My fellow board members and I have received numerous e-mails from staff and district residents regarding the proposed budget reductions. Please keep them coming because the more people we hear from the better in my opinion. While I do not answer many e-mails, because the board decided that the board president would respond, I do read them all and review the specific comments to help give me a point of view that may or may not align with mine.
I do have one issue with some of the e-mails we have received. Those that have been in support of one teacher and how we need to save this one individuals job is a bit troubling. The discussions that I have been a part of and the proposed cuts as I see them are not about one teacher, but about programs or staff positions. It does not matter to me who fills a specific role, but more a question of is that position(s) a must keep position. Teachers will always come and go but the position may remain.
I am sure that some will take exception with this point of view and I understand why. We have good teachers and no one, including myself, wants to lose any of them. However, based purely on the financial reality we may have to lose some. An organization as labor intensive as a school district can only cut so much around the edges before it comes down to staff and programs.
Sometimes a program is deemed non-essential and gets cut which also reduces staff. Sometimes reduction in staff is deemed an appropriate step in order to save a program. It is a delicate balancing act, but in either case the labor intensive organization has to reduce costs thru staff reductions. This is just the grim reality.
Please keep the e-mails coming, but be assured that any potential cuts (as I view them) are not about individual teachers and rather about the actual position or program.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
2/4 Teacher Listening Session
The 1st of 2 teacher listening session took place Thursday night. I think that it was exactly what I expected it to be. Mr. Gerlach estimated attendance at around 50 teachers. There were 16 teachers that got up and spoke, with most of them from the areas of related arts. Mr. Gerlach gave each person 3 minutes to speak and only had to cut off 3 or 4 of the speakers for running long.
I appreciate each person that attended the session for taking the time to come and listen. For those that got up and spoke I thank you for giving your thoughts and feelings. I expected nothing less from our staff, so thank you for your passion and dedication to the children of our district.
I wish there was a golden parachute available to fix the districts budget issues. Unfortunately, the reality is that positions will probably have to be cut. I hope that my fellow board members will join me in finding ways to cut or make operational changes that won't cost jobs first. Then we will have to make the hard choices of how to reduce overhead costs with the least impact on student education.
While there was a good number of teachers in attendance on Thursday, I hope that there are even more at the next session on 2/18. Your voices do factor into my decision making process, so please get up and speak or send e-mails or phone me or whatever, but please speak your mind (in a polite manner).
I appreciate each person that attended the session for taking the time to come and listen. For those that got up and spoke I thank you for giving your thoughts and feelings. I expected nothing less from our staff, so thank you for your passion and dedication to the children of our district.
I wish there was a golden parachute available to fix the districts budget issues. Unfortunately, the reality is that positions will probably have to be cut. I hope that my fellow board members will join me in finding ways to cut or make operational changes that won't cost jobs first. Then we will have to make the hard choices of how to reduce overhead costs with the least impact on student education.
While there was a good number of teachers in attendance on Thursday, I hope that there are even more at the next session on 2/18. Your voices do factor into my decision making process, so please get up and speak or send e-mails or phone me or whatever, but please speak your mind (in a polite manner).
Sunday, January 31, 2010
6th Grade
Last Wednesday we heard from the administration regarding a potential change in 6th grade programming and possibly having the Monona 6th grade attend Glacial Drumlin. This is a 2 pronged issue. First, does the district want our 6th grade to be an elementary or middle school program? Second, should they attend the same school or keep the status quo?
In the course of the discussion it became clear that this is an issue that internally the administration has had some discussion on. Do they have a recommendation? I am not sure if they have a recommendation, but I think they have preliminary thoughts on this issue.
Personnally, I like the idea of 6th grade being a middle school program. Additionally, if there is little to no impact on having the entire 6th grade in one building then I think that is a reasonable consideration that should be discussed. I understand that this may not be a popular decision, based on referendum voting, but if this makes for the best environment for ALL STUDENTS to learn in and is recommended by the administration then the board will have to give it strong consideration.
Right now I am not convinced we need to have all 6th graders in one building, but like many topics we are discussing it may come down to finances. If there is a savings and little impact on learning then I could support it. If there is a savings, but a significant impact on learning then I have a harder time with consolidating the 6th grade into one building.
In the course of the discussion it became clear that this is an issue that internally the administration has had some discussion on. Do they have a recommendation? I am not sure if they have a recommendation, but I think they have preliminary thoughts on this issue.
Personnally, I like the idea of 6th grade being a middle school program. Additionally, if there is little to no impact on having the entire 6th grade in one building then I think that is a reasonable consideration that should be discussed. I understand that this may not be a popular decision, based on referendum voting, but if this makes for the best environment for ALL STUDENTS to learn in and is recommended by the administration then the board will have to give it strong consideration.
Right now I am not convinced we need to have all 6th graders in one building, but like many topics we are discussing it may come down to finances. If there is a savings and little impact on learning then I could support it. If there is a savings, but a significant impact on learning then I have a harder time with consolidating the 6th grade into one building.
Budget Reductions
Well this past week got to see the results from the surveys that the administration and board took. There were 24 items that both the administration and board ranked within 5 spots of each other. I think that is outstanding, considering the board has no expertise on the impact on learning any of these options will have. There were 13 items that we have varying opinions on. Additionally, the administration ranked the proposed cut in Athletics and the consolidation of Maywood and Winnequah, while the board did not. Some board members did not feel they had enough information on either topic to rank them.
We got to see the preliminary budget reductions from the administration. We also got the list of items that were not on the preliminary list. Iwill say that it was about what I expected. The preliminary reductions closely followed the administration survey rankings. The noticeable exceptions are the consolidation of Maywood/Winnequah, eliminate the Practice Bus, Increase grade 7&8 workload from 4 to 5 classes/day for core academic teachers and eliminate 4th & 5th grade strings.
After having even more time to review these documents (the survey results & reduction lists) I am even more convinced that the results of the administration surveys carry far greater weight than that of the board. While we agreed on many of these items my opinion is that their expertise on educational impact needs to be judged accordingly. The administration knows what it takes to run a classroom, a school and a district far better than I do. I can only offer insight, observations, recommendations and guidance to make this district the best learning environment possible given the resources we have.
However, I will not blindly follow the administration recommendations when the tough decisions have to be made. Which I hope will be made sooner than later for the sake of the district.
We got to see the preliminary budget reductions from the administration. We also got the list of items that were not on the preliminary list. Iwill say that it was about what I expected. The preliminary reductions closely followed the administration survey rankings. The noticeable exceptions are the consolidation of Maywood/Winnequah, eliminate the Practice Bus, Increase grade 7&8 workload from 4 to 5 classes/day for core academic teachers and eliminate 4th & 5th grade strings.
After having even more time to review these documents (the survey results & reduction lists) I am even more convinced that the results of the administration surveys carry far greater weight than that of the board. While we agreed on many of these items my opinion is that their expertise on educational impact needs to be judged accordingly. The administration knows what it takes to run a classroom, a school and a district far better than I do. I can only offer insight, observations, recommendations and guidance to make this district the best learning environment possible given the resources we have.
However, I will not blindly follow the administration recommendations when the tough decisions have to be made. Which I hope will be made sooner than later for the sake of the district.
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