School Board: Only 43% Committed to Community Engagement

Now that the Annual Meeting is over, a little housekeeping is in order.
2 weeks ago, a certain community resident submitted an e-mail request to all 7 school board members.  If one were to perform an Open Records request for school board members e-mail received on October 3, 2010 said request would be identified.


The following is information from that e-mail:

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Sent: October 3, 2010
To:  All school board members
...
I would appreciate a simple acknowledgement that you received this.   Another frequent theme I hear is that several school board members don't respond to e-mail at all.  I'd like to be able to tell them otherwise.
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For the record, only 3 school board members responded.  Kudos go to:  Jill Camber-Davidson, Terry Shimek, and John Welke.  These 3 were able to set aside any personal feelings and respond as requested to a member of the public.


Caren Diedrich, Jim McCourt, David Stackhouse, and John Whalen offered no response whatsoever.  Very nice, people.  You've successfully demonstrated how petty and minuscule you really are.  THIS is how you engage the community?  You do NOT get the luxury of picking and choosing to which community members you respond.  You were elected to represent ALL of us.

In Memoriam: Policy ABA

Does anybody remember "Community Engagement"...you know...the committee chaired by Jim "McSeaBass" McCourt? The same Jim McCourt that is currently seeking re-election? Of course, it's also the Jim McCourt that is so busy starting his new personal business that he missed 1 out of every 4 school board meetings in 2009, and is already accelerating that pace in 2010, having missed 1 of the first 3. When he does show up for Finance Committee meetings, he also has a tendency to show up late, as reflected by meeting minutes.

We understand that Mr. McCourt is busy starting his new venture, and we respect that. But he was elected to serve on the school board, and is SEEKING re-election to said school board.

There's is no seat open for a half-time, 2/3 time, or even 3/4 time school board member.

Since Mr. McCourt seems to have forgotten "Community Engagement", we thought we should take a a moment and pause to reflect on the memory of school board policy ABA, last reviewed in 2002, which speaks heavily on the matter of involving citizens in board decisions.

POLICY ABA
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION-MAKING
Adopted by the School Board: September 26, 1988

Revised by the School Board: January 8, 1996; August 26, 2002

CROSS REF.: BCE, School Board Committees; BDDH, Public Participation at Board Meetings

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.

2. All citizens of the Sun Prairie Area School District shall be encouraged to express ideas, concerns and judgments about the schools through such means as: written suggestions or proposals, presentations at hearings; responses to surveys, written instruments or other means; comments at Board meetings; and service on ad hoc committees as defined by the Board.

3. The recommendations of the community will be given careful consideration. In evaluating these recommendations, the first concern will be for the educational program as it affects students.

[and we especially like this one..]

All decisions will be consistent with the Board's goals and policies, the best educational practices, and the financial resources of the community.

Something We've Been Wondering...

If school board & committee meeting agendas are published in the STAR...

...and the STAR's deadline for ads is Tuesday at noon...

...doesn't that mean that the agendas are ready by late Monday?

So WHY don't the agendas get published on the *amazing* BoardDocs website until late Thursday (and even as late as --ahem!-Friday morning) prior to the Monday meetings?

Ponder that one over your morning coffee.
Can you say "Community Engagement"?
There...we knew you could.

Oh we KNOW the answer...we're just wondering if you do.

Here's what BoardDocs says about availability of agendas:

" A limited number of paper copies of agendas will be available at the District Office.Agendas may be available for public view up to 5 days before the meeting. "

Whalen: You may ask...but we don't have to answer.

On Monday September 28, 2009, we entered a whole new era with our beleaguered school board. Now when a citizen uses their 3 minutes of "presentation time" to ask the school board a question, the board --in the form of prezident John E. Whalen-- declared that this is time for presentations...not questions. And the board doesn't have to answer questions.

Gulp. Hello! ELECTED officials! ELECTED to serve the people? So much for community engagement. Oh...that's right, the board seems to have slid that way past the back burner...in fact off the range and onto the floor.

Maybe this was Whalen's way of pleading the 5th, since the question posed by resident Rick Mealy was one of those questions where the board was kind of painted in a corner. But WE didn't paint that corner. THE BOARD did the painting. All Mealy did was point it out.

