That's one HOT Potato!

After two meetings..one with staff and one with students, SuperNintendo Tim Culver asked the board, "What would you like to do now" with regard to the Diversity issue.

It was abundantly clear that Culver was pushing the issue back on the school board with his suggestion that the board needs to create a policy. Oh Great! Just what we need...another policy to not follow. Seriously...what's the point? Or at least, be really, REALLY open ended like, The Sun Prairie Area School District values the importance of accepting diverse ethnicities, cultures, lifestyles, and religious beliefs and maintains a zero tolerance policy on discrimination of any kind.

There ya go! A policy that is less than 30 words and not even John Whalen could find a way to circumvent.

How serious is the board/district about embracing diversity?
As usual, the board and district talk a good game. We do have just two questions that need to be asked, however.

1. How important, in the grand scheme is the diversity issue? If dealing with diversity were REALLY a priority for district administration, why is it that the one critical puzzle piece, hiring a Minority Recruitment Specialist, was tossed from the budget?

From Phil Frei's Budget presentation, 8-12-09
"Other budget considerations

Though desired, did not add:
4 Human Resources Recruitment Specialist "
NOTE: what the budget presentation failed to say is that this was to be a position focused on recruiting minority candidates.

Oh yeah! That's right. They're trying to save the taxpayers money. Hmmm. The cost of Administration and Administration Support RAISES amounted to over $180,000. We guess their 3.8% "package" raises were more important than giving up some/all of those raises in order that we could add a needed piece to help solve the diversity puzzle. No way, baby! We want our cash! Let the cheap taxpayers pay for a Minority Recruitment Specialist!

2. How are we doing at retaining the minority staff members that we DO have?
Of course,as with everything, this is not information that the district likes to shout about. Tim Culver is quick to read a letter form a district grandmother touting the work of Culver and the district, but what we want to know is this:

We hear, from several sources, that the majority of the handful of teachers whose contracts the district chose not to renew this past spring were minorities. Of course we'll deal with this as "unsubstantiated" until we get FACTS from the district. In the meantime however, should the information prove true, someone should have an all expenses paid trip to the "Splainin' Room". Because--if this is true--the district loses a lot of credibility in its publicly stated mission to increase the diversity of its staff. If we HAVE staff members on board that add to our staff diversity, then there better be a damn good reason why we're cutting the cord on them. In fact, if these teachers, particularly if young, are in need of some assistance, then certainly we pay enough managers to provide them with the tools they need to succeed.

Reducing the Mill Rate - Mission Possible?

So we know that the school board is proposing (and will approve it unless enough people get vocal and convince them otherwise) a $1.28 minimum increase to the millrate, which will add $256/year to the property taxes on a $200,000 home.


Tax Levy (proposed)=$46,089,546. The Mill Rate(proposed) =$11.81 (per $1,000 assessed value). Do the math, and you see that basically every $1,000,000 of tax levied results in a $0.25 increase to the mill rate. Yep...one George Washington quarter. So....to reduce the mill rate to last year's level (net zero), with a mill rate increase of $1.28 (which amounts to 5 quarters) means we'd have to shave about $5,000,000 off the budget. OK...that sounds pretty unlikely...but....

What they haven't told us is how we got there or what we could do to lower such a huge increase during very tight times. What we can tell you is what some of the new additions have cost us relative to the mill rate:

• Teachers Contracts, $1,457,075 = $0.37 on the mill rate
• Debt Levy increase, $876,000 = $0.22 on the mill rate
• New "SP4K" Program, $640,000= $0.16 on the mill rate
• Administrator Pay Increases, $113,895= $0.03 on the mill rate
• Administrative Support Pay Increases, $80,000= $0.02 on the mill rate

How to Reduce the Mill Rate

Basically there are 3 ways to reduce the mill rate:

1. Increase the value of property in the district. The budget was based, as directed by the Finance Committee, on the assumption of a net zero increase in the value of property (otherwise known as "Equalized Value") within the school district. This one is a little beyond our control. We know that assessed value of our homes actually went down, so the first inclination is that maybe the projection is actually too high already. But you also have to consider the value of NEW homes built since last year, and new businesses in the district...such as the new Target. A 1% increase in Equalized Value (with no reduction to the Tax Levy) would result in a $0.12 decrease to the mill rate.

