School Planning Pace is Too Slow

The Sun Prairie school district initiated a Space Planning project late last fall.  Formal meetings began in February 2015 and then ended abruptly on June 2nd 2015.  Granted there were a few balls being juggled what with the need to get a solid school district administrator in place (Check!) and then the district hired an architectural firm to help "really look at what we have".  Then we had 3.5 months of no news whatsoever.  This week, however a "first" meeting (WTHWT?  a "reboot"?) was held of the School Space Planning committee.  The whole public was invited to join.  Postcards went out to every resident.  And we got 100-110 people.  Anyone want to guess how much that number will be whittled down by the time the next meeting comes?

Now the call is for a lengthy process culminating in June with a target to go to referendum In November 2016.  The date is a good one because it coincides with the Presidential election which is sure to bring the healthiest number of voters out.

But...a lengthy process?  As Sweet Brown said, "Ain't Nobody Got Time for That!".
Look, we totally get it.  We need to keep the community informed and get buy-in.  We need to explore all options.  But no one said that "explore" requires lengthy discussion.  If one puts all options on the table, they might incude such approaches as:

• increasing class target sizes by 1-3 kids/classroom (teachers and parents should love that)
• running split schedules (some kids go say 7-1 and others 1-7) (aint nobody got time for that)
• purchase or rent portable classrooms (the District of Choice uses portables?  Um...no)
• move 5th graders into the middle schools or 7th grade up to CHUMs (maybe...but that means TWO boundary changes...excusing us for using the B" word)
• Add on to existing schools. (that violates the long-term policy of school sizes, doesn't help much, and costs much the same as building new)

And there are many other options, but none comes without as much "Con" as "Pro" and they all merely kick the can down the road.  We're waiting time.  The otions have all been tallied.  It's time the School Board (Ms. Hansen are you available?) it down in a special session and just vote each one out.   Let's face the reality. folks.  We WILL need to build more classrooms.  Might as well get used to that idea.  If we weren't planning on building new schools, why on earth are we about to hire a construction FIRM (not a construction MANAGER...been there, done that...didn't end well).

LOOK AT THE DATA people.  We had 5 of 7 elementary schools over capacity last year, we're already at 6 of 7 this year because again we got at least 50 more new kids than projected.  WE NEED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPACE NOW!  So let's just agree on that an move forward.  And based on projection, even if we started now, we project to have at least 1/2 of a full elementary school of new kids before the school could even open!

Just do the math.  7 elementary schools and 3545 kids this year. That's 507 kids per school! Do we really ant to have more than 500 per school?  If we want to be like LA, New York, or Chicago...maybe.  And that's now.   If we build just ONE new school in 4 years there will be an average of 460 kids in each of 8 elementary schools.  And that assumes we add kids at exactly the UW projection rate (and they do NOT factor in new home construction!).  We've been above the curve nearly every year.  So wouldn't it be better to just go ahead and build 2 elementary school...now? We're quite certain building 2 elementary school at once is cheaper than one and then another in 4-5 years.

Another high school...it's time.
Yep, the time is finally starting to come.  And we were staunch opponents of the two high school option back in 2006-07.  We put it off for 10 years so far, but at the rate this community is growing, we WILL need another high school in 5 to 8 years.  Why not build it now?  We have the land.

What's it all going to cost?
The cost for an elementary school is likely around $20M including staff (another principal, office staff, more teachers, support staff).
Can we get on for less?  Yes. absolutely, but it would have to be less frilly than Creekside or Horizon.
In fact, the 2015 Annual Construction Report indicate that the MEDIAN elementary school cost in this region is $16M.  A median high school would cost about $55M.  Let's say $60M with staff.c

That means with 2 elementary schools and a high school, the tab would run $100M.
Don't you think we need to get real about this figure and start letting it sink in?

We do not have the time or energy to fiddly fart around on this.  We know what we want to do.  Yes, some will be opposed (these things are never 100% yes).  So let's work from here to get people on board for a 3-school $100M project.

2 Out of 3 is Not Good Enough

Warning:  This material may not be suitable for over SPARCly people, or those that prefer to shrink away from matters that...well...matter.  It may be spun as bullyism, but we'll take that risk.  Because the needs of the many DO outweigh the needs of the few, or in this case, the one.