The question concerns shenanigans regarding use of the sacred fund balance to pay the cost of issuing bonds for the new high school. Why isn't that coming our of the high school project fund? We'll let you answer that after you see the lead up to the question.

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Is the $96M high school project already over-budget?
In our last episode, you all voted unanimously (minus Mr. McCourt who was in absentia) to pay $183,060, the cost of issuing the final construction bonds, out of the “rainy day fund (fund balance) instead of paying for it from the high school construction account. Hopefully Mr. Shimek now recalls that he not only voted in favor of this, but he made the motion as well, even though he told me he voiced opposition to it.

As a result, we now have a negative budget for 2009-10. The projected Expenditures exceed projected Revenues by exactly $183,060. What kind of budget plans for a shortfall? Who budgets to lose money?

Mr. Frei indicates that this is the first time you’ve done this despite the fact that we’ve incurred similar (or greater) costs twice previously in procuring the first $67M.

So…I’m wondering…why take it from the rainy day fund now? Especially when you voted against a motion to take $50,000 out of the rainy day fund to fully fund the schools. But we’ll get back to that.

The community voted for a referendum NOT TO EXCEED $96M. Surely, that $96M would cover a paltry $183,060, as has been done twice previously.

Or could it be that you’ve exhausted the project contingency fund, are in danger of exceeding the total project budget, are in danger of exceeding the approved referendum limit, and are reluctant to tell the community so?

We’re interested in hearing your side of the issue…so please…enlighten us. Why take the $183K from fund balance instead of the high school construction fund?
- Rick Mealy 9-28-09

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Are you picker? Or a nitter?

In a lengthy diatribe at last night's school board meeting, Dr. Culver first told the audience how they had it all wrong. And, clearly, HE wasn't on any 3-minute timer!!!

Culver read from prepared notes that clearly were prepared to counter information and commentary provided by good old SP-EYE. Culver went on ad nauseam about how Administration deserved the merit based raises that were being proposed.

Then, clearly irritated, Culver pointed at the audience and temporarily lost his composure. He called the group of those in attendance "nitpickers".

In what is sure to become a memorable moment in school board meeting history, Culver proceeded to point at audience members and declare, "You pick...and you nit...and you nit...and you pick..."

Our favorite part was how he emphasized that he had no vested interest in the [raises] process (since he requested ZERO raise from the board)....wasn't telling the board how to vote.....that his goal was to achieve equity between the various employee groups (Admin, Admin Support, Teachers) so that each got a 3.8% compensation increase.

Nitpicking, eh? Way to engage the community, Dr. C! Look...if you want your back patted, you could get a gaggle of your faithful to show up at meetings to shower you with praise. Maybe. But just because you don't like what the audience that is there has to say, is it appropriate to stoop to name calling? You know...this "nitpicking" could be construed as constructive criticism...but that's a 2-way street, and you and your cronies aren't interested in compromising. You want you want, and you just label those that disagree.

And could you perhaps explain how exactly we are "nitpicking" by pointing out how the instability of the economy does not support the concept of 3.8% across the board raises. Disagree? How about we ask 25 random community residents whether they agree with YOUR raises, or whether they feel that a "net zero"--red-circling--is in order for this year?

For etymological reference, the origin of the term "nitpick" referred to the act of manually (and laboriously) removing nits (eggs) of [yuck] head lice from another's hair. Some would say that the school district way of doing business frequently develops "lice" infestations. Someone needs to address those.

Nitpicking inherently requires fastidious, meticulous attention to detail, the term has become appropriated to describe the practice of meticulously searching for errors in detail, and then criticizing them.

You can call it what you like...but there are many (arguably a majority) that feel your lack of a budget and the implementation of raises in this climate was far from nitpicking. You don't like to get called out when you step firmly in the doodie...we get that. Well...stop stepping in the cowpies, then!

Culver: Equity for all! (well...except for Local 60 that is)
Culver also waxed extensively (hmmm...that may have come out wrong) about how his goal in proposing these 3.8% raises was to have equity for all staff: The teachers agreed to 3.8%, he has proposed 3.8% for Admin Support, and now Admin is asking for only 3.,8%. Hold on there...what about Local60?

