Changes For Wisconsin School Aid Formula?

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Rewrite of Wisconsin school aid formula proposed

Follow-up from the WSJ:

Officials: Impact Of School Aid Proposal Can't Be Calculated, Evers Outlined Plan Last Week
Wisconsin lawmakers who want to know how schools would fare under a proposed reworking of the formula that determines how much money districts get will just have to wait.
The head of the Legislature's nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau issued a memo Monday saying there weren't enough details of the proposal available to determine how it would affect individual districts.
State Superintendent Tony Evers released the framework of a new funding plan last week. He said he purposefully left out details so there could be a discussion about his idea over the summer.
But lawmakers made numerous requests to the Fiscal Bureau to find out what it means for their schools. Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang said that analysis will be done when there is sufficient detail to do it.

Hear What? See What? Say What?

Last night I had the great pleasure to attend the 2010 Monona Grove Alternative High School graduation ceremony at the Monona Community Center. It is an event that I love to attend and last night was no exception. The seven graduates' heartfelt speeches and gracious thank-yous to friends, family and teachers alike left me a little misty-eyed in the audience. In fact, it also made me want to go back to high school so I could have FB and McD as teachers. While I did have plenty of excellent and influential teachers throughout my secondary education, I don't remember anyone of them hitting hook-shots with a huge 'fro. Every time I'm with the Alt School staff, I feel like I've fallen into a Welcome Back Kotter episode and I have no desire to return to reality. Is that weird?

This year's graduation ceremony marks an end to the MGAS charter school and ushers in the new Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century or “MG21". As you may remember, MGAS teachers Rebecca Fox-Blair and Bill McDonald recently discovered they needed to bring the charter for the school into compliance with federal statutes and guidelines, by listing MGSD policies from which MGAS is exempt and by creating a governance board. This restructuring also provided the welcome opportunity to bring $350,000 into the district by creating a new charter. Bill McDonald told us last night that they hope to hear more about the status of their grant application by the end of July or early August. Good luck MG21 and best wishes for the future to all MGAS graduates!

In other School Board news, the Board unanimously approved contracting with the Chartwells School Dining Services at a special meeting on Wednesday night. We listened to a presentation led by Barb Waara, Director of Food Services and members of her committee about the proposal. This contract will be a year long, giving the district ample opportunity to reevaluate it's merits. I was particularly happy to see that with the exception of Barb Waara, who will become an employee of Chartwells, all of our current district food service workers will remain district employees. I think it's helpful to look at the contract as a change in food providers, as opposed to outsourcing our employees, who will remain under their current contract. Thoughts on the topic from Board President Susan Fox's Board update:

After review and evaluation, including interviews with representatives of the companies and reference checks with other client school districts, the committee recommended that Monona Grove enter into a professional service contract with Chartwells School Dining Service for the management and operation of our food service program for 2010-11. Committee members believe that this arrangement will provide financial stability and even profitability, capture the benefits of pricing through a large company, build upon and provide education for students with regard to nutrition and healthy eating habits, address changes in eating preferences for students while providing more fresh fruits and vegetables, increase participation, and provide on-going staff professional development training for all food service employees, among other benefits. The Board voted to accept the recommendation of the committee and approved contracting with Chartwells for 2010-11. You can find more information on Chartwells at http://www.eatlearnlive.com/.

Board member Peter Sobol also has an interesting and informative thread on the Chartwells contract on his blog: http://www.petersobol.blogspot.com/.

I got a little smack-down of sunshine in last week's Herald Independent for a blogpost I wrote about the legality of talking about closed session topics in public. Ironically, I believe this may have been the only time that I have ever capitalized comments, but too late. Especially because I realized I was WRONG, as Sunny would have discovered had she gone back and read my follow-up post the next day. After hearing the thoughts of several sources including Superintendent Gerlach, Board President Fox, previous Board member Phil McDade, WASB attorney Barry Forbes and district attorney Mike Julka, it is my understanding that expectations about public disclosure about negotiation details are established as ground rules by both parties at the beginning of negotiations. We have none in place, other than the contractual language quoted below. Julka spoke with the Board before our June 2nd special meeting and advised the Board that we should not disclose any details of negotiations, outside of explaining the process that we are involved in. According to our current contract, page 6:

Section 4: Initial Open Meetings

6/4/1 In accordance with Section 111.70(4)(cm)(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes, the initial meeting or meetings held to present initial bargaining proposals and supporting rationale shall be open to the public. The first open meeting shall be for the purpose of exchanging written proposals, informing the other party of the rationale for each of said written proposals, and the exchanging of press releases.