2. Decrease the Tax Levy (Budget Cuts). This is the tough part...cutting things from a budget. Some things are fixed, such as the debt levy; we borrowed the money for construction of the new high school and now we have to start paying it back. This is also where the district and school board are right (technically) that a 7-day newspaper subscription, flowers, KitKat bars,sea bass dinners, and lots of pizza don't really affect the mill rate. Individually, they have minuscule impact on a mill rate. Add 'em all up, however, and we do start to see "real" money. More importantly, this kind of "want vs. need" budgeting only costs the taxpayers money.

It's funny that at the public hearing on the budget, school board member Caren Diedrich specifically spoke to teachers who may feel the lack the tools to do their jobs effectively.

" We meet the teachers' needs...we don't always rise to their wants. "
- School Board member Caren Diedrich

Hmmm...who's policing district administration and school board "wants"???

To really see a dent in the mill rate, we need to focus on the big ticket expenditures. The only new big ticket item, this year, was the 4K program. The bottom line, no matter how they spin it, is that the net effect THIS year was a COST to the budget of about $640,000. Assuming the Equalized Value projection is accurate, we would need to shave the budget by $1,000,000 for every $0.25 reduction in the mill rate.

3. Reduce the Tax Levy (Dip into the Savings Account). What many people do NOT know, is that the district maintains a "savings account" of sorts. It's called "Fund Balance", but it basically exists as a "rainy day" fund to cover unexpected high dollar costs that were not budgeted. Say, for example, the boilers completely die in a couple of schools. That would cost a lot of money, and once a budget is set, it's hard to cover these expenses. Just as you (hopefully) maintain savings accounts for these "rainy" days, so to the district has its "Fund Balance, which it can tap into for emergencies. Already, in this budget, the district is using $200,000 from Fund Balance to pay off property tax chargebacks. With the proposed budget, the general Fund Balance sits at $7,800,000. Using $1.500,000 from fund balance would reduce the mill rate increase by $0.38, saving the owner of a $200,000 home $77 on their property taxes.

The Case Against Using Fund Balance to lower the Tax Levy
Why shouldn't we dip into the savings account? The single biggest reason is that the strength of our "savings account" affects our bond rating (much like an individual's credit score). If the bond rating goes down too much, than when we need to borrow money, we are not eligible for the lowest rates generally available. The problem is that the district/board will never speak in specifics. There's just that somber tone of "our bond rating will drop. Our interest rates will rise".

Certainly, that is true, but the last time this issue arose, the difference in interest rate was less than 0.05%....like 4.75% vs. 4.79%. Also, bond ratings are obtained based on MORE than just the heft of one's Fund Balance (savings account). They look at the viability of the school district. If the district's projections for increasing enrollment ring true, then more kids means more money...and who WOULDN'T invest in that?

The Case FOR applying Fund Balance to Lower the Tax Levy
They call Fund Balance a district's "rainy day" fund. With local people out of work, or suffering from wage cuts or furloughs...with people struggling to keep their homes out of foreclosure...people, could it really get much rainier??

And...if the district's answer to that question is, "Yes, it could get much rainier", then don't you think they should be telling us?

It's Time Again...Celebrity Resemblances Part 6?

Yes...it has been awhile...and this one has long been in waiting. Thanks to the community members who recommended it.

We Guess Sun Prairie just has a Bigger Appetite than Madison!

Madison Mayor Dave Cheeselewinski says Madisonians cannot afford an 8.5% increase to property taxes. Maybe he could pass that on to Mayor Joe during their lunch that Mayor Joe had to buy to catch Dave's ear.

Then maybe Mayor Joe could pass that on to the school board. Of course our mayor sat in on the recent public hearing on the proposed school board budget, and didn't offer any input of any kind.

So...while the public opinion in Madison is that even 4.25% is too much of an increase to swallow, our talented school board members are on the brink of approving a 12.6% increase to the mill rate---or more!

" Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz says there's "no appetite" for an 8.5 percent city property tax increase. No kidding. Even half that number would be scary. With so many people facing wage freezes, furloughs or worse, now is not the time for a fat tax hike. Scale back leaf collection. Eliminate Sunday hours at the Downtown library. Drop a recruit class of firefighters if that's what it takes. But don't jack up property taxes for the sake of status-quo spending. "
--WI State Journal Sunday Opinion

Read the details for the Monday 8/24/09 budget proposal at the school board's Finance Committee

Of course....if no one attends and bothers to comment at school board or Finance committee meetings, then the board WILL do exactly as administration recommends.

