at 3rd grade had lower levels of achievement in subsequent years than equivalent students who were promoted. Down the road the retained students are more likely to drop out than their peers. (Read more here or here).

I think this idea is flawed in the same way as NCLB (the No Child Left Behind law): An educational system whose primary focus is getting everyone over a minimal bar can’t excel and will under serve those students who aren’t near that bar. Obviously we can’t ignore the problem of under achieving students but we have to respond with what works. In certain cases retention is appropriate, but those decisions need to be made by teachers and parents familiar with the interests of the child – not by politicians.

When an 8 year old can’t read at grade level it is not the fault of the child. What students need is early, focused and effective interventions to bring them up to grade level.

No Contest...

2011-01-05T00:16:00.000-05:00

Two school board seats are up for this spring's election. The seats are currently occupied by Susan Fox and Jill List, but Jill has decided not seek re-election. Susan Fox and Dean Bowles have filed nomination papers before todays deadline - so the election will be uncontested.

Click through for Susan's and Dean's press releases.

MG Teacher in the news...

2011-01-03T10:44:00.000-05:00

Today the WSJ fronts the seagoing tale of MG science teacher Juan Botella's research trip to the antarctic:

MONONA — Next month, Juan Botella will spend more than 60 days aboard a ship in the Southern Ocean to learn firsthand how scientific research is conducted — knowledge he will bring back to his classroom along with new information on how the southern polar region has changed.

Read more here.

Note to WSJ Editors: the daylight might last longer in the antarctic summer, but the months don't!

2010-12-20T20:20:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday Dec. 21st)the board will meet in the Winnequah cafeteria with one item on the open agenda:

V. Unfinished Business
A. Discussion and Possible Approval of Consolidation of Maywood & Winnequah Schools

More can be found in the Herald-Independent article here.

Update: The meeting was anti-climatic with just one public speaker and relatively brief debate. On a 5-2 vote, the motion for the district to proceed with the consolidation of the Maywood and Winnequah in the Winnequah building for the 2011-2012 school year carried.

Vote Early - Vote often!

2010-12-16T20:56:00.002-05:00

Connor Stevens, a senior at Monona Grove High School, is one of five finalist in a public service announcement (CBA) contest sponsored by Fox News.

Visit the Fox 47 website by clicking here to view the PSA finalists and vote for Conner! The top vote getter will win a $2,500 grant for their school and each team member will receive a new lap top computer and Connor’s CBA will be broadcast during the month of January.

Reversing course.

2010-12-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

At last week's meeting the board voted not to pursue recovery of about $30K in over payments to several teachers made a few years ago. This decision was based in part on the idea that we would not be allowed to simply deduct the amounts owed from paychecks and would therefore incur significant costs and difficulties retrieving the money. It turns out this isn't true: we can recover the money through deductions. Based on this new information the board voted last night to undo last weeks vote and reconsider the matter.

This doesn't mean the district will necessarily pursue the overpayments, just that the board will consider the issue again at a future meeting.

December board meeting wrap-up

2010-12-09T23:40:00.004-05:00

In the public appearances section of the meeting MGEA representative Kevin Mikelbank noted that in consideration of the status of the ongoing negotiations the teacher's union has suspended their "work to the contract" job action, and that teachers would now participate in activities such as writing student letters of recommendation.

Update: I misinterpreted Kevin's remarks above. Although teachers will now write letters of recommendation they are continuing other aspects of the "work to the contract" job action

After the remaining preliminaries, the board heard first from PMA financial consultants who perform a 5 year budget forecast for the district each year. This year's preliminary model assumes zero enrollment growth and $200/year increase in the revenue cap - in all likelihood we will see a smaller increase. Even so, the preliminary projections show a deficit that increases $700K to $1M each of the next five years, and unless a miracle occurs in the state budget process it will quite probably be worse. Ugh.
Two other financial items were on the table last night:
The annual audit report from the firm of Rielly, Penner & Benton LLC. Again we received an "unqualified opinion" -indicating a clean audit with no significant discrepancies or issues.
The second item was the overpayments made in the last two years to some of the teaching staff. It was reported that a total of 45 teaching staff were overpaid a total of $27K over the last two years, and 8 retirees a total of about $4500. The problem relates to calculations of longevity as they were effected by a negotiated one time "step freeze" to salaries in the 90's. The overpayments were the district's mistake:  both the paychecks and the salary information sheet distributed to the teachers were incorrect. The error was brought to the administration's attention by one of the teacher. The board agreed to not pursue recovery of the overpayments, considering the relatively small amounts involved, the fact that it was a district error and costs and effort to recoup.

The board heard not one but two presentations from Deb Lyons (perhaps the hardest working person in the district"?). The first was a rundown, with Christa Macomber on ongoing continuous improvement efforts in each building in the district, including discussion of academic and behavioural issues with data and goals.

Deb's second presentation concerned a proposal for a consulting agreement with Brenda Clark and Matthew Fail to provide assistance in "implementing a systems approach to continual improvement focused on strategic planning at all levels of the district." The proposal, which includes a plan and timeline for the next 18 months include all levels in the district in training and implementation of plan driven continuous improvement processes. The total cost of the proposal is about $50K and would be funded out of already budgeted professional development funds and revenue from the district's recent "Aligned by Design" training sessions that attracted participants from around the area.

Brenda Clark is Author of "Running all the Red Lights, A Journey of Statewide Educational Reform", and former Associate Superintendent for Education at Iredell-Statesville School District in North Carolina (where she once held the title of Chief Quality Officer!). Brenda has already participated in training sessions in the district and has our confidence.   I support this proposal because it provides a definitive timeline and goals, and provides access to significant expertise that we will need to get these things done.

The board also discussed disposition of the Monona school properties. As you know, we will be voting on the proposal for consolidating Maywood and Winnequah on December 21st. The board appeared to be in consensus on moving forward with selling the Nichols property. The next step is to call a special meeting of the electorate to get approval for the sale. This will indicate our seriousness to proceed with any proposals.   If we were to sell Nichols we would have to find a new location for the current occupants, including the administration and MG21.  Although I would suspect we will have plenty of time to consider this issue, there isn't any pressing reason to vacate the property until an agreement is reached.

MG21 Open house reminder

2010-12-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

The "Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century" is holding an Open House in their new facility in the Nichols School Building this Thursday evening (12/2 ), from 6:30-8:00 pm.

Anyone interested in the goings on in our district should attend to see what this succesful program is all about.

In the News...

2010-11-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

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.

MG21 responds...

2010-11-23T22:08:00.001-05:00

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:

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

Plans- updated

2010-11-21T12:15:00.005-05:00

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.

Maywood-Winnequah Consolidation consideration dates & times:

2010-11-19T00:52:00.000-05:00

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.

Hiring in a downturn:

2010-11-19T00:39:00.000-05:00

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.

Next Wednesday is this Tuesday

2010-11-08T00:28:00.000-05:00

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:

X. New Business

A. Presentation of Report by UW Applied Populations Laboratory Regarding Enrollment Projections

The 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 Business
A. Discussion of Maywood & Winnequah Consolidation, Nichols, and Related Issues
Mark Scullion, Craig Gerlach (45 Min)

We 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.