In all that talk about promoting equity and valuing the district staff, Culver seemed to forget that the Local 60 folks only got a 3.25% increase. So, if Culver really feels equity is important, why not push for only across-the-board 3.25% increases??? Oh wait...in McSeaBass Math that would mean like a 17% cut for Admin! How on earth would these folks be able to afford their $400K mansions and sea bass dinners?

Memo to ourselves: Why does Local 60 constantly get treated like a red-headed stepchild?

Celebrity Resemblance Time Again!

We know we haven't even finished with the school board members, but this one was too much to hold back. Thanks go out to one of our unsung community members (you know, Monte...part of the "WE") for calling our attention to the incredible resemblance between Assistant District Administrator Phil Frei and actor Corey Feldman.

Feldman is perhaps best known for his early work, including roles in the movies, "The Goonies", "Stand By Me", and "The Lost Boys" while also providing the voice of Donatello in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie.

Slane & Camber-Davidson get Dunked for Scholarships

Kudos to school board members Al Slane and Jill Camber-Davidson for volunteering themselves for the Cannery Square Block Party Dunk Tank Scholarship Fundraiser held yesterday June 20th. Camber-Davidson actually volunteered for TWO shifts!

What makes both their volunteer efforts ext ra special is that both these board members also pledged to personally match any funds received during their time in the dunk tank? Now that's what we call community engagement. Putting yourself "out there" to the community. What a great way to work WITH the community towards a great goal: scholarships.

All board members were contacted and invited to volunteer for the dunk tank. We understand that board president John Whalen was out of town for another event. As for Diedrich, Shimek, and Stackhouse. Unknown.

Where was Mr. Community Engagement?
So...where was Jim McCourt, Mr. Community Engagement himself? Well, there were numerous reported sightings of McCourt lurking at the Block Party. So he was most certainly in attendance, but too big to volunteer for the dunk tank and such a good cause? We're betting a whole lot of scholarship money would have been earned if Mr. McCourt had stepped up.

School Board Committee Vacancies Announced

The School Board is looking for a few engaged community residents to join one of the board committees. A total of 5 "seats" are open. Serving on a committee is a way of giving back to the community, while also presenting an opportunity to learn the innerworkings of the school board.

Please give some serious thought to applying for a committee slot. You don't need to be an expert on the committee's business...just be willing to learn. It's your opportunity to have your voice heard without fearing the dreaded 3-minute timer.

Link to School Board Committee Application info

[The School Board is] currently seeking individuals to fill the following Citizen Representatives for School Board Committees positions.

Application Deadline: Friday, July 10, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.

Facilities, Technology & Transportation: 2 vacancies – 1-year and 2-year appointments1 vacancy is for August 1, 2009 – July 31, 2011. 1 vacancy is for August 1, 2009 – July 31, 2010. The Facilities, Technology and Transportation Committee reviews maintenance and construction projects, bus routes and transportation program, and district technology plans. Committee meets the second Monday of each month.

Finance: 1 vacancy - 2-year appointment (August 1, 2009 – July 31, 2011). The Finance Committee reviews budget, investment portfolios, bids obtained by the school district, and purchases. Responsible for long-range financial planning. Committee meets the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

Education & Policy: 1 vacancy - 2-year appointment (August 1, 2009 – July 31, 2011). The Education and Policy Committee reviews curricular and instructional programs and services offered to students. Responsible for long-range educational planning. Committee meets the first Monday of each month.

Human Resources: 1 vacancy - 2-year appointment (August 1, 2009 – July 31, 2011). The Human Resources Committee reviews new staffing recommendations and makes recommendations to the Board on human resource matters, excluding bargaining unit negotiations. Committee meets the first Monday of each month.

Lack of Community Engagement leads to community EnRAGEment

Deep down inside, even the school board knows they screwed up. Of course they'd never publicly admit that, but secretly they know their actions over the course of the past year meant that they had violated the pooch, so to speak.

One thing Jim Carrel pushed for before he resigned his seat was the development of a special board sub-committee tasked with determining how the board could best win back public support. So the board voted to establish the "Community Engagement Task Force ". They held a bunch of meetings, as board-established task forces are wont to do, and on August 11, 2008, the committee's recommendations were presented to the board.