So seriously, folks, get off your duff and speak up...or just smile and say. "Thank you, may I have another", when your property tax bill comes in.

Newspapergate?

Letters...we get letters...

SP-EYE,
I'm not sure how long the State Journal subscription is for, but a few weeks ago I renewed mine for $ 41.80 for 7 days a week for 26 weeks.

I'm assuming [the school district office staff] don't need the Sunday paper, yet on the Newspaper web site a 26 week subscription for 7 days is $123.50 [which is the exact amount of EACH of the 2 checks approved].

We may need to have JohnE do some price shopping for us before we buy things (or would that be micro-managing also?).

-----A concerned and "tax poor" citizen

---

Hmmm....so...are we paying for a couple of people's Sunday paper now, too?

Ever curious and wanting to "get the facts", SP-EYE did a little Internet digging and found on the State Journal website that "Concerned "Tax Poor" Citizen doesn't speak with the forked tongue we've come to expect from the Powers That Be.

For the record...we're certainly not opposed to having a newspaper subscription for the middle school and high school libraries (Do elementary kids really read the newspaper?). But the taxpayers shoulder enough of the luxury life of the $100K club. We think this was yet another in a growing list of poor calls by our elected leaders, the school board. And stomping on the Finance Committee...which made the correct call, makes this truly bad form.

Ya know what's really poor form though? Administration should have stepped up and said, "hey school board, we really agree that this is an inappropriate expense, we're just going to cancel those subscriptions, which we shouldn't have made in the first place". Ahhhh...fairy tales....aren't they grand?

Psst... school board members... John Q Public IS watching. And they don't think very highly of your shenanigans.

JohnE Doesn't Micro-Manage...but can he manage, period?

John Whalen's school board legacy will be "I Will Not Micro-Manage...".

Of course that's his "Get Out of Jail Free" card for every tough issue that calls for him to put the big boy pants on and actually make a hard decision. All he has to do is say "we're micro-managing...let the district administration do their jobs". That's right, play the "micromanaging" card.

What was truly comical (but sad if you really think about it) this past Monday night occurred first at the school board's Finance committee meeting. The Finance committee (3 school board members) voted unanimously to cancel the subscription. Then, at the school board meeting, the full board stomped all over the Finance Committee's decision and voted to APPROVE the newspaper subscriptions.

The issue
At issue was two checks for $123.50 each to pay for Wisconsin State Journal newspaper subscriptions for the district office and then one for the "Buildings and Grounds" (BG). Hello...they are the same location!! What? is one for the upstairs and one for the downstairs? One for the breakroom and one for the restroom?

Check#__FOR_____________DATE______AMOUNT___NOTE
95553 WI STATE JOURNAL 07/14/2009 123.50 R DO SUBS
95586 WI STATE JOURNAL 07/14/2009 123.50 R BG NEWSPAPER

Why care?
We've heard about the taxpayer funded, sweet birthday card and a Kit Kat bar for employees' birthdays. We've heard about taxpayer-funded pizza or subs for lunch whenever they choose hold a meeting over the lunch hour. We've heard about the nice tax-payer funded floral memorials whenever a district staffer's relative passes. And did we mention $42 sea bass dinners? Can you say "sense of entitlement"?

What's wrong with this picture
We don't have to tell you this. Does your employer buy you not one but TWO copies of the newspaper to read? If you're like most people, either (A) someone brings in their paper from home, (B) a group pitches in and pays for a subscription out of their pockets, or (C) the proceeds from a pop machine or "honor" snackbox fund the newspaper. But if you work for the state, the taxpayers don't pay for newspaper. Why? because the managers would not allow it. It's not right for taxpayers to pay for non-essentials. And folks...newspapers, KitKat bars, lunches, and sea bass are all non-essentials.

It's not about the cost. It's about what is right...and what is wrong. Wanna know how the rich get richer/ They get the taxpayers to pay for the "little things". These are $100K per year salaried folks who can't shell out $123 for a newspaper subscription?!? We pay Tim Culver $425 per MONTH for "miscellaneous" expenses with no receipt or accounting required. You don't think HE could offer to pony up for a newspaper for his valued troops? Why the hell should he, when he can count on the school board to authorize taxpayer funds to cover it. And he knows that the majority of the community is either clueless, apathetic, or despite frustration and non-belief simply chooses not to speak up.
Community members...your silence is interpreted as acceptance. Hope you can live with that.