Section 5: Closed Negotiations

6/5/1 Thereafter negotiating sessions between the Board and the Association shall be closed to the press and public unless the parties mutually agree that such continuing negotiating sessions shall be open to the press and the public.

Section 6: Press Releases

6/6/1 Press releases concerning negotiations shall be mutually approved by the Board and the Association until impasse is reached. This is not to preclude keeping the Association membership and Board members informed as to the progress of negotiations.

As Sunny writes "I think the board members’ reticence on the contract is born of ignorance. They won’t talk about it because they don’t know about it and they don’t want to know, either. They take no role in the nasty business of negotiations, assigning that task to Gerlach and the soon-to-be-departed Business Director Mary Ellen Van Valin. For all I know, the school board members are sitting there like a bunch of monkeys: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

Of course, there are those people who continue to keep talking (and talking) even after they realize they might not actually be correct in their assertions, but I'm not one of them. I'll see you one ignorant monkey and I raise you one unicorn who flew out of my butt. The district continues to wait for word from the MGEA.

Monona Grove High School graduation will take place on Sunday, June 6th at 1pm in the high school gymnasium.

Congratulations To All Of Our 2010 Monona Grove Graduates!

And finally, a couple of updates:



A documentary about charter schools: "The Lottery": ONE NIGHT ONLY AT EASTGATE CINEMAS, TUESDAY, JUNE 8 AT 7:30PM.

A new education movie, The Lottery, will open at select theaters around the country on Tuesday, June 8.

"The Lottery is a feature-length documentary that explores the struggles and dreams of four families from Harlem and the Bronx in the months leading up to the lottery for Harlem Success Academy, one of the most successful charter schools in New York. The four families cast their lots in a high-stakes draw, where only a small
majority of children emerge with a chance at a better future. The vast majority of hopefuls will be turned away. By interlacing the families' stories with the emotional and highly politicized battle over the future of American education, The Lottery is a call to action to avert a catastrophe in the education of American children. With heart, humor and hope, The Lottery makes the case that any child, given the right educational circumstances, can succeed."

Tickets may be purchased online.

From MGSC Registrar, Sue Carr:

Hello all!
I am trying to get the word out that registration for the next year of soccer (Fall 10, and Spring 11) is happening now- The Deadline is June 14. I volunteer as the registrar for the U6-U!0 groups in Monona. That is kiddos going into kindergarten up to kids going into 4th grade. Kids who are K, 1, 2 do not need a uniform. Kids going into Third grade also need a uniform form and a separate check for the uniform. See attachments for the information form, and the uniform form. The actual registration form can be found here.

http://www.maysa.org/documents/09PlayerRegFormFill.pdf

I am trying to get the word out as I have not gotten a lot of re-registration forms and do not want folks to have to pay the late fee. If you all could forward to any other kids you know who play soccer, who want to play soccer, and especially incoming kindergartners who may want to start this year. Remember that you register now, it is for both the fall and spring season. Same team, etc. I am available by email or cell phone- 347-7832 with any questions. You can also contact the head Monona Coordinator, Keene Kohrt, at the address above.

From an email:

Kids want to be in the triathlon but have not signed up yet??The Sawyer Crossen
Memorial Triathlon is Saturday Morning THIS WEEK but you can still sign up day
of event or even better tonight- FRIDAY at the community center between
6-7:30. We stuffed goody bags tonight and met with all the volunteers- it will
be a great event. The excitement is building..... So.... think about getting any of those kids ages 4-17 on board.

Summer Doldrums? Not at the Monona Public Library!

The kickoff of the Monona Public Library’s "Set Sail to the Library" summer reading program is coming soon! This year we are making the registration process easier than ever and enabling patrons to begin earlier. Registrations for all summer reading programs and activities may be completed online. Click, call, or come in to sign up.