One key question the task force was charged with was answering the question,

"What can the School Board do to get community input into their work?"

The committee's answer came in the form of three suggestions. Each has been annotated with a simple "Yes/No" to indicate whether any action has been taken to-date.

1.Establish an on-going standing committee
ACTION           RECOMENDATION
NO           Enabled to call a community response team / study circle for use on specific issues
NO           Use same methodology as the community response team for the high school
NO           The community engagement committee will guide and review the implementation of these and future community engagement recommendations

2.Improve Board member accessibility
ACTION? RECOMMENDATION
NO           More face-to-face interaction
NO           “Meet the Board” sessions
NO           Listening sessions (at schools and within community)
NO           Booth at Corn Fest/community events / public venues
NO           Host/attend community/city events
NO           Town Hall Meetings

3.Leverage the Web (it is the future)
ACTION? RECOMMENDATION
NO           Public forum links
NO           On-line bulletin board
NO           On-line comment card
NO           Redesign website
NO           Call-in radio web show
NO           Set up/maintain blog

So....what are we waiting for, board members. Signs suggest that many more community members have become less enthralled with your behaviors and your direction.
What do you have to say for it?

Yellow Cards = Hearing Aid?

In its valiant attempts to engage the community---wait...did we say engage?---we meant ENRAGE the community, the school board decided to include only the statements made by 2 of the 5 community residents who spoke about the board's plan to implement a 4-yr old kindergarten.

When asked by Rick Mealy Monday night for an explanation from the board, Board president Stackhouse turned to his go-to guy, Tim Culver. Follow-up explanations were requested in writing, so that we could be sure we heard precisely what Culver's explanation was for not including comments from 3 residents.

Culver responded,

"The "yellow card" has been in use since before I arrived Sun
Prairie.It is a tool the secretary for the Board uses to capture the
name,address, and topic of public's testimony. It is obviously not a requirement to speak at a Board meeting, but is critical to her recordkeeping. If people speaking do not fill
the card out, the secretary is at times unable to hear the specific information and/or capture the gist of the speaker. "

So...basically, the "yellow cards", which are NOT a requirement of any board policy, act as a hearing aid!!! If the secretary doesn't have the yellow card, she can't hear the speakers????? We couldn't believe Culver's response either...so that's why we wanted to print it VERBATIM.

Wait...it gets better. The logic is just so inane. Couldn't the secretary SEE that 3 other people got up to the microphone? Wouldn't that have triggered her to take notes as she did for the other 2 speakers? Or is she blind as well as hearing challenged? Or did she just think that 3 people got up to the microphone each to stand for 3 minutes of silence? Surely, with all his degrees and education, Dr. Culver is able to make up some reasonably plausible rationale for the slight??? And wait... Not a single board member noticed that the meeting minutes did not actually reflect what transpired? Do they even READ their board packages?


PUUUHHHLEASSSE!!! How dumb does Culver think people are? Paul Keats gets basically tossed by the wayside, but Culver is allowed to remain securely employed after responding like this to a comunity member? Do board members really think that people don't see what's going on? Look, you don't like some of the community that speak up at meetings. We get that. But for a board that prided itself on being a model of decorum , this is purely bad form. It's arrogant...and it does NOT pass the smell test. So now the board feels like it can selectively filter out comments from the public record?

The whole thing is also quite funny, because the STAR reporter sitting WAAAAY in the back of the room seemed to not only hear what was said,m but managed to captured direct quotes. Gina Covelli didn't have one of those magic yellow cards. How did she manage to hear? Does she have one of those magic hearing amplifiers you see advertised on the TV???? Enquiring minds want to know all about Gina's super-hearing powers.

District resident Rick Mealy had one main comment: "Slow
down."His urging was echoed by district resident John Welke."In the past year, several decisions were made that this board and
district rushed into and they've been mistakes," Welke said.
"Slow it down. There's no reason why this can't wait
until next year."

---Sun Prairie STAR 1-15-09

The school board has done nothing after receiving recommendations from its "Community Engagement Task Force" several months back. Perhaps they've abandoned the idea of engaging the community and instead are working on plans to ENRAGE the community.