The excuse
The only excuse the board/administration has is "we're talking a minuscule expense in relation to a $65,000,000 (can you say $70M?) budget. Awesome! Good comeback! So...why don't we pay to have their cars washed every week? Why not pay to have their clothes laundered? After all...they get dirty while doing their job.

WHEN WILL THE SCHOOL BOARD FINALLY DRAW THE LINE?

Somebody needs to alert JohnE that the fact of life of school district administrators--not just in Sun Prairie, or even Wisconsin-- is that they like to pad their salaries and they like to live high on the hog. It's a school board's job (remember, people, they are elected by us to DO OUR BIDDING?) to take control over the financial part of the operation. Can anybody even point to ONE instance where Whalen stepped up to the plate and refused to support a recommendation from the administration?

It's also a sad commentary of our school board in action. And that the most that we can hope for is that people in this community finally experience the one straw that will break the camel's back and start speaking out.

Ya know what the school board doesn't get? That until that day comes, we'll be here to call them out on all the ridiculous things that they spend money on. Maybe they can somehow rationalize it in their own minds, but thanks to the world wide web, we can see to it that their weird decisions and spend-happy ways are taken out of the closet and shared for the whole world to see. Eventually, it may make it harder for them to rationalize what they do. We can wait.

Add another $79,371 in salaries to the budget

Administrative Compensation Pay Increases - Take 2.

At the Monday 8-17-09 H/R Committee meeting (5:30 PM, District Office)
the school board's H/R Committee will take up the issue of Administrative Support Staff increases (except for the Energy Educator, who gets a decrease...excuse us..."red-circled").

What does this wonderful plan (that has already been included in the proposed budget) do:

$$ Gives the "Business Manager" a $2.40/hr raise ON TOP OF the $2.50/hr raise received last year. Damn, life is good.

$$ Gives a whopping 22.4 to 28.9% increase to the minimum/maximums for the Communications Specialist

$$ Stiffs the secretaries and Administrative Assistants, while giving overly generous increases to the already well-padded salaries of "Program Managers"

$$ Avoids the subject of direct raises and instead focuses the report in terms of "range minima/maxima.

You can read the propaganda at
BoardDocs info for 8-17/09 H/R meeting

OR, you can revisit the actual data we presented earlier. These are the cold hard facts.

See the actual fat raises this proposal gives--something not shared with the public by the district unless you asked

See what the US Dept. of Labor says similar jobs in WI are worth

Budget Hearing Postponed till Thursday Aug. 13

At the School Board meeting last night, the Chairperson of the Finance Committee, Terry Shimek announced that the Public Hearing on the 2009-2010 budget would be postponed for one day to Thursday August 13 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 100 of the District Office at 501 South Bird Street. That evening, the School Board's Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the proposed 2009-2010 budget.

Information about the budget and links to associated documents are available on the District Website.

The District an Board apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you wish to share your opinions but will be unable to change your plans to attend on Thursday evening, you may share them directly with these board members on the Finance Committee


Terry Shimek (chair) https://mail.wisconsin.gov/owa/redir.aspx?C=42c6d32925d845c1bc10300e0ec3332a&URL=mailto%3atwshime%40spasd.k12.wi.us


Caren Diedrich https://mail.wisconsin.gov/owa/redir.aspx?C=42c6d32925d845c1bc10300e0ec3332a&URL=mailto%3acrdiedr%40spasd.k12.wi.us


Jim McCourt https://mail.wisconsin.gov/owa/redir.aspx?C=42c6d32925d845c1bc10300e0ec3332a&URL=mailto%3ajrmccou%40spasd.k12.wi.us




Terry Shimek twshime@spasd.k12.wi.us
Carne Diedrich crdiedr@spasd.k12.wi.us
Jim McCourt jrmccou@spasd.k12.wi.us

Public Hearing on the Budget this Week

08/12/2009 SPECIAL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
7:00 p.m., at the District Office, Room 100,
501 S. Bird St., Sun Prairie


Yep....at long last there will be a public hearing on the budget. However,...just like last year...there's no information for you to review. Can you say "SHENANIGANS"? What a great game plan: if the district doesn't make all these numbers available to the public until just before the meeting, then there's no way the public can make enough sense of them to formulate an opinion. Therefore, the District can march ahead and do what they want and say, "Well, we held a public hearing and received no comments".

