At our listening sessions more than one person questioned our staffing levels at the Administration level. I did not know exactly how we compared to our conference or other schools in our area, so I went to the district website and did some research on the topic. It was quite easy to do, but here is what I discovered.
Compared to our conference our ratio of Administrators to students is 1:264.48. Click the link in the title to view our conference results. DeForest has the smallest ratio at 1:204.19 while Monroe has the largest at 1:293.40. MG ranks second highest on the list. Madison is at 1:255.17, so I don't think we are over staffed at the administration level.
Looking further into the different levels as broken down by this site at the conference level. We rank 3rd lowest in the ratio of students to Aides/Support/Other. We are tied for 2nd lowest in the ratio of students to Licensed Staff. Lastly we are 3rd lowest overall in students to staff ratios.
I point this out because I think having these low ratios helps us educate our students. Most research suggests that the lower the ratio of students to staff the better it is for learning. Now in light of our budget crunch the question becomes can we maintain these levels?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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Regarding cutting admin, I think it's important for people to remember that old adage "you-know-what roles downhill." In other words, cutting administration increases the burden on building principals and teaching staff. Most of what they do will still need to get done, and who will do it? People who complain about ineffective teachers should be especially concerned about admin cuts. If principals need to spend even more time pushing paper, filling out reports, etc., they will have even less time to supervise teaching staff.
ReplyDeleteJason-
ReplyDeleteExactly what did moving 6th grade accomplish besides making life easier for teachers and admin.
By Craig's own admission-he does not know if it saves money and he could not say why it was better-cept it is for the children.
I think it was a very good decision. It is best for the kids. Talk to parents who have had a child go through the MG system most of them will tell you the social aspect of the 6th grade coming together was a very good thing. 6th grade is a rough time for a lot of kids and some of them have a hard time socially with the small group they have been with since kindergarten. They meet new kids from the other community and have the chance to find a friend they can connect with. Social life is important. Kids who are unhappy socially can really go downhill academically and emotionally.
ReplyDeleteWhat did moving 6th grade accomplish?
ReplyDeleteI think that it will improve the education that our 6th grade students receive. The Administration has stated that this is the best thing educationally for the students, so I think that is what we accomplish. Isn't that our ultimate goal?
Will it save us money? That won't be known until after a year in the new arrangement, because their will be savings and expenses from this change. That is why it boiled down to a purely educational decision for me.
No matter how hard a question the board asked of our administration their answers always came back to the point that it was best for the students from an educational standpoint. I think Jessica said it best (I am paraphrasing) "I really wanted to find a reason to vote against this, but just could not find that reason." That was not her exact quote, so I apologize for that, but the essence of what she said was that. I thought that was a really strong statement she made and I wish I would have gotten the exact quote.
As much as people question the motives of the board, and we question each other also, I truly believe that we each are looking to make decisions which provide the best opportunities for students to learn.
"I think that it will improve the education that our 6th grade students receive. The Administration has stated that this is the best thing educationally for the students, so I think that is what we accomplish. Isn't that our ultimate goal?"
ReplyDeleteYep, I got to agree-do you mind turning the lights off in Monona when you are through with us-thanks.
Turning the lights off in Monona? That is what everyone said would happen if the middle school was in Cottage Grove. What really happened is that young families started moving to Monona after that referendum. Or at least lots of people are claiming that is going on. But I have not heard one person who predicted doom and gloom for Monona admit to that. I think that nothing will discourage new families moving to Monona more than this sort of ridiculous hysteria. If I was looking at where to locate my family and I saw the stuff people in Monona are saying about their own city, I would not move here.
ReplyDeleteIf you would not move here, then perhaps you should move away from here.
ReplyDeleteWe want people living in our community who care about our community.
And people will ALWAYS move to Monona, because it has a lot more to offer than just schools. WAY more than Cottage Grove.
However, those who move here certainly have the right to demand schools in their community (after all, we are paying for them) and then see what happens.
I am assuming that poster is referring to LIGHTS OUT at our schools. Certainly, Monona will always beat Cottage Grove in the character and opportunity spectrum.