1. Go to the Monona Library Web site [http://www.mononalibrary.org/]
2. Click on the "Set Sail to the Library" button to register for the summer Reading Adventures.
3. Click the Sign Up link and simply complete the online form. Complete registration by printing out or picking up a reading log.
4. To print a reading log, go to the "Set Sail to the Library" webpage to download the appropriate age/grade level Reading Log.

All Ages Welcome to Set Sail to the Library!
The summer reading program is open to all children age birth through grade 5, teenagers entering grades 6 through 12, and adults including those graduating from high school in 2010.
The theme for the children’s program is “Make a Splash: Read!” and will feature games, crafts, storytimes, Wild Wednesday presenters, scavenger hunts, and more. Children will learn about camping out, conserving water and staying safe when swimming. They can create bubbles and sand crafts and participate in the July 7 Sea Creature Fashion Show and the July 28 finale Catch the Last Wave Hawaiian Luau.

The kickoff event will be held June 16 and will feature The NoiseGuy, Charlie Williams, a vocal sound impressionist. Enter your checkout receipt to have a chance to win great door prizes.
Teens may participate in “Make Waves @ Your Library”. Adult patrons are invited to join the “Water Your Mind, Read” program. See our website for more information.

The Monona Public Library is open Mondays through Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 9:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Any interested patron in need of assistance with online registration, without Internet access at home, or with any other questions relating to the summer reading program may visit the library or call (608) 222-6127 during regular business hours. Additional information can also be found on Monona Public Library’s website [http://www.mononalibrary.org/]

Board of Education Meeting This Wednesday, May 26th, and Other Hot Topics.

Normally I hate it when people complain about the weather, but for the love of everything good in this world, IT IS HOT OUT! This may be the year that I finally abandon my no-air-conditioning policy and join the twentieth century of climate controlled bliss. I know I can't be the last hold-out, who else out there is sizzling away with me? We never had central air when I was growing up and I never remember it being that big of a deal. Of course I was a skinny little girl then, and not a cranky middle-aged pregnant woman with a lawn to mow and dinner to cook. In fact, I fondly remember the nights that it was simply too hot to sleep indoors and the whole family moved outside for the evening. I remember waking up many a summer morning at dawn, covered with dew and industrial strength Deep Woods Off and the Popsicle stick of last night's last Popsicle stuck to my face. Who am I to deny these rites of passage to my own children? In those days we played on trapeze-height monkey bars suspended over the loving cushion of concrete, slept in the starry-ceilinged hatchback of my parents' Nova on cross-country trips and ran behind the city bug truck spraying the neighborhood park. How ironic that I've managed to live long enough to question the toxicity of rubberized mulch in our city's parks. Good old days...

The Monona Grove Board of Education will meet this Wednesday evening at 7pm in the Nichols District Office Board Room. Unfinished business includes the discussion and possible approval of new ninth grade Biology textbooks, department and building budgets and administrative contracts. We will also discuss and potentially approve the location of the Monona Grove Alternative High School. The Alt. School is currently housed in the Devenish Building on Monona Drive and will need to relocate to fulfill their plans for the expansion of their program as detailed by the grant that Rebecca Fox-Blair and Bill McDonald recently wrote for their new charter. The Board received a concise breakdown of the financial impact of moving the Alt. School to both the Nichols building as well as the lower level of Winnequah School. The initial investment at Nichols for the Alt. School to occupy about 5000 square feet of space is approximately $30,500, including the cost of a hallway vestibule ($10K), T1 Line ($3K) and concrete repair outside ($6K). Mark Scullion, Director of Facilities and Safety, also included the additional cost estimates of optionally adding a keyless entry system ($6K) and the inclusion of the cost associated with using the additional 3,000 square feet of space in the MPR ($4K). It is his recommendation to not add the keyless entry and to continue to minimally heat the MPR as the district does currently. The operation of the Alternative School at the Nichols facility would also incur an annual added cost of about $10k for increased heating and energy use. Scullion estimates that moving the Alternative School into roughly 8,000 square feet of space in the lower level of Winnequah would be about $57,000, including the cost of a hallway vestibule ($10K), the remodelling of a storeroom into two additional restrooms ($40k) and the addition of a keyless entry system ($6K). As I read his analysis, the inclusion of a keyless entry system and two additional bathrooms would not be optional costs at Winnequah School. My assumption is that these features would be necessary to avoid the mixing of Winnequah and Alt. School students. There would be no future increases in energy costs at Winnequah as the areas that would house the Alt. School are already being heated. While I am not inherently opposed to the concept of housing the Alternative High School at Winnequah, provided the separation of the two student bodies, and in fact, can see some potential positive opportunities and pluses with the arrangement, I don't plan to support moving the program to that building. I think that this decision needs to be more thoroughly examined with administrative and community input, and we simply have not had the time to do so. I am somewhat concerned with the initial expense of remodelling the Nichols site and the continuing energy cost (as we remember, Nichols School and Maywood Elementary were removed from the McKinstry Energy Contract) in light of the uncertain future of the Nichols building and in anticipation of our district's upcoming real estate holding analysis. My financial reservations aside, I think that Nichols School will prove to be a successful match right now for the Alternative High School program, come what may in the future.
The Board of Education will also receive updates on the district's diversity issues and district goals, as well as have the official appointment of standing committee citizen members. Susan Manning, Board Treasurer, will chair Business Services, Peter Sobol will chair the Curriculum Committee and Board Clerk Lionel Norton will serve as chair for the Policy Committee.