What we can tell you is this: The District plan is to have a budget that will raise the mill rate at least $1.28 over last year to $11.81 per $1,000 of assessed value. An alternative plan would allow the district to spend up to the revenue limit (an additional $591K). That would result in a mill rate increase of $1.43 ($11.96/$1,000).

The budget assumptions include cutting all building budgets by 5%. This includes materials and supplies for all the schools! Gee...isn't it nice that the belt tightening finally comes at the expense of the students---AFTER the employees have all gotten very healthy raises. Don't kid yourself about those "3.8% Total package" figures, either. Many employees are seeing salary increase much greater than 3.8%. Where's the shenanigans? Consider why the board rushed to resolve contracts faster than they have ever done. Culver likes to say that the contracts are a significant piece of the budget which must be agreed upon before you can see budget information.

Horse Puckey! You BUDGET for how much you are willing/able to spend and THEN open negotiations. Board members will tell you that they didn't offer less for fear of losing in arbitration. They should all be poker champions if they can truly say that with a straight face! In this economic crisis, there is NO WAY the district would have lost at the arbitration table.

So there, you have it ladies and gents. At the MINIMUM, it looks like the school district portion of property taxes on a $200,000 home will increase by $256.

Our advice to you---if you care at all-- is to:

(A) raise holy heck with the district office and the school board for scheduling a public hearing with NO ADVANCE notice of budget data. Call 'em. E-mail 'em. Let them know that it is unacceptable to not make this data available at least a week in advance.

(B) Come to the budget hearing and tell them you're upset about (A) and then speak your piece about spending.

Final Plan for Youth Advocates Goes Before Board Monday

Costs to increase 14.8%

On Monday, August 10, the Administration's' final plan for Youth Advocates instead of Security Guards at the high school will go before a vote of the school board. Wanna bet that the board will vote 7-0 to approve it? We hear Vegas is laying odds of 20-1.

Administration found a group that operates via the United Way that will provide us with two Youth Advocates at a cost of $45,000. At 7 hours per day and a 175-day contract, that works out to $18.37 per hour for each. That's $5.00 more per hour than the $13.27 per hour the Administration planned to pay Youth Advocates hired under Local 60. It's also $2.37 per hour more than we paid the contracted Security Guards. Gee...don't you just wonder why the sudden change of heart and move away from hiring staff? They were so adamant about that in our last episode.

Notably, a large part of the rationale for hiring FTE Youth Advocates as district employees was that the security guards were not authorized to touch any student, making it difficult to quell physical confrontations. But...wait...don't we have the same problem with these contracted "Youth Advocates"?

Read the Situation Report for the 8/10/09 meeting

Let the Record Show:

OK, Sportsfans...
The records request has been filled, and oh....the picture it shows.

Again...let us be perfectly clear up front. The following is not intended to slight Partor Rayford. We think he will be a good addition to the Finance Committee. We see him as merely an unfortunate pawn in the school district's bizarre chess game. The issue on the table is ONLY the manner in which John Whalen fractured "the rules" and "sacred" policy in order to get the candidiate they wished on a Committee. Similarly, the rest of the sheep that supported Whalen's misdeeds should be held just as accoutnable.

Dateline Friday July 10, 3:46 pm.
Pastor Rayford's e-mailed letter of application is received, 15 minutes before the deadline. This letter requests ONLY consideration for the Human Resources Committee.

FROM:Tim Culver
TO: pastorrayford@fhlfamily.com
CC: Diedrich, Caren; King, Gwen; Mikula, Annette; Whalen, John
DATE: 7/12/20096:56 AM
SUBJECT: Re: Citizen Representative Committees

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter. I have forwarded it to the appropriate Board members. Thanks for your interest. Hope to see you soon.
----------------------
>>>> pastorrayford@fhlfamily.com 7/10/2009 3:46 PM >>>>>
Dr. Culver,
As a resident of Sun Prairie, I am greatly concerned about the future of our district and its ability to continue to serve a growing and diverse community. I have devoted a significant amount of time over the past 2 years, to studying the complexities and challenges facing our community and I would like to serve the community by volunteering for one of the citizen representative positions.
The committee I am most interested in is the Human Resources committee. Having served on 2 special committees pertaining to bUilding a diverse workforce, I feel this will be the best fit for me. I will gladly provide a personal resume of my work experience upon request. The work experience includes over 10 years in management at large corporations such as General Electric, CitiCapital, and The Associates.

