There is a staff listening session on Thursday 2/18 and a public listening session on 2/20 at Winnequah from 10-12. There is also a tour of Winnequah from 9-10.
Please show up and voice your opinion.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Maywood/Winnequah & 4th Grade Strings
I heard a lot of emotional pleas during the listening sessions. I understand the emotional side of the arguments. However, as a board member I have to remove emotion from my thought process and look at things strictly on the facts as I see them. This really comes thru on the 2 topics I have heard the most comments on...Maywood/Winnequah Consolidation and the 4th grade strings program.
Fourth Grade Strings -
Cutting a program that has about a 70% student participation rate is difficult to fathom. However, the administration rated it 9th and the board 8th on it's impact on board goals if eliminated. I have a daughter that will be in 4th grade next year and will probably gravitate towards music, so the idea of taking away an opportunity from her and the other 70% of 4th graders pains me. That being said, if I vote to keep strings then something else has to be eliminated. What would that be?
Maywood/Winnequah Consolidation -
I heard a few people mention that there are 5 Kindergarten classes this year at Maywood. Part of that is due to the 15 open enrollment students as stated in the 1/8/10 Enrollment Report. Just to be clear, per this report the number of students accepted by location are:
CG - KG-1, 1st-5, 2nd-6, 3rd-5, 4th-2 for a total of 19
Monona - KG-15, 1st-6, 2nd-4, 3rd-7, 4th-7 for a total of 39
I am just putting this out there, so that everyone can see it is not necessarily a population increase for either community, but that open enrollment plays a part also. While open enrollment does bring in funds to the district, it also has a price and we have to be aware that we need to educate our residents 1st and then we can discuss adding open enrollment students.
Based on the same report if Maywood and Winnequah are consolidated the populations of the 3 elementary schools will be: Cottage Grove - 475 students; Tayolr Prairie - 372 students and Winnequah - 483 students. If Maywood and Winnequah are not consolidated then the populations will be: Cottage Grove - 475 students; Maywood - 255 students; Tayolr Prairie - 372 students and Winnequah - 228 students.
The administration ranked this potential consolidation as #2 on their list as far as impact on board goals. We have received a letter from a group of 19 teachers at Maywood that support this consolidation. I have heard that these 19 teachers have been catching grief from parents for signing this letter. I hope that none of the teachers who signed the letter felt any pressure to sign it because that would be unfortunate.
Also, a comment by one of the speakers on Thursday when he discussed this letter was "If I had a gun to my head I might have signed it too." This was such an outlandish statement that I had to put it in my notes to post it. I almost fell out of my seat when I heard this.
Another comment that I kept hearing was "Maywood works." Well as another speaker pointed out "Maywood works because of the teachers." She also stated that a group of teachers, I missed all the names...sorry, could teach in her garage and it would work. I have to echo this sentiment that I think a good teacher can teach anywhere.
As I process all of the facts with regard to consolidation it comes down to a few key points in my mind. First, is there any significant negative impact on learning for the students affected? In this case I have to believe the staff and administration that the answer is no.
Second, does consolidation unfairly burden the children by placing them in such a large school that it is not pratical? A difference of 8 students is not unreasonable. Is a 450+ school ideal? Probably not, however it is not unheard of. I wish we could build enough schools so that all our elementary kids could experience only having 15 kids in their class and a school population of about 250. That just won't happen.
Third, what is the fiscal impact of such a move? The 1st year of this consolidation it will save about $80k ($260k less $180k) and then every year after that it will be about $260k. That is real money that can save programs and staff to better educate our students.
Based on these 3 things I think it would be impossible for me to vote against consolidation. It is complete fiscal irresponsibility to keep a school open at this time and given these budget circumstances.
As with everything when the circumstances change, and they will, we as a district have to be willing to revisit the possibility of re-opening Maywood.
Fourth Grade Strings -
Cutting a program that has about a 70% student participation rate is difficult to fathom. However, the administration rated it 9th and the board 8th on it's impact on board goals if eliminated. I have a daughter that will be in 4th grade next year and will probably gravitate towards music, so the idea of taking away an opportunity from her and the other 70% of 4th graders pains me. That being said, if I vote to keep strings then something else has to be eliminated. What would that be?
Maywood/Winnequah Consolidation -
I heard a few people mention that there are 5 Kindergarten classes this year at Maywood. Part of that is due to the 15 open enrollment students as stated in the 1/8/10 Enrollment Report. Just to be clear, per this report the number of students accepted by location are:
CG - KG-1, 1st-5, 2nd-6, 3rd-5, 4th-2 for a total of 19
Monona - KG-15, 1st-6, 2nd-4, 3rd-7, 4th-7 for a total of 39
I am just putting this out there, so that everyone can see it is not necessarily a population increase for either community, but that open enrollment plays a part also. While open enrollment does bring in funds to the district, it also has a price and we have to be aware that we need to educate our residents 1st and then we can discuss adding open enrollment students.