In April, we ---the collective we, the people---elected 3 brand spanking new school board members (out of 7).  Scary.  Scarier is that only 1 of the 3 had any real experience working on committees of the school board.  It's so scary that it's time to do a 6-month review of performances to date.
Now Meatloaf used to sing, "2 outta 3 ain't baaaaad".  Maybe 2 out of 3 isn't bad, but is 2 out of 3 good enough?  The 7 members of our school board are expected to work diligently and rapidly come up to speed on ALL aspects of running a school district, from financial matters, to management and operations, to hiring and deciding when t's time to let go, and to dealing with a city that has rapidly developed from its farm community roots into a multi-cultural mega-suburb of a very large capitol city.

So we elected 3 new members:

• Marilyn Peebles Ruffin, who has several children in the upper grades, and who is a substitute teacher in the district. 

• Marta Hansen - who has 2 young kids and whose spouse is a teacher in the district.  She is owner of a piano/music/art shop in Sun Prairie that does at least some business with the district.

• Dave Hoekstra - has two adult children and is an engineer and Sunday school teacher.

So....right out of the chute we had some issues to deal with.  Ms. Ruffin had a conflict of interest in being on a school board and being employed by the district.  So the substitute teaching had to stop. It would also be a conflict of interest for Ms. Hansen to actively do business with the district as a board member.  At the very least, she would have to recuse herself from any votes regarding those dealings....like teacher compensation.   Was that even something they thought about when they ran for office.  Neither of these two had served on any board committees, which, while not a pre-requisite, would have prepared them for the extent of time commitment required to serve on a school board.  While we're not trying to favor Mr. Hoekstra, at least he had that experience.

Being a school board member DOES require an exceptional amount of time.  To do it well, that is.  First, one needs to develop a rapid understanding and appreciation for all that goes on behind the scenes.  Being a school board member does NOT mean just sitting at a board table for 2 hours twice a month and sprinkling in a few "aye"s  once in awhile.

In addition to regular board meetings, there are board committee meetings.  At least two standing committees plus the uber-critical School Space Planning Committee meeting.  And then there are other meetings that pop up:  expulsion hearings, selecting a new district administrator, and even community-school meetings resulting from unexpected and tragic events such as the death of a former student.

Caution:  Here's where we need to start getting down (and some may say dirty).  Mr. Hoekstra and Ms. Ruffin are regular attendees at ALL these important sessions.  Ms. Hansen?  Not so much.  We get it.  She has young kids, a business, and a keen interest in music and the arts...including body art.   But she ran for and was elected to the school board.  It's long past time to get priorities in order.  We--the people-- are compensating Ms. Hansen $5,000 per year.   Newsflash...that is not for just attending (let's not even discuss preparing for) TWO board meetings a month.

In August, the school district and city held a joint meeting on gang activity in the city.  (Yes, Virginia, there ARE active youth gangs in Sun Prairie.  So sorry to upset your apple cart with that news).  All school board members were present---except for Marta Hansen.  She apparently had a very important Pop Song Singalong to attend that night.



When the School Space Planning Committee began last year, where was Ms. Hansen?  Why she  was playing the piano at Buck & Honeys.  And that happened several other times.  In fact, we haven't observed Ms. Hansen at ANY of the School Space Planning meetings!  Geee whiz, it's only the single most important happening in the district as we face OVER crowding in 6 of 7 elementary schools.  She also wasn't seen at the Meet and Greet for the new school district administrator, Dr. Brad Saron.  Way to make your prime employee feel welcome!

When we have seen Ms. Hansen at school BOARD meetings, she appears rather BORED...playing on her district-issued  iPad.  Could she be checking one of her not 1, not 2, but THREE Facebook pages?  Hmmm...it maybe time for an Open Records request of her browsing history and match it up to school board meetings!

While we appreciate the many passions, interests and commitments Ms. Hansen has in her life, all in all, we suggest that it's time for her to take stock in her life and decide whether she has enough room to commit to the school board.  If she wishes to remain on the board she needs to commit more time than she has to this point.