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.

Play on...

2010-11-06T00:59:00.000-05:00

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.

Sorry 'bout the spam filter

2010-10-26T22:22:00.002-04:00

I've discovered a few comments that were stuck in the new Blogger spam filter. If you tried to post and couldn't in the last month or two this is probably why. Try again - I'll keep an eye on it. If you notice your long comment doesn't go through try a short one alerting me to the problem!

Thanks-

Here we go again...

2010-10-21T23:26:00.001-04:00

This week the Herald-Independent covers last Wednesday's school board meeting and features our discussion on Maywood. Craig has asked that the board resolve the issue of the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation before we get too far into next year's budget process. This will allow the budget process to proceed on a better informed basis and allow the issue to be considered without conflation with our budget woes.

The plan calls for more information at our November meeting, a public listening session and a decision in December.

Consolidating Maywood and Winnequah would save approximately $140,000 the first year and $250,000 in subsequent years. Students currently in Maywood would move into Winnequah, where up to $80-90K could be spent on preparing facilities for the younger students. Winnequah would then be populated with about 400 students vs. a capacity of 575.

There are no plans to dispose of the Maywood. If we were to consolidate these students in Winnequah this board member believes that the property should be retained indefinitely by the district for potential future use, either as a school if elementary enrollment significantly increases, or for other district uses, such as housing the administration and alternative programs if Nichols is sold for redevelopment.

P.S. Congratulations to the MG Silver Eagles Football team on another undefeated season!

in the WSJ...

2010-10-19T01:47:00.000-04:00

The Wisconsin State Journal fronts an article about the ongoing contract negotiations and the impact of the MGEA "work the contract" job action. The article lays out the various issues concerning the retirement benefits and the board proposals pretty well.

One error I note is the estimate of the district's unfunded liability: the article quotes an out of date number from 2008 of $30M, the most recent estimate is $25M. To fully fund this liability the district would need to set aside $1.5 million per year. Currently we aren't fully funding this liability, instead we pay retirement benefits on a "pay as you go" basis as they come due.

Next meeting preview...

2010-10-12T00:53:00.000-04:00

The agenda for Wednesday's meeting can be found here. There are rumors that we will hear from Teachers, Parents and Students concerning the contract negotiations during the public appearances- so come early if you want a seat.

Items of Note:

IX. Unfinished Business

A. Discuss Maywood & Winnequah Consolidation and Related Issues (30 Min)

Last year when we deferred a decision on the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation some of the feedback the board received was that we didn't allow enough time for public consideration of this option.

B. Update & Discussion on Enrollment and Class Size (20 Min)

Our revenue cap and state aid is determined by the number of students in the district, based on counts made on the 3rd Friday of September and January. This September's count came to 3099, including 126 non-resident (mostly open enrollment) students. District enrollment is essentially flat, while open enrollment continues to increase.

B. Discussion and Possible Approval on Proposed 10th Grade Chemistry/Honors Chemistry
(Beginning 2011-2012 School Year) – Jeff Olsen (15 Min)

This is the second show in the changes to the High School science program and involves replacing the sophomore integrated science program with a Chemistry/Honors Chemistry program, this year's freshman are already in the new Biology/Honors Biology program. The curriculum committee reviewed the proposal extensively last Wednesday evening. We were impressed by the effort the science department staff has put to developing a quality program.

D. Continuous School Improvement Update: District Profile - Christa Macomber and Deb Lyons

We will hear from Deb and Christa, our new Continuous Improvement team, as they get started on implementation of CI processes in the district.

G&T or lack thereof...

2010-10-10T10:24:00.000-04:00

A group of West High parents have filed a complaint concerning the perceived lack of sufficient gifted and talented programming as mandated by state statute.

A group of 50 parents in the West High School attendance area has asked state education officials to investigate whether the Madison School District is violating state law by denying high-achieving students access to the "talented and gifted" programming parents say they deserve.

In a Sept. 20 complaint to the state Department of Public Instruction made public Tuesday, the parent group argued that freshmen and sophomores at West have limited opportunities for advanced English, biology and social studies classes

I have heard similar complaints expressed by MG parents. (Some of which are addressed by recent changes to the high school science curriculum for freshman and sophomores. )

But school districts are in a bind: NCLB (No Child Left Behind) legislation requires getting all students over a minimum "proficient" level rather than considering average student performance or growth. Since passage of NCLB school districts have been focusing on (or in Texas eliminating) those students who can be moved from below the bar to just above it, as no credit is given to improving the scores of those already proficient. The unintended side effect is that resources have been shifted to under performing students, in an era of limited resources this inevitably reduces resources available for other groups.

I will posit that not challenging top students (or ANY student) is just as bad as under serving lower performing students. Each student needs to be challenged appropriately, and we need to maximize the potential of everyone.

News Link:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_0b363c3e-d0b0-11df-8157-001cc4c002e0.html

Close to home...

2010-10-06T18:48:00.000-04:00

2005 Monona Grove graduate Dan Johnson was killed in Afghanistan yesterday (Tuesday). Dan was serving in the US Air Force as a ordinance disposal expert.

More here and here.

My condolences to Dan's loved ones.

Annual Meeting tomorrow.

2010-10-05T19:32:00.002-04:00

This year's Budget Hearing and Annual Meeting will be held tomorrow (Wednesday the 6th) at 7:00pm in the High School Auditorium. The annual meeting is a statutory requirement where the electors of the district (that means you) approve the tax levy for the year and provide various other authorizations that allow the district to do business. Note that this isn't a meeting of the School Board, but of the electors of the district.

The budget documents can be found here. The compete 60 page district report is not yet available on the website.

Total general fund revenue the district can raise is determined by the State's revenue caps, which are explained here. - Basically the revenue cap takes what the district spent last year per student, adds a little bit and then multiplies it by the number of students using a three year rolling average. (Additional "categorical aids" are available for specific purposes, such as special education.) The district is allowed to raise that much money for general operations. The State then takes another complicated formula and determines how much general fund aid it will provide the district. The district can then levy the difference between the revenue cap and the state funding on the local property tax. Additional amounts are levied for voter approved referenda, in our case building projects.

Because Monona Grove has a high ratio of total assessed property valuation per student the percentage of state aid is relatively low.

This year's estimated revenue limit is $31,963,133 for the general fund. State aid will pay $11,871,795, leaving a general fund levy of $20,091,338. Additional community service fund and referendum approved debt bring the total proposed levy to $24,893,975 - which equals a levy of $12.91 per thousand of assessed property value.

Total expenditures will increase by 2.44% in this budget, but the levy mill rate will increase by 6.7% due to the changes in the aid and revenue sources. (Last year the levy actually decreased 2%).

In the news...

2010-09-29T09:27:00.000-04:00

Adam at the Herald-independent has an extensive article concerning the contract negotiations:

Teachers in the Monona Grove School District have been working without a contract since June of 2009, and it seems very likely that a resolution will only be reached through an independent arbitrator, both sides concede. Negotiations on a new contract have been deadlocked for much of that time, as the Monona Grove Education Association (MGEA) (representing the teachers) and the School Board have struggled to find common ground on the future of retirement benefits.

