Recap of Ad-Hoc Recommendations

The Ad-hoc committee had a pretty good night last night as we were able to come up with some recommendations to forward to the board. The recommendations come in 2 parts. One is a narrative and one is a flow chart type diagram.

The Narrative is:

1. Add modular units to Cottage Grove elementary schools to accommodate enrollment growth as a temporary solution to a potential long-term problem.

2. Research 4K-8 programming in both communities. Report findings at a School Board Meeting by the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

3. Research 6th grade programming/curriculum. Report findings at a School Board Meeting by the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Temporarily keep 6th grade Monona students at Winnequah.

4. Research 4k-4 grade school at Taylor Prairie and Cottage Grove Elementary. Report findings at a School Board Meeting by the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

5. Maintain Winnequah and Maywood schools until 4K-8 program in each community is determined, or until it is fiscally not feasible to operate both buildings.

6. Research real estate option districtwide.

Flow Chart Style:

A. Add Modular Units for the Short-Term

1. Move Monona 7th & 8th grade students to Winnequah and move Cottage Grove 4th grade students to Glacial Drumlin.

2. Build a new permanent structure in Cottage Grove (either an addition or a new building). Possibly reconfigure the buildings in a 4K-4 or 4K-5


Analysis/Comments:

I will start with the Flow Chart Style 1st because that is harder to demonstrate here on this blog. My understanding is that we add modular units to provide a short-term solution to ease the crowding. Then once the administration has studied the viability of a 4K-8 split the district will go 1 of 2 ways.

If the district is split then each community would have 4K-8 in their buildings. If this 4K-8 scenario is not viable then a permanent structure, either an addition or a new building, will potentially be needed in Cottage Grove. At the same time a study will be done to determine the configurations for the buildings in Cottage Grove if they become 4K-4, 4K-5 or if they do something like 4K-2 in one and 3-5 in the other.

The reason for the narrative is that a potential 4K-8 split is beyond the area of expertise of this committee, but one that the committee felt needs to be looked at more closely. It has it's pros and cons, but what are the true impacts and costs to students and district finances. It was just something that this committee felt needed more time to study and a different group of people to research it, i.e. the administration because they have expertise in the educational viability of it.

The research of potentially changing the Cottage Grove elementary schools to 4K-4 or 4K-5 is one that also needs more of an educators expertise. This potential change can happen regardless of the 4K-8 viability.

Based on these different recommendations Maywood will stay open for next year. However, after that it will depend on the 4K-8 viability option and/or the fiscal implications that the district faces. The committee was in agreement that it does not make sense to close a school for only a year or even two if it is just going to re-open after that. Which is why part of the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation is tied to the 4K-8 viability.

Lastly, the committee would like to see the curriculum/programming for the 6th grade reviewed by the School Board. There was some talk of a 5th/6th intermediate system. Some talk of moving the Monona 6th grade to Glacial Drumlin to be part of the district middle school. Again, because this is more of a programming/curriculum issue the committee did not feel comfortable making a final decision on this.

My Thoughts:

From my perspective it appears that we have a short-term solution to overcrowding by adding the modular units. This buys us some time to work thru the programming/curriculum issues that the district faces. By recommending these issues be reported to the School Board by the end of the 2009/10 school year the committee has asked that these issues be decided sooner than later. The viability of these 3 programming/curriculum issues all impact what the next step is for our facilities.

This issue is not over, but these recommendations do provide a path for dealing with the facilities usage. I would like to see the timeline for making these decisions sped up just a bit, so that we can move on from facilities and on to other more pressing issues. If the administration does not present their reports until the end of the 2009/10 school year then the earliest any changes could be implemented is probably for the 2011/12 school year.

I agree with others on the committee that stated the administration needs time to research each of the 3 programming issues, so that we don't rush into a bad decision. However, pushing this off an additional year is going to cost the district extra money also, so the sooner these issues can be resolved the better. The outcome of each of these programming decisions could have a significant impact on our future budget deficit. This is why I would like to see a decision made sooner than later.

May 26th Ad-Hoc Meeting

Just a reminder to all that tonight the Ad-Hoc committee gets a chance to review and discuss the options and hopefully forward a recommendation to the board. This meeting is @ 6:00 in the District Office at Nichols. While there is no Public Appearances on the agenda your presence is still noticed by the committee, so I would encourage you to attend if you are able.

I got my packet that had all of the e-mails sent in to the committee. In addition the board has received numerous e-mails directly on this issue. THANK YOU to all that got up and spoke your opinions at the Public Forum and to all that have followed up with e-mails. While I am unable to respond to each of you individually, even though I would like to, I want to assure you that your comments are read and heard by me. As a general rule it is my understanding that the School Board President is responsible for responding to e-mails and not the individual members.

Now because these e-mails have been printed and sent to us this is all my perception of them, because we all know how e-mails can be taken out of context or misunderstood. Generally, all of the e-mails had a good tone to them, as I don't recall any "hate mail" type of e-mail. Thank you for being thoughtful and respectful in your comments. The comments at the Public Forum where generally the same as those e-mailed to the committee. Many in favor of modular units in Cottage Grove and opposed to bussing students in general. Some liked the idea of a K-8 community based style, while others wanted to try in merge the students in 6th grade. Many looked at consolidation of Maywood and Winnequah as a viable option to help with the budget deficit we face as a School District.

All of these comments are very much like those that the committee has had at it's meetings over the past 6 months. Tonight will be an interesting meeting as we as a committee try to balance all of the differing view points into a solid recommendation to the committee. It will not be an easy process, but one that I think this group can accomplish.

I will try to post the results of the meeting either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Have a great 4 day work week.