Maybe if we could stop comparing communties and pitting CG and Monona against each other and realize that this is about KIDS, not addresses, we would have a more productive discussion. Really people...the kids are acting more maturely. Both communities have their strengths...OH!! Did I really just say that??? Is it possible that both communities have positives??? And - here's another shocker - that the strength of each community benefits the other??? Maybe if we all stopped drawing the line in the sand and making this about which community is better and focused on what is best for the kids, we would be much better off.
ReplyDeleteHere here! These communities should be celebrating this collaboration. It does make for a better school district than we could have alone. We keep our little kids close to home, have middle school in one town, the high school in the other. It's a little strange, but who wants to be like everyone else? We should be proud we make this work for our kids.
ReplyDeleteIf you would not move here, then perhaps you should move away from here. We want people living in our community who care about our community.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow. So you get say what constitutes caring about my community and if I disagree with you, I should move away? I think I am entitled to believe that the negative predictions (which have no basis in fact and have proven wrong in the past) about what will happen in Monona as a result of changes in our school district are very much a negative image for us to project to people who may be looking to move here. It certainly projects a situation that many may not find attractive and I am entitled to that opinion as some who does care about my community.
re:then perhaps you should move away from here....
ReplyDeleteI live in Monona and have two children in the district and strongly disagree with the original poster of this statement. I care deeply for our schools and agree with the 6th grade move. It makes sense for several reasons socially and fiscally. The statement above is far more of a turnoff then Winnequah being a 3-5 or K-5.
Monona has new buildings for 6-12 and a remodeled one for 3-5 (maybe K-5). They are, and will be under capacity. They have great staff, and offer more then core classes for a little while longer, maybe more if a referendum gets started. This will look good to similar sized districts who have cut more, have older buildings, or are overcrowded. Referendums will have trouble passing everywhere, so the fact that Monona Grove is benifiting from 2 recent ones looks good to families.
Monona itself is 5-10 minutes from just about everything, has lower taxes compared to other suburbs, and great services (streets in good shape and plowed well, a pool and a library).
Things are so good in Monona, that people don't move away, even after their kids have gone through school. We have 800 kids out of 8,000 residents. Nearby towns/cities would have 2 to 3 times that many kids with that population. It is my fellow Monona residents who are turning off the light because their kids have left for college. But the kids' room is still there if the house is for sale.
If/when the houses turn over, and we get a bunch more kids, what will the district do? I really don't think they will overcrowd a school when there is an empty one a block away, especially if it only costs $250,000 to run it. With a higher student population we'd get more state aid, and people likely to vote for a referendum.
The decisions of the board the past few years have been in favor of the student populaton, and thus toward the community with the most students. I suspect that if and when the populations are reversed, so will the focus of the board.
Exactly. It is time for Monona to celebrate its schools, and stop behaving as if education will suffer if Maywood and Winnequah merge. We must get past that decision, whatever it ends up being, and work toward a spending referndum so we can maintain our programming. I hope the board moves swiftly on this merger issue and turns their attention to the referendum work. Doing that properly takes time.
ReplyDelete"Exactly. It is time for Monona to celebrate its schools, and stop behaving as if education will suffer if Maywood and Winnequah merge. We must get past that decision, whatever it ends up being, and work toward a spending referndum so we can maintain our programming. I hope the board moves swiftly on this merger issue and turns their attention to the referendum work. Doing that properly takes time."
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a true grover, how is that Library coming along?
I am the "exactly" poster and I live in Monona. Is there some sort of Monona code of conduct that I am unaware of that I violated? Is there only one proper way to think about this situation if you live in Monona? Besides, what difference does it make whether you live in Monona or Cottage Grove regarding the spending referendum we need to get to work on? If we think closing Maywood is a disaster, wait until we cut out entire programs and start packing 30+ kids into elementary classes - something, by the way, we are already doing at the high school.
ReplyDeleteAnd why do you have to be so mean?
"And why do you have to be so mean?"
ReplyDeleteMight have something to do wtih people who say and vote one way and then do the opposite-just a thought.