Teachers say the school board’s “attacks” on those benefits are unacceptable, and that the board didn’t even offer some other form of compensation in exchange for those proposed reductions.

The school board, on the other hand, says that current retirement benefits for Monona Grove teachers are vastly more generous than neighboring districts, and that sky-rocketing healthcare costs make those benefits unsustainable.

FYI

2010-09-24T01:26:00.002-04:00

FYI the MGEA has a posted a list of questions and answers on their website at http://www.mgea.org/.

I have read with interest all the responses to my last post, I want to thank the serious contributors - there is some great information and points made, and I find it very useful to see the variety of POV from the public. You might be surprised to hear this but I can agree with most of the points from both sides. The bind we are in is not the fault of the teachers or the MGEA, but largely the expansion of the cost of health care beyond any reasonable anticipation and the limits placed on the district by the state funding formula.

WASB (the Wisconsin Association of School Boards) recently reported that WI's total funding per pupil has dropped from 11th to 18th in the nation since 2000, and that average class size rank has dropped from 21st to 29th. I've pointed out that education funding has actually been shrinking as a percentage of GDP - that means schools are MORE affordable now than they have been in the past decade. Although we have to do more with what we've got, we are stacking the deck against above average education with below average funding.

For better or worse we are stuck with an adversarial system of negotiation where the board the MGEA, the Med./Arb rules all have well defined roles to play. The adversarial nature tends to lead to posturing and negativity that can play out into the working relationships between the board, staff and community. But I know from personal experience that many or our teachers are exceptional and deserve more than they get, and that my colleagues on the board ultimately have the best interests of the district at heart.

Between the board (with invaluable administrative support) the MGEA negotiations team and the Mediation/Arbitration system we will work this out in the fullness of time. But then we will need to be able to work together with mutual respect and understanding, and our staff needs to feel valued regardless of the outcome.

From the comments:

I understand the difficult situation the board is in, but I think they should spend their efforts fighting the state politics that put us in this mess, and educating voters to help them in that cause

I agree, whether or not its tilting at windmills, and I am trying.

P.S. If your a board member or an MGEA officer or member of the negotiations team, please identify yourself when commenting. I don't have any way of enforcing that, but it is the right thing to do.

Negotiations Update

2010-09-15T23:59:00.003-04:00

The board has posted the following Q&A in response to questions we have received concerning the status of the contract negotiations. The original is available here. (note: This document and this post have been updated 9/25)

An Update from the Monona Grove Board of Education Regarding Negotiations between the Monona Grove Education Association (MGEA)and the Board (September 15, 2010)
When did current contract negotiations start?

Negotiations began with an exchange of initial proposals on February 17, 2009. The initial proposals of the Board of Education and the MGEA are linked here.

When did the current contract expire?

The collective bargaining agreement between the MG Board of Education and the MGEA expired on June 30, 2009. However, during “hiatus,” the period between expiration and agreement on a new contract, the terms of the most recent contract constituting mandatory subjects of bargaining and which do not specifically sunset by their own terms remain in effect. Mandatory subjects of bargaining are defined, generally, as those items which primarily impact wages, hours, and conditions of employment.

Are teacher salaries “frozen” during this “hiatus” period?

No. Although the applicable salary schedule is subject to change only through negotiations, teachers receive increased pay in accordance with that schedule for each year of teaching experience in the District and attainment of professional development, both of which provide for increased salary during the contractual “hiatus.”

What is meant by “working to contract?”

Teachers voted in May, 2010, to “work to contract” in an effort to bring pressure on the Board of Education to settle the negotiations. “Working to contract,” in contrast to engaging in a “strike” which remains illegal for public school teachers in Wisconsin under most circumstances, means that teachers engage in concerted activity to perform only mandatory duties associated with their respective positions. Generally, teachers refuse to participate in voluntary activities such as extra committee work. In addition, they may decide not to attend student concerts or athletic events to

support their colleagues and students unless assigned to do so.

Many teachers are paid additives to coach various athletic teams or advise student clubs. These kinds of activities continue because teachers are under contract and paid specifically for this work. Also, teachers’ presence at school open houses and at monthly staff meetings is required under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. Job descriptions, Board policies, rules and regulations, faculty handbooks, student handbooks, evaluation criteria, past practices regarding expectations of duties in the District, among other things, all assist in determining the difference between mandatory and voluntary duties.

The decision by the teachers to “work to contract” is by no means a universal union strategy;

in fact, it is our understanding that teachers and other represented employees in the majority of districts do not elect to engage in such activities.

How do these negotiations work?

After the exchange of proposals occurs at a public meeting, negotiations sessions are closed. The MGEA is represented in these sessions by their bargaining team of teachers and their attorney. The School Board is represented by the Superintendent and the Board’s attorney.

Meetings are scheduled according to the ability and willingness of members of both bargaining teams to meet. When agreement has been reached on all proposals, which may include some proposals being dropped, the final agreement is approved by the MG Board of Education and by the MGEA.

If no agreement is reached, a mediator may be called in to help with the negotiations. If the mediator is unable to help both parties reach agreement, either party may file a petition for arbitration. The mediator now becomes an investigator who continues to work with the parties to reach settlement. If settlement is not reached, the investigator will conclude that impasse has been reached and will certify a final offer from each party. These final offers will then be submitted to the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC). A list of arbitrators is generated by the WERC, and each side alternatively strikes names from the list until one remains. That arbitrator will schedule an arbitration hearing, read briefs submitted by attorneys from both sides, and issue a decision. The decision will be to accept one party’s proposal in full. There is no combining of features from each.

Where are we in the process?

A number of meetings have been held since February, 2009, and tentative agreement has been reached on some items. However, the “big” items of base salary and post-employment benefits remain unsettled, along with some other issues. We began working with a mediator last March, and the School Board has now filed a petition for arbitration. While some issues may still be resolved, we basically await the request for and certification of final offers, the selection of an arbitrator, and the hearing date.

Why don’t School Board members participate in negotiations sessions?

Board Policy 185 and Board Rule 185 describe a standing Negotiations Committee, to be composed of no more than three Board members and no community members. Previous Boards have expressed a willingness to participate if the MGEA would agree to use a consensus bargaining model. However, that model is not being used, and the Board at the time current negotiations began, in February, 2009, voted not to participate directly in the negotiations sessions. This could change for the next round of negotiations, which is currently scheduled to begin in February, 2011.

How much do teachers make? What benefits do they receive?

Teachers are paid a base salary determined by their years of experience as well as degrees and other college credits earned. Each year of experience moves a teacher up a step on the salary schedule, (see linked document; note this document shows the “effective” schedule, incorporating hiring stipends described below) and each twelve college credits earned or master’s degree or PhD moves teachers horizontally across lanes. Teachers are obligated to maintain their respective certifications through DPI requirements or negotiated requirements, depending upon the teacher’s licensure status.

As a result of negotiations for the 2007-2009 collective bargaining agreement, the “effective” salary schedule (see link) for teachers in the District reflects a stipend being added to all cells in all columns at Steps 1 through 5. Therefore, the actual starting salary of a newly hired teacher in the District, with a bachelor’s degree and no previous experience, is $31,400, and the actual starting salary of such a teacher with a master’s degree with no previous experience is $34,940.