Pastor Harold E. Rayford
Faith, Hope and Love Worship Center

Dateline Sunday July 12, 6:56 pm.
Tim Culver acknowledges receipt of Pastor Rayfors's application.

Dateline Monday July 20, 8:20 pm.
Pastor Rayford's scheduled interview ONLY for the Human Resources Committee.

Dateline Tuesday July 21, 4:31 pm.
Verrrry interesting. John Whalen's e-mail to Pator Rayford requesting that he call him on his cell phone. We wonder....did any OTHER candidate get to have the opportunity for additional questions or interview time? Nice decision to use the personal cell phone...untraceable record-wise. Geee...since this was part of the interview, shouldn't this have been done under the watchful public eye?

From: John Whalen
To: pastorrayford@fhlfamily.com
Date: 7/21/2009 4:31 PM
Subject: Follow up questions

I was certainly a pleasure talking to you last night. I have a couple follow up questions that I would like to ask you. When you have a moment, would you please call me at 513-xxxx.
John Whalen President
Sun Prairie School Board jewhale@spasd.k12.wi.us

Dateline Thursday July 23, 5:02 pm.
Here's the silver tuna. John Whalen officially makes his nominations for the committees. Note that we have NO RECORD indicating that Pastor Rayford even REQUESTED a slot on the Finance Commitee. Yet here he is...nominated for that appointment.

From: John Whalen
To: Tim Culver
Date: 7/23/20095:02 PM
Subject: Re: Committee Members
I have inserted the names below. It would be nice if Gwen called the nominees on Monday. If we send a letter to all applicants, I don't know if it is necessary to notify those that were not nominated. If you feel otherwise, give me a call and we can discuss it.
John Whalen President
Sun Prairie School Board jewhale@spasd.k12.wLus
>>> Tim Culver 07/23/09 1 :27 PM >>>
John:
If you give us the names of the members you are going to nominate on Monday, I can have Gwen insert them in a situation report.
Education & Policy Committee 2009-2011: Christina Klawitter
Facilities, Technology & Transportation Committee 2009-2010: John Wilke
2009-2011: Patrick Anderson
Finance Committee 2009-2011: Pastor Harold Rayford
Human Resources Committee 2009-2011: Betty Collier

Dateline Friday July 24, 9:55 AM.
Here is Culver's--not Whalen's-- rather urgent request to Pastor Rayford that he submit a follow-up letter of interest for the Finance Committee.


From: Tim Culver
To: pastorrayford@fhlfamily.com
Date: 7/24/20099:55 AM
Subject: Re: Citizen Representative Committees

My assistant Gwen is gone today, so perhaps you have already done what I am going to inquire about. The Board president, John Whalen indicated that he intends to nominate you this Monday 7-28-09 to become a member of the Finance Committee. To do so, by Monday he needs a written letter of interest to serve on the Finance Committee on file as well as your address in the school district. As I said, perhaps you've sent these to Gwen or John, but if not, feel free to send them to me via e-mail and I will see they get to the people who need them on Monday.

Dateline Friday July 24, 3:26 PM.
At long last, the district has the magic letter of interest in hand, expressing interest in appointment to the Finance Committee. 2 weeks after the application deadline; 4 days after the interview.

From: Tim Culver
To: King, Gwen; Whalen, John
Date: 7/24/20093:26 PM
Subject: Fwd: Citizen Representative Committee

>>>> pastorrayford@fhlfamily.com 7/24/2009 2:43 PM >>>>>

I would like to amend my original letter of interest to include my new home address and to express my desire to serve on the Finance Committee. As you know, I have extensive experience working in the finance arena. Also, my new home address xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Sun Prairie, 53590. Please feel free to forward this information as you see fit.