...and the hits just keep on coming.

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Has Anyone Seen the District Annual Report?

The annual elector's meeting is scheduled for next Monday October 13 at 7:00 pm in the high school auditorium. But how would you know? Unless you noticed the little blurb in the STAR, or obtained the school board's meeting packet, or listened (yawn!) through the entire school board meeting to catch "upcoming meeting announcements".


One week away and no annual report. Certainly not on the website...or even listed as a meeting!


THIS is how the board expresses its fervent desire for community involvement?
By minimizing publicity of the annual elector's meeting? The annual meeting report booklet SHOULD have been posted by now on the website, and the elector's meeting should have been announced as an upcoming meeting for several weeks as well.

But....perhaps the board would rather you not know????

They sure have got their referendum propaganda machine in full working order...more than 30 days in advance of THAT key date. I'm certain that you could drop by the district office and, upon request, obtain a copy of the report. But you'd have to go to those lengths to get one.

The above screen shots are of the school district website as of this weekend. Maybe this posting will prompt some action.

No Committee Members = No Meeting

What if the school board held a committee meeting...but nobody came? By nobody, we don't mean no one in the community, we mean, no one on the committee...well except for the chair.

Our very own Concerned Citizen reports that

" I attended the HR committee meeting [June 30] at the District Office ...unfortunately of the 5 members on the committee only the Chair ( Caren Diedrich) showed up. No quorum--no meeting --goodnight all!!"

Sure, it's summertime, but that doesn't excuse responsibility...certainly of elected board members. It's not like this wasn't an important agenda. The following topics were on tap for action or approval:

• the [basketball] co-head coach job description fiasco
• a side letter of agreement to the SPEA [teachers] contract
• a change in administrator contract days

Ahhh...but the board would likely say that we are focusing on the negative instead of embracing the positives. Tell ya what. We'll embrace the positives when the board stops sweeping the negatives under the carpet.

Community Engagement Task Force members, take a memo. Here's a free tip...and it's a simple concept. If you really want to engage the community, you might want to actually show up at committee meetings.

Graduation's Degradation?

Having attended graduation in the last few years as well as watching live on cable on several occasions, it should come as no surprise that our graduating seniors are busting at the seams to get on with their post-high school lives. Has this youthful exuberance finally exacted a painful toll on the celebration of the event by parents and grandparents who guided their kids through this long journey? Have the graduation ceremony hi jinx crossed the line?

One of the community parent groups collected informal comments from those that attended Graduation 2008. A sampling of the comments (uncensored) received appear below. This is a rather lengthy list. Is it enough for the school board to consider it as more than just one or two perennial "wreckers"?

Our understanding is that these comments were being packaged for presentation to district administration with a request to take some measure of action. Being somewhat skeptical that this information would ever see the light of day, SP-EYE brings it to you. Is it time for the school board and administration to do more than get dressed up and paste a smile on their faces as they go through the rote ritual of graduation? Some school board members spoke loudly about the "lack of decorum" at its own meetings...but apparently they don't care about a similar lack of decorum at what is supposed to be a professional ceremony.

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• [Student]...– no control so I figured I may as well “join them” –
  