Under current contract language, the District can give credit for up to three years of actual previous teaching experience to a newly hired teacher in the District. In other words, effective with newly hired teachers in the 2008-2009 school year, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and three (or more) years of prior teaching experience is hired at Step 4, at a salary of $34,243.

The other substantial change which took place for all teachers with regard to the 2008-2009 salary schedule was the modification of the longevity provisions to include an experience increment raise for each year that the teacher continues to be employed in the District.

Note that the step and lane on which each teacher is placed on the schedule gives only the base salary for that teacher. Benefits paid by the District currently include full health insurance premiums and annual retirement contributions, including the employee share, to the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) equaling 11% of the teacher’s earnings, as well as District-paid dental insurance premiums of up to 100% depending upon the dental plan selected. The District also provides life insurance protection and long-term disability protection for teachers, as well as payment of the employer’s share of FICA/Medicare payroll taxes.

Teachers may earn additional pay for coaching, advising clubs, and directing various co-curricular activities, monitoring after-school detention centers, substituting for absent colleagues during prep periods, etc., in addition to the salaries quoted. Note that such activities are beyond the normal 7 ½ hour (excluding the 30 minute duty-free lunch) workday.

When all of the above is taken into account, the average teacher’s salary in the District in 2008-2009 was just over $49,000. The average teacher district-paid benefits for 2008-2009 totaled almost $21,000. The resulting total salary and benefit cost, on average, was slightly more than $70,000 per teacher in 2008-2009. These averages are taken from costing documents typically reviewed by the parties during negotiations.

What was the QEO? What has been the impact of its elimination?

The QEO, or Qualified Economic Offer, became law in 1993 as part of an attempt to control property tax increases. The idea was that the QEO could enable a school district to avoid arbitration on economic issues if, after attempting unsuccessfully to reach settlement, it offered its teachers a total salary and benefit package of at least 3.8% over the prior year. All existing fringe benefits were required to remain, and the employer’s percentage of contribution toward such fringe benefits had to stay the same. With the increase in health insurance costs, it was possible that a package increase of 3.8% could mean no salary increase, since health insurance costs had to be covered.

Teachers’ salary and benefit increases were never limited to the QEO. Rather, a district could impose this package settlement if it chose to do so. Many districts continued to negotiate package increases higher than the QEO rate of 3.8%.

In the current economic climate, the elimination of the QEO (effective with negotiations for the 2009-10 school year) has not led to higher settlements than while it was in existence. In fact, during the time the QEO was in effect, teachers’ bargaining units tended to view “imposition of the QEO” as punitive, tended to view the QEO 3.8% total package increase as a “floor” for settlement, and many settlements were higher than the 3.8% total package increase.

Did Monona Grove ever impose the QEO?

No. The MGEA and the Board have always reached voluntary settlements throughout the entire period that the QEO was in effect.

What are the sticking points in the current negotiations?

Post-employment benefits and the salary-benefit package are two big items on which there is no agreement. Current post-employment benefits for teachers include a payment of a stipend (Teacher Emeritus Program (TEP)) which is equal to a teacher’s highest annual salary and is paid out over a period of three years in equal installments. In addition to this and to the regular monthly pension benefit received by the teacher from WRS, full health insurance and the major share of the cost of dental insurance are paid by the District until the retired teacher reaches the age of 70. In the event of the death of the retiree prior to reaching the age of 70, the surviving spouse continues to be eligible for the District’s group health insurance coverage until the date the retiree would have reached age 70 at the retiree’s spouse expense.

The School Board’s current proposal for post-employment benefits is proposal #6 in the Initial Board of Education Proposals to the Monona Grove Education Association (linked here). There is no corresponding initial or counter-proposal from the MGEA; its position is to maintain the existing benefits described in the previous paragraph.

The School Board’s current salary and benefit package proposal (see link) is an increase of 3.90% for 2009-10 and 3.70% for 2010-11. The MGEA’s current total package proposal (seelink) is an increase of 5.35% for 2009-10 and 5.28% for 2010-11 and includes an average teacher salary increase of 4.21% for 2009-10 and 4.07% for 2010-11. These percentages reflect what’s known as “cast forward” costing and do not include the cost of horizontal lane movement on the salary schedule or the post-employment benefit costs of retirees.

Is the Board trying to alter the post-employment benefits for teachers who have alreadyretired?

No. In fact, the current Board proposal preserves the current negotiated benefits for teachers employed during the 2008-2009 school year and within ten years of retirement.

How do Monona Grove salaries and benefits compare with other school districts in the area?

Although the Board has attempted to engage the MGEA in a study which would lead to the restructuring of the salary schedule in such a fashion as to make the hiring rates more competitive with area school districts, the hiring stipend agreement has helped in that regard. The remainder of the current salary schedule structure is very competitive, especially the feature that allows teachers to receive salary increases for each year of experience without “maxing out” at the top of a schedule as teachers in many other area districts do. District-paid Wisconsin Retirement Systems (WRS) contributions, health, and dental insurance premium benefits are among the highest in the area. The post employment benefit is, by far, the highest in the area.

Monona Grove Board of Education

Primary results

2010-09-15T22:34:00.002-04:00

Those of us concerned with the state of education in the US have had an eye on the DC school system over the last few years where Mayor Adrian Fenty had appointed "The New Teacher Project" founder Michelle Rhee as Chancellor and backed her aggressive school reform plans. Although the jury is still out those reforms appear to have delivered success in at least some areas, but not without controversy.

Well, Mayor Fenty lost his primary fight for re-election yesterday and much of the analysis lays some of the blame on the fallout from the school reform efforts. The future of those efforts are now in doubt.

It's not that I agree or disagree with any particulars of the DC reform plan, but I do believe we need significant changes to improve our inner city schools. An empiricist at heart, I want to see how the DC plan performs over time, but the thing that worries me most is that this election loss might discourage politicians like Adrian Fenty who really are committed to the cause of an improved public education - and are willing to tackle tough issues to do it.

Long time no write...

2010-09-08T01:31:00.001-04:00

Hello again-

The next board meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday), 7pm at Glacial Drumlin. The agenda can be found here.

The public meeting is preceded by a closed session where we will hear about and discuss the contract negotiations. I've been asked about the negotiations, but I won't discuss them other to say they are ongoing. The contract does prohibit unilateral "press releases", but that aside I can't speak for the board and any comments I might have could potentially undermine those who do represent the board’s positions in the negotiations.

I do hope we can resolve the issues as soon as possible.

The initial proposals from both sides are available on the MGEA website. The Master Agreement itself is no longer there, I'll ask to have it posted on the district site- I only have a hard copy. If you haven't noticed the MGEA announced that they will be continuing their "work to the contract" job action.