Pastor Harold E. Rayford

Faith, Hope and Love Worship Center

---

SP-EYE - What bother us most is that the board and Dr. Culver clearly got Pastor Rayford involved in their duplicitous dealings. That is shameful to say the very least.

Here is the incredible list of shattered rules and policies that Whalen and the sheep left in their wake. Public trust? Kiss that goodbye.

• The board violated it's own clearly published deadlines (applications due July 10).
• The board violated its policy (requires application materials --with a due date--to include the committee(s)_ of interest; a separate letter is required for each.
• The board interviewed the pastor ONLY for HR.
• The followup interview questions John Whalen asked of the pastor are part of the interview process and therefore are part of the public record. Where is the public meeting notice for that phone call? Where are the minutes of the conversation? Yet another violation of open meeting laws?

Where will it end? When will it end? All we can tell you is that until members of this community that are disgusted with this way of doing business step forward and speak out, why should the board follow the rules?

School Board: Take A Lesson

An exercept from an article in today's State Journal (Business section) from the AP. This article also appeared in Forbes:

Q: Are there little things companies are doing to cut costs?
A: During difficult times, no expense is too big - or too small - to cut back.
You've probably seen this at your own workplace, where even items like office supplies might be hard to find these days. Or you've seen it on airlines, which are notorious for trimming even the smallest of costs, like free snacks or drinks. Conference calls replace business trips and catered lunch meetings become brown bag affairs.
Even Google, which boasts some of the cushiest employee perks out there, no longer provides free bottled water at its headquarters.

How many times when the school board has been chastised for spending money on pizza lunches, bottled water (instead of good old TAP water), Kit Kat bars, and memorials --to mention only a few--- have members of the school board responded with their mantra:

“ Those are insignificant costs to a $65M budget. ”

-- various Sun Prairie school board members

Maybe...just maybe....they'll listen to recognized business leaders. Obviously they don't give a second thought to these things when raised by citizens. This school district MUST be run more like a business than an expensive plaything.

But...but...we're in the top 10

First...and foremost...the "Stuff the Bus" promotion is an awesome example of community members and businesses coming together for a great cause. We want to make it clear that we need to separate the two concepts: Good cause vs. Spin doctoring.

---

Stuff the Bus with School Supplies
Sarah Heck [seheck@spasd.k12.wi.us]
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:57 AM

District e-News to Key Communicators:
Sun Prairie community members can help Stuff the Bus with school supplies beginning today, July 31 through Saturday, August 1, to help families in our school district who struggle to afford school supplies. More than 1500 students in the Sun Prairie Area School District cannot afford school supplies.

---

Here's our issue: 1500 kids, out of a school district of 6000 means that 25% of the kids in our district cannot afford school supplies.

How would that be? After all, Sun Prairie just got named one of the "Top 10 Towns for Families" in the August edition of Family Circle. Certainly a town that is "good for families" does not mesh with the idea that 25% of the kids in those same families cannot afford basic school supplies.

Oh, wait. Maybe that's because they didn't interview one of THESE families. Instead they interviewed a family where one parent is a high salaried engineering consultant who did some work for the school district. And the other parent, is a "Research Data Assessment Specialist" employed by the school district at a very healthy salary. But, of course, Family Circle didn't mention the interviewees' connection with the district and that they do not represent the "average" Sun Prairian in terms of income.

Yes...Sun Prairie is a nice community. The school system has an excellent foundation because of its teaching force. But something is inherently wrong on the community front when 25% of the students cannot afford basic school supplies. I don't think anyone can argue that point. And that is the point we want to leave you with.

Our school board continues to spend, spend, spend...and the number of kids who cannot afford basic school supplies (and families who need to buy them) continues to increase , increase, increase.

So...thank you Kobussen and community members for giving. Thank you school district for setting this up. But school board members....as you work on your budget...could you maybe keep that 25% figure in your collective heads? It's time to start tightening that belt.

Is this REALLY the lot we should purchase?

Okay...three orders of business to dispense with right from the get go.

1. We sincerely appreciate the work that Nick Conrad has done for the school district in identifying lots to purchase for the high school's Home Building Program. Mr. Conrad is certainly one of the "builders" of whom, Dr. Culver frequently speaks.

