Saturday, January 23, 2010

Some West Bend School District News

This is from the Daily News.

Parents of students in the West Bend School District will have an opportunity to hear how their children could be affected by budget reductions next year.

   School sites throughout the district are in the process of hosting meetings with parents to provide information, as well as to collect feedback, about the proposed budget reductions.

   The informational meeting will take place at the high school level at 7 p.m. on Monday night in the West High School Library.

   “It’s not any new information,” said East High School Principal Cassandra Schug, who will be making the presentation with West High School Assistant Principal Ralph Schlass. “We just want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to see and know the information.”

   The list of all possible budget reductions will be presented, along with a more in- depth explanation of the monetary savings, the opportunities and the concerns associated with each item.

In other news… the district has asked to enter the binding arbitration process after failing to reach agreement with the teachers union.  The arbitrator is Daniel Nielsen.  It’s better than 50/50 that we still won’t have a contract before the next budget and tax levy are decided. 

Also, Carl Knepel, one of the 8 candidates for the West Bend School Board, has pulled out of the race.  He is moving out of the district.  Unfortunately, his name will still be on the ballot for the primary next month.

(5) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1014 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Why do we have to wait for the meeting to see what they are proposing? Can’t this be posted online so we can give it some critical thought before we give feedback?
    What did Ms. Schug mean by “nothing new”? Is she talking about closing the pool? orchestra? Combining the high schools?
    Where is this information coming from? The administration or an objective source?

    In my opinion the first place they should look for significant reduction is positions, not core programs.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 23, 2010 at 1147 hrs


  2. Well, first of all, they could eliminate the gross over staffing at the administative level. Duplicate staffs just seems idiotic. Another question. The West library? The High School has two different libraries? What am I missing in all this frugality talk? This could be accomplished before the seemingly no brainer of combining the “two” High Schools. I use quotes because there is already a degree of overlap in the schools.My son is enrolled in East, but some of his classes are West classes(?). I know I’m showing my age, but I went to Custer HS in Milw in the late 60’s and we had 4100+ student, in 3 grade levels (10,11,&12;) and had 1 Principal 2 Vice-Principals one set of guidance counselors and 1 library. I understand things are different now, but come on.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 23, 2010 at 1327 hrs


  3. core program reductions could equal positions.
    $2-mil / 85K (av. position) = 23.5 positions

    For illustration purposes only, if this number of FTEs were reduced sheerly at the HS, 118 class sections would be cut (23.5x5) and 2,124 - 3,450+ students would be affected.  In this unlikely purely illustrative scenario, admin and the board members are faced with the question: Where are the students going to go?  Studyhall?  Note: Class sizes max out at room fire code.

    Running a sheer core program will affect the attractiveness of the overall program.  The district also has a state minimum student time in school obligation; otherwise, they will be fined.

    Ms. Schug mean by “nothing new” that the District Budget cuts outline, with the exception of eliminating the pool and combining the HS, has not changed.  Unless other ideas are put forward, this cut plan is the plan the district will follow for the next three years. 

    To see the PDF of the proposed cuts,
    http://wbsd.schoolfusion.us
    click on “budget update” on the left
    click on Admin. Recommendation for 2010-11 Budget


    the district and teachers’ union have failed to reach agreement ... 50/50 until Sept/October?  Rationale?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 23, 2010 at 1334 hrs


  4. Rationale?

    a) Neither side has shown any hurry yet.  Why would it start now?

    b) These processes typically take a long time.

    c) I was told as much.

    Posted by Owen on January 23, 2010 at 1532 hrs


  5. Thank you, Owen.  I do wish things were done already, but…

    Tom,
    The WBHS East/West Library Media Centers’ Report for School Board – Jan. 2010 is up.

    -Goto http://wbsd.schoolfusion.us
    -Our Schools—> West
    -On the left side click Library Media Center
    Teacher Usage Statistics, students walks in, circulations, etc.

    There is a strong correlation with library staffing and reading scores which correlate with science, math, social studies, etc., scores: Low staffing = lower scores and vica-versa.  Keith Curry Lance, Sociologist, argues this idea with 19 state studies on 10s of 1000s of students: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslarchive/resourceguides/slw3_2008.pdf

    Incidentally, The Laura Bush Foundation, cites his work too.

    (Not to insult you) Note the state’s information and technology standards have changed: The doc is 59 pages long! http://dpi.wi.gov/standards/pdf/infotech.pdf

    40 degrees tomorrow!  Time to get the bike out?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 23, 2010 at 1704 hrs


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