Other items of interest:

VIII. Superintendent’s Report and Updates

A. Food Service Update
B. 2010-2011 Staffing Update
C. Continuous School Improvement Training Update
D. Teacher Overpayment Update

Craig will provide an update on the several topics, including the change over to Chartwells food service (my kids are liking it better so far!), the staff changes for this school year, and the total $40,000 in over payments made to some teachers over the last few years. The "Continuous School Improvement Training" refers to the 2 day workshop conducted for staff, administrators and the board in August by Brenda Clark. I believe that this is the most important work we will be doing this year.

IX. Unfinished Business

A. Presentation of High School Discipline Procedures and School Climate Issues (30 min)

Paul Brost will give us an update on the High school climate - its important that we don't lose sight of the need to address the racial tensions present in our schools.

C. Discussion of Nichols Property and Appraisal (20 min)

The board needs to decide how we will proceed with this property - we need to hear what you think. IMHO this is prime property in Monona and it should be working for our community rather than sitting largely idle.

X. New Business
A. Discussion and Possible Approval of Preliminary 2010-2011 Budget (30 min)

This is the budget we mostly balanced last spring, and will be submitted for approval at the next annual meeting of the district in October.

C. Discussion and Possible Approval of the Resolution Authorizing Temporary Borrowing
in the Amount Not to Exceed $4,900,000.00;...

This is our annual cash flow borrowing that is used to pay the bills between the lump sum payouts we get from the state. We do this each year.
___________________________________________________________
Completely off topic-

I have to add a bowl of Pho from Lee's Asian Bistro (Monona drive @ Dean) to my favorite local meals. They also have excellent Spring Rolls, Will loves the pot stickers and I haven't had calamari that good outside of Sausalito. If you haven't been to this new place on Monona Drive just North of Dean be sure to check it out.

For the record I'm also partial to the homemade Tamales from Super Tienda Latina (get a dozen at the deli counter), the Sushi bar at Edo and the curried salmon at David's Jamaican.

What's it worth?

2010-08-14T02:00:00.000-04:00

At Wednesday's board meeting the school board received a presentation concerning the appraisal of the Nichols property performed by D.L. Evans. The appraised value was given as $2.36 million, based primarily on the value of the land. It was judged that the buildings added very little value to the property. The appraiser did meet with city officials and discussed development of the property and its historical designation. It was the judgement of the appraiser that any developer would need to retain the the original school building structure- that is the portion of the building built in 1935 facing Monona drive on the corner with Nichols. The developer indicated that without the building the property might be worth significantly more.

Although there are many options for development of the property, most reasonable considerations would call for commercial/retail development along the Monona drive end of the property with residential development towards the other end. The property is zoned as a "Community Designed District" which means that there are not any specific zoning requirements, but any proposals would be individually reviewed for approval by the city.

The appraiser did indicate that it would likely take considerable time to market and sell the property.

Goodbye MGAS, Hello MG21.

2010-08-03T09:05:00.000-04:00

The Cap Times is reporting that MG has been awarded a $175,000 implementation grant for the "Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century". This new charter school will replace the current MG Alternative School, a small charter school within the district that serves high school students who have struggled in the traditional high school environment. The grant will be used to enlarge, upgrade and improve the facilities as well as provide technology and support for improved curriculum.

I always urge people to attend the MGAS graduation ceremony at the end of each school year to get a good idea of the value of this program to the students it serves.

Charter school have gained much attention and resources in the last several years as district's and parent search for ways to improve outcomes. But this comprehensive study from Stanford indicates the need to proceed with caution. The report shows that on average charter school students do slightly worse than their traditional school counterparts, and there are a wide variety of factors that effect success. Charter schools do better for elementary than high school students for example, and gains depend on the nature of the charter itself. The first year in a charter school was correlated with a significant decline in academic growth, with improvements in later years. The report indicates that the charter school movement isn't going to provide a magic bullet for academic achievement, and significant consideration needs to go into the design and implementation of charter schools.

The MG21 charter school isn't designed to replace a traditional school, but instead serve a particular segment of the student population who are not well served by the traditional school. It is the sort of arraignment that seems to me is most likely to be succesful.

Post Game Wrap-up

2010-07-15T01:59:00.000-04:00

I arrived back from a camping trip about an hour and half before tonight's meeting, so couldn't post a preview - but here is the "postview":

We had a long agenda of somewhat bureaucratic items including approval of contracts with Chartwells for school food service; changes to the new alternative High School charter (henceforth to be know as the MG Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century); approval participation in Impact Concussion program; adopting Opportunities Inc. as alternative education site (this is a school to work vocational training program in manufacturing); the new Extracurricular Code of Conduct; and acceptance of a bid from ABM Janitorial Services for custodial services.

In other business we discussed and approved a plan put forward by Craig to restructure the Continuous Improvement/Assessment Coordinator position until recently held by Ed O'Connor. Craig proposed, and the board approved, splitting the duties with Deb Lyons (currently part time Assistant Principal at Maywood) picking up the Continuous Improvement responsibilities part time and School Psychologist Christa Macomber picking up the Assessment Coordinator responsibilities part time. The duties/responsibilities of these positions are expected to evolve over time.

Ed, by the way, has started a consulting business offering districts his expertise in assessment and continuous improvement. Ed apparently was even offered (but didn't accept) a position in Madison similar to the one he held at MG. Given Ed's experience and the great deal of progress he helped us make at MG, I think he is in a position to do a lot of good for his new clients.

On a similar note, the board approved a plan to restructure the Diversity Coordinator position currently held by Charlie Ellis, creating two part time positions: one focused at the High School and including responsibility for he Monona Elementary schools and one focused at Glacial Drumlin and including responsibility for the CG elementary schools.

Craig did give an update on the issue of the over payments made by the district: Due to a clerical error, about 50 teachers were paid more than the contract (I won't say they were "overpaid"!) over the last 2 years. The amount is estimated to be $20-40K in total, less than $1000 per teacher. The error is apparently related to calculation of the longevity of some of those teachers who have been with the district since the pay freeze in 1996.

The board also approved a contract with Jerrud Rossing as the new Director of Business Services. Jerrud comes to us from the Hudson School District where he is the Financial Services Manager.

Lastly, as Craig noted the Board received a summary of the appraisal of the Nichols property in closed session. The details of the appraisal won't be made public for now, but it does raise the question: what do you think the district should do with the property?

Miscellany...

2010-07-06T09:36:00.000-04:00

WISC-TV in Madison has launched a collection of web pages for local Dane County communities, including one for Monona and Cottage Grove at http://mononagrove.channel3000.com/. The page includes news and coverage of local events as well as words of "wisdom" from local bloggers such as Doug Wood, and occasionally yours truly. I've learned a thing or two about events around town already from this site (a Croquette tournament! I've got to make that next year!) I've added it to my favorites, right under the Herald-Independent.
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Its not the kind of publicity I like to call attention to, but in case you missed this news item over the holiday, there has been a conviction related to some of the racial incidents that occurred a few years ago. This obviously isn't an end or reason to relax our vigilence in the schools, but I hope it reflects an increasing societal intolerance for like behaviour.
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Lastly, I'm having a hard time getting over this story in the NY Times about manufacturers struggling to find qualified workers even in the current economy. I've had this experience myself in the past. In each case I've hired someone I was dependent on the product of a public education system. But all too often it wasn't a US public education. The wealth of our society is solely dependent on our collective skills and knowledge, and our schools can't fail to deliver.