In other unrelated news, my community canning kitchen organizational meeting this past Sunday was a complete bust. I guess it's difficult to drum up interest for collectively standing over a boiling pot of stewed tomatoes in a sweltering kitchen on a freakishly tropical Sunday afternoon. Still, I haven't kicked the can entirely. A friend brought up the interesting idea last night of using the FACE room in Winnequah School- haven't thought out the logistics of that yet, but I've heard there is extra room in the building...


From an email that I have received from several folks: "Are your kids signed up yet? The Sawyer Crossen Annual Kids Triathlon is coming soon- on June 5th. There are some very hard working Monona community members who are getting this fabulous event off the ground in its first year- and you can help by signing up your kids to participate today! All the information can be found here:
http://www.sawyerstri.squarespace.com/ But here are a few Q and A's for you:

Who is Sawyer Crossen? Sawyer was the son of Molly and PJ Crossen- lifelong Monona residents who have 6 other children. Sawyer died 4 years ago, Molly and PJ are starting this kids triathlon to honor his memory and to raise money for programs in our schools and rec dept for kids who are the age Sawyer would have been.
How far do my kids have to bike, swim, and run? All distances are on the website, but please keep in mind that we know that this is a KIDS triathlon. Training wheels, noodles, walking, etc. --all fine. Just sign up and come have fun.
What else is happening at the event? The committee has worked very hard to secure food vendors there will be facepainting and music, Bucky Badger and Red Robin will be there, a bouncy house, etc. Just a fun morning for all families in the Monona area...... "

Finally, I want to add a few words about Monona Mayor Robb Kahl's eloquent send-off to Council President Kathy Thomas at last Wednesday evening's Monona City Volunteer Appreciation Reception. His heartfelt comments in honor of Kathy's long public service to the Monona community were reverent and touching. Robb is entirely right that Kathy is a real gem, but more importantly according to my children, she is the Queen of All Brownies, and that counts for a lot in my house. You're the best, Kathy Thomas!

Canning Kitchen Organizational Meeting This Sunday Afternoon, May 23rd at 2pm.

I will be holding an organizational meeting about starting a canning kitchen this Sunday afternoon at the Monona Public Library at 2pm. I will try to reserve one of the small conference rooms on the lower level, but in the event that there are no vacancies, plan to meet in the snack lounge instead.

Please bring your ideas, recipes and calendars!

IS IT JUST ME OR DOES ANYONE ELSE BELIEVE THAT US CELLULAR IS RUN BY BLOODSUCKING DEMONS?

It's Second Week of the Month Time Again!

