Feb. 24th Ad Hoc Committee

The Feb. 24th meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee to Study Grade Configuration was a very interesting meeting. The Chair, Craig Gerlach, decided to take a step back and slow down the process. I think this was a very good move and one that was very much needed. Mr. Gerlach reviewed the charge of the committee as directed by the board president, John Kitslaar. He then reviewed a few points on Roberts Rules of Order. So far our meetings have been very informal and will now begin to follow these normal meeting procedures.

Mr. Gerlach also stated that he will begin building for the next meeting, on March 3rd, a criteria scale or scoring rubric to review all options that the committee reviewed. We will be going back and reviewing the options that have been dismissed and those remaining. This will give us an objective scoring system to judge the options.

We also reviewed a document from Mr. Gerlach that looked at the capacity of the 5 middle and elementary schools in slightly different fashion. It looked at the building capacities with a range attached to them. This was calculated by taking the number of sections of a grade times the class size goal for the low end and the number of sections times the class size maximums for the high end. This provides us with the following:

Cottage Grove – 455-525
Glacial Drumlin – 904 – 988
Maywood – 224 – 273
Taylor Prairie – 364 – 424
Winnequah – 483 – 538

This does not take into account the impact on common areas like the gym and cafeteria, but does provide a better idea of what each school can actually hold. Also, it was mentioned by a committee member that Winnequah’s capacity may be higher depending on grade configuration and actual number of rooms needed for specials like special ed., OT/PT, gifted/talented, etc.

Lastly, we held a lengthy discussion regarding which set of population numbers we would use for our analysis as we move forward in this process. The district presently has an applied population study conducted for them by the University of Wisconsin to help them make decisions. The study presents four different models to choose from, the baseline model, the 2 yr. trend, the 5 yr. trend and the kindergarten model. Each of these models has advantages and disadvantages to them. 2 of them are fairly aggressive in Monona and rather passive in Cottage Grove and 2 are exactly the opposite.

At a previous meeting I presented numbers that averaged the 4 models together. My rationale behind doing this was that it would take the advantages and disadvantages of all 4 models and present a more median approach and would not favor one community over the other.

As Mr. Gerlach started this discussion he stated that he recommended the 4 model average, but that he would like to discuss it with the committee. After a lengthy discussion and 3 different motions it was decided that we would use the 5 yr. trend model as our main source of estimation going forward.

On a side note, I will state that I would have preferred the 4 model average because it is the fairest option to both communities in my opinion. With that being said I am thankful that we have made a decision on which set of population estimates we will use. In the end I think one of the committee members said it best, and I am paraphrasing because I cannot remember the exact quote, “No matter which model we choose, we will be wrong.” This is true in my opinion because the applied population is an inexact science and while the estimates are valid they will never be exactly perfect.

The next meeting is set for Tuesday, March 3rd.