2010-06-25T16:44:00.000-04:00

State Superintendent Tony Evers has released a proposed framework for school finance reform in Wisconsin- its about time. The current system, put in place in 1993 under Governor Thompson, and there is general agreement that it is broken and needs significant reform. Ever's proposal has received initial support both from the WI School Board Assocation and WEAC - I think not so much due to the specifics of the proposal but because it is an important step to jumpstarting the process that will lead towards overdue reform.

Evers' proposal includes items like redistributing the school levy tax credit funding directly to schools. Currently schools levy a higher amount and then the state refunds a portion to property taxpayers- rather than providing the money directly to schools district so they don't levy as much in the first place. The school levy credit adds an unneeded layer of complexity and, because it is based on local property tax rates, it changes the distribution of state funds from that intended. The school levy credit also helps the state "balance the books" on paper because it doesn't pay out until the following fiscal year. The proposal is property tax neutral.

Some of the other items in the proposal include reviewing and streamlining the 40 different "categorical aids" distributions -this is money delivered to districts earmarked for specific purposes, and adding poverty metrics into the aid formula calculation.

You can read more here.

Although school finance reform is overdue, in my view arguing about where the money comes from and how it flows through the system is a minor point. The important question is: How much funding is adequate for an educational system that meets the needs of the Wisconsin and its residents, and are we going to commit to providing it? Click here for more on the topic of adequate funding.

Total WI K-12 funding as a percentage of GDP has been declining over the last 10 years, the education "share of the pie" has been shrinking. What I would like to see is a commitment to a constant (in GDP terms) funding level predicated on adequacy. Call it "A percentage for Kids". But its not really about children, its about securing a prosperous future for everyone.

Not much to report these days:

2010-06-25T01:57:00.000-04:00

I spent much of the day participating in the interview process with candidates for the position of Business Services Director to replace the departing Mary Ellen VanValin. Although only time will tell if anyone can live up to the high standards set by Mary Ellen, I think we were pleased with the quality and experience of the leading candidates for the position and I'm satisfied that we have some good options from which to choose.

Concussions

2010-06-21T01:27:00.000-04:00

At the June 9th board meeting Jeff Schreiner presented a proposal for the the district to participate in the WI Sports Concussion Collaborative. This would provide access for MG students in contact sports to take baseline testing of cognitive function in the pre-season, the baseline tests could then be compared to tests taken after a suspected of diagnosed concussion. This protocol allows physicians to both better diagnose concussions and to manage the injury. An important aspect is that the testing can help determine when and if it is safe for the student to return to play.

I've been looking at the research which has revealed more reasons to be concerned about the potential for long-term injury or disability from concussions. This appears to be especially true for a second injury occurring before a full recovery is made from a previous concussion. This "Second Impact Syndrome" can even in rare circumstances be fatal.

Last year 14 MG student athletes had concusions - suprisingly most of them were among our girl soccer players. In light of recent reseach I think it's important we take advantage opportunities to better manage these injuries.

Tonight in meetings...

2010-06-16T14:11:00.000-04:00

The newly reconstiuted Policy and Curriculum committees will meet this evening for the first time. I originally intended to focus the first Curriculum meeting on laying out goals for the year, but considering that our Continuous Improvement and Assesment Coordinator Ed O'Connor is leaving the district at the end of the month I've asked Ed and Bill to give us an overview of the related structures and resources in place in the district. I view both continuous improvement strategies and assessments as key to improving the quality of outcomes in the district, and we need to understand the support that is needed to keep moving forward.

http://www.mononagrove.org/cms_files/resources/CurrAgenda061610..pdf

More on contracts:

2010-06-13T21:56:00.000-04:00

More on union contracts: So far the district has settled 3 contracts, those with the clerical, custodial and food service employees. The clerical employees agreed to a 2% increase offset by furlough days over the next 2 years for a net zero increase. Subsequent contracts will use the 2% increase as a starting point. The custodial employees agreed to a pay freeze, in exchange for a bit of job security: the contract has language that prevents the district from replacing any additional custodians with contractors for the life of this contract. Custodians could still be laid-off (not that anyone wants that to happen) but the work can not outsourced. The food service employees agreed to a similar structure a few months ago: a 0% increase, but a commitment that the job of any current employee would not be outsourced.

This situation is unusual: usually these contracts are left until after the teacher's union settles, and increases are based on the total negotiated with the teacher's union. But this year is a little different both in terms of the length of time of the MGEA negotiations and the district's financial situation and budget cuts. As you can see from the results, job security was a big concern of the unions this round.

It's always Sunny in Monona

2010-06-12T13:33:00.002-04:00

Sunny gets it wrong again: Last week Sunny Schubert called the board a bunch ignorant monkeys, an opinion informed by her own ignorance of the situation. This week she backs off the statement, but steps in it again by stating that the board has abdicated its responsibility by not having members in the room during the negotiations with the teachers union. To be fair Sunny asks for an explanation, but don’t you think it would be better if she asked the questions first before going to press? Sunny’s “shoot first, ask questions later” style of “journalism” gives her an opportunity to take irresponsible pot-shots without those troublesome facts getting in her way. And yes, it is lazy. (Am I being a little hard on Sunny? - Well I’m not the one who started this off by calling people “Ignorant Monkeys” in print).

As for the question about why the board doesn’t participate in negotiations: In the past I’ve had numerous discussions with experienced board members on this topic, many of whom did participate in negotiations with MGEA (a few more times than Sunny has, I might add). The consensus I have gleaned is that having board members in the room doesn’t add much, and in their experience actually hinders the process. The negotiation process is difficult, delicate and detailed, and it is better to have the experienced professionals representing the board’s positions and interests - there is less animosity and negotiations are more productive. Further, no subset of the school board has the power to deal with the contract issues on their own anyway. All issues would have to be reported back to the full board to be debated and decided.

This is a judgement call, but its my judgement that the public’s interests are best served by handling the negotiations as they are now. We aren’t abrogating our responsibilities, but living up to them. Yes, board members have participated in the past – but that experience is why we don’t today. In recent negotiations the board has offered to participate provided that both sides agree to the process of “Consensus Bargaining”. Consensus bargaining has been used successfully in this district in the past, but in recent years the MGEA has declined the offer.

Oh and Sunny, my number is 661-9534 - just in case you have a question in the future.

Food service changes...

2010-06-01T00:45:00.001-04:00

Do to scheduling issues we are having a special meeting this Wednesday (June 2nd) where we will be considering one issue in open session: contracting out our food service operations. Food service in the district is intended to be self sufficient, but recently the food service operations have been running a deficit requiring supplement from the general fund of about $50K per year.

Last November the district started investigating the possibility of outsourcing the food service operations, and after significant study and review of proposals from 5 potential vendors the administration is recommending the district consider a contract with Chartwells School Dining Services.

Chartwells is a national company providing institutional food services in a large number of settings, and indicates in their proposal that they will expand the menu choices available and continue to improve the nutritional value of the food service. If approved Chartwells would hire current District food service director Barb Waara, and guarantees a small net to the district. Chartwells makes money on a management fee of 4 cents per meal. The Chartwells website can be found here: http://chartwells-usa.com/.