The Monona Park and Recreation Board will meet on Tuesday May 11th, 6pm in the Monona Community Center. We will continue our discussion of the Monona Parks and Open Spaces plan with reports on Oneida, Woodland, Three Meadows and Bridge Road Parks. The Board will also have discussion about the "Blue Park" Playground Equipment Replacement RFP. The Blue Park, as it is known by tons of Monona's kids, is slated to be removed and replaced this year. Jake Anderson is requesting $70K of capital improvement funds to cover new equipment that would be comparable to the existing structure, as well as the cost of replacing the sand ground covering with rubberized mulch. The rubberized mulch will cost an estimated $12K. I have been accused of being an old-fashioned old fogey before, mainly because I like to use what we already have. I'm not a Bigger!Brighter!Newer!=Better! type of person; there's a lot of value to using and improving what we have. I'm also not a fan of this cyclical replacement mentality; just because something has been around for 15 years doesn't mean that it's time to replace it with the latest and greatest trend. However, I have been grudgingly convinced that the Blue Park should be replaced, mainly because I have long since realized it will be replaced whether I like the idea or not. My last stronghold, though, is Director Anderson's plan to replace the sand around the play structure with that nasty rank rubberized mulch. It's a wonderment to me that I or any of my wild and woolly friends managed to survive our childhoods without the cushioning protection of chopped up used car tires. Is it just me, or does it strike anyone else as a little odd that we are now wholeheartedly convinced that our children will die on our playgrounds if they don't have a bunch of chemical-based synthetic junk to fall on? When did this idea take hold? I thought parents didn't even allow their children to fall down anymore.

From http://www.natureswayresources.com/ :

Research at Bucknell University has found that the leachate from ground tires can kill entire aquatic communities of algae, zooplankton, snails and fish. Even at low concentrations it can cause reproductive problems and precancerous lesions. Also, marine life from seaweeds to plankton is negatively affected.The toxic nature of the leachate from tire rubber is due at least in part to the chemicals usedin producing tires (cadmium, chromium, aluminum, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, sulfur, and zinc). Of these minerals, rubber tires may contain extremely high levels of zinc even up to 2% of the tire mass. Many plant species have been shown to accumulate zinc in their tissues to the point of death. USDA researchers who have studied the effects of metals in sewage sludge, biosolids and compost, have found that ground rubber should not be used on any agricultural or garden soil, potting media, or compost. Yes- some companies use tire chips and crumb rubber as a bulking agent for compost and we wonder why the compost does not work and is toxic to plants! Other rubber leachates have been found to cause problems from skin and eye irritation to major organ damage and even death. Long term exposure can lead to carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. For example, 2-mercaptobenzothiazole used in vulcanizing rubber is highly persistent in the environment and harmful to aquatic life. Ground rubber also contains a class of chemicals called Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that many studies have found extremely toxic to humans and the environment. Research has also found that the toxicity of leachate from the
rubber tire mulch increases over time as the rubber breaks down.

Read this article at http://http://www.natureswayresources.com/DocsPdfs/RubberMulch.pdf .

This is what we want to spend $12K on to dump right next to the Winnequah Lagoon? I would really like to see the Blue Park covered with adequate fall zone protection with whatever depth of sand is necessary. Not only is it cheaper, cleaner, less smelly and a whole lot more fun to play in, it won't leach into our ground water and kill off our aquatic wildlife. Call me an old fogey.

Also on tap for Park and Rec. Board: From Director Jake Anderson "Mayor Robb Kahl has requested that the existing soccer/football field at Ahuska Park be named Tom Metcalfe Field after former Mayor Tom Metcalfe. Kahl states that Tom Metcalfe was the Mayor of Monona at the time of the park being built and was instrumental in turning the site into a usable park. This would be the first step in any naming process. There would be a 30 day public input notice before the Park and Recreation Board could make a recommendation one way or another."


The Monona Grove Board of Education will meet this Wednesday evening at 7pm in the District Office Board Room in Nichols School. Unfinished business includes the discussion and possible approval of 2010-2011 Teacher Final Notices of Layoff and the possible approval of the location of the MG Alternative High School and general discussion of the Nichols Building. The two items of new business are the discussion and possible approval of district computer bids and the student fee schedule.

The Monona Family Attraction and Retention Committee will meet this Thursday in the Monona City Hall Conference Room at 6:30pm. Alderman Doud Wood will become our committee's new co-chair with Alderman Scott Munson serving as the new chairman. We plan on having a review of the Family Attraction Committee's charge and mission and a brainstorming session on future committee projects. We will also begin discussing this year's Fall Family Festival and hope to choose a date in the early fall. As always, we would welcome any volunteers to assist in the festival planning. The 2009 Festival was wonderful; we hope this year will bring another success!