• [Student]...– really felt sorry for the kid a row ahead of me – he got his cap knocked off at least five times and was really frustrated
• [Student]...– was not worth attending – got nothing out of it – should have kept my work hours and got something out of the 2 hours.
• [Student]...– Really sucks that some kids could not hear their name announced.
• [Student]...– who cares, it is fun and nobody cares about the speeches. Not like we had weapons
• [Unknown]...–It was out of control. Teachers looked ridiculous trying to maintain control – but give them credit, as at least somebody appeared to care as our board obviously does not care – behavior gets worse every year and no changes are made
• [Watched on TV]...–I was not able to be in attendance but did watch on cable channel. I’m glad I did not waste my time. This is a disgrace to our community
• [Grandparent]...–As a grandparent in attendance; I was shocked by the lack of control the school has over these kids. Is there no discipline anymore?
• [Unknown]...–Time to clean house from school board, superintendent, SPHS administration – they do not care about the quality of student – no principals or assistant principals in line to shake hands of graduates – of course I guess I would distance myself if I was responsible for this calamity
• [Unknown]...–Enough is enough – time for new principals and assistant principals and some teachers are to blame too. I’ve heard teachers allow disruptions in classroom, but choose to ignore and just try to talk/teach over the noise. I didn’t really believe that until Friday night.
• [Unknown]...–And to think that our school leaders want TWO high schools! Can’t control what they have now –
• [Parent of pre-high schoolers]...–I have 2 kids in Sacred Hearts – After what I witnessed I’ll be sending them to Edgewood High School.
• [Unknown]...–I would say that the conduct was about the same, but that the sound system was better indoors so you could hear over the noise a bit better. I think Dr. Culver had some good things to say, but kids didn't hear any of it which was too bad. I felt bad for the kids that were going across the stage when the beach balls were taken out of circulation and then the students booed. Unfortunately, I think the kids remember graduation for the beach balls and not the speeches. I'm not sure how decorum can be restored without doing searches for blow-up toys before the procession. Or, it can be acknowledged that there will be beach balls, but appeal to the graduates to hold them 'til the end. I have my doubts that would work.
• [Unknown]...–The ball/blown up condom/beach toys was going to far. We saw people starting to point at the number of beach balls in the air while graduates were walking across the stage. I think it was disturbing to some of the students that weren't interested in the game and most disrespect to the staffs.
• [Parent of a graduating senior]...–My first child graduated Friday, and I attended last year's ceremony when my niece graduated. I was appalled at the behavior of the students. Beach balls are one thing, but making all of that noise when people are speaking and announcing graduates is very rude and disrespectful and should NOT be tolerated in my opinion. Teachers are trying to take away the balls, they are booed by the students and the audience, which causes even more of a ruckus.
• [Parent of a graduating senior]...–My 2 sets of parents, my in-laws and aunt and uncle-in-law were all there, appalled, and I was embarrassed! It is pretty sad when you are there to see your child graduate and some parents couldn't even here their student called, or people were booing over the balls when a student was called.
• [Parent of a graduating senior]...–My dad said that the administration ought to stop the ceremony and not begin again until students are under control. If it takes too long, he believes the ceremony should be cancelled. My husband thinks that there ought to be a committee, made up of graduating seniors, that works with the administration to come up with a solution. Speaking of the administration, what is with Paul Keats? It is obvious he is not passionate about the students of SPHS and I find it horrible that he did not shake the hands of all of the students graduating. Isn't that what a principal does? Wouldn't one that cared about the kids want to be up there congratulating them? His speech was very short, which I don't blame him too much for as he was booed and horns were blowing during his speech last year and they were starting this year. Even still, what message is that sending?
• [Unknown]...–I say good for Dr. Culver for attempting a speech, even one that the students that wanted to hear couldn't due to the beach ball scene. I also say good for him for standing there and shaking hands with and speaking to the students.
• [Parent]...–As a parent of a graduating senior: Graduation is an emotional event for any parent. My thoughts on the graduation are a little mixed. I know that kids will be kids. And since I graduated over 30 years ago, kids have been doing the beach ball thing at graduation. It is kind of a tradition they don't want to miss out on. At times I felt that the audience was more disrespectful than the kids. Maybe if the teachers that are guarding the sides would just ignore the ball and not try to interfere with them, there would be less booing, etc. It just makes the kids want to get it back even more. I do feel sorry for the parents who could not hear their child's name called.
• [Unknown]...–Thanks to those that made it possible for having this event outdoors. The work done to prepare a wet field.
• [Unknown]...–My tax dollars paid for this event. Waste of money. My dollars pay the salary of SPASD employees. Waste of money. Time for people to be fired and people with higher standards to be hired that run a school. Time for school board to hold some feet to the fire. Perform and strive for excellence or don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
• [Unknown]...–Graduation ceremony no different than what happens in classrooms. This was normal everyday activity for disruptive students. Teachers allow horseplay – children learn what they live!
• [Unknown]...–Nothing short of total embarrassment! Apology is in order. Changes need made in administration.
• [Unknown]...– I’m sorry.....but one of us is delusional and I don’t think it is me! I was at Ashley field on the 13th of June. I guarantee you what was taking place was not a graduation ceremony! I was there and after my son walked across the stage I left.
• [Unknown]...–School officials should be ashamed of themselves. We must have attended different events – I was obviously at a seminar for “Clownin’ Around” I cannot remember the last time I was so embarrassed.