Update 6/3: Last night the board did approve proceeding with a contract with Chartwells after a presentation by Barb Waara, our financial and food service staff and the Chartwells representative. Some of the details: Barb and our current staff will retain their positions but working for Chartwells. Chartwells is promising to improve the variety and quality of the food available, including efforts to provide fresh fruits and vegetables and incorporate local farm produce into the menu. Chartwells projects a significant increase in participation due to their belief that they can provide a more appealing product. Its easy for me to see how a larger organization would have the purchasing power and expertise to provide better service that the district is able.
The contract is mandated by the USDA to be a one year contract, which must be renewed each year and re-bid every 5 years. If we don't like how it is going we can terminate the contract at the end of the year. We shall see, I'd like to hear from you on the subject next school year.

Jet lag-

2010-05-28T01:40:00.003-04:00

On the off chance you've been wondering where I've been, that's Eyjafjallajökull ( pronounced "Eh! Ya forgot my yogurt"!) erupting in the background. Its a lovely place, when the weather clears up. I got back early Wednesday- and was a bit jet lagged at the meeting, but I think this is what happened:

In the public comments section several teachers spoke regarding the contract negotiations, generally requesting that the board remove the modifications to the retirement benefits from the contract proposal. On a related topic we received written notification that several teachers would no longer be participating in some activities viewed to be beyond the terms of the contract.

Other items of note:
In unfinished business the board heard a discussion of, and approved, adoption of new biology text books necessary for the changes to the high school science curriculum.

The board approved administrative salaries with no increase for the coming contract year.

The board discussed the location of the Alt. High School for next year and agreed to move ahead with moving the program to the Nichols building. At the last meeting there had been some discussion of moving this program to Winnequah, but there simply had not been time to thoroughly examine how that option would work or to inform and recieve feedback from the public.

Susan Fox announced committee appointments. Appointment of board members are made by the board president, with the citizen membership made in consultation with the committee chairs. The committees will be:
Business Services

Chair: Susan Manning
Susan Fox, Lionel Norton, Kathy Thomas (MN), Jeff Simpson (CG)

Policy: Chair: Lionel Norton
Jessica Ace, Susan Manning, Beth Bingham (MN), Sharon Henes (CG)

Curriculum : Chair: Peter Sobol
Jason McCutchin, Jill List, Andrew Bridell (MN), Jim Foley (CG)

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of continuous improvement activities in the district. This detailed presentation examined efforts and results related to instructional facilitation in the High School, school climate at Glacial Drumlin, reading interventions in Winnequah, and math instruction at Cottage Grove Elementary. We have seen significant positive results with these efforts, but mostly it is good to see that a continuous improvement model of operation is taking hold in the district - and it shows the importance of the resources necessary to support and develop these activities. Although many staff members have made significant contributions, I don't think we would be where we are without the leadership of Ed O'Connor and John Faust, both of whom are leaving the district at the end of the year.

The board also received notice that Mary Ellen Van Valin, Business Services director is leaving the district. The Herald-Independent has coverage here. As Treasurer I have worked closely with Mary Ellen and can't say enough about her talents and how much this district relies on her expertise and experience to keep things running smoothly.

So what's been going on?

2010-05-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

At Wednesday's board meeting we received a report from several Maywood staff members who detailed the implementation, management and results of the RtI programming in the school. I thought the presentation was an excellent illustration of how leadership, support services, professional development and science of education all need to come together to deliver a quality education.

Other items of note:
The board approved final notices of layoff for 11 teachers; 5 of the notices are only reductions in hours, and 2 of those eliminated were part time- the total reduction is 6.44FTE.

Some of these reductions are not related to budget cuts, but are the usual changes we see each spring due to things like leave of absence returns and adjustments for changing numbers of students.

We also spent some time discussing committee responsibilities. I have proposed that the board take some action to either expand committee roles or create special committees to address specific issues. I think we have a lot of public interest in helping the district this year and I don't think the traditional committee structures will be able to take full advantage of that support. The areas that I am concerned about are the budget and performance. We have very difficult budget problems before us, and we are really in need of innovative ideas if we are to avoid a death by a thousand cuts in the coming years. I also believe the board should create or adapt a structure to formalize its attention to issues of performance in the district. The idea is to institutionalize a focus on educational performance at the board level so that these issues get the recognition and attention that they need.

The board also discussed the location of the Alt. High School. Currently we are leasing space in a separate building, the idea is to bring the program into a district owned building to both provide more space (needed for expansion and enhanced programming) and save a bit of money. We had been considering moving the program into Nichols, but last night we also considered utilizing space in Winnequah School. The board needs to make this decision by the end of the month. In the end the board asked for the administration to provide additional information associated with the costs and issues of both options.

A little behind

2010-04-29T00:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been a little behind in my posting. Sometimes I have lots going on.

Tonight the board elected new officers for the coming year, Susan Fox will continue as president, and Susan Manning will continue as Treasurer.

The board also decided to reconstitute the standing committees, last year's "experiment" clearly showed the need in order to get important work done. Stay tuned for opportunities if you are interested in serving the district.

More from the WSJ

2010-04-28T23:58:00.000-04:00

I have to at least give credit the WSJ for continuing to keep education front and center of their Sunday opinion section. This last Sunday, under the headline "Protect kids from cuts" the WSJ takes on the issue of closing the remaining Madison SD budget gap and editorializes for a pay freeze for teaching staff. Although the current budget situation probably makes reducing compensation for staff in one way or another inevitable, I don't think that devaluing the teaching profession can be construed as "Protecting kids". After all, the number one factor in educational outcomes is the placement of a highly qualified teacher in front of each class.

Attracting quality teachers means we have to be sure it is rewarding profession, so balancing the budget through reductions in teacher compensation is in the long term unsustainable. If the current situation was a one or two year problem then a freeze might serve as a bridge to recovery, and although I don't know the Madison situation I'm pretty sure their problems are similar to ours: shortfalls that extend year after year for the foreseeable future. The article notes that the Madison teachers receive the "standard" 1% raise this year. This year that seems inappropriate, but the fact that the same 1% is the “standard” every year since 1993 is also a problem.

According to USGovernementSpending.com primary and secondary education spending in WI has shrunk by 9% as a portion of GDP from 1998 to 2008- the education "Slice of the Pie" has been shrinking, and its the ultimate source of our budget problem, not the current recession.

We have to face it: reducing the money spent on education reduces the ability to provide services to kids. Let's not pretend we can "Protect kids" while doing it.

Ideas...

2010-04-21T01:34:00.001-04:00

The Sunday WSJ editorialized on the idea of condensing high school from 4 to 3 years. Basically they argue the 4th year is of little value to disinterested seniors and the resources are better spent on early childhood efforts.

Moving more of our state's educational resources from the top of the K-12 system to the bottom and even earlier in children's' lives demands strong consideration and debate during this election year.