2. We think that the Home Building Program has been an incredible addition to the high school curriculum offerings. Not every kid goes off to college after high school. The mission of the district is to provide an education that will prepare ALL students for life beyond high school. And, for those who are blessed with construction skills, this is an outstanding program. There are many of us that were born to be dangerous with a tool in our hands. We salute those whose special talent for working with tools and materials can be honed to designing and building beautiful homes.

3. By our count (and we could be in error), the Home Building Program is about to being work on its 6th home. The 5 built to-date have been beautiful homes. In fact, this year's home was certified as a "green" home. These homes all sold relatively quickly after construction, and the district has more than covered the cost of the program. Many such programs cannot make that claim.

This leads us to the topic du jour: selection of the lot to purchase for NEXT year's (2010-11 school year) home construction class. Mr. Conrad and the district have looked at a number of lots and one was selected and presented to the Finance Committee for initial approval last Monday. The recommendation to purchase was approved to be forwarded to the full school board on a vote of 3-2, with the three board members (Diedrich, McCourt, and Shimek) voting in favor, while the two citizen representatives voted against. Hmmm. The citizens didn't like the lot selection, the school board did. Sounding familiar?

Why this may not be the best lot
The mantra of real estate professionals everywhere is: "Location. Location. Location." That's because three most important things to consider when buying or selling real estate are all the same: location.

So...why is this perhaps not the best location? We'll give you four reasons that the school board seems to be ignoring. And what magnifies these concerns is that they all come within 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile tops from the proposed lot.

1. Sun Prairie Memory Gardens cemetery to the north. The good thing? At least these neighbors should be quiet. [bah DUM! OK...we couldn't resist that one] But who chooses to live this close to a cemetery?

2. Proximity of the Wisconsin Cheeseman warehouse just a stone's throw to the southwest. With all operations being moved here from the Broadway drive site, traffic--especially truck traffic--is a growing concern. Again, how many choose to locate their house so close to a commercial enterprise of that size?

3. Whooo! Whoooo! No...that's not a cheer for this lot location...that would be whistl;e comming from the railroad line another stone's throw due south that runs northeast from there. Just as you're listening to the morning birds' calls, you'll get THAT little wake up.

4. Landlocked. There's only one way out, folks...and that is Clarmar drive heading north.

For these reasons, we do not believe this is the best place to showcase the talents of the students in the Home Building Program.

The case for the purchase of this lot
The ONLY substantive thing we heard to support this purchase was the price. The district can purchase this lot for $56,000, just $1,000 over the 2009 assessed value. Yes, the price is good. We've paid typically between $60,000 and $70,000 for previous lots, and lot cost goes a long way into the eventual market price.

The only other rationale was that it is hard to find a seller who's willing to wait one year to close on the sale (because that's how long it takes....although we're not sure we understand that because the option to purchase the lot can be done at the fall elector's meeting (and in fact will be up for discussion at this year's meeting). And since we get our initial outlay for the lot once we sell the house, it's not really a financial burden...is it?

We just think that this is an interesting time for board members to start getting concerned about costs. There was no such concern expressed by the vote when the board voted to approve 3.8% increases for teachers and administrators. And we KNOW that their intent is to extend that 3.8% increase to an across the board increase for all contracts...oh yeah...except for Local 60.

Sheep

“What do you get for pretending the danger's not real.
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.

What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes.
Now things are really what they seem.
No, this is no bad dream. ”
---Pink Floyd, "Sheep"

Whalen's Making It Up As He Goes Along

There's a great line in the old Back to the Future movie, when Marty asks the Doc about whether they will be able to navigate the famous DeLorean in the future. Doc Brown responds, "Roads? Where we're going we don't need any roads."

That line perfectly frames the state of the school board when president John Whalen unabashedly bashed board policy --not to mention basic fair play and common sense-- in making his citizen representative committee appointments this past Monday.

Whalen made it clear that the mantra of this board has become: Rules? Where we're going, we don't need rules."

This is not about the appointees. It is about basic policy, fairness, and a respectful way in which to conduct business as elected representatives of the community.

Not that it matters, since Whalen just tossed policy under the bus, but Board POLICY ABA - COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION-MAKING, says the following:

1. The School Board believes that the schools belong to the community and that the Board was created to serve the community and the children in the community.
Therefore, the Board shall exert all reasonable efforts to identify the desires
of the community and to be responsive, through its actions, to those desires.
Board members shall remain mindful that they are elected to represent the citizens of the district.