• [Parent of a graduating senior]...–Both sets of grandparents traveled distances to attend my daughter’s graduation. It was humiliating. They said of all the grandkids' gradations over the last few years in the Midwest this was the worst they’ve ever witnessed. I was embarrassed for the administration. They had to have their tail between their legs as the disrespectful display, yelling, running, booing - - - these are the kids our education system has produced.
• [Unknown]...–No wonder principals were not in line to acknowledge graduates. I’d distance myself as far as I could too if this happened under my watch. As tax payers we pay their salary! Time to fire staff and get people in who can do the job from board leadership– to superintendent – to principals and probably ½ of the teachers. Time we stand up for our kids because the school leaders don’t give a sh**.
• [Unknown]...– The schools have been yapping about “connectedness” yet they only talk about it and put in writing. They are not putting it into action. There was no evidence of any “connect” between graduates and administration. Not one principal or assistant principal stood in the line to congratulate the students. That is pathetic!
• [Parent of a high school student]...–My son has told me for two years the security guards are a joke and the assistant principals are the laughing stock of the school. He’s told me how the principals are in the lunch room, but they sit in their own little group just like the students do. No interaction except for buddying up with the bullies and trouble makers. Time to wake up! You are not paid to be our kids “buddies” they have plenty of buddies. You are an authoritative figure who should lead. Maybe if you’d get out of your personal lunch click you’d wise up to the fact that 1-2 distract you as the others are “up to no good”. If you provided leadership these kids would not be walking all over you and their peers.


• [Unknown]...–Where was Keats? How sad when the principal of the school does not even acknowledge each individual graduate. Kudos’ to Dr. Culver for taking the time. Thank you to the few teachers who made an effort to control the unruly situation. It is unfortunate that the school board members and administration could not make any kind of asserted effort or give you any support.
• [Unknown]...–The grounds staff did a wonderful job of preparing the field so we could hold outside. Last year it was inside, which provided a better sound system, but to be outside for graduation is so much nicer.
• [Unknown]...– Our kids got screwed by administration – please encourage parents of next years seniors and other underclassmen parents to apply pressure on SPASD administration so the disrespect our kids experience is not experienced by them.
• [Unknown]...–Blown up condom – how much more repulsive can we get. Ceremony should have stopped. Instead the board members and administration sat there like bumps on a log with glued on smiles like nothing was happening. Stop ignoring the issues and do your jobs. Your lack of ethics is an embarrassment.

School board....these are the voices (and a lot of them) of this community....and not just seniors that complain about taxes and don't vote. These are parents of children attending YOUR--OUR school district. You might want to listen. You might want to include this as an agenda item on an upcoming board meeting. How about in September, when everyone is back from vacation and re-engaged in the schools?

Engaging the Community = Chastising Citizens who DO Care?

While the school board continues its quest on how to better engage the community, one has to wonder: by "engage" is the board intending the meaning "enter into conflict with" its citizens? Because the few times citizens have the courage to speak up about what they see, they seem to get lambasted.

OK, perhaps the few that do consistently speak up don't always sugar coat their message. But is that a reason to verbally slap them upside the head --or worse--ignore them? But perhaps the reason for these citizens' approach is their frustration at TRYING to speak to the board only to be perennially rebuffed. Has the board president ever considered talking one-on-one with the "troublesome" citizens? Is the board capable of listening and just once not simply voting against whatever these citizens speak about simply because they don't like the messenger? Once again, is THIS the role model these board members wish to be for our children?

At Monday's school board meeting, Roger Fetterly spoke out about what he (and many others who agree but don't wish to waste their time speaking to an unyielding board) believes to be overly generous contracts for administrators. Fetterly said,

"These contracts are overly generous. The people that are really doing some work in our society, putting their life on the line, are getting 3.5% increases and they get shot at every day. In every case, I don't think you're being realistic."