Although I don't agree with the idea (or rather I haven't given it sufficient consideration) it does relate to an idea I heard from an CA educator several years ago: Complete general education at age 16, and then provide 2 additional years of specialized programming related to the students interests: vocational/technical training, college prep in specific subject areas, etc. The idea was based on the observation that our current K-12 system was devised about two centuries ago and is not a good fit to students who mature an average of 2 years faster than they did then. Reworking the system in this way would be a better match to the needs and interests of students.

I do think that if we were going to design an education system from the ground up without any precedents, then that system would have some big differences from what actually have.

I do unequivocally agree with the last statement in the editorial:

Tinkering around the edges of education reform won't be enough to move our state forward.

Lay-off notices...

2010-04-15T11:45:00.001-04:00

At last night's meeting the board approved preliminary lay-off notices for several teachers. Final lay-off notices will be distributed in May. Some of the lay-offs are associated with adjustments that happen each year, usually related to enrollment. Others are related to teachers returning from leave of absence and other factors, but several of the lay-off notices are directly due to budget cuts made by the board towards balancing the budget.

Lay-offs are based on qualifications and seniority, in general the least senior teacher from among those qualified for the position is the one laid off. This is the contract language:

Post probationary teachers shall be laid off in the reverse order of their initial employment provided the teacher with the greater seniority is qualified to perform the available teaching assignment. In determining whether the teacher with the great seniority is qualified, the Board shall take into consideration the appropriateness of training, experience and certification of such teacher with respect to the available teaching assignment.

According to Jim Orlenko the administration has not completed the evaluation of the qualifications for all the positions that will be reduced, and so in some cases the final determination of who will be laid-off has not been made.

April 14th meeting...

2010-04-11T23:51:00.001-04:00

Items of note:

New Business
A. Discussion and Possible Approval of MG Alternative School revamp, (30 mins)including new charter and implementation grant application to DPI
(Rebecca Fox-Blair and Bill McDonald)

The MG Alt. High School needs to update their charter to bring them into compliance with federal guidelines. At the same time by rechartering the school it will be eligible for a 2 year "implementation grant" that will provide funds for curriculum development, equipment, workstations, software and furnishings - allowsing a significant upgrade to the offerings of the alt. school.

C. Discussion and Possible Approval of 9th Grade Biology, Beginning (30 mins) 2010-2011 - MGHS Science Department Staff & Bill Breisch

In an effort to align HS science offerings with College readiness standards, the high school science staff is proposing to expand biology to a full year for freshmen (2010-2011 school year) and chemistry to a full year for sophomores (2011-2012 school year). Honors courses will also be offered.

D. Discussion Regarding District Racial Issues (45 mins)
(Renee Tennant, Paul Brost and Charles Ellis)

As you probably know we have some difficult racial issues to address. Paul, Rennee and Charlie Ellis will provide us with an update on the situation and efforts to improve the environment for all students.

E. Discussion and Possible Approval of 2010-2011 Teacher Preliminary (10 mins)Notices of Layoff

Teachers contracts automatically extend for the next school year at the end of April, so we need to authorize preliminary layoff notices that reflect the budget cuts agreed to by the board before the deadline.

Kicking the can down the road...

2010-04-08T10:05:00.001-04:00

Last night the board met in special session, with the goal of balancing the budget for next year. We ended up reducing two of the IMC media professionals for a savings estimated at $66,000, bringing the total cuts to $811K, well short of the $1M objective. Essentially we did not deal with the additional $250K we needed to find to offset our decision not to consolidate Maywood.

In normal circumstances I would be willing to say "close enough"- but not this year. We are facing growing deficits each year, and if we don't balance the budget it will only increase the pain next year, with interest (quite literally - our interest expense will increase because our operating cash will be reduced.) Cuts of $811K will save only $4M over 5 years, so the shortfall over the next four years has effectively grown to $11M. If we get lucky and the deficit isn't as big as projected, the additional reductions would serve to make next years reductions a little easier.

I don't believe any reasonable operating referendum will balance the budget alone without additional cuts, so the cuts we don't make this year will have to come out of programs in the future. The road we kick this can down is really one big pothole.

On some of the specifics, I moved that we not reduce the building budgets by 5% ($25K savings). Building budgets pay for pens and paper, art supplies and curricular materials, communication with parents and classroom equipment. Its the kind of thing that supports all programming, and preserving it fits with my philosophy of adequately supporting those things we choose to do rather than trying to do everything. This item alos appeared on the list without going through the thorough process for other items, and the amount of effort we were asking from the staff to make us comfortable with this small reduction just didn't seem worth it to me.

We also reviewed the plans for increasing walk zones to save transportation costs. Currently our elementary students walk a maximum of 3/4 mile, the change would have meant some students would have to walk as much as 1.5 miles. This would effect about 250 students, the vast majority of those at CG elementary. Given the number of students and the small amount saved ($35) I was uncomfortable with the plan and proposed John and Mary Ellen take a look at some alternatives, perhaps looking to develop a plan to provide the service at a reasonable fee to families in these areas.

A humble thank you.

2010-04-07T01:45:00.000-04:00

Final results:

Jennifer Pickel: 1435
Peter Sobol: 2004
Susan Manning: 2161

A thank you to the voters of the the Monona Grove School District who have again placed your trust in me to do this job. I will do my best, and I pray that my best is good enough.

Every Vote Counts!

2010-04-05T23:23:00.001-04:00

Last year's Monona City Council election was decided by a margin of a single vote, and a lot of people in town who didn't vote are kicking themselves.

So vote TODAY, in every race- your vote matters.

It's not the bad press that's the problem: (Updated)

2010-03-30T01:23:00.001-04:00

The WSJ editorializes on the racial tensions in MG schools:

Their numbers, thankfully, are small.

But the ugly, distorted message they bring is hard to escape, despite the smallness of their group, and the smallness of their thinking.

School officials and other authorities in and around Monona are concerned about the emergence of a gang at Monona Grove High School that apparently is intent on fueling racial tension and furthering hate-mongering among teenagers

This follows up on a related news story from several days ago:

MONONA - With racial tension continuing in the Monona Grove School District, middle and high school officials are cracking down on students displaying symbols of a youth gang espousing racist ideas.

Its clear that we have a problem in our schools. I can't speak directly to the scope of the issue, and I have no reason to doubt the reports that it is a small number of problem students involved. But that doesn't minimize the seriousness of the issue: it only takes a few to create an intimidating environment. I believe that we should have zero tolerance for racially motivated harassment, threats or violence, or any activity that creates a threatening or intimidating environment. All our students have a right to attend school in a positive, supportive environment conducive to learning.

I have already asked that the board be presented with an analysis of the situation, including a review of actions we have taken and most importantly our measures of success.

Update: District Diversity coordinator Charlie Ellis comments on the issue here in the most recent Herald-Independent.

What’s to be done? First, acknowledge the problem. Second, begin consulting with those law enforcement resources that have factual and authentic information about the gang. Third, begin an awareness program apprising the community of the problem. Fourth, utilize school resources such as pupil services staff and other staff who understand and relate to minority and cultural issues: openly listen to and assist victims of racial harassment in learning effective strategies to handle race baiting as well as reporting it. Finally, the same staff should be employed to provide interventions and counseling to members or potential members of the gang.