Based on the same report if Maywood and Winnequah are consolidated the populations of the 3 elementary schools will be: Cottage Grove - 475 students; Tayolr Prairie - 372 students and Winnequah - 483 students. If Maywood and Winnequah are not consolidated then the populations will be: Cottage Grove - 475 students; Maywood - 255 students; Tayolr Prairie - 372 students and Winnequah - 228 students.
The administration ranked this potential consolidation as #2 on their list as far as impact on board goals. We have received a letter from a group of 19 teachers at Maywood that support this consolidation. I have heard that these 19 teachers have been catching grief from parents for signing this letter. I hope that none of the teachers who signed the letter felt any pressure to sign it because that would be unfortunate.
Also, a comment by one of the speakers on Thursday when he discussed this letter was "If I had a gun to my head I might have signed it too." This was such an outlandish statement that I had to put it in my notes to post it. I almost fell out of my seat when I heard this.
Another comment that I kept hearing was "Maywood works." Well as another speaker pointed out "Maywood works because of the teachers." She also stated that a group of teachers, I missed all the names...sorry, could teach in her garage and it would work. I have to echo this sentiment that I think a good teacher can teach anywhere.
As I process all of the facts with regard to consolidation it comes down to a few key points in my mind. First, is there any significant negative impact on learning for the students affected? In this case I have to believe the staff and administration that the answer is no.
Second, does consolidation unfairly burden the children by placing them in such a large school that it is not pratical? A difference of 8 students is not unreasonable. Is a 450+ school ideal? Probably not, however it is not unheard of. I wish we could build enough schools so that all our elementary kids could experience only having 15 kids in their class and a school population of about 250. That just won't happen.
Third, what is the fiscal impact of such a move? The 1st year of this consolidation it will save about $80k ($260k less $180k) and then every year after that it will be about $260k. That is real money that can save programs and staff to better educate our students.
Based on these 3 things I think it would be impossible for me to vote against consolidation. It is complete fiscal irresponsibility to keep a school open at this time and given these budget circumstances.
As with everything when the circumstances change, and they will, we as a district have to be willing to revisit the possibility of re-opening Maywood.
Public Listening Sessions (2 of 3)
Various comments from the listening sessions: The 8 line items below are general themes and not specific quotes. Based on my notes they cover the topics most referenced in the comments.
1. Comments both for and against consolidation of Maywood and Winnequah
2. Pleas to keep the 4th grade strings program in place.
3. Citizens asking for a referendum (the # of which caught me off guard).
4. Pleas to keep Special Ed. levels as they currently are.
5. Requests to keep clerical staff levels as they are.
6. Comments on the benefits of the library staff and their current levels.
7. Do not make decisions on short sighted goals.
8. Is staff and/or admin. taking a pay cut?
As I sit here pondering all of the various comments from this past weeks 2 listening sessions a few things go thru my head. First, it was so hard to sit thru both sessions and not respond. Second, it is clear that providing correct information to the public is an area the board needs to work on. Lastly, that while intentions are good, some individuals are not willing or able to look at the big picture.
As a board member we do get more detailed information then the general public. While the district puts most, if not all, of this on the website the voters do have to search it out. The voting public also does not get the benefit of hearing each and every comment at the meetings unless you watch them all. This tends to lead to the general public having some misinformation.
This is just a flaw in the system. I am not sure how to or if it is possible to correct this. No matter how diligent the district is about posting information or how good of a job the H-I does in covering the board meetings there will always be information that the general public misses. This is one of the reasons that I believe we elect the school board: to take ALL the information and make sound rational decisions that are in the best interest of our children. The recourse is that if district residents feel an individual member does not make good decisions then they vote to not bring them back on the next time.
1. Comments both for and against consolidation of Maywood and Winnequah
2. Pleas to keep the 4th grade strings program in place.
3. Citizens asking for a referendum (the # of which caught me off guard).
4. Pleas to keep Special Ed. levels as they currently are.
5. Requests to keep clerical staff levels as they are.
6. Comments on the benefits of the library staff and their current levels.
7. Do not make decisions on short sighted goals.
8. Is staff and/or admin. taking a pay cut?
As I sit here pondering all of the various comments from this past weeks 2 listening sessions a few things go thru my head. First, it was so hard to sit thru both sessions and not respond. Second, it is clear that providing correct information to the public is an area the board needs to work on. Lastly, that while intentions are good, some individuals are not willing or able to look at the big picture.
As a board member we do get more detailed information then the general public. While the district puts most, if not all, of this on the website the voters do have to search it out. The voting public also does not get the benefit of hearing each and every comment at the meetings unless you watch them all. This tends to lead to the general public having some misinformation.
This is just a flaw in the system. I am not sure how to or if it is possible to correct this. No matter how diligent the district is about posting information or how good of a job the H-I does in covering the board meetings there will always be information that the general public misses. This is one of the reasons that I believe we elect the school board: to take ALL the information and make sound rational decisions that are in the best interest of our children. The recourse is that if district residents feel an individual member does not make good decisions then they vote to not bring them back on the next time.
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