Board President David Stackhouse's ivory tower response to Fetterly:

"Why is it that you have to wait until the very end to say 'gotcha'? If you care about this district the way you say you do, you would have come to us earlier and shared your experience for the betterment of the district."

WHOA, Mr. Stackhouse. Your facts are grossly in error. SP-EYE has witnessed Mr. Fetterly stating similar concerns on this issue at numerous full school board meetings and finance committee meetings. He also attends many administrator compensation meetings...but the board NEVER asks his or anyone else's opinion at these sessions.

Furthermore...what is the purpose of the "public input" and "citizen presentation" segments at board meetings if not to speak to the board???

To be perfectly clear and accurate, input is taken committee meetings, but this board disregards those that believe differently. SP-EYE has attended these compensation negotiation sessions on occasion as well. In fact, citizen visitors to these meetings are treated quite coldly, making it clear that while state laws require that their attendance be allowed; they are tolerated, NOT welcomed.

It is unacceptable for you or anyone to use your board seat--to which no public response or rebuttal is allowed-- to mis-state the facts. You KNOW that this issue has been raised previously. You support all raises provided to administration and staff...we get that. Just try to remember that yours is ONE OPINION only, and that you represent the entire district.

What's the 411 on the Community Engagement Task Force?

A meeting of the Community Engagement Task Force scheduled for this Tuesday has been canceled via an e-mail sent only to Task Force members. The e-mail actually creates more questions than it answers:

• Will the Task Force even continue in its current form? Some school board members were not exactly thrilled with the idea of another task force.


• Assuming the task force continues, will Mary Ellen Havel-Lang continue as a member (now as a citizen?


• Will a new school board member be appointed to serve in the role formerly filled by Havel-Lang?


• Should this notice have been posted publicly?


• Could this e-mail be considered a "violation" of open meeting laws? Several board committee citizen representatives have been publicly chastised at board/committee meetings for sending e-correspondence to other committee members. Is this really any different? (Oh...wait...of COURSE the board will find some rationale to justify it!)


• Are materials which are sent to committee members (as referenced in this correspondence) made available to the public at the same time?

Havel-Lang controls Community Engagement Task Force

SP-EYE: Monte Couch, a member of the Sun Prairie school board's Community Engagement Task Force offered the following comments on this week's meeting

The question on the meeting notice handed out at the start of 3-25-08 the meeting of the Community Engagement Task Force was:

"What can the School Board do to better communicate with the community?"

Ignoring the question on the meeting agenda, the chair (Mary Ellen Havel-Lang) suddenly adopted a members' interpretation of the basic question. The objective before the committee did not state "help the school board to do a better job of communicating." BUT the chair suddenly adopted that phrase, which was offered by one committee member. This then served as justification to avoid a logical step by step analysis and allowed the chair to make unilateral decisions.

As the meeting continued, the chair stated that "they" [the School Board] follow Robert's Rules Modified. That is not correct. There is no such publication. The district policies state, "Robert's Rules of Order will be observed except when modified by the board"--which means an individual chair or board member cannot deviate from Robert's Rules, without the board voting to do so. [SP-EYE Note: THAT never happens!!!]

"It seems the chair of these communication meetings, Mary Ellen Havel-Lang, has adopted the ideas in the book, "BREAKING ROBERT'S RULES" by Lawrence E. Susskind and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, Oxford University Press, copyright 2006."

How else to explain the chair's actions? Rather than hand the gavel over to someone else, the chair offered her opinion, direction, and conclusions on communication subjects being discussed. That violated Robert's Rules of Order, big time. It also raises the issue of conflict of interest?

The chair inserted her opinions and conclusions, attempting to release the board of their specific responsibilities defined in State Statutes, DPI Administrative codes etc. It seemed to me, as a board member she should have been listening, not trying to lead to pre-determined conclusions.

No wonder her ground rules for this committee on communication between the board and the community included no discussion. She could start any discussion she wanted to, and cut it off once she offered her conclusions.

I can accept rulings of a majority, but I do not accept conclusions based on changing the objective the committee is being asked to address without a discussion and taking a vote.

Unless the board adopts and follows required procedures, there will be no clear communication.

Read the recent minutes of this group at:
http://lms.spasd.k12.wi.us/gems/home/Minutes21908.pdf